Acoustic Africa

Just got back from a thrilling concert featuring Zimbabwean maestro Oliver Mtukudzi and his Malian counterparts, Afel Bocoum and Habib Koite. That a Zimbabwean and two Malians could gel to produce such thrilling music only goes to show how deep the bonds are between the different African ethnicities. Mtukudzi would sing the chorus in the languages of Mali, while Afel Bocoum and Habib Koite would chime in Shona when it was Mtukudzi's turn to belt out a song.

We've always been told that our salvation lies with the nations of the West, but that is so untrue; our salvation lies within ourselves, as Africans. We've got all it takes within ourselves to prosper both commercially and culturally. The largest market for Kenyan goods is the East African region, and not England. Naija movies are now dominant throughout much of Africa. All Africans were gutted when (the Ghanaian) Asamoah Gyan missed that penalty at the 2010 World Cup. My point is that, what divides us is also what unites us. We have no other choice but to be Africans, to be ourselves. That is all.

Cricket World Cup 2011

Need to leave Gaddafi, Museveni, & RGM alone for a while and watch my beloved Zimbabwe take on the Kiwis in cricket. This is civilisation at its best! It's unfortunate that neither the Ancient Romans nor the Ashantis of Osei Tutu knew what a "square leg" was. I'm in my element. Screw Museveni and his oversize hat! There are more important things to attend to.

Zimbabwe: how we got to where we are.

The following post was a response I gave to a fellow blogger, http://zimtweets.wordpress.com, who had asked the Question, "How did we get here". Read on......................................................

It's the "how" we were trying to get where we wanted to get, that put us in the position where we are today. I agree with what you say (somewhat), but I would be an ungrateful bastard if I used this opportunity to lambast the policies of RGM. Kwame Nkrumah (in Ghana) wanted Ghana to progress 100 yrs in 10 yrs! And look what happened to him! His keen disciple, RGM followed suit in 1980, and now look where we are! However, his model of rapid, state-sponsored development ran aground in 1989, and he had to call in the IMF. That was the beginning of the end for the Zimbabwe that we had known from 1980-89.

State-sponsored development goes against the grain of how the major powers want the developing countries to develop. Any country that defies the major countries is forced to pay a price (see Haiti or Congo-DRC). Yes, there was massive corruption and a lack of essential skills, but that's not the real cause of our demise. We were never allowed to chart our own course of development, and the "medicine" imposed on us by the IMF (E.S.A.P) put in motion the de-industrialization and 80% underemployment that we see today.

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.

Raila Odinga #Fail

I still cannot fathom how the A.U sent Raila Odinga as a mediator to Cote D'Ivoire. First of all: does Mzee Odinga even speak French? Secondly, the man himself (Odinga) is on a weak wicket: He's the junior partner, in a shaky coalition, with a determined tribalist (Mwai Kibaki). This is not the stuff that successful mediators are made off!

They should have sent a political heavyweight from the West African region (maybe Obasanjo) or a "Francophone" President with clout (like Blaise Compaore). Raila Odinga was out of his league here, and Laurent Gbagbo rightfully brushed him off -- like a bothersome fly. Let's see if the A.U can come up with a credible "Plan B".

Dastardly French

According to reports, a Virgin Atlantic flight from Nairobi, Kenya en route to Heathrow, was diverted to Lyon, France and the passengers (who included Prof. Ngugi wa Thiongo'o) were subjected to a very humiliating experience. This happened on the 18th of December, 2010. I've been hopping mad with anger (all daylong) over this callous injustice meted out to my noble African people, and here's what I have to say about this sordid affair.

Without Africa, France is just a middling, European nation of no great significance. We Africans have been gritting our teeth and taking these slights and put-downs for generations. There will come a time when we will walk away from our entanglements with haughty nations like France and seek our salvation within ourselves. The day that happens, France will revert to a being a slightly bigger version of Portugal -- a once-great nation that no longer is worth any mention. Mark my words: that day will come. And WE AFRICANS will have the last laugh!

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.