Silve IDEOLOGIES

CAN IDEOLOGIES AND s Silve

STRUCTURE

Lt

6

o

srn 945 s

I

I

1

The

a

t

are

res^{<-or,I-c :IJ}

e s abSOI'D,eU

areas

of 9

87

erest to

- 9 963

e a lS

h s

consists not of

also es

S

c o e

2 3

5 6

.L>V.LH...-'uI

s per

been re]

s es

e

o the s se

central the

sence

s

erms of l e f itse lS

cr t al

The mos e at least re as to

that a l Id of

deve and

s has not and l clear

because Joos els a s

h and even to dec

the short the

lS on

react s also s method

rl 1na i-hQ

'" ^{-i+ QC n-F} -F"Y'l';'-" -n ^C' +'1~ 1 1

i 4

s Dasi

ica

the colo- of

ts

the Sahara f s to the

1 s

i but to the

The

arrival

signi cant decades

ca north of a loose Hubert Des cb am.^.b'

less corres g

discovery

e be

e lems of the pre colon

. The pre logical to

essaY5 is to some extent a

more iable the last whom the dest

countries.

the

of tate const

the the colon

2 an

areo f course, the and Hal do

ch had never known any other than the

a a

of al s

have been ellectual

correlated to the st

son are reliable

we of the S al

his

cal areas anisat sts.

the

In is f pre~colon 1 a, the per be

the arr al f t an settlers

tanto This per lS erise.d the s f pre~deve

the rule of Islam te knew ^weL

nat b

se s s

of

ent is

colon

of man and

S deve

Cl

SlS ence albe s

e

colon Be

c of of cons

e cal ca i not on

and ve

the and the c

such as lwa are

isat cen~

sp e of the lack of

of s to

state of att ed

I isat valent

at

isat

This I s

I

slstance S a cle res

al

his ory of pre~

tern seaboard rat

lish

I

ent e of the hi

because the sac

s reI is of

lC l

dis

e

s f

are the

his of states of

e x amp Le s

s

es

e o

a f

a t case

s case a

e as seen

s

e e of s

o

s res

s

He ecame a

colon

f res

f s

reas

r-arik s

at ists wiIdes

er Iear

the es use o convert h cap

that the

lS that bas al

s s

es

to be conu.ng

l

to

Id

t

pean e coriomv

s

the s

the roles

reversed e

s

as the

tructure ich s de s

t.r-uc ture

out

ate

ed

s

role

s s les , because were ab e

y

Ion pres ctt_'Clllcse

a t lS

state.

e

er f as

that it

Second \jI]or a

be

't

Tile

one

be that the us f

e have

ece

s ssure

struct lsas

struct s

11 be o se

end

s s

a co11ossus

s

s

ed sp

c

best

b amed ce t

take a s

the co es s

to escape le ,,]Quld see

e twe en a black s

cul form of 1

l

slbl o which s

o

the istor al et would be

how

l

could leaders,

own lead s

s is

favourab e or cal vi

for

or:

s

1

ed G

Gu ea.

ey ion

more or'

ist 1

movements s hows

s 1 t

know of arance

South ican S

been clear l s

le of the lle

unt

the meSSlan to allow the el

.ie s whi ch b

t In order to grasp the genes s

or if

spread he f

ord so

eo

of the so called

we need to go back to 890 which date century there ha

ce

at itucle

co o a

reconstruct reaction 0

who e

the

ca and SlJVl.'CiU.L\.;O

need

of several less org ant s

colon lism to be

t lcan l

at to the

Either are

lmos total lS

ch until now have been w

es c

lca lS

oned the colo-

ch gave

1 ^{s ms} express a revealed ers

r e f o

dUI'

lar

mo t character s~ic

s

al mach ism is noth his book, the reader

that const utes the ich Silva

oc

l

the or

equivocal 1906

r-oohet Lsrn and

s that o o '01h

Christian movements as

UCl..L(Cl.ll\-Cl

o

ase

5

word On re th of contradict ss

but lu revolt lS

numerous societies of Christian

el oc

7

of Si va al

l

s p

earance of

al aspect v

e conne t Clousness mess an

lse to a more or less n

the

po

are outward

c

are st 11

ellectu that

ss than a s can de ect the

or s

and s all, e

ch to

this s

di ^l e

ve

lig conunon

uper

latform

t

s

o understand

lic lS sSlon Church the B

Negro Church as so ile le lsm and preache

a s

has become late

or black super re lS ist a

hand the elief

th

of

for the und stand

ent to s

He en l . . later.

ardon s

s 1 as

s acc On c

ch th

s ⁰ the two

s parishoners as too s mov

too di

er racial~

and on a

Church be leves

of

ss Chur-ch preaches c Church has a home

l

t

emacy Both the

the Ne the

to

at leas

the

for that

a

lsm a

ed of a

for s

mess lon

s never' se

a

s be whos con

trat s

a

st yst

of b

but on

act for o ts

s an explanation es

S lS not res icted t

S S to rec

ses of react

l stat

t I

who 0 lS

ce of relat

as lnt to acce

&

as

student

other hand the egro Church o

Church

e tion of reI st

If al

s

George Balandier 1

al sllClL<=:;U

measure for dal

The

the

cause

lem In lS st

e o

abolished slaves to

the

1

Kansas was

lC

1 t s on not until nO""'J)

It had transformat lished

lon of the North of

were blow

an ant on D C. John Brown the t

le def i t book

IIJas

pr

led to the V

the War of Secession 186 1866 e as

865 voted the famous 13th

ted States. The 14th and 15th Amend- l i

SOC

1866 and 1870 res et which (

on

famous song who was a settler

'\A]ash

859 because he ant slavery en b fore the end s

Const ut 1850 onwards

s

ments, to

sI ery periodical he r-o of

the Un ed States to undergo a sI In 1852 Harri Beecher Stowe

of

a 2

sl the

radical le

t t eenth the

190

ch is s

lSC al

e

ile humus 0

the f i t

1

SOCl

amon th

thodist

le of the of a

comoerisat Once

01"

an

of Du Bois dates

its r-ornant i c The name of the

e lectuals was one ers

was uttered creat

as a

the eol ical lar

on named illiam Edward

Du Bois was to become one

canist movement to ch l i e and all the brill

these

eo has

t:he USA lon of the The

o r-e act

] ered Booker

the North who faced at

ch cou

B T ItJash

down mesSlan

as 1

""Jay

of Z

canl icant

of all Negroe

c an.i.sm as an ical context is a word

se

v

ellectuals r-oI.e of

th

d

disc le

Bois 1868-1963 whe n the

grea est theoretic the he was to ed ate all h of his ell ce

jection 2

c

ch al o be

ce st

t

ce f

fact f

ist structure

tros ect er

c

one ed

s

own

In t laissez- ist period l contra-

sp all its short advanced step towards the

1 Cl' of s

justice to

ts of

lS

icat

an the

al

pos aCl 1

e.,

ear ler colon

cal d

lcan

of the black people. To Id not be do them o

negroe

of the e of i self,

ean

ed

al b

erms d

was s

was an ant

long at

t Pan-

sts such aro

of the colo~

alist

s s

glis mental

th and

supremacy c:ct of a.1

s he dialect of

s stress on humani icat

The SlS

l

now become the

canlsm and would under 1

s

ist e

1 sm were not evas

e

e

lS the ak 1

lcanl m itsel . The f ss

l l

the 0

ved an enormous o this spe if

er all was an st But the

to is eory the at ent ed

We hold that this is due to two s

e lack ence the role e c

factors the histor cal proces of the deve of soci

t es F t to s t was not any concrete sto

rical e ed of a ucces fu DD11 ^('r1 1nn nf xl ^r1 -t-rlPn-r' c»c:

24

ense

as

at

s

c was sent

and

c:o

l 1

the of

h s gre at

as and emot of Du Bois on t

t 0

o s

c contr'adict

lantic ] c of

ism and somet on

as

sac o

s acted as such. H s

lS the cornerstone of the movement of

lanta Th

aristocrat not on o

Du Bois It is the obs s

s

a

The word d

e he wrote. I have never' be and 12 lie had a doctorat Harvard

s and his later' of sac 1 but also because

case discus

Du Bois

canist of ob

has

system wh i.ch l

much

\;J

never' pro the

s wh

lem l i

S

even this to

S lS the Du Bois

of the est a

not on the 1\1e

ard

The

of \-Jorld \tJar

character ed ess

as ithout a home bu ^SeC:J'__Ll

e so

whi has

'that

l

J

of the colour-l

er races of men Asia the sea 14 These 1 doctr e than a the J

until the

Americas But 0

iod 5 duI' lca or

l

that of the 1 aders

c ones. but stress

lcan cultural cond lon lism

ered at

is the

of the real reasons beh what we have

S however not q

s or

w

ess of 1900 Du Bois st

ec

ca and islands Itural

ed more of a cu from

exact

Horeover the

underl

is

of the darker to the 1

J:>m,coY" can

s

famous s ech de

p

not lat co

above as a t

and Africa

s l' cas

e1 but l

h ^{Paria C}

d

f is

amer entri

lcanlsm smacks of

Drama In h F

wors ⁰

cas 11

e be

Brussels l.can

the

le the t s c a es the d

s

the theor s

ernes f Pan-

racial contact IS

London shatt

lat e advance ongress are s t i l l

me

Id

lished the orrore s

Second

t b made to enc s e

s

the dat of

ss the

isdom 1

d a concrete success

c

1 ical

But as far as 917

o

of democracy of

stab ished another of the t

when we con thos ach eyed at

srn:

establ Srvm e-v r-t-t-

les"

_ _ • • ..:J 1 f

ctober nat

er and

p

s :

l cant ant s the London unc at on f

oppressed

p

that

e of Congresses of 1945 held

7

lar

volut of s

Id etween 1919 lS clash

this s ses

ies cons

c

17 Of all

to prove to be that ay er the October

had ad ed a POSlt Communism truck a very

lca was alre p s

s Ch and Indones

sses were to ated struct on

f

that s to Internat

l

Becaus se

whi

and 1927 the

act e he movements of nat 1 But sp e

lS the ongresses rejected all that which had and en ment . Is thi not a case a de ent

of Black lsm s to Communism and

not on it lis At the t the Pan-

~~~,,~uts cut the f of moderates comparison w the

Th 1 1 the later even had hard

P I r';~t ed

colonialist ican C

the ole eason that

was better than communism the most ant one was

st lon of

de- era e

powers lar pre the

addi would at

s

! I ! ! . "'t~rJ;-.,ed

alist~

Id be also The anti

aused a great

to ma es

at ated

. The

s • The eCVHVJJL.l_

class brothers e so e

s and to and the

et

jobs at home

srn entered a the

c

ic the emands

lie and the

to

ss issued the fol had the cons quence 11

as soldiers because

ss

ation and the seizure and

ci 1 al

lOUS

USA wer unable to e

result of thi was that th colon the army when there

tered

un trus-r-L7,-,y)-r-

movements the to dis the \l

es overseas and that the

e been unwill le .isrn t

cess 8

1 ical rev the Manchester C

I

e if ch

ebleness the advent valence

Western power's

W

that of

e

lS

cal

the and subject ivat

tIle on

lS to explo IAL PEOPLES

of all colonial dest All colonies

ist c whether

s 1 compla appeal and arraign We world 1 t to the facts of our condi

fi every way we can edom

social betterment

v'Je

V DECLARATION TO THE CO

9

peopl But

Therefore ⁵ v.Je

11 ruak e the

v«

and

The the co onie st have the r elect the own Governments, rest ct

foreign pOvJers We say to the oples colonies that must fi for these ends

means at e sal

prl He cracy

S

he

was is

h s 19

s of

ich had been

l

30

s he the rac

crystallised

L llt:lllc:,e

e 1

luence on

Padmore

Padmore s volte face au s e ⁰

t the J

as f al

aornor-e exerted a

11 ctuals and later ec

lS that ses a eH

nat Hhich t<:: the e_" c backbone 0 this nat lsm.

e

communi S

d

c

pol lCS of H 1

and

commun s unti 1936 ⁰

lS cle the cons t i

t 1 s St on h s s lS a

sical case of y b ith the bathwater

are N

c and

an to

them th ellectuals

much aware . Insp

of our era 1

t

to the c

as a cle c 1 sh~

ican

was

pon co people reflects his concern hods wouLd

ln clear contrast to the lC ists,

, ' 1 [ 1 a-l.

Hhose of

lur as a states

litical situat s of the cont the orb

1

the

o lns lr lon as Len

S

de ent upon ical situat

s of

t ioned wor-k c

reasons, Th

the

s mater list ana

e

uence of no

s

of ^lS pol ical

the

real les

of all the d wrote

s

posit

na nn,=il

lC

lcan ca 32

sm lowed arlanlsm s

se

ss

ilo~

The deve the deve a to

the deve sed and

lean soc al trad

one year

cra

of

colon sts The

enc which

U.F-,'~-'-44st colon s

modern pal ical

ss

The exc

lS to s i t

at cord es of the e

that the cond the cond

cra

to the emanc ation of the whole conti

the

vJay

states took

l S

ed a declaration of war

system South a and total s"nnn,n, le who at that t were on the

of the proces of owards defeat

such shall be

i l 1958 the F e of

all 21b He stat

of consc but

of t

e

the

ment

S

acce the su

nent and const and

victor'

33

Panafricanism. Putting Africa into Marx instead of putting Marx into Africa. The main virus we are discussing is centrifugal alienation which pervades the Panafrican intellectuals . Also their disregard or misinterpretation of the role of economic forces in the process of social change.

Cultural Panafricanism: Az i kiwe

&

The political ideology implicit In Panafricanism i s , as I have attempted to show, not entirely precise in i ts essent ia l co- ordinates. In order to offer a more complete i d e a of it, we must deal with cultural Panafricanism, i .e . that Panafricanism wh i c h makes of t h e cul t ural resurge n ce of the Negro the pr e - condition of the role he i s to play on the world sta g e of

peoples . Nnamdi :iz i kiwe , th e Nigerian leader, offers us a prefe ct examp le of this cu l t ur a l Pa n af r i c a ni s m. His bo o k Renas ce nt

Africa advocates his viewpoint and makes an appeal which un- ambiguously shows his idea of the prime importance of cul t ure in achieving the liberty of the Neg r o . After sayi ng, "Te ach the African, who lS being reborn, to be a new man. Tel l him that he offered a great contribution to the history of Man.,,22 Li k e Padmore, he go e s on to react against communlsm when he de c l a r e d

34

calculated rej ection of the economic dimensi on of the colonial probl em, is an op p o r t u n i s t position calculat ed to pl e ase the British Imperialists. It 1S not wi t h o u t r eason that he wa s to become the head of sta tc of the futur e Feder ati on of Nig eria .

Jomo Kenyat t a mu s t be co n sidered as a Panaf ri can i s t more bec ause of his previous membership of the intellectu al cl u b of the Pan- afr i can t10 v e men t than by an y applicatio n of Pa n a f r i c a n i sm 1n its ge n e r a l l y accepted sense in his subsequ e nt ac t i o n s as a practical politician in Kenya. Kenyatta, for reasons which re- main to be elucidated, is at the same t ime a centrifugal and a centripetally alienated individual. So, that when we sa y his Panafricanism is a cultural one, it is not , as in the case of

Azikiw~ that he made of the cultural renascence of the Negro, a sine qua non pr e c o n d i t i o n for the seizure of liberty. His Panafricanism is cultural, bec a u s e i t constitutes an almost total return to the tribal fact, with all that this implies 1n the field of African culture. Culture here being defined not in the literary sense of the term but more 1n its anthropological sense. Kenyatta is not a sta t e sma n in the modern sense of the term, he is a super-tribal chief.Azikiwe and Keny a t t a differed in the sense in wh i c h th ey us e d the term culture: Az i k i we was applying i t in its Eu r o pe an sense as a sort of luxury or status symbol , while Ke n y a t t a saw i t as ju s t a part, but a part which

35

Afri can a free democracy which me ans universal suffrage.,,23 The position of Og i n g a Odinga,24 in his brief analysis of the Mau-Mau Uprising, ma k e s it clear that the independence of Kenya was the r e sult of the sacrifice of the lives of the freedom fighters and that it was not acquired at the co n fe r e n c e table.

This thesis is advanced in order to giv e an alleged class character to the Mau-Mau. The posi tion of Og i n g a Odinga is doctrinally untenable and ther e is nothing which can better demonstrate this than the state of tribal stagnation in which Kenya still remalns.

Negritude

Each of the We s t e r n colonial powers has their own colonial

philosophy: that of Great Britain is based on the theory of the respect for the beliefs and customs of the natives. The French philosophy is that of assimilation which means the integration of the African population into French culture. The Portuguese philosophy, in the terms of their little father, is one of unilateral integration by the Portugues e as well as an inter- racial penetration whose aim is nothing but the creation of a

"new man", the mulatto.

36

The comparative "mi l d n e s s" of Eng l i s h colonialism and the

barbarity of the French are nothing but the expressions of the different powe r of the colonialist powers and not philosophical differences between them.

The difference between Panafrican ism and Negr i t u de taken by itself as a l iterary ex pr e s s i o n of Panafricanism is r eflected by the acceptance by both movements of the idea of different colonialist philosophies referred to above. Aime Cesaire, an intellectual from the French West Indies, is the father of the word Negritude. From the very beginning Cesaire found in

Leopold Sedar Senghor an ardent defender, not only of the word but of its cultural connotations. For this reason, both men are regarded as the founders of Neg r i t u d e . The political implica- tions of the ideology of Ne gritude are vague and imprecise but, as a cultural stand, i t is synonymous with cultural assimila- tion. Logically, this position is in dialectical opposition to the French colonialists~ ph i l o s o p h y of cultural assimilation, but the analysis of the pOlitical implications of Negritude reveals that the contradiction ex i s t s only between the Negro intellectuals In face of the European values they were confron- ted with.

At the meeting held In June 1958 In Cotonou, Senghor explained

37

port rait of an idealist , acc o r di n g t o Hh o m Negri t u d e, although literary , i s a de spe r a te effort t o brin g Af rica into the

realitie s of th e prese nt ce nt u ry wi t h o u t any r e gard for the

role played by su c h realities in th e drama of the African people, of which Neg r i t ude cl a ims t o be a positive reflection. Such a position was t o dict at e the ideas of Senghor as a statesman.

There is one ma l n di f f e r e n ce betw e en Ne g r i t u d e as applied by Senghor and that of

ct

native country. The future wa s to prove that on a literary plane Negritud e wa s for Cesa i re a need for the affirmation, a way to cure the inhibitive ef f e c t of an inferiority complex of an isolated Negro intellectual . Cesaire showed himself to be more concerned wi t h the structuring of an ideology that would glve the Ne g r o Africans the authentic political basis of which cultural conditions are but consequences. As happened with

Panafricanism, Negritude was for the same reason widely accepted in the European Imperialist capitals. Se k o u Toure s~mmed this up in his L'Afrique et la Revolution: "In inte rnational

meetings the po s i t i o n of Negr i t u de is more often held by 'non- negro es¹ thdn by negro e s:,,26 Th e influence of Negr i t u d e lS

still great amo ng Af r i c a n intellectuals of the post-war genera-

98

abov e, the se~e s i s of the idea of African unity Ha s introduced by ~he father s of Panafricanism. In spite of hav i n g been intro- duced by them in a very vague wa y, the ide a cannot be separated from their pan -ideolog ies. Ir one sense Af r ic a n unity is the consuIT@ation of Pa n a f r i ca n i sm and Neg r i t u d e . Bo t h were conceived and developed wi t h i n the colonial context itself, which reached its decline with t he end of Wo r l d War 11, when African Unity was to fa c e a nev! world political contex~, of the independence of several African Stat ?s, ~n d the development of the Imperia- list pOlicy of the United States. Too weak in their pOlitical structure, the newly independent African countries, independently of the political op t i o n s open to them, agreed on the idea of

uniting Africa. This unity, in spite of being, logically, the immediate answer to the interests of the continent, on the other hand, posed problems that the African states would prove unable to fa c e. Many of the Independences were mere transfers of soverei gnt y, leaving t h e real power, the economic power, still in the hands of The original colonialists. This meant that the economic problems un d e r l y i n g the pOlitical problems of post-war Afr i c a could not be solved by the efforts of the

governments of the ne~ Af ri c a n states.

The formation of the European Economic Community represented a new sta~e . that of ne o - ~ o]cni21i sm . in ~hat more countries

39

ment of African pe o p les, of their orig i na lity, and of thei r

. . . . " 27 I ff f " . d

clvlll s atlon. n e ec t , the wo r d s 0 the ~u:.nean lea er wo u l d late r find t h emse lves in s t i t u t i ona l i sed in the Guinean Const itut ion whic h, in it s art i c le 34 predicts t h e partial or total abandonment of sove r eignty "in ord er t o ac h i e ve A~r i can

unity" .

The Charter of T~e African Unity Organisation pr omu l g a t e d in Addis Ababa on the 25th Ma y 1963 did take into account the factors of ec o n o mi c s and soverei gnty. In article N. 3 on Principles we read:

(1) Equal sovereignty of all member states;

(2) Non-interferenc e in the internal affairs of states;

(3) Respect for the sovereignty and of the terri- torial inte grit y of each state and of the in- alienable right to independent ex i s t e n c e ;"

This fact, in spite of its appearance of soundness, dictated the very failure of African unity. The fu t u re would prove the almost picturesq?e idealism implicit in the ideology of African

lJn;t-V_ 'T'o(L"IV Af-r;"rin lln;t-v ;~ not-hinD" hllt- i'l n.:=1t-;pnt- in i'l np pn

40

III - PARTY STRUCTURE

The developments in African ideology and the tendences which they develop ed be f or e th e period of independ ence tended to adopt as their immedi a t e aim the sei zur e of power. Af t e r in- dependenc e a di ffe r e n t problem fac ed African leaders, that of maintaining powe r . It is in this do ma i n that the political party was to play its role. In ord e r to bett er understand the parti- cularity of the very conception of pa r t y in the African context, in the period af te r that of direct colonialism, we must not

only simply recapitulat e the pOlitical heritage of colonialism, but we mu s t also analyse the pressures acting upon African

states, after they have ac h i e ve d so v e re ign t y . Wi t h the exception of the Congo (ex-Belgian), and the Portuguese colonies which are still "overseas provinces" of Portugal, decolonialisation of the territories undsr British and French domination presents the same economic basis which were to dictate the genesis of the one-party government. In the cases where independence was prepared beforehand and also where power was seized by force of arms, the similarity of an t i - c o l o n i a l i s t forces was a vital condition. For the Africans the struggles against colonial oppression was and still lS, a struggle on a national scale against a foreign enemy, and not a class struggle destined to

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leads a party; (2) In the Communist democracies there is a single political party because its role is that of the resolu- tion of class contradictions,

The European communist parties, above all the French communist party, played a role ~h i c h , though it was not the role they should have played, nevertheless cannot be usefully criticised~

Almost all the leaders of the states of Africa had links in varying degrec ,3 with the french Communist Party and other

Eu~opean left-wing parties. At the end of World War 11, these parties, due to the role they had played in the defeat of

Fascism, enjoyed a considerable prestige, and even had a place in the power structure. This certainly constituted an encourage- ment for left-wing African leaders.

Nevertheless, the points of agreement were infinitely weaker than the points of disagreement. It was not the alliance of the African and European intellectuals on an ideological plane, but one of the Eur o p e a n and Af r i c a n proletariats which might have been expected to form a revolutionary alliance. However, the situation was very far from this. In order to better understand this gap between the two proletariats let us turn to the ana- lysis of Ho Chi Minh: 2 8

Indifference of the metropolitan pro-

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Imperialism and Capitalism do no t fail to t ake advantage of this re c e i p ro c a l dislik e and th i s ar t i f i c i a l hierarchy of r a c e s to inhibit pr o p a g a n da and to di v i d e forces whi ch should unite. "

Another fact is that European parties had clearly defined

frameworks within wh i c h they could exert their authority. This, however, was not, in general, the case in Africa. In Africa the national idea still remained to be created, which faces us with two concepts of party: (1) The European one, aimed at main- taining the status quO; (2) The African one, facing the obliga- tion of even having to forge the very political structure of the nation. The one-party system plays an imperative role upon this fact.

The case of one-party syste m in Af r i c a , in general, is not the corollary of a political philosophy which is based on a class analysis in order to finally resolve the contradictions between classes. Such a case is, as we stated above, the consequence of an artificial alliance whose strength has, until now, been dedicated to the development of a national conscience.

In confrontation with events in Africa we hold that: class division ha d not yet developed and that the communist option

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domin a nt pa r ty in a de ve l o p i n g st a t e is an outgrowth of t h e mobilization of persons an d groups in thE pre-ind epend enc c period. In the former Br i t i sh territories , th e exi s te n ce of a cohesiv e political party und er a domi n ant l e a d er was a sine qua non for the transfer of political power t o loc al hands.

Since the Bri t i s h we r e empi r ica l , reactin g to and through a

"p r o ce s s of int e rr elat e d pres s u re", to qu o te Si r Andr ew Coh e n , the conditions for exten s i on of loc al power rema i ne d relatively common while the timing dif fer e d . In the former French areas, it was the timing of the transf e r of power s th at was common while local conditions of te n varied wi d e l~ ..• Thus both colonial reg imes stimulated, though by different means, the mass dominant parties, wh i c h form the decisiv e link between the pre-ind ep enden c e and post-independence periods.,,29

Ma r g are t L. Bates in her es s a y concernin g the one-party stat es in Tanzania stated: "The first and most pres sing problem is attainment of na t i o na l unity. The size of Tanganyika, its lack of communications, and its varied tribal and racial background mak e it vital to ach i ev e some form of nation al alle gianc e an d national consensus and t o gi v e the country a sen se of its

common past and it s co mmo n future. Until a few ye ars ago, ther e was no way even of say i ng "Tan gany ika n" in Swahi l i ; the word

44

for example the case of Nige r i a . In 196 5 the Na t i o n a l Council of Niger i a an d the Camero on s was the only polit ical power of the country. Its leader Azik iwe wa s progressively reduced to only representin g the Ibo pe ople, t he majority in the Eastern reglon of the Confederation. This weakness goes back to 1951 and to the Action Group, the party of the Yorubas in the West, under the l eadership of A.T. Balewa finished up by re p r e s e n t i n g and being dominated by the Hausa sultans of the Muslim North further weakened the Confederation.

In Tanzania, Julius Nyerere correctly avoided this degradation of power which consisted in the superposition of tribal power over and above that of the state. Relying on the support of the small-scale farmer, knowing that international opinion was

interested in the difficulties of his compatriots, he succeeded in aquiring an immense popularity among the whole population.

His patient action of mobilisation and indoctrination ended up with the political unity of all the tribes and sidestepped the efforts of British Imperialism to re a wa k e Tribalism. This is why the case of single-party rule in Tanzania, different as i t is, from other cases, has to be analysed not only in terms of its cause but also of its consequences.

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All these parties have a pyramidal structure shich en v e l o p a totality of organs usually corresponding to administrative su b - d i v i s i o n s .

Most parties adopt the rule of democratic centralis m, according to whic h, ea c h board of party ap p a r a t us elects the level imme- diately above it. Th e se rules are inscribed in the Statutes of the majority of single-parties in Africa.

Passing from the analysis of the structure of the single party to the analysis of its role, we find that the single party has not only the monopoly of politicising the masses, but, also by definition, of parlamentary representation.

Contrary to what takes place in Western democracies, the pro- minence of the party in constitutional organs is a fact. In this case we are confronted ~ith a fundamental difference between the role of the party in Af r i c a , which in this case is nearer in its qualitative aspects to that which we find in communist countries.

For a better understanding of the essential role of a single party in Af r i c a , nothing is clearer than the words of Sekou

46

Another problem, no less important, linked to the existence of single-party structure is that of succession. In his study of the one party state in Tunisia, Lars Rudebeck3 2

offers us the following insight: "It has often been pointed out that the real test of a one-party or dominant party regime~s viability comes at the moment of succession to its original founder or leader. In fact, very few such regimes have been able to handle that

problem peacefully and according to pre-established rules.

Mexico and India are two very rare examples, perhaps the only ones among the underdeveloped countries entering modern politics during this century, which have been able to institutionalise a legitimate procedure. The conscious re-adaptation and

strengthening of the structures of the Tunisian party described here can be viewed also from this angle. The problem was drama- tically brought up by Bourguiba himself, when he described the role envisaged for the new Central Committee."

We accept his thought but must take exception to his language.

As an aposteriori or post facto observation of fact, all this

1S perfectly true. The phraseolo[J is one of evolution in the use of terms such as "underdeveloped", "entering modern politics"

etc. In terms of evolution, the examples of Mexico and India,

.::>,..,'" u"'''''" t-",ll;na hp(,,>rlll~P t-hp~p ^AY'e two of the most ancient and

47

Socialism. Some comments.

Socialism, being conc2ived as a philosophy of egality, had found a favourable echo among Africans, whose aspirations for economic and political justice saw a possibility of solution

in it. As we have already shown, one of the African intellectuals whose Marxism cannot be doubted is Kwame Nkrumah. It is through him, in his defense of dialectics, ln his book Consciencism,

which represents the contradiction of Marxist atheism and African spiritualism, that the first scientific study was done in order to penetrate African realitieso Other leaders have tried merely to superimpose the teachings of scientific socialism over the African colonial reality, of which they did not know the funda- mental rudiments. From this, results the abundance of socialisms in Africa, whose failures are so obvious and which we have no need to enumerate here.

Apart from this reason of philosophical doctrine and social justice, it remains that most of these socialisms consist of the re-conciliation of an interior effort with external aid, whether from Imperialist or from Socialist countries. Confronted with the real needs of Africa for revolution, we can see that this is neither economic nor aid. The construction of socialism

48

Sudan coup of th e 25th of May 1969, as a masterly summary of what kind of soc ialism he intend e d to use in building up his country: "None and all (forms of soc i a l i s m) at the same time.

We want to benefit from experie n ce s and doctrines from abroad, those set out in the holy books, or put into practise in England or in th e Soviet Union. Soci alis m is not a dogma an d cannot be imported or exported. Ther efor e, here, it will have, at the same time, a Sudanese essence an d al s o be open to the currents of world thought.,,33

This statement offers the guidelines for an African socialism.

It seeks to avoid repeating the errors of the past, of excessive foreign influence or nationalism, of excessive religious or of anti-religious attitudes, of excessive supra-nationalism or of ex c e s s i v e isolationism.

This, if coupled with a clear revolutionary attack on the ec o n o mi c disease rather than on its symptoms, is our plan for a revolutionary attack on the political tse-tse fly which has stung Africa, our remedy for the political sleeping sickness which has put Africa into its present state of political coma.

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IV LITERATU RE REFERRED TO IN THE TEXT

Balandier, Ge o rge: Me ssian i s an d Na t i o na l i s m in Bl a ck Af r i c a Ca hie r s Intern at i on al de Soci o log i e , Paris 1953, pp. 14, 41- 65 .

Bates, Ma rg a re t L. & Carter, Gwend o le n M.: Af r i c a n One-Party St a t e s , Corn ell , It ha c a , USA 1962, p. 470.

Benot, Yves: Ideolos ~es des Independences Africaines, Maspero, Paris 1969, p. 117 .

Cunha, Si l va: Asp ectos dos Mo vi me n t o s As s oc i a t i v o s na Africa Negr a, Junta de Investi gacoes do Ultramar, Lisboa 1958, pp. 99, 100 .

Decraene, Philippe: Le Panafri canisme, Presse Universitaire de France , Pari s 19 6 4, pp. 15, 37, 38.

Davidson, Basil: Africa, History of a Continent, Weidenfeld

&

Diop , Cheikh An t a : Nations Negres et CUlture, Ed. Presence Af r i c a i n e , Paris 1955.

Joos, Louis C.D.: Breve Histoi re Contemporaine de L'Afrique Noi r e , Ed. Saint-Paul, Paris 1964.

Linton, Ralph: New York 1940.

Legum, Co l i n : Pan-Africanism, a short political guide, Praeger,

Other sources and references

Le Monde, Paris, 2-8-1969.

Crisis, New York, (N.A.A.C.P.) February 1919.

Ultramar N.9, Lisbon, July-September 1962.

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