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"CIVILIZATION" ON TRIAL: THE COLONIAL AND POSTCOLONIAL STATE IN AFRICA
Journal of Third World Studies, Spring 2008 by Muiu, Mueni wa
Instead of removing African countries from the colonial yoke, "independence" tied mem even closer to the colonial powers. It also silenced the people by giving them a sense of false hope. Now that they had their Uhuru [independence], all they had to do was work hard and all other fruits of freedom would follow. In Kwame Nkrumah's pithy formulation: "seek ye first the political kingdom, and everything shall be added unto it." When these benefits failed to materialize, the people blamed fate, themselves or their leaders. The African politico-bureaucratic elite-much like its colonial predecessor-maintained centralized states in which powers are vested in the executive without a tradition of multiparty opposition. Such a state was antidemocratic in the sense that it forced its citizens (treated as subjects) to submit to its power by obeying its rules. Instead of uniting diverse ethnic and social groups in nation-building, the post-colonial state relied on nationalist rhetoric to protect itself from the majority of the people. Political power became personalized, blurring the divide between rulers and states, and between the public and private spheres. Various foreign agencies controlled the economy while African leaders opted for political power. But the rulers became more corrupt as they kept part of the proceeds for themselves in a game that was controlled by the West. The state's legitimacy was under attack as it faced economic crisis. Various authors have dealt with the economic crisis facing African states in the 1980s, a subject which need not detain us here. The colonial state was a brutal and violent state. The post-colonial state is equally brutal and violent, but in a more subtle and manipulative way.
Various reasons, notably an excessive population, were given as the African states' failure to develop. Population control programs were introduced with the support of African rulers. The proportion of fertile land that is set aside for the cultivation of flowers, tea, pineapples, cocoa, coffee, or peanuts (as opposed to food production) for export was never questioned. Nor was the setting aside in many countries (such as Kenya) of vast areas as game parks, which force communities to compete for rare arable land. Africa's core problem was presented as its rapid population growth. Leonard Barnes characterized Africans as irrational, lazy, and lacking initiative, which was crucial in development. They were "incapable" of developing on their own. In an effort to open the African state further to foreign exploitation, and to 'save' its economies, the World Bank and IMF introduced structural adjustment programs, which were, inter alia, aimed at reducing the size and power of the public sector in general, and of the state in particular. The debt crisis facing these economies provided the first opportunity for international financial institutions to meddle into African states' affairs. World Bank/IMF policies did not improve the state of the African economies. In the name of liberalization, the state was further weakened and alienated from the majority. Development as advocated by the World Bank/IMF means more foreign agencies meddling in African affairs and controlling African economies. It also means further exploitation of the African people.
