In his 'A Grain of Wheat' (Heinemann, 1967), Ngugi says "People try to rub out things, but they cannot. Things are not so easy. What has passed between us is too much to be passed over in a sentence. We need to talk, to open our hearts to one another, examine them, and then together plan the future that we want". Do they merit contemplation in the context of Africa today? Was he talking of an Africa that needs to look into itself and discover its strengths? What do you think?
Dear Srinivasan Rajamanickam.
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Frankly I think the way it is written on African history nowadays nothing can help the understanding of Africa.
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Practically after the start of European colonialism Africa was practically considered a continent without history. If you look until in Wikipedia we see that as what is written both Kenya and Africa in general seem to have a prehistory some outbreaks of civilization (mainly Arabic or European origin) and the story only after the beginning of the twentieth century. And the worst of it that European colonialism remains strong in some regions through the pseudo-conservationism.
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I speak of the pseudo conservacionaismo mainly in Kenya and other regions with immense environmental conservation parks are actually not saving the true story of the occupation of Africa.
In 1887 a military force to invade the Italian Horn of Africa brought with sick cattle infected by cattle plague (the English disclose cleverly named in German Rinderpest, not to associate this scourge to the English language).
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Well, the cattle plague has spread throughout Africa killing between 90% and 95% their flocks of many African agricultural peoples being only finally quelled in 2011! Eliminated cattle on almost nine years in the whole of Africa (this year the cattle plague arrives in South Africa) almost two thirds of all pastoral populations (human) die of hunger, local conflicts and repression of colonial troops. Therein you start talking about the history of Africa within the continent. Tell us note in passing that the "courageous" colonial troops can only enter the center of Africa because the population and social organization were decimated.
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With the complete bankruptcy of the agropastoral civilization in Central Africa and allows Europeans to enslave huge contingent of African survivors and take their areas traditionally occupied by agro-pastoralist or are taken from their owners by European settlers or are taken over by wildlife or the forest progresses on it along with other pest, the tsetse fly (http://e360.yale.edu/feature/why_africas_national_parks_are_failing_to_save_wildlife_/2231/).
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At this point begins the colonialism disguised as conservationism, since most of the national parks eagerly coveted by tourists in the first world of African farmland were 130 years ago. Making these parks Disneyland true of "well born" from the first world.
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This description is important because African civilizations with complex social organization are completely extinguished their testimony being recovered by archaeological work more inchoate than the conventional story.
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If you do not know the largest animal pandemic occurred in a continent we know nothing of the history of this people, and while it is not carefully recovered this story nothing will lead to understanding of the continent that gave birth to the human race.
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A valuable input, Rogerio. The literature of the kind that Ngugi has attempted to give expression to are not mere stories of imagination. They contain reflections of the turmoil the society in question undergoes and its aspirations.
If what you say - that written history of Africa is not there - then I personally feel that African scholars and historians need to work on the same from the existing oral traditions and build a written history. I personally feel that if we do not understand our history we will be condemned to repeat its harsh lessons many times over.
Thank you for the input.
Ngugi and Fannon's voices have become part of the postcolonial discourses. Even as we look at Africa, a simple factor strikingly stands out:
1. Uganda, known atrocities not investigated
2. Rwanda - ICTR
3. Sudan - Special Chamber investigations
4. Sierra Leone - Special Chamber investigations
5. Chad - Special chamber investigations
6. Liberia - Part of Sierra Leone process
7. Congo - not yet investigated
8. Somalia - perhaps the world is too scared even to talk of investigating Somalia
9. South Sudan - at the present rate, the Tribunal is just a call away
10. Egypt - there are enough trials going on inside and peculiar precedences like death sentence for 683 persons for killing one man are being set. It may not be out of place to think of a tribunal at some point of time.
11. South Africa - the role model for Africa managed the affairs with its own Truth and Reconciliation Commission - a kind of localised tribunal.
12. Nigeria - with Boko Haram working over time, Au/UN Peacekeepers may actually bring in a Tribunal for parallel prosecution.
I do apologise for the loose wording above. But the point that I am trying to make is about Africa - half the continent is either tried or about to be tried for genocide, mass violation of human rights, unspeakable atrocities on women and abuse of children as child soldiers. If collective African will is not exercised to look into all these and learn their lessons quickly, Africa may become dependent on IMF and WB to fund their Tribunals instead of developmental projects.
The sane voices of AU are drowned in the noise behind all these occurrences in Africa. It does beg understanding.
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