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Institute
Questions surrounding democracy, governance, and development especially in the view of Africa have provoked acrimonious debates in the past few years. It remains a perennial question why some decades after political independence in Africa the continent continues experiencing bad governance, lagging behind socioeconomically, and its democracy questionable. We admit that a plethora of theories and reasons, including iniquitous and malicious ones, have been conjured in an attempt to explain and answer the questions as to why Africa seems to be lagging behind other continents in issues pertaining to good governance, democracy and socio-economic development. Yet, none of the theories and reasons proffered so far seems to have provided enduring solutions to Africas diverse complex problems and predicaments. This book dissects and critically examines the matrix of Africas multifaceted problems on governance, democracy and development in an attempt to proffer enduring solutions to the continents long-standing political and socio-economic dilemmas and setbacks.
On 20th January 1964, at the Colito Army Barracks just outside Dar es salaam, 15 officers of the Tanganyika Army that was inherited from the colonial state led a mutiny against the independent Tanganyika government. One group went to the State House with the intention of forcing President Julius Nyerere to accept their demands. What would have happened if they had succeeded in entering the State House and if President Nyerere had refused to accept their demands, as he most likely would have done? Anything could have happened and in the worst case scenario Tanzanias history and indeed the history of the whole of Africa would have been seriously affected. This book is about the courage and quick thinking of Peter Bwimbo, the then head of the Presidential Protection Unit and Nyereres Chief Body Guard who, alone, planned and executed an ingenious and successful evacuation of President Nyerere and Vice President Rashid Kawawa, whisking them away from the State House before the mutineers got there. By a clever ruse he convinced the ferry operators on duty before dawn to ferry them across the Kigamboni Creek. From there they walked several miles to a hiding place in a house that was offered by an ordinary citizen and where they stayed until the situation was normalised several days later.
The Mind of Africa
(2015)
William Abraham studied Philosophy at the University of Ghana, and even more Philosophy at Oxford University. Thereafter, he gained permission to take part in the competitive examination and interview for a fellowship at All Souls' College. The examination was once described, with some exaggeration, as 'the hardest exam in the world!' It included a three-hour essay. Following his success in becoming the first African fellow of All Souls, his interest in African politics quickly developed into a Pan-African perspective. The Mind of Africa, written while he was still at All Souls, was a fruit of that enlarged perspective. After several years as a Fellow, he had occasion to visit Ghana in 1962. There Kwame Nkrumah, then President of Ghana, successfully persuaded him to return to Ghana to teach at the University of Ghana, Legon and he subsequently resigned from All Souls. In 1968, he went to the United States as a visiting professor. This was followed by invitations to teach at various academic institutions there, including Berkeley and Stanford. He subsequently settled in California, where he continued to teach and research philosophy in the University of California at Santa Cruz until his retirement. ...The Mind of Africa appeared at a time when a number of African countries were obtaining, or fighting for, their political freedom from their colonial rulers and becoming independent nations and expecting to build new societies in accordance with their own visions and conceptions, though not necessarily jettisoning all the features of their colonial heritage. Building new societies requires appropriate ideologies and philosophies fashioned within the crucible of their cultural and historical experiences. Thus, the relation between ideology and society is taken up at the very outset of the book... The Mind of Africa is important for Africa's future and identity.
In the nineteen 60s and 70s, the University of Dar es salaam was recognised internationally as a great academic institution, and the site of anti-colonialist, anti-imperialist, socialist studies and activism. With the onslaught of neo-liberalism beginning with Structural Adjustment Programmes in Tanzania in the mid 80s, the university was one of its prime targets; subjected to numerous pressures designed to extinguish the flames of revolutionary scholarship and activism. The establishment in 2008 of the Mwalimu Nyerere Chair on Pan - Africanism with Professor Issa Shivji as its first Chairman, and the annual Distinguished Nyerere Lectures Series inaugurating annual intellectual festivals was, in Professor Shivji's introduction to this volume of collected lectures, 'the resurrection of radical Pan-Africanism at the University of Dar es salaam.' The impact of the festivals and the lectures went well beyond the university community, as substantial number of the participants at these lectures and debates were citizen intellectuals, not part of the university community. The calibre of the distinguished lecturers speaks for itself; there could be no better representation of progressive African intellectuals honouring the legacy of Mwalimu Nyerere, than Professors Wole Soyinka, Samir Amin, Bereket Habte Selassie, Micere Githae Mugo and Thandika Mkandawire whose lectures are published in this book.
This edited volume is about the rekindled investment in the figure of the first president Julius K. Nyerere in contemporary Tanzania. It explores how Nyerere is remembered by Tanzanians from different levels of society, in what ways and for what purposes. Looking into what Nyerere means and stands for today, it provides insight into the media, the political arena, poetry, the education sector, or street-corner talks. The main argument of this book is that Nyerere has become a widely shared political metaphor used to debate and contest conceptions of the Tanzanian nation and Tanzanian-ness. The state-citizens relationship, the moral standards for the exercise of power, and the contours of national sentiment are under scrutiny when the figure of Nyerere is mobilized today. The contributions gathered here come from a generation of budding or renowned scholars in varied disciplines - history, anthropology and political science. Drawing upon materials collected through extensive fieldwork and archival research, they all critically engage the existing literature about Tanzania and prevailing political narratives to explore how nationhood is (re)imagined in Tanzania today through assent and contest.
Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have minorities from the Indian sub-continent amongst their population. The East African Indians mostly reside in the main cities, particularly Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, Mombasa, Kampala; they can also be found in smaller urban centres and in the remotest of rural townships. They play a leading social and economic role as they work in business, manufacturing and the service industry, and make up a large proportion of the liberal professions. They are divided into multiple socio-religions communities, but united in a mutual feeling of meta-cultural identity. This book aims at painting a broad picture of the communities of Indian origin in East Africa, striving to include changes that have occurred since the end of the 1980s. The different contributions explore questions of race and citizenship, national loyalties and cosmopolitan identities, local attachment and transnational networks. Drawing upon anthropology, history, sociology and demography, Indian Africa depicts a multifaceted population and analyses how the past and the present shape their sense of belonging, their relations with others, their professional and political engagement. This book is a must-read for contemporary researchers, students, policy practitioners as well as the general reader.
The East African Tax System
(2015)
This book is a comparative study of the tax systems of the five members of the East African Community (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. It deals with various aspects of business profit tax, customs duties, excise duties, personal income tax and value added tax of the East African Community member states. It also sheds light on the intergovernmental fiscal relations and reviews the status of tax administrations in these countries. The books is of use to a wide range of readers, including students, researchers, policy makers, tax administrators, and business people interested in the East African Tax System and Tax Administration.
Africa: Beyond Recovery
(2015)
Professor Thandika Mkandawire, the first to hold the Chair in African Development at the London School of Economics, delivered the thirty-second in the Aggrey-Fraser-Guggisberg Memorial Lecture series at the University of Ghana in 2013. In these lectures, combining with and imagination with down-to-earth political economy, he traces Africa's attempts at growth and development since the independence era, her attempts at recovery from a string of serious socio-political set-backs, and advocates for the role of universities as essential agents in the drive to sustained development.
Tumbuka is the dominant language in the Northern Region of Malawi. It is, however, also spoken in large pockets of Kasungu District in the Central Region and also in the Eastern Province of Zambia, and in Lundazi District in particular. Tonga, spoken in Nkhatabay and Nkhotakota, is like a cousin to Tumbuka with a close resemblance in their phonetics. Like other Bantu languages, Tumbuka is very expressive, but can also be very economic in communication or use of words, and yet clearly delivering the desired message. This can be done through the use of idioms, proverbs, or ideophones. This collection is on commonly used Tumbuka ideophones, where an ideophone shall mean 'a word describing a situation, or a state of affairs, or a set of actions - all in one word.' It is the intention of this collection to provoke both interest in the use of ideophones as a form of expression in literature and to expound on the richness of Bantu languages.
The Christian faith is comprehensive and diverse, so the question, what the centre is, can be asked. Different answers have been given, to which this book adds another. The venture of the Christian faith is missions, following Kenneth Scott Latourette's thesis that the Holy Spirit moves forward the history of the church by bringing in ever new revivals, which produce ever new organisations. Therefore missions are not the children of the churches, but of the revivals, and Africa was not evangalised by the European and American churches, but by the Europeans and American mission societies.
Indigenous knowledge is the dynamic information base of a society, facilitating communication and decision-making. It is the cornerstone of many modern-day innovations in science and technology. It is also a ready and valuable resource for sustainable and resilient livelihoods, and attracts increasing public interest due to its applications in bio-technology, health, bioprospecting, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, food preparation, mathematics and astronomy. INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE OF NAMIBIA is a fascinating compendium aimed at a wide readership of academics and students, government officials, policy makers, and development partners. The 17 chapters examine the indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants for treating HIV/AIDS, malaria, cancer, and other microbial infections of humans and livestock; indigenous foods; coping and response strategies in dealing with human-wildlife conflicts, floods, gender, climate change and the management of natural resources. A new rationalisation of adolescent customary and initiation ceremonies is recommended in response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic; and a case study of the San people of Namibia speaks to the challenges of harmonising modern education with that of indigenous people.
100 years since the end of German colonial rule in Namibia, the relationship between the former colonial power and the Namibian communities who were affected by its brutal colonial policies remains problematic, and interpretations of the past are still contested. This book examines the ongoing debates, conflicts and confrontations over the past. It scrutinises the consequences of German colonial rule, its impact on the descendants of victims of the 190408 genocide, Germanys historical responsibility, and ways in which post-colonial reconciliation might be achieved.
Life, Love, Lies
(2015)
Life, Love, Lies is a collection of reflections on perhaps the two most mundane yet fundamental aspects of human existence: love and the concept of living. In between, are matters benign and not so benign - on life - amassed, experienced and/or lived, for well over half a century now; on everything from the tabula rasa of childhood to the flow of world history.
Issue Two of Women in Islam includes investigations of social issues, profiles of inspiring women, book and film reviews, poetry, and opinion pieces. The theme of the dossier, The Female Body: A Contested Land, focuses on womens bodies, including articles on FGM, sexual harassment, and how art can challenge repressive social norms. Another section focuses on masculinity and the ways men can support women in the struggle for equality. Other highlights include profiles of Somali singer and politician Saado Ali Warsame, an analysis of Sudans discriminatory legal system, and a portrait of a Muslim society in Sumatra where religion and matriarchal traditions coexist.
Nothing to See Here
(2015)
In Nothing to See Here, sixteen African women writers ably deal with the politics of nationhood and identity, and the burden and beauty of womanity. From the serious, to the absurd to the seriously absurd, these stories will leave you pondering, crying and laughing as you travel from East Africa to Southern Africa through to West Africa. A beautiful collection with 16 well-written, well-plotted stories from 16 amazing African female storytellers. - Zukiswa Warnner
This publication addresses the extent to which social work curricula in Kenya prepares graduates to handle issues of poverty and social development, the specific knowledge and skills that they are equipped with an existing gaps therein. In addition, the challenges that confront the training and practice of social workers and what needs to be done to ensure that there is an enabling environment for social work education and practice in the country have also been addressed. The publication, which is the outcome of a study on the promotion of professional social work towards social development and poverty reduction in East Africa, analyses the role that professional social work plays in the efforts to reduce poverty, enhance social development and realise the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Kenya. Consequently, emphasis has been laid on the status of professional social work education and practice in preparing social workers to address issues of poverty and MDGs in the country. Cross cutting gender issues that impact on social work education and practice which in turn affect the efforts to address poverty in Kenya have also been analysed. Given that the time span for MDGs was to end in 2015, the authors envisage that the lessons learnt through this study, and the gains made with regard to MDGs should not end in the set time span but rather, that social work educators and practitioners, together with other stakeholders in policy formulation and implementation, still have more to of in making sure that these gains are consolidated into social work training and practice, with additional efforts being made towards sustainable poverty reduction efforts in Kenya.
Contemporary Oral Literature Fieldwork is based on rich research experience dating back to the 1990s. The book is written against the backdrop of Africa's confusion with regard to the place of oral literature in the face of the rest of the world, where oral literature exists in conjunction with new literary forms. Wasamba argues that the oral and the written literatures are complementary literary forms. Throughout the work, the author underscores the universal dimension of oral literature as he demonstrates its particular attributes.
Names and Secrets
(2015)
Names and Secrets won the Burt Book Award, Kenya and is the story of Chekai, a teenage boy who survives school bullying to become a champion of peaceful coexistence in an ethnically and economically divided society. Matur County is an example of a country that faces internal divisions. It is a county that is under increasing danger from external threats, including terrorism. Chekai is bullied by his teacher, Ms Letia and his class prefect, Goliath. This reflects the ethnic suspicions and economic inequalities that threaten to tear the society apart. However, Chekai thinks realistically about the problems in his society. Through curiosity, he discovers that unlike what is said, the people of Matur County have a lot in common. He realises that they will only defeat their real enemies if they are united. Chekai wins a presidential essay writing competition and becomes a peace ambassador. He uses his new position to chart a new path on which everyone will walk. This includes those who previously bullied him, and those who had been discriminated against.
The manual, Beyond Ethnicism. Exploring Racial and Ethnic Diversity for Educators, a first of its kind in Kenya, speaks to the key issues of ethnic and racial belonging that are such a key-determining factor in defining and dividing Kenyans. These two issues influence many social, economic and especially political decisions. The manual transcends the limitations of current discussions on ethnicism and racism. Questions of ethnic and racial belonging are connected to some of the deepest moral and political decisions of our time. Belonging is an emotional subject that as a country citizens should not lose capacity to discuss coherently. An educator who wanted to know how to end ethnicism and racism inspired the writing of this manual. Ethnic and racial favoritism as well as discrimination have seeped into the Kenyan education system. Educators sit in staff-rooms as members of political parties or ethnic communities and sometimes consciously or unconsciously perpetuate ethnic and racial stereotypes and prejudices. Educators find talking about ethnicism and racism difficult. They do not know where to begin yet they can recognise ethnicism and racism in learners. Sometimes they practice it themselves, favouring or discriminating learners on the basis of ethnicity or race. Educators are sometimes helpless in arresting ethnicist and racist practices in their learners or themselves, as they do not have the tools to do so. This manual is a practical resource which assists educators in contextualising ethnic and race related concerns without undermining the human rights, it also helps in creating the space for discourse amongst educators on how to combat ethnicism and racism. It asks rarely addressed critical and significant questions on the meaning of ethnic and racial belonging. The manual addresses the arresting of stereotypes and prejudice before they morph into actual discrimination and sometimes violence.
When voters enthusiastically turn up to cast their vote during general elections, they expect that their action would meaningfully change their lives. But in most of Africa, even when elections are held on a regular basis, voters are quite often disappointed by the performance of their leaders who use the new positions as an opportunity to loot public resources and consolidate power. It is almost as if elections are of minimal value to the populace. Notwithstanding this trend, when they are free and fair, general elections can be transformative. They can bring into the political arena men and women of integrity committed to service and account-ability. Inspired by the determination to have inclusive governance and the advancement of democracy, Kenya's 2013 General Election: Stakes, Practices and Outcomes asks important questions related to political participation, coalition building, politics of identity, the international criminal court, electoral systems and institutions, and the judiciary. The papers are written by mainly Kenyan academics and civil society actors who examine the drivers of the 20?3 general elections and the sources of the mandate to lead.This book is part of publications by Twaweza Communications on democratic practice and accountable governance in Kenya.
During the run-up to Kenya's 2013 general elections, crucial political and civic questions were raised. Could past mistakes, especially political and ethnic-related violence, be avoided this time round? Would the spectre of the 2007 post-electoral violence positively or negatively affect debates and voting? How would politicians, electoral bodies such as the IEBC, the Kenyan civil society, and the international community weigh in on the elections? More generally, would the 2013 elections bear witness to the building up of an electoral culture in Kenya, characterized by free and fair elections, or would it show that voting is still weakened by political malpractices, partisan opinions and emotional reactions? Would Kenya's past be inescapable or would it prepare the scene for a new political order? Kenya's Past as Prologue adopts a multidisciplinary perspective - mainly built upon field-based ethnography and a selection of case studies - to answer these questions. Under the leadership of the French Institute for Research in Africa (Institut franca̧is de recherche en Afrique, IFRA), political scientists, historians and anthropologists explore various aspects of the electoral process to contribute in-depth analyses of the last elections. They highlight the structural factors underlying election and voting in Kenya including the political system, culture and political transition. They also interrogate the short-term trends and issues that influence the new political order. The book provides insight into specific case studies, situations and contexts, thus bringing nuances and diversity into focus to better assess Kenya's evolving electoral democracy.
Nyuma Ya Pazia
(2015)
Nyuma Ya Pazia or Behind the Curtain is about corruption involving the president, and his ministers who rob the country of Mafuriko or Abracadabra. President in conjunction with his Premier brought fake foreign insecticide company; Richmen to invest in power generation in Mafuriko. Through logrolling Richmen lands a very lucrative tender used as a conduit of stealing millions from the Central Bank. Richmen is used to syphon billions of dollars from the treasury. When people get wind of this theft, force the government to crumble thereby rulers are punished by being jailed or other being sentenced to death. The book satirizes African kleptocratic regimes.
Between Rhetoric and Reality : The State and Use of Indigenous Knowledge in Post-Colonial Africa
(2015)
Since time immemorial, indigenous peoples around the world have developed knowledge systems to ensure their continued survival in their respective territories. These knowledge systems have always been dynamic such that they could meet new challenges. Yet, since the so-called enlightenment period, these knowledges have been supplanted by the Western enlightenment science or colonial science hegemony and arrogance such that in many cases they were relegated to the periphery. Some Euro-centric scholars even viewed indigenous knowledge as superstitious, irrational and anti-development. This erroneous view has, since the colonial period, spread like veld fire to the extent of being internalised by some political elites and Euro-centric academics of Africa and elsewhere. However, for some time now, the potential role that indigenous peoples and their knowledge can play in addressing some of the global problems haunting humanity across the world is increasingly emerging as part of international discourse. This book presents an interesting and insightful discourse on the state and role that indigenous knowledge can play in addressing a tapestry of problems of the world and the challenges connected with the application of indigenous knowledge in enlightenment science-dominated contexts. The book is not only useful to academics and students in the fields of indigenous studies and anthropology, but also those in other fields such as environmental science, social and political ecology, development studies, policy studies, economic history, and African studies.
Blot On The Landscape
(2015)
The Pan African Anthropological Association (PAAA) marked the 10th anniversary of its creation by holding its 9th Annual Conference in Yaounde, Cameroon - the city and country of its birth, from 30 August-2 September 1999. The conference, themed 'The Anthropology of Africa: Challenges for the 21st Century', was attended by some seventy participants, mostly African. Among the international participants was Dr Sydel Silverman, President of the Wenner Gren Foundation at the time, a long term partner of the PAAA who was present at the inaugural conference in 1988. The conference proceedings were initially published in 2000 with very limited circulation. Given the continued relevance of the papers presented, and in view of the call by the President of the PAAA for African anthropologists to reunite anthropological theory and practice in the teaching programmes of African universities, the PAAA has republished the proceedings of its landmark 9th Annual Conference. The book consists of forty three divided into eight parts, namely: teaching anthropology in the decades ahead; Health Challenges: HIV/AIDS Anthropological Perspectives; NGOS: Use and Misuse of Anthropology; Anthropological Focus on Environment; Some Applied Issues in Anthropology; The African Family in Crisis; Ethnicity and Ethnic Conflicts; and Population issues and anthropology: Fertility Crisis. Paul Nkwi concludes his introduction to the volume with these words: 'The Anthropology of Africa will remain for a long time, fundamentally applied if it is to meet the challenges of the 21st Century.'
This book starts from the premise that the advent of mobile telephony in Mali coincided with economic liberalization, internationalization of trades and new balances in social spaces such as the Bamako market and the Center and Northern regions of Mali already under stress and / or major reconfigurations. These have resulted in increasing the mobility made ??both inside and outside the country (migrants and displaced persons, etc.); the appearance of new figures of businessmen, entrepreneurs, traders and changing trade routes. However, these mobilities produce original territories circulations and various exchanges that can not be understand in the exclusive setting of the local society. Perceived as pens or territorial ghettos, they are also anchors in cities. Centralities invisible and often confused with other businesses, these territories are also internalized operators forming networks between cities and the countryside. The investigated sites are representative of different scales: links, networks and territories across the Sahel and Sahara, and lastly of the territory enclosed within national boundaries, and finally across small parts of that territory, Douentza and the edges of the Sahara, the region of Kidal. In all cases it came to study in parallel, the social structure, the nature of territories or networks and actors that produce them, their links with urban areas, institutions, groups of actors embedded in these territories and movements registered by the use and ownership of the phone.
One of the central theoretical and practical issues in post-colonial Africa is the relevance, nature, and politics at play in the management of museum institutions on the continent. Most African museums were established during the 19th and 20th centuries as European imperialists were spreading their colonial tentacles across the continent. The attainment of political independence has done little to undo or correct the obnoxious situation. Most African countries continue to practice colonial museology despite surging scholarship and calls by some Afro-centric and critical scholars the world over to address the quandaries on the continent's museum institutions. There is thus an unresolved struggle between the past and the present in the management of museums in Africa. In countries such as Zimbabwe, the struggle in museum management has been precipitated by the sharp economic downturn that has gripped the country since the turn of the millennium. In view of all these glitches, this book tackles the issue of the management of heritage in Zimbabwe. The book draws on the findings by scholars and researchers from different academic orientations and backgrounds to advance the thesis that museums and museology in Zimbabwe face problems of epic proportions that require urgent attention. It makes insightful suggestions on possible solutions to the tapestry of the inexorably enigmatic amalgam of complex problems haunting museum institutions in Zimbabwe, calling for a radical transformation of museology as a discipline in the process. This book should appeal to policy makers, scholars, researchers and students from disciplines such as museology, archaeology, social-cultural anthropology, and culture and heritage studies.
According to Fossungu, we need healthy competition for progress. Competition that is not geared toward progress is negative competition. No competition or the absence of self-help is negative competition. With factories competing healthily, consumers have a variety of quality goods and services from which to choose. The entire community benefits when people in any grouping are competing positively; thus making the rules of competition graphical. The central focus of this book is the extent to which Canadian regulations apply without discrimination to all of Canada and to everyone, individuals and corporations alike. A swift answer is affirmative. But is that really it? The book is also about voluntary slavery, which is worse than forced enslavement. Drawing on Ignorance Theory, the book argues that the worst thing that can happen to anyone is to be ignorant of one's ignorance. He who does not know what he does not know will never know. Voluntary African slaves generally employ 'One Has No Choice' (On n'a pas le choix) to cloak their having chosen not to secure their rights. Fossungu demonstrates why he considers this an escapist way of shying away from doing the normal thing, thus giving the dictator or oppressor reason to dictate and oppress with impunity. This is Fossungu at his provocative and controversial best.
One Eternal Sleep
(2015)
In this volume Bill F. Ndi portrays life, death, and dying as one great adventure through which one would explore the limitless bounds of Life. At its best, the collection echoes the words of anthropologist Francis B. Nyamnjoh when he underlines that, 'one is only dead to particular context as a way of making oneself alive to prospective new contexts.' Ndi in this collection invites the reader to learn the art of living through the art of dying and accepting death.
Using linguistic stylings as subversive as the messages nestled between the lines, Vakunta s Requiem for Ongola in Camfranglais: Cameroonian poetics presents a scathing critique of the corruption of democracy into democraziness running rampant in the Sick Man of Africa . Written in Camfranglais, this is resistance poetry at its best: tokking through the mouth of the voiceless , the author pulls no punches in condemning the country s roi fain ant, the perverted acceptance of feymania, the reduction of the national Constitution into toilet paper, and the general climate of impunity that has created an atmosphere of frustration and hopelessness. Calling upon the redeeming power of the Word Speak truth! these verses deftly navigate through the multilingual lexicon of a new, African hybrid language, providing an insider s account of the real stakes at hand in Ongola, the Ewondo word for Yaound .
The Last Of The Virgins
(2015)
Evelyn Ndangeh, a pretty Cameroonian teenager brought up in a strict Christian home, vows to preserve her maidenhood until she gets married to a man she truly loves. While in Our Lady of Lourdes College Mankon, she is approached by Lesley Njapa a student of Cameroon Protestant College Bali, after a student of CCAST Bambili. Evelyn turns him down only to find later that she can't stay alone without a man who must be none other than Lesley. Evelyn begins frantic moves to entice Lesley but on meeting him it seems too late though she gets close to his heart. Tragedy strikes when Lesley is involved in a motor accident. Evelyn arrives Bamenda general hospital wailing and settles beside Lesley to console and comfort him in his agony. Anxiety builds up to a crescendo and a medical team is mobilised to save Lesley's life.
Teachers, through their pedagogical appropriation of information and communication technology (ICT) are sometimes bewildered - as if in the middle of a new ocean. Behind them is all they have learned, and before them lies so much they do not know and that invites exploration. They accompany their students and invite others to join them in this journey. They do their best to learn, deepen their teaching, and perhaps also, through their example and their actions, encourage the revitalization of the school system. Internet is like a sea of knowledge, in a changing world, where one has to navigate with great enthusiasm, curiosity and skill, as well as patience, impatience and perseverance. Let the experiences of Malian teachers shared in this book inspire you.
Africa Reunite or Perish
(2015)
Africa Reunite or Perish is a daring and timely book that explores the essence and nefariousness of neocolonialism in a purportedly independent Africa. The book shows how Africa spends billions of dollars in pseudo threats among African countries due to colonially-entrenched fear and war mongering. The book is emphatic on deconstruction and decolonisation as a categorical imperative for the reunification of Africa beyond the narrow confines of current nation states. Mhango takes a diagnostic-cum-prognostic approach in discussing Africa's predicaments, and in identifying and proposing solutions to problems confronting Africans. The book ascertains Africa's untapped potentials by proving how Africa can live without the infamy of excruciating dependency and beggarliness. It makes a compelling case for African unity beyond the tokenism of officialdom. It prescribes a truly pan-African driven reunification of Africa as the only means of reclaiming the glory she used to enjoy before she was savagely partitioned.
'In Who's Afraid of Mongo Wa Swolenka? a book launch is planned which, from information given to His Royal Excellency Gbadarango Binyambutu Buthablaisi, by a traitorous intellectual seeking preferment; and by his security agents, is a campaign led by disgruntled writers and intellectuals of Nubialand for the return of their exiled colleague and international award winner, Professor Mongo Wa Swolenka. How the celebrated leader of Nubialand and master of gunocratic politics responds to the prevailing circumstances is the nerve centre of dialogue, action and morality in the play.' - John Nkemngong Nkengasong, Writer and critic, University of Yaounde I, Cameroon
This book makes a rare contribution towards the preservation and promotion of ukhaliro wa bene Malawi (Malawian culture) that is fast waning. This dilution of culture was put in motion by the British colonial masters and got exacerbated with the inception of democratic governance in 1994. There is need for concerted efforts amongst various practitioners and stakeholders, led by the government itself, if the situation is to be put under control. Otherwise, sooner or later, it will simply be remote history that long time ago, there was a unique culture in Malawi. The book is a collection of twenty short stories that generally promote such themes as nkharo yiwemi (good behaviour); uheni wa chigolo na sanje (the bad side of selfishness and jealousy); kulimbikira pa vinthu (hard working spirit); and uheni wa mitala (the folly of polygamy), among others. The strength of the book lies in the fact that there is room for the reader to draw their own lessons based on their understanding of a particular story, in addition to the lesson already highlighted there-in. The book is a must read for all, young and old, especially those interested in understanding the societal values, not only about Malawi, but of Africa as a whole.
From Momany's wealthy and agonizing expibasketism so much can be drawn to teach about, demote or promote, and to portray Canada as it has never been properly understood; not only by outsiders but also by Canadians themselves. This book makes an extensive and detailed use of that basket of experience to deliver the message that Canada is not at all the 'children's-best-interests-friendly' nation that it is often mistaken for. Canada may be entitled to what it claims to be. But, since a country or community can only be correctly seen through the workings of the institutions that incarnate it, this study has dared to show a contrary portrait. It documents and proves the theorization that most of the country's institutions that are supposedly there to carter for and protect children and promote their wellbeing and glowing avenir often end up in reality instead actively working against the said children and all what their best interest should properly signify. The hope is that the experts in the relevant fields can find the material presented herein useful for their further specialized and in-depth analyses and sane policy formulation.
The most appealing quality of the novel is its haunting and unusual prose that really ought to be termed poetry. But this is poetry with an added touch as it is also a narrative that weaves together many lives engrossed in the daily struggle for survival. There are no heroes or villains, just ordinary folk trying to make the most of extraordinary circumstances.
There seems to be a sort of prevalent attitude in the Western world that its brand of democracy is something of a catch all solution for all the world's political problems. Hence, Western imperialism has always been sold under the pretext of spreading freedom and democracy. Democracy is beautiful. But it is no proof against imperialism. Whether democracy is causal is another whole consideration. It may be a case of the 'least bad of evil alternatives.' It may be a case of a state of social and political development over and above the way people organize themselves. It may be the fate of rational life on a planet with insufficient energy reserves to support locomotion without predation. But what gives anyone the right to go into a sovereign country and change its foundation through War? The whole democracy and freedom line is a lie to give Western imperialism a friendly face. Imperialism and its lie of spreading democracy is an unmitigated evil, whether for material gain, or the pride fostered by active participation in the machinery of state. Therefore, a people seeking to control their destiny must decolonize imposed Western democracy.
'Poems from Abakwa in Cameroon Pidgin English is one patriotic rage. An anthology of sorts, this book of poems contains wisdom, inspirational reflections and witticisms for all. Through apt descriptions, illustrations, dialogues, interrogations and incisive phraseology, Peter Wuteh Vakunta creates an effective balance of colorful images that traces and documents disturbing accounts and evidences of corruption, greed, skewed values and life experiences that have assaulted his fatherland, betrayed political leaders and institutions, court judges, and parliamentarians as the police-cum-military continue to put their ambitions above the country's needs while forsaking future leaders-children. Vakunta describes how civil servants represent selfish interests and aspirations. Judges are intimidated as the nation's laws continue to be transgressed. The police and military continue to abuse the trust invested in them by civilians and misdirect their patriotism while virtually the entire nation continues to live shaky lives with a punctured integrity. Vakunta does this in popular lingos commonly used by musicians, business folks, and the common man under several labels-pidgin English, Camfranglais, Cam-tok, Camspeak, Majunga tok ...' Dr. Fidelis Achenjang, Union College, USA
Born with Voice
(2015)
Born with Voice examines the psyche and scrape of the victims of various crimes, especially sexual discrimination-cum-exploitation, rape, and the killing of people with albinism. The author digs deeper into the hearts and minds, and plights of victims to inspire the society to stand with, and support them. The book offers some nuggets such as, understanding the phenomenon, confronting it and stopping wars that cause sufferings such as rape and death. It champions the urgency of voice for all and sundry. It challenges the industries of technologies of crime and violence to rise above selfish self-interest in the interest of human rights and voicing the voiceless victims of their greed.
Soul On Sale
(2015)
Soul On Sale (SOS) sounds like a rap song though it isn't. It isn't purely a poem but a long- provocative and vigorous song focusing on the history of injustices and those suffering from injustice urging them to take action. It explores colonialism, corruption and neocolonialism Africa faces. It chides victims to self-reinvent so as to change the status quo manned by begging and venal potentates. It seeks to provoke readers to feel empowered and responsible. Thus, stand and change the world's status quo sui generis. It employs an enthralling-flow style in free verse to catch the attention of the reader.
In A Predicament All My Life marks out some of the distressing ills of the postcolonial elite and the challenges of present-day African societies and cultures. The Poems in this collection bring into conversation precolonial Africa and Africa since colonialism. In particular, the poems explore Cameroon's predicament, its reunification traits, and its existential challenges. They represent a people who are out of favour, have lived in misery for most of their lives but are determined to stand firm and seek justice. In addition, the poems depict how women deal with gender oppression in a patriarchal society caught between and betwixt.
Largely concerned with Family Politics and Deception in northern North America and West-Central Africa, this book is intended mostly to provoke and enlighten. The book fossungupalogizes on whether or not northern North American courts are able to live up to the standard of 'exclusively saying exactly what the law is' in regard of the apparent war between the mounting same-sex marriage legalization drive and the traditional Western religious conception of marriage as endorsed by America's 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. It also tackles some intriguingly troubling matters emanating from African customary marriages and inheritance, subjects presenting some odd faces of marriage and family very similar at times to those engendered by same-sex marriage in northern North America. Its underlying preaching is that positive things could often be found even in tragedies. Hence, you should learn to make the best of your troubles instead of letting these haunt you - a goal easily attained by cultivating the habit of looking at the larger picture of things. Even one's 'stupid' and non-professional ideas could be learning ground to more people than one ever could have imagined.
This is a comprehensive, insightful, lucid, intense and unrivalled text on the general part of the criminal law in Cameroon. Beginning with an account of the historical development of the criminal law generally, the author proceeds to analyse and discuss in detail the principles governing application of the criminal law, criminal responsibility, participation in crime, penalties, and sentencing. These principles are broadly the same in other jurisdictions. The book balances theoretical content with case-law illustrations to enhance readability, comprehension and assimilation. It is an invaluable source and essential reading for law students and teachers, and lawyers in private practice and government service.
This Book is the outcome of a long project begun thirty years ago. It is a book on the makings of pan-Africanism through the predicaments of being black in a world dominated by being white. The book is a tribute and celebration of the efforts of the African-American and African-Caribbean Diaspora who took the initiative and the audacity to fight and liberate themselves from the shackles of slavery. It is also a celebration of those Africans who in their own way carried the torch of inspiration and resilience to save and reconstruct the Free Humanism of Africa. As a story of the rise from the shackles of slavery and poverty to the summit of Victors of their Renaissance Identity and Self-Determination as a People, the book is the story of African refusal to celebrate victimhood. The book also situates women as central actors in the Pan-African project, which is often presented as an exclusively masculine endeavour. It introduces a balanced gender approach and diagnosis of the Women actors of Pan-Africanism which was very much lacking. The problem of balkanisation of Africa on post-colonial affiliations and colonial linguistic lines has taken its toll on Africa's building of its common identity and personality. The result is that Africans are more remote to each other in their pigeon-hole-nation-states which put more restrictions for African inter-mobility, coupled by education and cultural affiliations, the communication and transportation and trading networks which are still tied more to their colonial masters than among themselves. This book looks into the problem of the new wave of Pan-Africanism and what strategies that can be proposed for a more participatory Pan-Africanism inspired by the everyday realities of African masses at home and in the diaspora. This book is the first book of its kind that gives a comprehensive and multidimensional coverage of Pan-Africanism. It is a very timely and vital compendium.
The Swamps
(2015)
The Swamps presents a debauched tapestry of an utterly dehumanised Cameroonian society seeking regeneration through s a judicious deployment of myth, history, parables, song, mimicry and dance. The inclusion of these features of orature in this political allegory creates particular moods and atmospheres and lends colour and movement to dramatic action. The structure and function of the play defines the individual's identity within the cosmic context which approximates the past and present. Inyang's analysis of class political behaviour in Cameroon exposes the complete erosion of civil liberties by corrupt and venal elite. He impresses the theatre audience with his dramatic eloquence and the fervour of his commitment, and emblazones his name in the front ranks of alternative theatre. This is a rare theatrical gem that demonstrates a brilliant, sustained invention, with great depth and suggestive power.
Usually shunned, condemned or narcotised as quickly as acknowledged, the absurd remains nevertheless a large part of reality. Loyal to their poetic pen, Teena and Yanee Dewoo choose to embrace and transcribe a fragment thereof in this book, in the manner in which it coloured their own thoughts or materialised around them in the past year in Mauritius - as zealous objection to human existence as defined by Science or Religion, and consequently, as a sort of de-stigmatisation of psychosis.
A Pebble In The River
(2015)
Akli is an old man now. He is in prison. It is from there that he begins telling his story of the colonisation of Northern Africa. Of his village especially, Thadarth. It is a narrative of revolution, war, torture, dispossession, corruption, intolerance, betrayal, terrorism, religious extremism but, above all, resistance. A narrative of inevitability and loss. The loss of faith in a higher power. The loss of those closest to him, which he would endlessly try, in vain, to prevent since his adolescence. He would forever carry the burden of their death and absence, the regret of not having been able to protect them, to be with them. This forged him into a cynic, a man without hope for a better future, a man who wishes for death every day that passes. But his is also a story of love. Unconditional. Pure love. The ineffable kind which he has for his country, his land, the mountains, his family, his friends, his people. A story of his life's first love, Martine, daughter to the French settler, Fino, who left him with a lot of frustrations but also good remembrances. If his story begins in gloom, it is one through which secretly, intimately and ultimately runs the thread of hope. Hope because he is released from prison at the time of the narration. Hope that his daughter, Zira, the fruit of the rape of his wife by terrorists, brings back into his life. It is a story about the persistence of beauty, of good and goodness, even in the face of chaos. It is a story about truth. His truth. Eternal even when obscured. No man can be broken badly enough to not feel love, to not see and enjoy beauty. No man can tear the world apart so much that love and beauty no longer exist. Once this truth is accepted, however chaotic or scary the outside world can be, peace can be found. Peace within one's own being. Peace which Akli finds too.
Coffee Time
(2015)
In Coffee Time, Mary Njeri Kinyanjui uses her childhood experiences in a rural coffee farm to show the struggles that farmers go through to earn a living. They linger in poverty as intermediaries along the coffee value chain rake huge profits. It is a story of trade injustice in an asymmetrical world.