celebrate "the anniversary of African independence" seems at first glance a commendable initiative. The festivities are not lacking here and there. But behind them lie the disillusionment "crunched" in the novel very current The Suns of Independence are the Ivorian Ahmadou Kourouma . Africa since the Sixties - year of emancipation against the colonial yoke - is the scene of atrocities that could most simply explained by a supposed atavistic barbarism or a biblical curse. ( photo: Congolese Patrice Lumumba, is emblematic of a free Africa ).
While we believe that the end of the Cold War - and hence the East-West America USSR - foreshadowed a way forward for Africa, forms of domination have metamorphosed, more pernicious and more painful for African populations. The major powers have stormed the continent, now strategic territory. The conflicts have multiplied: Liberia, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, the Great Lakes ... A long list and fatal.
Basically, the proliferation of dictatorial nations after independence has not helped: African dictators became (and remain) relays the former colonial powers which kept (and keep) infusion in power. The years ninety were the darkest. "The speech of the Baule" given by Mitterrand in 1990 gave us the illusion that democracy would wind blowing. It was hoped the end of sponsorship by the West African dictatorships and the departure of these leaders for life. This was not the case ... Whereas in 1994 South Africa emerged from apartheid to democratic elections, Africa had danced. But this joy was short lived because that year one of the tragedies of the continent's darkest black burst: genocide planned and executed methodically long by Hutus against Tutsis. This latest tragedy is the result of colonial configuration, with the division of the African people - the Belgians who, in turn, introduces the ethnic identity card while France tried hard to support the totalitarian regime of Juvenal Habyarimana. We are independent on paper. It remains to conquer independence of our thinking, and this requires a revision of our attitude, a comprehensive review of our consciousness. What party do we now? The Independence on paper or the dependence of consciousness?
0 comments:
Post a Comment