Africa used
to be referred to as the Dark Continent. However, probably owing to a growing
sense of political correctness, this tag was dropped. I had heard that the
darkness was apparent from satellite pictures taken at night. They displayed a
shadowy patch where the Continent is supposed to be because electrification of
the continent is rather sparse resulting in the darkness.
Hatred Galore
News from
Africa is filled with stories about how people hate so much that they even kill
each other on flimsy reasons. The hatred is not veiled. It is expressed in the
strongest terms possible. Everybody from religious leaders to politicians take
any opportunity to express their hatred for one or other individual or group.
It is this free display of hatred that has made people liken the President
elect of the US to an African. Comedian Trevor Noah, on his Daily Show during
the campaigns, stated that if Donald Trump was elected President, he would be
the first truly African President of America.
Unfettered Greed
It is probably
only in Africa that public funds can be diverted to a few people’s pockets. It
is a level of greed that sounds unreal by its sheer magnitude. It has led to
the collapse of entire countries’ economies. It has forced those countries that
send aid to Africa to implement projects directly due to painful past
experiences with diverted funds.
Corruption
Every time I
type the word corruption, I always hope I won’t have to do it ever again. I
have however come to accept that I will be writing about it for a long time to
come. Nepotism, cronyism, sycophancy and other such vices have found a
comfortable home in Africa. Policies on paper fill volumes in various archives.
Off the cuff policies rule and are determined by immediate potential benefit to
the one calling the shots.
Tribalism
It is
surprising to know that there are only a few distinct language groups in
Africa. It is more surprising that most people can pick some familiar words
from those who are of different communities from them. It is most surprising
that these people, who understand each other’s languages and customs, are
willing to kill just because of some subtle differences between them. They are
also willing to shout from the highest places about why theirs is the superior
community in various aspects.
Intolerance
I recently
heard a street preacher talking on a loud public address system on Tom Mboya Street
in Nairobi. He was saying how he has been with people from other East African
countries and how he could safely conclude that Kenyans are the most
intelligent of all the people in the region. Judging by the way the
congregation was cheering, it was possible to tell that he was speaking for a
lot of them. He was preaching intolerance in the name of God.
Lost Heritage
Colonisation
was intended to make us do away with our values and adopt those of the
Europeans. It was designed in a clever way to portray the new way as better than
ours. This conditioning worked extremely well, maybe even better than the
colonisers envisioned. All the vices mentioned above did not exist in Africa
before the white man showed up. Africans however took them up with gusto and
perfected them. This left us without a heritage to call our own, and an alien
culture which we copied shoddily.
Inexplicable Bliss
Africa is a
place where one finds happy people whose infectious joy appears inexplicable.
There is contentment with the measly little available. There is a strange love
for political leaders who seem to get worse in the kind of evil scheme they can
dream up. Families keep together and support each other with needs such as accommodation,
food, and education. Black sheep are kept in the fold and no matter what they
get themselves into, they always have a home to return to.
Smiles in the Most Unlikely Places
Driving
through the perpetually muddy tracks of Kibera slums in Nairobi, you are met
with beaming faces and sweet smiles. The wobbly grocery-laden tables are patiently
dragged off the road to let you pass and seamlessly placed back as you move on.
Beholding the smiles amid the glaring poverty leaves me wondering, “What are
they so happy about?” Then I tell myself, “This is Africa, a land where the darkness
is so bright you don’t need light.”
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