Basil Davidson -- R.I.P

I had no idea that the famous Africanist, Basil Davidson, had passed away on the 9th, of July. May he forever rest in eternal peace. I was still carrying a World Cup hangover, and that's probably why I missed his death. They say that "only the good die young", but good-old Basil was a sprightly 95 when he passed away: so much for that much-used saying!

I have three of his books in my collection, and to me, the most poignant, most pertinent, is "The Black Man's Burden". Here Basil Davidson is almost pleading with Africa's post-colonial leaders not to waste any time in proceeding with policies that would aid in Africa's development. In his later writing, one can sense a feeling of sadness -- even bewilderment -- at how independent Africa has failed to get it's act together.

For someone who had spent most of his adult life observing African civilisation, it must have been disheartening to see modern Africa's dire predicament. Basil Davidson represented all that what was noble in the British Empire.

Yes, the British did a lot of bad things to a lot of people -- ask the Irish -- but they also produced wonderfully talented individuals. If you need a British perspective on Africa, written by someone from a certain era and a certain class, then look no further than Basil Davidson.

Tribe, Nation, Ethnicity

English is a living language like all other languages and there are no statutory laws regarding it's usage. Nevertheless, we need to be wary of throwing around loaded words like "tribe". Such usage is a holdover from previous eras when openly racist discourse -- tribe, barbarian, pagan, cannibal, heathen, savage -- was used in justifying the enslavement, colonisation, and oppression of Non-European peoples in Africa, The Americas, and the Pacific islands.

It's much more preferable to use use "nation", or "nationality" when referring to the people (or peoples) who inhabit a specific geographic area, and "ethnicity" when referring to the language/cultural groups who make up that nation. Indeed that is how the indigenous peoples of North America define themselves: a member of the Lakota "tribe" will never besmirch his identity in such a way, but rather will say that he belongs to the Lakota nation. That is how the indigenous peoples of Canada are described: as First Nations.

Just because certain African intellectuals frequently use the term "tribe" does not, in any way, remove its negative connotations. My fellow African intellectuals are often prone to intellectual laziness, and tend to regurgitate whatever rigmarole is spewed out from the West. Furthermore, many of them -- despite claiming to speak for Africa -- are weighed down by acute inferiority complexes. They too need to be 're-educated', so to speak, and to be shown the error in their ways.

Let Them Keep Their Loot!...and Leave Us Alone!

Tendai Biti -- "Let's tell them (top Zanu officials) that they can leave and not lose their farms or get arrested".

That was Tendai Biti, The MDC's Secretary-General, and also Zimbabwe's Min of Finance. I've been saying, for God-knows how many years now, that the only way to improve Zimbabwe's political climate, is to allow Zanu's top leadership to retire (quietly) to their farms, and give them blanket immunity from any future prosecution.

Those who claim morals as their guiding principle need to carefully consider what options we Zimbabweans have on the table. With 85% unemployment, a collapsed health-care sector and industry in shambles, we can ill-afford to continue having the present Zanu leadership in place. The Govt of (dis)unity stopped the rot, but it is ill-equipped to move things onto a higher level. Plus we might have elections next year, and the nightmare of another 5 years of an underperformng Govt of Nat Unity looms large.

If the 50 or so top Zanu officials in the security establishment, and in the govt were allowed to go, there would immediately be a better climate for the economy to operate in. Let's cut our losses right now, to give a chance to the millions of Zimbabwean children who go to bed hungry each night, and to the millions of workers unable to find work.

Life, in general, gives you two stark choices: bad or worse. The choice that I've highlighted above would be the least painful for Zimbabwe's masses. It's high time we gave it a try.

James Chikonamombe

Asamoah Gyan

I still haven't recovered from yesterday's cliff-hanger of a game between Ghana and Uruguay; I'm emotionally drained. I now understand how easy it is for ordinarily-sane people to lose their minds. What a a game!

If only Asamoah Gyan had composed himself and steadied himself just before taking the penalty, he might have had the calmness to just tap the ball in. But no! He hurried himself up, and struck the upright. I think that in his head, he was already celebrating the goal. He might also have been tired, after playing 120 minutes of football.

I don't know how long it will take for me to get yesterday's events out of my head, but I suspect that it will be in my head for a very long time. As a rabid Pan-Africanist, I'm proud of what Ghana achieved, and I'm also happy that the whole tournament has gone on without a glitch.

End Chattel Slavery in Zimbabwe

We seriously need to re-think our whole system of agriculture. Having huge land-holdings of commercial farms that are dependent on cheap, exploitable labour is regressive and counter-productive. An egregious mistake was made by the ruling govt when it allowed the system of commercial farming to continue, albeit under black ownership.

The liberation struggle was over land, and nothing else! The colonial regime of Ian Smith was buttressed and fortified by the white, commercial-farming sector. And these commercial farms could not exist without the masses of (mostly) foreign-origin African labourers working in conditions approaching chattel slavery. The Land reform program was a glorious chance to smash this inglorious system and make sure -- once and for all -- that it NEVER reared its ugly head again. But, alas, that opportunity was wasted.

We now have an agricultural-system where Africans have replaced Europeans as the main beneficiaries of an exploitive commercial-farming system. These new commercial farmers think that "paying workers" is a foreign concept. All the dead bodies of freedom fighters lying unmarked in Chimoio and Nyadzonia must indeed be spinning in their shallow graves. Is this what the Liberation Struggle was fought for?

Ghana Must! Go! All the way!

What a cracker of a game today. Assamoah Gyan could have scored three goals, and Andre Ayew could also have netted at least two. Ghana lost, but they were, by far, the better team. Kevin Prince Boateng was outstanding. Sloppy defending at the back allowed the Germans to score the lone goal.

Ghanaian defenders should have charged at Ozil when he took that shot at goal. I aged ten years watching the last five minutes. The mathematical possibilities of who would go ahead in this group (vis-a-vis the other group game) were all too real.

Now for the finals: Sule Muntari must be played from the onset, and Ghana must continue with their attacking football. Maybe they could pair another striker with Assamoah Gyan in the attack. All of Africa will be supporting the Black Stars. We owe it to ourselves to have at least one African team in the Semi-Finals.

Mo Ibrahim's Prize

The problem with Mo Ibrahim's prize is that it rewards ex-leaders. But few of Africa's leaders want to be LIVING ex-leaders. Museveni, RGM, Biya, Mubarak etc, all want to be Presidents-for-life, and DIE IN OFFICE. They do not want to be living ex-leaders -- perish the thought! Furthermore, the prize amount (US$5m) is an amount that most African leaders would sniff at. I can almost see Pres Biya asking his secretary if the amount he was reading was not a typo..... "Are you sure that's not $500 million, ma cherie?"

Kudos to Mo Ibrahim for at least trying and putting his heart into it, but our present crop of African leaders, and ex-leaders do not share his righteousness. Thabo Mbeki, John Kuffour, Quett Masire, Albert Rene - don't know if he's still alive - and probably Godfrey Binaisa are the ex-leaders who are worthy of the prize.