CAN IDEOLOGIES AND

s Silve

STRUCTURE

Lt

6

o

srn

945

s

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1

The

a

t

are

res <-or, I -c : IJ

seabSOI'D,eU

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9

87

erest to

- 9

963

e

a lS

h

s

consists not

of

also

es

S

c

eo

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 reas 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 methodrl 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 De s cbam..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

an2

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 bethe arr al f t an settlers

tanto This per lS erise.d the s

f pre~deve

the rule of Islam

te knew we L

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

at case

s case

a

e

as seen

s

e

e of

s

o

s

res

s

Heecame a

colon

f

res

f

s

reas

r-ariks

at

ists wiIdes

er Iear

the es use

o convert h

cap

that the

lS that bas

al

s

s

es

to beconu.ng

l

to

Id

t

pean e coriomv

s

the

s

the roles

reversed

e

s

as the

tructure

ich s

des

t.r-ucture

out

ate

ed

s

role

s

s

les

, because

were ab e

y

Ion

pres

ctt_'Clllcse

a tlS

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

structs

11 be

o

se

end

ss

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 tween

a black s

cul

form of

1

l

slbl

o which

s

o

the istor al et

would behow

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

.i e s wh i 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 S lJVl.'CiU.L\.;O

need

of several

less or gan t 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-o ohet 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

as

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 s llClL<=:;U

measure for

dal

The

the

cause

lem

In lS st

e

o

abolished

slaves to

the

1

Kansas wa s

lC

1 t s on

no t 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 it

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-

li

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

h e 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

it

1

SOCl

amon th

thodist

le of the

of a

comoeris at

Once01"

an

of Du Bois dates

its r-ornan t 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

li e and all the brill

these

eo

has

t:he USA

lon of the

The

o r-e ac t

] 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-o I.e of

th

d

disc le

Bois 1868-1963

wh e 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

under1

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 f u DD 11 ('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 grea t

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 and12

lie had doctorat Harvarda

s and his later' of sac 1

but also because

case

discus

Du Bois

canist

of ob

has

system whi.ch l

much

\;J

never'

pro

the

s

wh

lem

li

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

wh i

has

'th a t

l

J

of the colour-l

er races of men Asia14the sea 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 still

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 S rvm 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

oppressedp

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 hardP I r';~ t e d

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 toe

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 .i srn t

cess8

1 ical rev

the Manchester C

I

e if

ch

ebleness the advent

valence

Western power's

W

that of

e

lS

cal

theand subject

ivattIle on

lS to explo

IAL PEOPLES

of all colonialdest All colonies

ist c whether

s 1 compla appeal and arraign Weworld 1 t to the facts of our condifi every way we can edomsocial betterment

v'Je

V DECLARATION TO THE CO

9

peoplBut

Therefore 5 v.Je11 ruak e the

v« wi Ll.and

The the co onie st have the relect the own Governments, rest ct

foreign pOvJers We say to the oplescolonies that must fi for these endsmeans at e sal

prlHecracy

S

he

was

is

h s19

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

aus e 0

t the J

as fal

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

commun i S

d

c

pol lCS of H 1

and

commun s unti 1936 0

lS cle the cons ti

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 wou Ld

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

it

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 d e fe at

such

shall be

il 1958

the Fe of

all21b

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 k i we & Kenyatt a

The political ideo logy implicit In Panafricanism i s , as I have

a ttempted to show, no t entire ly precise in i ts es sent ia l c o­

ordinates . In order to offer a more complete i d e a of it, we

must deal with cultural Panafricanism, i .e . t hat Panafricanism

wh i c h makes of t h e cu l t ural res urge n ce o f the Negro the pr e ­

condition of the role he i s to p lay on the wor ld sta g e o f

peop les . Nnamdi :i z i kiwe , t h e Nigerian leader, offers us a prefect

examp l e of this c u ltura l Pa n afr i c a nis m. His bo o k Renas cent

Africa advocates his viewpoint and makes an appeal which un ­

amb iguously shows his idea of the prime importance o f cu l t ure

i n a chieving the liberty of the Neg r o . After say i ng, " Te ach the

African, who lS being reborn, to be a new man. Tell h im 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 h e d e c l a r e d

34

calculated r ej ection of the economic dimension of the colonial

problem, i s an o p por t un i s t position calculat ed t o p l e a s e the

British Imperialists. It 1S not wi t h o u t r eason that h e wa s to

b ecome the h e ad of s tatc of the futur e Federation o f Ni ger ia .

Jomo Kenya t t a mu s t b e c o nsid ered as a Panaf ri can i s t more b ecaus e

of his previous membership of the intelle ctual c l ub o f the Pan­

a fr i can t10 ve me n t than by a n y application of Pa n a f r i c a n i sm 1n

its ge n e r a l l y accepted s ense in his subs equent a c t i on s as a

practical politician i n Kenya. Kenyatta , for reasons which re­

main to be elucidated, is at the s ame time a centrifugal and a

centripetally alienated individual. So, that when we s a y his

Panafricanism is a cultural one, it is not , as in the c ase of

Azikiw~ that he made of the cultural renascence o f the Negro,

a sine qua non pr e c on d i t i on fo r the seizure o f liberty. His

Panafricanism is cultural, be c a u s e it constitutes an almost

total return to the tribal fact, with all that this implies 1n

the field o f African culture. Culture here being defined not in

the literary sense of the t erm but more 1n its anthropological

sense. Kenyatta is not a s tat 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 sens e in wh i c h t h ey u s e d the term culture: Az i k i we was

applying it in its Eur opean sense as a sort o f luxury or status

symbol , whil e Ke ny a t t a saw it as j u s t a part, but a part which

35

Afr i can a f ree d emocracy 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 o f the freedom

fight ers and that it was not acquired at the c o nfe r e n c e table.

This thesis is advanced in order to g ive a n alleged class

character to the Mau-Mau. Th e pos i tion of Og i ng a Odinga is

doctrinally untenable and there 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 a i m is nothing but the creation of a

"new man", the mulatto.

36

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

barbarity of the French a re nothing but the expressions of the

different powe r of t h e colonialist powers and not philosophical

differences between them.

The difference b etween Panafrican ism and Negr i t ude taken by

itself a s a l iterary e x pr e s s i on of Panafricanism is r eflected

by the acceptance by both mov ements 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 o f Negr i t ud e . Th e political implica­

tions of the ideology of Ne gritude are vague and imprecise but,

as a cultural stand, it is synonymous with cultural assimila­

tion. Logically, this position is in dialectical opposition to

the French colonialists~ ph i l o s o phy of cultural assimilation,

but the analysis of the pOlitical implications of Negritude

reveals that the contradiction e x i s t s only between the Negro

intellectuals In fac e of the European values they were confron­

ted with.

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

37

portrait o f a n idealist , a cco r din g t o Hh o m Negri t ude, although

literary , i s a d e sper a te effort t o bring Af rica into the

realitie s o f t h e pres e nt c e ntury wi t h ou t any r e gard for the

role played by s u c h realities in t h e drama of the African people,

of which Negr i t ude c l a ims t o b e a positive reflection. Such a

position wa s t o dictate t he i deas o f Senghor as a statesman.

There is one ma l n d i f f e r e n ce b etwe en Ne gr i t u d e as applied by

Senghor and that of ct a i r e . Ac c o r d i n g to the latter, Negritude

is a cry of the Negro race, an incit ement to r eturn to the

native country . The futur e wa s to prove that on a literary

plane Negritude wa s for Ces a i re a need for the affirmation, a

way to cure the inhibitive e f 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 gr 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 ko u Toure s~mmed this

up in his L'Afrique e t la Revolution: "In int e rnational

meetings the po s i t i o n o f Negr i t u de is mor e oft en held by 'non­

negroes 1 thdn by negro e s:,,26 Th e influence of Negr i t u d e lS

still great a mong Af r i c a n intellectuals of th e post-war genera-

98

abov e, the se~e s i s of the idea of African unity Ha s introduced

by ~he fathe r s of Panafricanism. In spite of hav i ng been intro­

duced by them in a v e ry vague wa y, the ide a cannot be separated

from their pan-ideolog ies. I r one sense Af r ic a n unity is the

consuIT@ation of Pa n a f r i c a n i s m and Negr 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 o f Wo r l d War 11, when African Unity

was to f a c e a n ev! world pol itical contex~, of the independence

of several African Stat ?s, ~nd the development of the Imperia­

list pOlicy of the Unit ed States. Too weak in their pOlitical

structure, the newly independent African countries, independently

of the political op t i on s op en 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 f a c e. Many of the Independences were mere transfers

of sovereignty, 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 ng the pOlitical problems of

post-war Afr i c a could not be solved by the efforts of the

governments of the ne~ Af ric a n states.

The formation of the European Economic Community represented

a new sta~e . that o f neo - ~o] cni 21i sm . in ~hat more countries

39

ment of African pe o p les, o f their or igi nality, an d o f t heir. . . . " 27 I ff f " . dclvllls atlon. n e e c t , the wor d s 0 the ~u : .nean l ea e r

wou l d late r find t h emse lves i n s t i t u t i onal i sed in the Guinean

Con stitut ion whi ch, in i t s artic le 34 predicts t h e partial or

total abandonment o f sov er eignty "in o rder t o a c h i e ve A~ri can

unity" .

The Charter of T~e African Unity Or ganisation pr omu l g a t e d in

Addis Ababa on the 25th Ma y 1 963 did take into account the

factors of e c onomi c s and sovereignty. In article N. 3 on

Principles we read:

(1) Equal sovereignty of all member states;

(2) Non-interference in the internal affairs of

states;

(3) Respect for the sovereignty and of the terri­

torial int e grity of each state and of the in­

alienable right to independent e x i s t e n c e ;"

This fact, i n spite of its appearance of soundness, dictated

the very failure of African unity. The f ut ure 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-h inD" hllt- i'l n.:=1t-;pnt- in i'l n p pn

40

III - PARTY STRUCTURE

The d evelopments in African ideology and the tendences which

they developed b e f ore t h e period of independence tended to

adopt as their immedia t e a im t he s eizure of power. Af t e r in­

dependence a d i ffe r e n t probl em f ac ed Afri can leaders, that of

maintaining powe r . It i s i n this d oma i n that the political party

was to play its role. In ord e r to b etter understand the parti­

cularity of the very conception of p a r t y in the African context,

in the period a f ter that o f direct colonialism, we must not

only simply r ecapitulat e the pOlitical heritage of colonialism,

but we mu s t also analys e the pressures acting upon African

states, after they have a c h i e ved s o ve 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 o f a n t i - c o l on i a l i s t forces was a vital

condition. For th e 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

hY'lC>.:::lk- Th c-> f"C->1lr1.:::l1 !=::TY'l1l0TllY'lC-> rlf" Th", 0r11nnv _ TT i~ llnclpY' This ('omman

41

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 ch , 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 degre c ,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 Europ 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-

4 2

Imperialism and Capitalism do no t fail to t ake advantage of

this r e c e i proc a l dislik e and t h i s a r t i f i c i a l hierarchy of r a c e s

to inhibit pr o p a ga nda and to d i v i d e forc es which should unit e. "

Another fact i s that European parties had clearly defined

frameworks within wh i c h they could exert t heir authority. This,

however, wa s 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) Th e European one, aimed at main­

taining the status quO; ( 2) Th e African one, facing the obliga­

tion of even having to forge th e very political structure of

the nation. The one-party system plays an imperative role upon

this fact.

The case of one-party syst e m in Af r i c a , i n g eneral, is not the

corollary of a political philosophy which is based on a class

analysis in order to finally r esolve 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: c lass

division h a d not yet developed and that the communist option

43

dom ina nt pa r ty in a de ve l o p i n g s t a t e is a n outgrowth of t h e

mobilization of persons a n d groups in thE pre-independencc

period. I n the former Br i t i sh territories , t h e ex i s ten ce of a

cohesive political party und er a domi nant l e a d er was a sine

qua non fo r the transfer o f political pow er t o loc al hands.

Since the Bri ti s h we r e emp i r ical , r eacting t o and through a

" pr o ce s s o f int e rrelat e d pres s ure", to q u ote Si r Andr ew Coh e n ,

the cond itions fo r extens i on o f l ocal power rema i ned relatively

common whil e the timing di f fere d . In the former French areas,

it was t he timing of the transfe r o f pow ers t h at was common

while l ocal conditions o f ten varied w ide l~ ..• Thus both

colonial r eg imes stimulated, though by different means, the

mass dominant parties, wh i c h form the decisive link between the

pre-independenc e and post-independence periods.,,29

Ma r garet L. Bates in h er e s s a y concerning the one-party stat es

i n Tanzania stated: "The first and most pres sing problem is

attainment of n a t i ona l unity. The size of Tanganyika , its lack

of communications, and its vari ed tribal and racial b ackground

mak e it vital to ach i eve s ome form of n ational alle giance a nd

national cons ensus and t o g i v e the country a sen se of its

common past and i t s c o mmon future. Until a f ew y e ars ago, there

was no way even of s ay i ng " Tangany ika n" in Swah i l i ; th e word

44

for e xample the case of Nige r i a . In 19 6 5 the Na t i on a l Council

of Niger i a a nd the Cameroons was the only polit ical power of the

country. It s leader Az ikiwe wa s progressively reduced to only

representing the Ibo p e ople, t he majority in the Eastern reglon

of the Confederation. This weakness goes back to 1 951 and to

the Action Group, the party of t he Yorubas in the West, under

the l eadership of A.T. Balewa finished up by r e pr e s e n t i ng 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 r e a wa k e Tribalism. This

is why the case o f single-party rule in Tanzania, different as

it is, from other cases, has to be analysed not only in terms

of its cause but also of its consequences.

45

All these parties have a pyramidal structure shich e n ve l o p a

totality of organs usually corresponding to administrative

s ub - d i v i s i on s .

Most parties adopt the rule of d emocratic centralism, according

to which, e a c h board of p arty a p pa r a t us elects the l evel 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 Rudebeck 32 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 t h e 25th o f May 196 9, as a masterly summary of

what kind o f s oc ialism h e int ende d to us e in building up his

country: "None and all (forms of soc i a l i s m) a t the same time.

We want to benefit from experien ce s and doctrines from abroad,

thos e s et out in the holy books, or put into practise in England

or in t h e Soviet Union. Socialism is not a dogma a nd cannot be

imported or exported. Th erefore, here, it will h ave, at the

same time, a Sudanese essence a nd a l s o be open to the currents

of world thought.,,33

This statement offers the guidelines for an African socialism.

It seeks t o 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

e x c e s s i ve isolationism.

This, if coupled with a clear r evolutionary attack on the

e c o nomi c disease rather than on its symptoms, is our plan for

a revolutionary attack on the political ts e-tse fly which has

stung Africa, our remedy for the political sleeping sickness

which has put Africa into its present state of political coma.

4 9

IV LITERATURE REFERRED TO IN THE TEXT

Balandier, Ge orge: Me ssian i s a nd Na t i onali s m in Bl a ck Af r i c a

Ca hier s Int ernat i onal de So cio logi e , Paris 1953,

pp. 14, 41- 65 .

Bates, Ma rga re t L. & Carter, Gwendo len M.: Af r i c a n One-Party

St a t e s , Cornell , I t hac a , USA 1962 , p. 470.

Benot, Yves : Ideolo s~es de s Independences Africaines, Maspero,

Pari s 1969 , p. 117 .

Cunha, Si l va: As pectos dos Movime n t o s As s oc i a t i vo s na Africa

Negr a, Junta d e Investigacoes do Ultramar, Lisboa

195 8, pp. 99, 10 0 .

Decraene, Philippe: Le Panafricanisme, Presse Universitaire

d e France , Paris 1 9 64, pp. 15, 37, 38.

Davidson, Basil: Africa, His tory of a Continent, Weidenfeld

& Ni c o l s on , London 19 66.

Diop , Cheikh Ant a : Nations Negres et CUlture, Ed. Presence

Af r i ca i n e , Paris 1 955.

Joos, Louis C.D.: Breve Histoire 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.

50