Strength in Unity

On April 3rd, 2011, the new Somali State of Azania was formed,and so that now makes three States (Somalia, Somaliland & Azania) cut out from the old State of Somalia. Any Pan-Africanist just has to wonder out aloud:"When will this all end". I'm sure that this "State" of Azania will henceforth provide all the accoutrements of statehood, like a national flag, national anthem, maybe even, a few gold medals at the Olympic Games. But - like most African States - it will fail to provide the most basic necessities needed in today's modern world: the rule of law; a functioning bureaucracy; potable water, food & shelter.

Some Africans are under the impression that the colonial borders should be dismantled and new States formed (along ethnic or religious lines). True that may be, but Africa is the most diverse Continent on Earth. It would be un-workable trying to detangle our colonial-era States and then trying to form multitudes of (non-viable) mini-States. Southern Sudan was an extreme exception. Let's leave the borders as they are and work on giving the peoples within these borders a decent life, rather than trying to re-arrange the Continental map.

Breaking up Africa into a hundred or so Mini-States just would not work. We would end up like the Native Americans of Canada who exist as "Bands", or as roving "Tribes", and yet lack any strength of unity, numbers, and purpose to chart their own course. These Indians are virtually wards of the Canadian State. That's where we Africans would end up -- as wards of more powerful States and entities like the U.N.

Ivory Coast Pt 2

About two weeks ago I posited a possible solution to the mess in Cote D'Ivoire. And yes, I know it was probably laughed out of town. Well, Laurent Gbagbo is STILL the De-Facto head of the Ivorian Govt; Western Govts talk of squeezing Gbagbo out of power, and yet, he's the one who's SQUEEZING Ouatarra to death at his hotel hideout.

Cote D'Ivoire is an African country, with African values, populated by African peoples. It then follows that Any solution to the Ivorian crisis has to be AN AFRICAN SOLUTION TO AN AFRICAN PROBLEM. Why are the neighbouring African Govts parroting Western/European solutions, like sanctions? THIS IS SILLY!

If we were to sit four elders from the different regions of Cote D'Ivoire together, they would all push for a solution that incorporates all the different traditions of Cote D'Ivoire into the political process. Which brings me back to my original solution: a tacit agreement amongst Ivorian politician to rotate power between the wider North (Malinke & Voltaic) and the wider South (Akan & Bete); a re-run of the elections, but with ELECTORS/KINGMAKERS being voted into a National Assembly, who then decide to choose one of their own as the President (WHO'LL BEST SERVE THE NATIONAL INTEREST); and a multi-ethnic cabinet that's ethnically balanced in order to bring all the different traditions of the country into the political process.

That, my fellow Africans, is an African solution to an African problem.

Ivory Coast

Here’s my solution to the electoral and constitutional chaos that has engulfed the Cote D’Ivoire. There are basically four cultural/ethnic groups that are considered to be indigenous to Cote D’Ivoire: The Akans of the South-East and South-Central, of whom the Baoule are the most numerous, and also provided much of the post-independence elite (Konan Bedie, Houphouet-Boigny); The Kru of the South-West (of whom the Bete are the largest sub-group, and who have Laurent Gbagbo as a member); the Voltaic peoples of the North-East (primarily Senoufo and Mossi); and the various Mande-speaking peoples of the North-West (of which the Malinke are the most numerous, and have Alassane Outtara as a member). Also complicating the demographics is the existence of a very large immigrant population, which some commentators say makes up more than half the total population of Cote D’Ivoire.

Rather than having “elections” every five years with predictably tragic results, I suggest instead that the people of Cote D’Ivoire elect an electoral college, which in turn will then go on to select candidates for the positions of President, Vice-President, Prime Minister & speaker of Parliament respectively. These positions shall have term limits of no more than two concurrent terms of five years apiece. Furthermore, there must be an explicit agreement amongst the political elite, of a rotation of power between all four regions of the country. I’ll explain below how the system would work.

Ivoirians invariably vote along ethnic lines (like most Africans) since language/culture/religion are the main markers of identity. Now, instead of having useless “elections” along European lines, I suggest that Ivoirians be allowed to vote for candidates of their own ethnicities in their own regions. Only constituencies in the ethnically-mixed cities would be allowed to be contested by candidates of various ethnicities. So, for example, in the Voltaic North-East only candidates from the Senoufo or Mossi ethnic groups would be fielded, and they will in turn be voted into office by their fellow Senoufos and Mossis to represent the interestst of the region in a Federal govt. This procedure will be repeated throughout the country: in the Akan South-Central, only Akan candidates will be fielded in the elections; and in the South-West only Kru candidates will be fielded.

Now, having selected an electoral college from the various candidates contesting the elections, the Electoral College would then sit down to sort out the sordid business of who would actually occupy the nation’s top four positions. Bearing in mind that there’s an explicit agreement on the rotation of Presidential Powers, it would then be agreed upon, for example, that a candidate from the Mande-Speaking North-west be chosen to occupy the position of President. This candidate would be the most capable and suitable candidate from amongst all the Mande-speaking candidates from the North-West. And he would be the candidate from that region most amenable and agreeable to the other Electoral College members. With an explicit rotation-of-power amongst regions and constitutional term-limits, the other regions will then be assured of having their crack at the Presidency either in five or ten years.

Now, having selected a President from among their members, the Electoral College would then go about selecting the positions of Prime Minister, Vice-President and Speaker of the House, all from different regions of the nation. This would cement ethnic balancing and would allow the “fruits of power” to be tasted by all sections of the political elite, and not just those from one region. So, in the interests of ethnic balancing, Ivory Coast could have a Mande President from the North-West, a Kru Prime Minister from the South-east, an Akan Vice-President from the South-Central, and a Senoufo Speaker of the House (from the North-east)

So there’s my solution. It’s not perfect, nor can it even be thought of as satisfying democratic criteria. And yet it’s an African solution to a rather murky African problem. Ivory Coast has over 65 ethnic groups, with two main religions. It’s important that a workable solution be brought upon the people of Ivory Coast, a solution that spares them the ravages of either civil war or ,even worse, the break-up of their country.

Now What?

Ah, those were the days! Below is a photo from a frontline summit of '85, with Presidents Kaunda, Mugabe, Machel & Nujoma. If only we could get back to those days. President Yar'Adua - as the President of the "Giant of Africa" - should take the initiative and call for a special Africa summit on Zimbabwe. That way, some basic principles can be laid down for "talks about talks". I'm not naive: there is no way that Zanu-pf will ever unite with Tsvangirai's MDC. However, interested parties, influential outsiders and progressives from all the political sides must be given a platform to express their wishes for a future Zimbabwe.

If such a platform is not available then Zimbabwe will just lurch from problem to problem, with no end in sight. The mindless clashes produced by such a stalemate can only be harmful, and yet meaningless at the same time. In Shona we say, "Kutungana kwe-mbudzi!" ; that is the futile clashing of goats. That's precisely what is happening when Zanu-pf's hardliners in the J.O.C and the MDC's camp are each trying to seize the high ground. Let's call a time-out to this nonsense.

The photo is below
James Chikonamombe

http://flickr.com/photos/ernstschade/337225955/