Modern day Africa and the demons of its colonial inheritance

Oblique Angle’s Deo Simba wrote of the continued poisonous legacy of colonialism in Africa where inherited political borders which had been drawn at the convenience of colonialists have continued to be a source of tensions, wars and break ups in Africa today.

As a remedy he put forth the respect of constitutional arrangements and respecting the people’s wishes as ways out of the woods and a path to prosperous Africa, one that is at peace with its past.

He was spot on.

Countries have gone to war with each other to settle border disputes, others have gone to international courts to find a solution. Many countries remain at odds with each other because of these inherited borders like Tanzania and Malawi, or Rwanda and Burundi.

Everywhere you look in Africa the past is firmly in the present and the future.

Colonialism in most of Africa did not last for more than a century but its ghosts continue to influence Africa today, from the continental body, the African Union (AU) where the Anglophone-Francophone divide is still there to individual countries which continue to be troubled with their past. The negative influences of colonialism in Africa do not show any signs of weakening any time soon.

Independence leaders affirmed the respect of colonial borders as they feared break up of their inherited countries but that did not stop reality diverging from such agreements and rival claims.

The bloodshed that followed independence in most of Africa had its roots in its colonial past. Despite plundering the continent of its resources and even building a few education institutions, Africa was never prepared to govern itself after colonialism ended because that was not in the cards. Artificial differences were magnified to the point where societies which had peacefully co-existed for centuries could not do the same once political independence was attained.

Coups and counter coups, plunder of the continent by its new rulers. Africa never had time to deal with its more pressing problems like healthcare, education and building infrastructures. Nation building projects took a back seat. African became introverts, more interested with protecting the interests of their ethnic groups or race and not those of the nation-state they had found themselves in at the time of independence.

This lack of preparation for self-rule explains most of the troubles which have continued to bedevil Africa. Constitutional arrangements will go a long way to help the continent find its balance and break the cycle of violence and tensions caused by these inherited artificial borders or colonial languages as is the case in Cameroon where tensions are high as Anglophone regions accuse the government in Yaoundé of treating them like second class citizens.

That a country with many ethnic groups finds it difficult to accommodate the needs of two groups which inherited colonial languages beats my understanding.

In Lesotho the country is once again on the knife edge following the killings of the army chief and the two other senior army officers. The country has failed to find a better constitutional arrangement and a political deal to bring political stability because like many other countries its colonial masters did not bother to help them with self-rule. It is much like the case of Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony where assassinations of presidents and army chiefs has continued to destabilize that country to date as rival groups of elites compete for control of lucrative drug routes.

Constitutional arrangements which open up democratic space in Africa will provide predictability and a sense of greater good and not serving one’s race or ethnic group or religion. Unfortunately, these remain potent forces in today’s Africa and as Mr Simba wrote we are faced with more break ups, in the future because too much time is wasted on issues which will not help the continent to find lasting solutions in dealing with the ghosts of its past.

Failure to do so will guarantee a continent that will forever be enslaved by the ghosts of its past which have refused to stay where they belong; in the past.