🚀 go-pugleaf

I am encouraged that Dr Nyanchama recognises our ills. The problem here is
the sick still  lay  in bed making no effort to heal itself. We blame juju -
a third party for our ills. We have refused to relinquish the shakkles of
colonial leftovers. Can anyone tell me what Moi or Obasanjo can do for
Africa. Can anyone tell what religions shunned in their countries of origin
should do for Africa. Why do Africans have this entrenched mistrust against
each other. I would rather eat the shit from a stranger than my brother. We
are now where we make ends meet. Do we? Are we respected as what you call
yourself - Dr, Engineers, etc.
This thing about fight - so called coalition  against terrorism is not good
for our people or  for Africa. As you say, I challenge us who are now able
to make ends meet to create an African Union, Get IMF, and the World Bank
out of Our Land. Drive these so called leaders out of Africa. Let them come
and live in the West!


Dr Matunda Nyanchama <nmatunda@cogeco.ca> wrote in message
news:VfiL7.341$sW5.130725@news1.busy1.on.home.com...
> Roots of African Politico-Economic Instability: The Kenyan Example
> By Matunda Nyanchama, President of the Kenyan Community Abroad (KCA)
> e-mail: president@kenyansabroad.org
>
>
>
> Excerpts of a speech delivered to the International & Exchange Students at
> McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. November 20, 2001.
>
>
>
> Before independence
>
>
> In reminiscing about the struggle for freedom, Nelson Mandela cites, among
> his heroes, one Field Marshal Dedan Kimathi, the 1950s guerrilla leader of
> the Kenyan Land Freedom Army (KLFA). Commonly known as Mau Mau, this army
> made history for being the first real guerrilla movement in Africa. Many
> other movements would follow in the Mau Mau's footsteps in the fight for
> independence. Frelimo in Mozambique, MPLA & Unita in Angola, African
> National Congress in South Africa, South Western Africa People
Organization
> (Swapo), Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu) and Zimbabwe African
People'
> s Union (Zapu) are a few such examples.
>
>
>
> For older generations, Kenya is intricately associated with the history of
> liberation and the role of the Mau Mau, the coming of independence under
the
> leadership of a flamboyant, elder statesman in the name of Jomo Kenyatta
and
> the call for Harambee as a force for self-help, social and economic
> transformation.
>
>
>
> An earlier generation will recall that Britain colonized Kenya following
the
> Berlin Conference of 1884 when European powers parceled out chunks of
> African real estate for themselves. The name Kenya is a corruption of the
> Kirinyaga the local name for the highest mountain in the country, Mt
Kenya.
>
>
>
> From conquered territories, European powers hoped to feed and did feed
their
> northern economies with loot acquired, using native labour, from these new
> lands; loot extracted from the sweat and toil of native populations.
> Remember that this followed the abolition of the lucrative trans-Atlantic
> slave trade and the colonial powers were in search of new sources of
wealth.
>
>
>
> As sign of the exploitative nature of the colonial powers, most
> communication from the hinterland led to port cities. In Tanzania, Malawi
> and Kenya railway lines are one-track spindles that snake through
mountains,
> valleys and hills to seaports. Much has not changed to date. Indeed, the
> same is true of modern communications where it is easier to reach European
> and American cities than it is to reach town and capitals within the
African
> continent.
>
>
>
> Colonial history saw Kenya as a "white man's country"; what with the
fertile
> real estate, a suitable tropical but highland climate removed from the
> ravages of the mosquito and tsetse fly in the valleys and lowlands and a
> complacent conquered polulation. The climate suited ranching and cash crop
> development. For young prospective British farmers, this was a perfect
> destination, especially following post-war (I & II) unemployment of
> ex-soldiers. The book and movie "White Mischief" document the decadent
lives
> of the settlers and their exploits; the famous movie,  "Out of Africa", is
> yet the tale of the white man's view of things in colonial Kenya. Here
> African life, of farm work and servitude contrasted deeply with the
masters'
> mission to "civilize the savages".
>
>
>
> The legacy of colonialism lingers to date. Many a Kenyan believes in the
> superiority of the white race and the Christian religion over indigenous
> modes of worship. Others believe the myth told that Africans are
descendants
> of Ham, Adam's cursed son.
>
>
>
> Kenyan resistance dates back to the arrival of the colonialists. Waiyaki
wa
> Hinga, among others resisted colonial incursions to Kenyan lands. The
> Maasai, a proud people of pastoral stock held the European march for a
long
> time. In Kisii the movement called enyamumbo was one of boycott of
European
> rule and protest against forced labour. In the 1920s Harry Thuku, a fiery
> trade unionist was calling for the country's independence. Native
> demonstrations resulted in major fatalities as they were brutally crushed
> with superior firepower.
>
>
>
> Land remained the central element of conflict as it does today. In 1928,
> Jomo Kenyatta was drafted to make presentations to His Majesty's
government
> for the return of appropriated lands. Kenyatta, who would later become the
> country's independence president, spent many years in Europe, most of it
in
> London during which he made key petitions on behalf of local populations
for
> the return of stolen lands. He would later meet with great Pan Africanists
> such as Kwame Nkrumah and George Padmore as the agitation for the return
of
> lands turned into calls for independence.
>
>
>
> The coming of World War II was a watershed in African history, Kenya
> included. It came through African soldiers drafted to fight on behalf of
> colonial powers. The war exposed the lies of white superiority perfected
by
> colonial regimes and the Christian Church. Bildad Kaggia, a Kenyan freedom
> fighter that went to the war says in his book "Roots of Freedom" that he,
> for once, noticed white people bleed and die just like the black soldiers
> they fought alongside. The white soldiers ailed and succumbed to disease,
as
> did the black soldiers. World War II removed the veil of lies. This, in
> turn, emboldened the campaign for independence.
>
>
>
> The Mau Mau movement was an offshoot of this agitation. The colonial
> government crackdown and summary execution of captured fighters was one of
> the most brutal in guerrilla history.
>
>
>
> Kenyan people continued to strive for independence and when it did come,
it
> was a negotiated compromise. Here the nationalistic Kenyan African
National
> Union (Kanu) reached a tactical compromise with the settler based Kenya
> African Democratic Union (Kadu). No sooner did independence come than the
> reactionary Kadu dissolved itself and wormed its way into the Kanu belly.
> Today, the country is effectively under a Kadu administration. Daniel Arap
> Moi, Chairman of Kadu at the party's dissolution has been president of the
> country for the last 23 years. Before that he had been vice-president for
12
> years.
>
>
>
> Today's roots of instability can be traced to the choices made in the
period
> following independence. The impact has been that a country that once shone
> on the world stage is now near destitute and remains at the mercy of
donors,
> World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Ethnic relations are worse
> than they have ever been as those in power play one group against another,
> using similar divide and rule technic so well perfected by the colonial
> administration. The current provincial administrative and the while
> executive branch has hardly changed in structure from the colonial times.
>
>
>
> After independence
>
>
> Kenyan independence arrived with pomp and celebration. As a young kids at
> the time (I had just entered Grade school) my memory is that of
celebration
> and the pervasiveness of an atmosphere of something new having happened;
> change had come and Kenyans looked forward to empowerment and real social
> transformation. There were celebratory dances, all night partying, eating
> and merry making. Uhuru, as we call freedom, elevated local expectations.
No
> longer could we answer to the Queen's representative in Nairobi. In
> statehouse Nairobi was resident a fellow Kenyan, a respectable,
charismatic,
> wise leader in the name of Jomo Kenyatta.
>
>
>
> Kenyatta, at the time did not disappoint! His powerful, legendary oratory
> moved Kenyans into action. In turn, wananchi responded to his call of a
> return to the land (turudi mashambani) and educating the youth. The
optimism
> fuelled growth in the higher single digits range for more than 10 years in
a
> row. Literacy rates soared as school enrolment hovered around 97%.
Literacy
> rates registered around 67%.
>
>
>
> Access to free medical care led to a number of positive well-being
> indicators: infant mortality rates dropped, life expectancy rose from the
> higher 40s to mid 60s. Populations experts warned of an explosion as the
> rate of growth hovered between 3% and 4%. The country was on a roll!
>
>
>
> On the International scene Kenya became a major player winning the right
to
> host major United Nations organs such as United Nations Environmental
> Program (UNEP) and Habitat, among others. At the United Nations General
> Assembly Kenya's voice of moderation was heard in the midst of an
east-west
> cold war divide.
>
>
>
> The government's role in the economy grew as it took control of key
sectors:
> agriculture and agriculture financing; the cooperative movement (perhaps
the
> most sophisticated outside the Scandinavian countries), transportation and
> manufacturing.
>
>
>
> Amidst all this pomp, though, the leadership failed to focus enough on
> nation building. Kenya, a country of more than 40 ethnic groups, needed,
> more than anything else, shared vision of common destiny. The ethnic
divide,
> remains the country's curse to date. Indeed, national unity and unity of
> vision remains a pipe-dream to date
>
>
>
> There is more. Kenyatta had come to power in advanced age. Soon, his
> energies would start waning and more and more the people around him made
> make decisions in his name. That said, Kenyatta himself may have,
> unwittingly, laid the seeds of the most systemic and endemic diseases of
> all: corruption.
>
>
>
> Once, while addressing police representatives who were seeking better pay,
> the late president remarked that the state did not have the money to pay
for
> raises to the cops. He made the well-known case of the competition for
> government financing and said that, at the time, there was not much he
could
> do in a manner of salary increases. Towards the end of his remarks, the
good
> president, asked, almost rhetorically: how many cars, buses and trucks go
> through the roads manned by the police? He added that everyone "eats"
where
> they work! Soon, policemen stopping vehicles on Kenyan roads started
asking
> for kitu kidogo (something small). Today in Kenya, the term is part of the
> national lingo.
>
>
>
> Kenyatta entrenched corruption in more than one way. A story (although not
> officially confirmed) is told of the president receiving information about
a
> minister who was demanding 10% before approving any industrial or
commercial
> investment plans. It is said that the minister had amassed so much wealth
in
> such a short time that it was obvious that he was obtaining it from
sources
> other than his emoluments.
>
>
>
> The president confirmed the same on interrogating the offending minister.
He
> then asked what the minister had done with the money. In reply, the
minister
> pointed to real investment he had made in his home district, the
properties
> he owned in the city and the many people in his employ as a result of the
> 10% proceeds! Kenyatta is said to have chuckled and casually asked him to
> get back to work. What started as a 10% cut became routine; it has become
> more than the way to do business, as others now demand higher and higher
> percentages in the cut. The comedy group, Redykyulas makes fun of this
> saying that some ask for "kitu yote" (everything).
>
>
>
> Kenyatta's reign also saw one of the greatest reversals in what was seen
as
> matter of principle. Before independence, Kenyatta's party, Kanu, swore to
> scrap the law that allowed detention without trial. However, no sooner
were
> they in government than they quickly reinstated the law, ostensibly in the
> name of dealing with dissidents. The promulgator of the law, then
> Vice-President and Minister for home affairs, Oginga Odinga, would later
> become a victim of the same law after falling out with Kenyatta.
>
>
>
> Detention without trial remained in the books until 1997 when it was
> scrapped in principle. Even then, the police still have immense powers of
> arrest, detention and interrogation. The state maintains a grip on
policing
> and the court system. In fact, a champion of dubious prosecution of
> individuals in his time as public prosecutor has recently become the Chief
> Justice in the country.
>
>
>
> The Moi Era
>
>
> President Moi had served meekly as Kenyatta's assistant for 12 years
before
> coming to power. At his swearing in, following Kenyatta's death, Moi swore
> to follow in Kenyatta's footsteps. To the motto of harambee, he added
nyayo,
> which means footsteps.
>
>
>
> If Moi appeared meek, this image would soon wear out, especially following
> the attempted coup of 1982. He moved quickly to purge key elements seen as
> not supportive of his rule. He called an early election, made Kenyan a de
> jure single party state and established a vice-like grip on the country.
>
>
>
> The '80s were, perhaps, the most torturous decade for the country.
Although
> there were detentions in Kenyatta's era, Moi made this almost an art;
> detentions without trials increased. More and more, they were based on
> fabricated charges, prosecution and torture of the most brutal kind. The
> decade also witnessed the appearance of the first Kenyan refugees. The
> island of stability that was Kenya had become unstable under Moi's watch.
>
>
>
> In the meantime, corruption sky-rocketed, and capital flight became
routine.
> One of the most scandalous acts of corruption happened during this time
> where the government was bilked of several billion shillings in the name
of
> export compensation. It is said that the scandal touched so many in
> government circles that successful prosecution of the case would result in
> the fall of the government. The government continues to stall to date.
>
>
>
> The loss of liberty, consignment of alternative political opinion and the
> detention of so called dissidents reached a peak at the start of the '90s
> decade and coincided with the agitation of opening up of the political
> space. This was attained with a lot of struggle and a lot of blood was
> spilled. In the streets in Nairobi, where Moi swore to crush opponents
like
> rats, skirmishes led to police shooting of unarmed demonstrators.
> Multi-ethnic rural areas saw clashes unheard of before as peaceful
wananchi
> from different ethnic groups were pitted against one another. These
> government engineered clashes remain a hallmark of government crime on the
> Kenyan people.
>
>
>
> The lack of confidence in the political order has seen the country's
> decline. The infrastructure is in a sorry state, access to health has
> substantially reduced, school enrolment has declined from the high 90% to
> about 70% and capital flight continues unabated. Increased poverty levels
> have impacted Kenyans in a substantial manner; the poor medical services
and
> the AIDS epidemic have eroded life expectancy gains made in the 60s and
70s.
> Today's life expectancy lies about 50 years, down from 69 a few years ago.
>
>
>
> Things continue to worsen in the country. They are compounded by
emigration
> and brain drain. Sometime last year, it was reported that the country was
> losing more than 500 doctors a year. We do not know what kind of numbers
> there are in other sectors. However, today more and more Kenyans wish to
be
> elsewhere where they can make ends meet.
>
>
>
> Since the end of the single-party era Kenya has held two elections, which
> were won by less than 40% of the popular vote. The results are in part due
> to the fragmented, ethnic-based political parties and a skewed political
> landscape. Next elections are scheduled for December 2002 in which,
> according to the current constitution, the president cannot run again.
Still
> few believe that the president will leave without pulling some trick on
the
> electoral process. There are others who think that constitutional reforms
> may create loopholes for Moi to stretch his reign.
>
>
>
> Personally, I am of the opinion that the country needs healing. To do so,
we
> need five years of an interim administration and a government of national
> unity with the mandate to perform comprehensive constitutional reviews,
> carry out a truth and reconciliation exercise, restore confidence in the
> country's future and help usher a new era.
>
>
>
> Where lies the blame?
>
>
>
> There are those that say we blame colonial powers for the decline we have
> seen. They cite the trucking of Africa resources to build economies in the
> north starting with the slave trade, through the colonial era and into the
> present. They also cite the arbitrary boundaries left behind now
balkanizing
> different ethnicities into borders that may have not evolved naturally.
> Moreover, the colonial impact on thinking remains with many in the
> population not believing in themselves.
>
>
>
> There is more. The current international economic order is skewed in
favour
> of western economies. We know that the IMF and World Bank do not represent
> interests of African and developing countries.  Linda McCuaig in her book
> "The Cult of Impotence" places these two institutions in context citing
the
> fact that, in the leadup to the formation of these institutions, the
London
> and New York bankers won major concessions over social policy-oriented
> positions put forth by governments. To date, these two key players in the
> global economy continue to function in the benefit of their benefactors.
>
>
>
> That said, however, we must continue asking whether these forces alone are
> to blame for the African condition. Here are my thoughts:
>
>
>
> Yes, the international economic order is skewed. Yes, the IMF and World
Bank
> do not cater for African interests. Yes, there was slavery, colonialism
and
> presently, there exists neo-colonialism. However, let's remember that we
> shall only succeed with home grown solutions. As countries faced with
> similar circumstances and afflicted with the same problems, it is our duty
> to find common ground and speak with one voice.
>
>
>
> The current campaign for debt relief and forgiveness is a good first step.
> However, we must, as Africans institute responsive governments that serve
> interests of the people if we ever to develop our economies. Leadership,
in
> my view is a major lacking ingredient. Too often, our leaders are busy
> fighting each other for miniscule stakes, spending valuable resources on
> armaments while people starve, medicines are in short supply, schools have
> no building and students go without reading or writing material. Our
> penchant for wardom and the viciousness of our wars are almost unmatched
by
> anybody.
>
>
>
> There is more. Alternative thinking, which is fast taking hold, suggests
> (which I support) that blaming colonial powers is neither valid nor
> fashionable. We Africans have had a chance to govern ourselves for close
to
> 40 years. In that time, other regions, facing similar challenges as we
did,
> have done pretty well. Look at Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea?
>
>
>
> African leaders and citizens, including myself, must take blame for part
of
> these failures.
>
>
>
> Here is an example of African leadership recklessness: it is said that in
> the Kenyatta era, people stole money from public coffers. However, they
> reinvested the money in the country in some form or another. Today, Moi
and
> company siphon off national resources and ship moneys abroad with
impunity.
> There are suggestions that if all Kenyan money were repatriated, we
wouldn't
> need the pitiable IMF and World Bank loans.
>
>
>
> Ladies and Gentlemen: in this short talk I have tried to place the context
> of the current Kenyan problem as an example of dashed hopes and an
> experiment badly run. Much as the past burdens of  our development can
find
> blame elsewhere, we have the responsibility for the failure of leadership
to
> create the necessary conditions for development. Our leadership needs to
> focus on people development, national vision and proper utilization of
> national resources. We can write the constitution as many times as we can;
> if there is no believe in a shared common destiny and the trust that we
have
> the ability to achieve greater goals we will be deceiving ourselves that
we
> are serving national interests.
>
>
>
> There is still hope for a better future, which can be seen in emerging
> leadership. Thabo Mbeki, the South African President, has come up with the
> African Renaissance concept. This requires more than belief in the self
but
> also implementing African approaches to managing African crises.
> Consensus-building, self awareness and the concept of common destiny must
be
> ingrained in the African citizenry. African solutions, rather
> thanprescriptions made in London, Washington and Paris must find
expression
> in Africa's renewal.
>
>
>
> We all have a role to play.
>
>
>
> Thank you very much.
>
>
>
> � Matunda Nyanchama, Toronto, Ontario, November 20, 2001
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>