Page 144 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol I - Abraham to Coal

africa, postcolonial 29

It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it
can stop him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty
important. • Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968)

tly exploited ethnic rivalries for political gain. Such is typ- and Kenneth Kaunda (b. 1924) of Zambia. Many African
ically the case when resources are limited: Political lead- countries that began as multiparty states have become,
ers favor one group as a means of maintaining that either de jure or de facto, single-party states: Today the
group’s loyalty and support. majority of African states are one-party states.
Some countries have used creative strategies to combat The advantages that proponents of a one-party state
ethnic polarization. After Nigeria’s devastating civil war, have touted have not materialized, however. Economi-
it began a policy of mandatory national service for its cally, Tanzania under Julius Nyerere performed very
youth. After completing secondary school in their home poorly because of his adherence to strict socialist ideol-
territory, the participants were required to spend a year ogy.The one-party systems in Malawi, Zaire, and Uganda
performing some service-related activity (such as tutoring were very repressive, restrictive, and even brutal at times.
younger students) in another part of the country, ideally In some cases ethnic loyalties continued to be exploited.
where they would be exposed to a different language and Furthermore, because one-party states have a tradition of
cultural tradition. controlling the media, it is difficult for dissenting views
Zimbabwe adopted an innovative strategy in the early to be heard.
1980s in its creation of Heroes Acres. These stylized After years of political infighting and dramatic in-
cemeteries were created throughout the country to honor stances of violence in Zimbabwe, the two major political
those who had died during the struggle for independ- parties—the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU)
ence. In thus honoring a deceased combatant or hero, the and the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU)—
state sought to minimize the polarization that could be emerged as a united single party ZANU (PF) in 1987,
caused by different ethnic funerary practices. thus making Zimbabwe a de facto single-party state. Oth-
ers political parties were not outlawed, but the power
One-Party States apparatus clearly fell into the ZANU (PF) sphere of con-
One way in which a number of modern African leaders trol. It was not until the early twenty-first century that a
and countries have attempted to combat the persistent viable opposition party emerged. The Movement for
problem of ethnic polarization has been through the Democratic Change (MDC) seriously challenged ZANU,
establishment of so-called single- or one-party state.The which quickly passed laws, instituted restrictive prac-
theory is that if there is only one political party, there will tices, and, according to members of the opposition,
be less of a tendency for people to divide along ethnic engaged in political intimidation to limit its rival’s access
lines, and more emphasis could be placed on nation to the public and chances for success.
building and tackling other social concerns, such as eco- One of the more positive recent developments took
nomic development. Proponents of a one-party state sug- place in Kenya at the end of 2002.After years of de facto
gest that when there is just one party, individual talent has single-party rule, the Kenya Africa National Union was
the opportunity to rise through the ranks of the party to defeated in free and fair national elections by the newly
achieve leadership position and recognition, regardless of formed National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) with a
ethnicity. Another argument put forward in support of a minimum of disturbances.This portends a new direction
one-party state is that democracy as it has been described for Kenya and possibly for other African countries.
in theWest is foreign to the African continent, which tra-
ditionally had chiefs, kingdoms, and top-down rule. Economic Strategies
Prominent postindependence leaders who have spoken Throughout the postcolonial period there have been
persuasively in favor of this “traditional” form of govern- multiple efforts to expand economic cooperation among
ment include Julius Nyerere (1922–1999) of Tanzania African countries as a means of countering outside unfair