A Recompiled Essay

AFRICANISM;

THE INDIVIDUAL,

COMMUNAL INTERESTS

& REVOLUTIONS

By Gbujama J. M.

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While handsome motions against corruption and the establishment of the incorruptible state ensued in West Africa, meanwhile, Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia argued his theory of Africanism to be simply - that which works for Africa. The broadmindedness of this theory is pertinent in the development of current definitions towards a buffer of tolerance as well as what political theorist Jimmy Kandeh refers to as a call for the reconfiguring of the modern state, away from the desperate boundaries of mud barracks, predatory policies and international dole; not exclusive from being applied in other polities. Therefore, in criticism of a need for progressive nurture towards state autonomy, new regimes and that of the business class, Kandeh contends; we should seek to become more autonomous in the formulation and implementation of our policy choices and development strategies. Kandeh’s argument was perhaps given, that the particularity of the problem and that which needs to be solved lies in the very hands of the polity in question; and on a case by case basis, though not narrowing in definition, the very idea of broad based authority. Kandeh argues in concise;

Autonomy of state institutions from partisan governments, not to mention checks and balances among these institutions, can help develop institutional capacity, enhance effectiveness and engender legitimacy. Excessive interference from government in the operations of these institutions undermines their legitimacy, erodes capacity and renders them less effective in the performance of basic tasks.…relatively autonomous public institutions are critical to democratic sustainability and the legitimation of state power. The disconnection between state and society can be traced back to the colonial era but the chasm between these two entities has grown since independence. This is largely attributable to two factors: (1) incompatibility between the interests of the political class and the citizenry, and (2) the functional retreat or incapacitation of the state, especially in the areas of social provisioning.

In spite of this, acts of violence against political and intellectual researchers, as mentioned in The Naissance, threatens what little comfort exists towards the development of a modern technology of political science that is redeemable and worthy; and this is to make whatever distinction possible between the presiding politician, the brute and that of the subject matter. In this, the righteous are all too frequently neglected, ravened and driven from their cause, as extreme an event as even Kaunda himself, being ostracized for not being a Zambian citizen. Nevertheless, in order to allay the fears of systemic pundits, critics and non-believers exacting their own royal theater of dissatisfaction, or even brutishness, there may be cause for grammatical sentencing, much like any other simulative practice, in which there is an editing of professional or rather expert clatter, that rattles in the form of descriptive disagreement; that is, the medicine of a political technology.

Therefore, query must be made regarding such countenance of menacing expressions cloaked in gentile performance of said duties to which end; to expunge the undeserving or the deserving from our midst? An overbearing trouble it was in the 1930's when the financing power of chiefs out did the colony, as Political Scientist William Reno's states:

Officials grew more concerned about the growing power of chiefs. Contradictions between colonial state interests and chiefs authority became especially evident with the discovery of diamonds. Freetown could ignore or even encourage chiefs economic power. But as chiefs claimed resources that would eventually provide the majority of state revenues, accommodation between chiefs and the colonial state, encountered new difficulties (45)

The intricate details of such formulations buttress the mention of the problem of elite accommodations around coincidental interests in the pursuit of ultimately contradictory goals; the courtyard that is, versus the science of politics. Whereby again; there is the transfer of a monarchical and stately tendency for a preference to be hailed outside of general duties and instead to be given consideration as an advanced body. Sincerely, given any attempt to reconfigure, the acculturation of a membership of adeptness may breed accusations of an ignominious title heaped upon the small minded. The spry interests of the efficient maintain a conflicting substance over; and instead of a productive potential not aimed at cerebral capillaries. Cultural inferences remain for instance, whether there should be political contingents towards a judgment of developmental arrogance; so much that failure is non-existent, in distinguishing between slain and nutritional concerns; or that of a plane crash of similar fate in which surviving passengers engage in mutual consumption. For example, is war not the only circumstance that allows foreign companies to bail out with no obligations? How much more nutritional concerns during wartime? This is certainly not to condone cannibalism as cultural creed among any or professional mimics who carnally scorn what they consider to be a local minded approach to international matters. This realism of events like the Kamajor movement, overturned important conclusions about native aspirations that all was despair and by despair; a resignation to do nothing, instead of developing a… romanticized civil society that will dissolve the immense social damage of patrimonial politics.

Nevertheless, of what can be said of calls to begin the advent of meaningful regime change, is that the short impressions of regimes are the long term demarcations of eras, therefore, the distancing of politics from the practical may be an outgrowth of these eras, or as in the construction of CIP, the development of an accessible dais. And what confusion, in that regimes may only be cross sections of eras, such as junta bouts with descriptions of Aristocratic and Lumpen images, rumors of complexion consciousness and mural Afrocentrisms, were all a form of incomplete political expressions manifested at one time or another in African history; not to be defined in dominion over it.

This notion of regimes is that of a prevailing element in a similar linear record of rule, like disconnected military regimes in the rule of several governmental systems, outside of the typical democratic sequence, hence the term and cause for a re-configured regimentality. The distinction here is that the entire rule is the regime, not just the memorable impact of governmental norms. This may be most pertinent in distinguishing political change in countries such as Nigeria, that have experienced successive military coups with less memorable impact - yet each with its own regime.

Also in the reboot of memory it must be considered that the individual though often forgotten can be of great import in understanding those eras. Such as the disputes between Samuel Lewis (1843-1903), and Fredric Cardew (1894 hiatus 1900) were central in understanding colonial Sierra Leone .

Christopher Fyfe's notes quite generously that Cardew suggested to the Chamberlain to have Lewis knighted even before himself due to Lewis' noble participation in the anti-corruption Post Master fiasco, against J.H. Spain of aristocratic Krio descent. Fyfe argues the trial against Spain to be the distinguishing public case that made Lewis a hero because of his defense of the Krio jury system in Sierra Leone at that time. However, in other interpretations, Lewis' fame grew as result not of the controversies resulting from the London - Freetown axis, but that of land rights disputes in which Lewis was the only defense in way of Cardews governmental authority against local Africans. This was all between late 19^th and early 20^th century. Therefore as often argued, it is very difficult to track regimes when political history is inconsistent. To do so, it must be consistent, even though agreed; there is less harm in conjecture.

For instance, much of the criticisms against Siaka Stevens from the 1960 through 1980's as being manipulative is contradicting, since in his early years it can be argued that if he believed in the idea of his opposition as possibly capable of serving his interests - he would not have sought containment and elimination. Put simply, a real manipulator believes his opposition to be as useful as any supporter. In this, Stevens may have been more crude than shrewd. Stevens forced Sierra Leone into his style of one party communalism, which ironically has been the argument citation against his concern for individualism and more partially, as a totalitarian.

Perhaps this was really because, unaccented communalism to the Freeman, much less woman, is a form of totalitarianism for certain. It is in this custom that true democracy balances communality's interests against individual freedoms, with the caution that the drive for democracy itself is mounted primarily by and on a conscientious/idealistic authority outside of which most group or individuals would not negate the innate reservation to deny. The disposition to reject is a constant.

Yet, Stevens’ appeal; this has little to do with Stevens mind you or to condone any acts, but rather the discussion of a political philosophy, that must have had something to do with the promotion of an idea of non-ancestral merit. He must have been quite aware of the tendency to lean towards an essentially Athenian styled aristocratic philosophical interpretation. His confrontation so noted, was direct in regard to British bureaucratic expatriates as being redundant, claiming that former colonies did not need 30 British professionals to do what 5 local nationals already can. This may have been more seated in budgetary concerns than opposition to British expertise, but nonetheless underscores his youthful lacking to apply a local lazze'-faire manipulation approach to the political opposition, as seen in later years when many opposition members involved themselves with the Stevens regime.

Thus, in this manner Stevens could have been said to safeguard towards national individualism as opposed to post-colonial communalism, if even symbolically more towards his own political short-term interests. Conceivably, this is the charismatic reason he acquired a populist appeal.

It has been argued that for power to remain in the interest of the common welfare, it must be distributed evenly and out of the hands of the minority. While many agree, only an informed few tend to understand necessitates of the converse, considering the nature of inter-cultural politics. Despite the remoteness of a chief, there are centralization contentions; regardless the depth of a party/army loyalist, there remains survival under the opposition; and no matter the religion, there are national concerns. Much discussion of political expediency must include characteristics such as aggressiveness, craftiness, openness and spitefulness as being the traits that influence an individual’s interplay even within the communal realm.

Then again, most foreign researchers such as Reno err in predictive judgment, since civics is nothing if not the most romanticized factor in conflicts involving political and social agencies. Thus a curse though implicitly unrighteous, may simply be a call for justice more so than it is a reckless magic heltered upon the weak

SORCERY REVEALED

Certainly, any talk of revolution at this point as method to political change may prompt query into the definitions of a wasted war. Granted, this was justified in the pre-configured state in which the revolutionary justified his war by proceeding with textual inspirations and vindications. Amilcar Cabral's Revolution in Portuguese-Guinea (1969) exemplifies such upward struggling paths. The alternative is that party reformation and reconciliation is the preferable non-violent language, given that reconfiguring is now the more computer friendly realization of political behavior. It is difficult to convince for example, that many critiques were really advocates of violence by use of the term revolution. In reason, many of these attempts despite wrapped in an African cloak were really an alignment of nation-state politics typical of British, French, American, and Soviet pluralism, all which carried a revolutionary sentiment as foundation of authority. Outside of a more representative clip art, much of which restrict Africanist sentiments in corporatism, as argued before, the question is one of a spatial-temporal issue in relation to the "death of place"; an apparent increase in a sense of political displacement in the form of bureaucratic musical chairs and certain prospective roulettes. Indeed, considering Pumphey's editions of Armed Conflicts in Africa (2003), the issue itself has been dissected to include essays such as Conflicts in Africa: An overview by Ali Mazrui as well as several others, which include the extremely resourceful J. Ayo Langley's Ideologies of Liberation In Black Africa 1856-1970 (1979), which is an 855 page anthology of documents on modern African political thought from colonial times to the present. It includes many essays by Pan-Africanists like Nnamdi Azikwe, Kofi Busia, Julius Nyerere and Kenneth Kaunda. Yet, despite these attempts there is less political emphasis that life itself is what is of consequence, its origins, aspirations and contentment’s; the idea that there is a living goal, and a preliminary discussion of its veritable nature; for one cannot re-build a civilization on agitation alone. This is a primitive truth.

For critical information among the ranks; those romantics who dwelled back in the 1980's on the more emotional handbook, Dark Days in Ghana (1969) published in the haedes of Guinean exile, is also Revolutionary Path (1973), a post- humous collection of essays, articles, speeches, editorials, charters as well as extracts. Quite extensive, it demands a read of 508 pages and is a compilation of state records and documentations held under Nkrumah's regime. In fair consideration of the notion of the dwindling of the African intellectual in government, it must be stated that Sierra Leone’s Truth and Reconciliation Council Report (2005) is of similar volume, and that many regimes past within those regions, have yet to publish defense and declarations in a collective book form. Yet given, this point is made regarding issues of political manifestos and their brevity. Indeed, a thing of inspiration, Nkrumah notes that after having visited Sierra Leone, he then began to lay the ground work for his political path, refining the histories of The Monrovia Group, Casablanca Conference, and the Brazzaville Group. Of much interest, is his included essay; The Spectre of Black Power which clearly distinguished Nkrumah not only as a social theorist but also as a leading global Pan-Africanist organizer, networking even with the South American leader, Che' Guevara. Further added is his essay, Message to the Black People of Britain.

As touched on in earlier submissions and in accordance with Wole Soyinka terms, Language as Boundary, in Art, Dialogue and Outrage (1988), also to consider is the Francophone-Anglophone latent struggle in language, as evidence of the specialist need for linguists, denoting language as a great attitude divide. Claude Riviere's, Guinea: Mobilization of a people (1977) ,detailing the political system, pre-colonial and revolutionary years, is an account described by the Journal of Foreign Affairs as a misleading subtitle since it details the progressive immobilization of Guinea's political and economic life. That being subjective, disciplinarians on Sheku Toure’s life may find it a bureaucratic appraisal of Guineas political more-so than cultural road. The most enriching account in that regard is that of the revolutionary pre-foundation of Samori Toure and well as details on the gradual rise of Sheku Toure’s regime. Oddly, with fewer specifics, net-workers may be able to connect Sierra Leone to francophone uprisings by way of the Gaullist movements included. There are also Mano River Union attempts on trade and Toure's opinion of the British. The most frank quote is that Sheku Toure; had no special liking for his English speaking neighbors except when they agreed to help him.

Addendum defragmentation works to this type of study cannot leave out Ibrahim Abdullah's: Bush Path to Destruction (1996) which was the controversial psychoanalysis of The Revolutionary United Front's seemingly patched Foot Path to Democracy (1996). Abdullah is quite direct in his philosophy of the credential and query of such assertions, which states: because you are in the academy, does not mean - that you are an intellectual.

Moreover, in line with Nkrumah’s communalist agricultural view, as critique of farming issues mentioned therein, given as example, is Rawling’s militarist struggle with farming protection in Ghana and the detailed accounting of rural agricultural structures in Nkrumah's theoretical revolutionary state. These contributions may be relevant in dealing with the ongoing revival and re-construction of post-war West African states, many of which were torn right down to the very traditional elements of subsistence farming. It must be noted that disciplinarians have often argued, that the Marxist state was inapplicable in Russia as envisioned by Karl Marx, due to an existing feudal system. However, this contention even if proved true, contradicts Red China's embrace of communism and seemingly successful application and export in the agricultural sense; though it can be argued that in the regional sense, following the Japan-Russian War, industrialism had already evolved in Asia. Furthermore, China's MFN status, its proximity with capitalist nations like the United States and iron curtain affiliation with third world economies during the cold war, insulated a trade mutualism in regions such as Africa, of valuable import in that regard. Perhaps further research is needed in addressing non-governmental attempts towards insulation. Nevertheless, one must take into consideration Che's and Castro's failure in South America to extend their revolutions to similar agriculturist regions like Bolivia. This argument holds in relation to Toure, whose Cultural Revolution surpassed his ability to export formal communism to neighboring countries, like Sierra Leone, Gambia and Senegal many of which were considered neutral to Western and Eastern blocks - if not adversarial. Lastly, outside of mining, reconfiguring must take into consideration whether exists potential for crony capitalism; and the imbalance of petty corruption strains, most pertinent to the international social outlook, New World Order, Computer Soft State, Music, and film proliferation in the sense of the idea of socialist sharing in the international pot so to speak. Those relations between highly industrialized systems and less industrialized economies when focusing on subsistence farming areas, such as those in rural Sierra Leone.

This is in regards to industrialist production and its costs, which are often held in high esteem to perishable goods.