AFRICA - Disorganized Development and
Development by destructive Mediums
Sam Mwaka-karama
AFRICA – is
certainly developing. There is no doubt about that one. What seems to pose
challenges, in visualizing the scopes of its small advances, is the modality by
which African developments are being forged.
To
appreciate this enormous landscape and see clearly through the maze of reality
and mythology, one needs to imagine Africa’s developments by blocks of country
characteristics and, in the comparative analysis it is possible to make-out
what slows African developments.
Prominently,
two things appear; firstly the countries that are developing by
‘disorganization and forgery’ and the countries that are developing by
‘destructive mediums’.
This is the
deep-end view that might not actually make sense to un-practiced random and
shifty shallow thinking people.
In shifty
and shallow appraisals firstly, the tendency is to look at Africa’s development
from its under-development: by dwelling on donor Aid and Grant mismanagement as
the sole base for the imperative analysis. This is mostly visible in what many
of the newspaper writers discuss in their articles - daily.
It is of
cause true that over the past five decades the developed world committed and
often wrote-off huge sums of Aid and Grant funds injected in various African Countries
for development purposes.
While it is
also true that similarly huge amounts have been availed off the developed world
to help Africa meet certain emergencies; both natural and also man made – but
then as the usual African newspaper writers often digest – all these [aid and
grants] inputs seem to disappear below the surface through the vicious sinkhole
into the enormous [corruption-land] below the sea; where the ‘demons of
economies’ consort with the fat Mafia Hokes and other strangers and ‘Duple
Gangers’ and irate crazy nibblers. So that what actually takes place down there
in the dungeon of the economic bottomless pit defies all manner of audit and
accountability.
Development by disorganization
Under this first ‘country category’ characteristics
– defining those African states that are developing by disorganized means; most
Ugandan newspaper writers often compare that category with previously [second
world countries]; like Singapore and Malaysia or perhaps Bangladesh whose GDP
were perhaps somehow at par with those of some East African countries like
Uganda; way back in the 1960s as they decolonized and thus became Independent.
And today in
the continued comparative analysis – the local writers often wonder how Uganda
for example is left standing as; the Asian countries have leaped into First
World status. Ugandans seen stranded in that comparative note and, the
discussants can’t identify what makes the Asians move while Uganda is on ‘Mark
Time’ and the ‘forward’ command is absent!
In my view,
it does appear to me as if to explain this situation in answering the newspaper
contributors’ questions - observed over a long time; we have to look back at
the modalities of ‘skills and technology’ transfers applied after
decolonization of most Asian countries – how did the Asians move?
In the first instance, those Asian countries
were catapulted into second world status by factors of European ‘Industrial
technology and skills’ transfer that bolstered base Asian industrial developments.
Huge
Industries were built under license, offered by the parent Industries from
Britain and Europe; to many of the Asian countries including; India, Pakistan,
Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and others… those European licensed
Asian industries quickly developed outlets for their finished products in
Africa.
Many of the
African newspaper contributors also penalize Africa’s former colonial masters
with undue exploitation of Africa! They seem to be convinced that the
colonialists left Africa without Infrastructures.
They don’t
remember for the sake of their younger readers that; for example East African
Community EAC was colonially created between Kenya Uganda and Tanzania.
The
character of the Community was modeled on logistical Infrastructure; Comprising
the Railway and Harbor, Post and telecommunication, Airways and Air Traffic Control.
To mention the main structures only – otherwise the Community had included East
African Currency Board that capped and controlled the Banking systems with a
single East African Currency. These Infrastructures were otherwise
unfortunately dismantled by the Independent states of the EAC barely ten years
after Independence.
For our
local newspaper contributors to continually and repetitively claim that the
Colonial masters exploited our EAC countries or left us without infrastructures
- is redundant gossip: Uganda’s railway was cannibalized by Ugandans! While
Kenya preserved and still runs its antique Locomotive steam Engine Trains;
Ugandans ruthlessly scrapped the entire system and, were chopped-up and sold as
scrap! Bought-up by foreign scrap buyers abroad.
The Asian
countries often cited by the Ugandan newspaper contributors had very long
history of advantageous Diaspora life – with their citizens as early as the 1800s
and for others even earlier migrating to Britain, Europe and the United States,
Canada and Australia where they engaged in serious skills and knowledge
developments including University Education and, Industrial Apprenticeship
working in Steel Industries and various other manufacturing and fabrication or
building construction industries; accumulating knowledge and skills that became
more than just handy back in their Asian countries after decolonization.
The building
of the Harbors in the East African coastline and, subsequent building of the
railway tracks from Mombasa to Kampala – labored for by the Indians under the
British Engineers clearly confirm the knowledge and skills transfer factor am
talking about; that we Africans picked these things along the way as the
Colonial authorities involved us in the works; step by step!
While many
of our Diaspora migrants now living abroad, are learners and Apprentice in the
software skills and mostly engage in teaching or lecturing jobs. The difference
is; while the Asian Diaspora of pre-decolonization eras went for the heavy
industries, our own Ugandan Diaspora fellows of today are mostly into the
software.
So that
comparatively, we are not likely to get values in human resources out of our
own now living in the Diaspora. This is why we might not merit well in the next
level of our African developments: Oil Industry, Steel mining and processing,
the next levels of buildings, roads and railways construction.
With our
brands of Diaspora migrants abroad whose sole interests are grounded in white
collar jobs; Barristers, Economists, Educationists, ICT, Managers, Cinema Music
and entertainments, Hospitality and many other social driver professions.
It is
certainly true also that back home in Uganda for example, these white collar
trainings are hugely in the works also with graduates coming out in droves
annually.
So that, the
heavier industries will perennially remain our skills and expertise deficiency
point – where the heavy industries will remain a difficult economic works area,
if at all established, like Oil is in Uganda, what might be driven by the
foreigners.
Developments by Destructive
mediums
Though
Somalia is an extreme example, it is also the best under the circumstances;
because, despite the constant war, internally the country has been forging
forward even if it has been a [Bomoa na
Kujenga] with the rebuilding element much-much slower than the destroying
element. So that the country could have actually been in a state of progressive
stagnation.
Otherwise Somalia
has a huge human resource in the workable Oil and heavy logistics industries –
mostly developed in the African Diaspora. Somalia’s overseas Diaspora
Immigrants are probably the richest in the World.
However
their wealth mostly belong to the [end thing justify the means] dirty money and
blood money of the laundering type category. It is also these often
questionable massing of dirty money and the means by which they were made –
that breed the negative human resource responsible for the laying of the state
to waste… as failed state.
Here I would
imagine that religious extremism; which actually only plays the catalyst to the
‘destructive medium’ - is more the opportunistic ailment that take advantage of
the actual genesis of crime-driven vicious circles of conflict and bloodbath.
The extremist religions only take opportunity of an existent characteristically
self destructive genetics in the people of a particular country…
African
analysts writing in the newspapers only apply [cosmetics and perfumery]
analysis and avoid the genecology of country characteristics and, its role in
rendering the host or mother or maybe father country dysfunctional, obsessively
violent or xenophobic and self centered.***
