Guinea is a West African nation, former French colony that won her independence in 1958, a year after Kwame Nkrumah’s Ghana did in 1957. However, this small country is in a state of confusion as street demonstrators were shot in the capital of Conakry simply because they protested against the new Prime Minister.
Street protests can range from violent to harmless: in Africa, there is always a good reason for them because I believe the public must always voice what they feel. An opinion was voiced and crushed by bullets. This is not fair. Yet, me stating that is simply typing the obvious, isn’t it? Why doesn’t the beautiful continent want to learn and move forward? A tiny country like Guinea is depleting her population simply because they disagree with something. Colonisation ruled Africa with an iron fist now Africa wants to do the same to herself. Is this a trend in francophone countries though? Look at the craziness that was happening in Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda/Burundi. What is it about former French colonies that just crumbles ad infinitum? In Guinea’s case, it appears that there is a power struggle going on and power is that delicious elixir that my African leaders simply cannot get enough of. When will they learn that they are driving their countries into the ground by reacting like this? Perhaps I am too much of a hybrid having lived in the West with my African mindset deeply rooted in Tanzania – all I know is the way forward is not a Napoleon from Animal Farm control over your own people.
What are your opinions? Do you think that Africa will always work in this way or will she change?
~A
6 Comments
22/10/2009 at 16:37
[...] Conte was “shameful”. East African blog Charcoal Ink said the turmoil was a reflection of familiar political trends in Africa: “there is a power struggle going on and power is that delicious elixir that my African leaders [...]
13/03/2007 at 22:52
[...] Conte was “shameful”. East African blog Charcoal Ink said the turmoil was a reflection of familiar political trends in Africa: “there is a power struggle going on and power is that delicious elixir that my African leaders [...]
14/02/2007 at 15:10
….Pre colonial Africa had it’s own government systems , some very complex.
….When the europeans came and conquered ,they brought in a rape and pillage phillosophy; so It is only natural that some of these traits have been adopted by Africa. I think we can always hope for / and bring about change in Africa, but we cannot control the mental evolution the cognitive thought processes which have already been adopted .
to quote Rodney Chang:
“Our minds are not just a polished and finished human product, but an amorphous entity of an infinite variety of thinking, all inherited from the potpourri of intelligent mechanism adequate to support long past different ancestral forms of life. All these levels, whether conscious or unconscious, today play their vital part in keeping us not only in psychological equilibrium and in environmental harmony, but alive.”
The world has gone crazy it’s not just in africa.. People really need to wake up!
11/02/2007 at 09:38
[...] Charcoal Ink, Tanzanian blogger Aurelia thinks that street protests are justified because “the public must always voice what they [...]
11/02/2007 at 09:24
thanks FN
i think african politicals is in a state of paralysis. politicians @ home don’t want to seem backward but they’ll be damned before they will hand over power to their comrades in the fear of being controlled. it is very Animal Farm at home. Many people looked at George Orwell’s book as a storybook but my lord, his characters have real-life shadows. Snowball (Patrice Lumumba of Congo except he had a tragic end), Napoleon (Mobutu Sese Seko/Robert Mugabe or just any African dictator can fit here!) and the farmer Jones (the Colonials). I hope we can move on from these characterisations but the events in Guinea show that people are just too hungry for control.
11/02/2007 at 00:32
Wow! Thanks for this post, I was aware that sh** was bad in some parts of the Motherland and that there are many misguided despots that still do anything to hold on to power. But when I see sh** like this, it still hurts.
I don’t know what it will take to wake up some of our people.I know years of clonialization have left many countries with a real up hill battle-even today. But there is no excuse for not embracing democracy, and letting the will of the people rule.
Thanks again my sister, this is why I love your blog!
Peace.