In its latest gesture of solidarity with its Sahelian neighbor, Algeria is set to deploy troops to northern Niger. The move, aimed at securing the shared economic interests of the two countries, is a rare example of Pan-African cooperation, which the rest of Africa would do well to follow.
Europe’s Barren Land Led Europeans to Enslave Africans
Rev. Albert Cleage (1911-2000) argues that Europeans only spilled out of Europe because of a lack of resources, not due to any superiority. Unfortunately, this has led Africans to adopt Europeans’ individualism and materialism, but does that make any sense?
Video credit: ‘Black Journal’ (1971)
The West Doesn’t Allow Revolutionary African Candidates
Why can’t revolutionary Africans run for elected office in Africa? Dr. Wandia Njoya (@wmnjoya on X) says the West stops that from ever occurring. The Kenya-based Daystar University professor provided the example of 2022 candidates who couldn’t get on the ballot.
What needs to change to allow such candidates a proper chance? Drop us a comment.
Video credit: @officialorina
Why Africa Has “Electocracy,” Not Democracy
Dr Wandia Njoya, associate professor in the language and performing arts department at Kenya’s Daystar University, argues that Africans have no democracy, but a restirctive, Western-imposed system that handpicks African leaders based on who is best for Western interests regardless of any actual election outcomes.
According to her, this situation where box-checking exercises that suit the description of “elections” are held without any actual organic choice from the people, is not a democracy, but an “electocracy”.
Why do Africans continue to vote in such a restrictive system?
Video credit: @officialorina
Back to Basics: “Democracy” in service of who?
‘The Rhetorical Ethic of the Yurugu’ is a concept popularised by anthropologist Professor Marimba Ani, which describes the innate ability of the European to wield words as subjective and movable weapons of war, instead of instruments of communication with a single fixed meaning.
Under this system, the word “Democracy” like many other words, has been weaponised by European imperialism, and is now used as a narrative weapon for controlling thought, scholarship, and political outcomes in the parts of the world that are dominated by imperialists. While the word itself may have a dictionary meaning that most people think they are familiar with, its actual on-ground effect and the downstream consequences of its control by European imperialists are far more sinister than most people would ever imagine.
As 2027 looms for Africa and with it, national electoral rituals in Nigeria, Kenya and Angola among others, Sannario dives into this topic with a timely analysis of what exactly “Democracy” is and why the western-dominated ideas surrounding it today are generally not helpful or relevant to Africa.
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