INDIGENOUS AFRICAN INSTITUTIONS

Transcription

1 ' A/ '"ii mil INI nil INDIGENOUS AFRICAN INSTITUTIONS Second Edition George B.N. Ayittey IllfSU T r a n s n a t i o n a l P u b l i s h e r

2 CONTENTS About the Author Acknowledgements xi xiii INTRODUCTION: A CENTURY LOST 1 A. Africa's Economic Collapse 1 B. Who Ruined Africa? 3 C. Western Culpability 5 D. The Fundamental Cause of Postcolonial Africa's Ruin 7 E. Myths and Misconceptions About Africa 11 F. The Common Sense Approach to Africa's Ills 17 G. Aim and Purpose of Book 19 CHAPTER 1: THE INDIGENOUS SOCIAL SYSTEMS 23 A. The Peasants' Social Structure and Organization: A Comparative Overview 23 B. African Beliefs, Religion, and Customs Philosophical Tenets The Individual Versus the Society The Fundamental Rights of the African People The Concept of Wealth Education 58 C. Summary 65 CHAPTER 2: THE INDIGENOUS LEGAL INSTITUTIONS 67 A. Natural Law, Customary Law, and Statutory Law 67 B. Native Courts Courts and Customary Law Jurisprudence in Stateless Societies Jurisprudence in States 80 C. Contracts and Property Rights Property Claims Settlement of Disputes and Court Cases 95 D. Interethnic Conflicts and Disputes 101 E. Summary 102 CHAPTER 3: INDIGENOUS POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS 105 A. Introduction 105 B. Stateless Societies Organizational Structure 113 a. The Igbo Government 116 b. The Fulani of Northern Nigeria 119 c. The Somali 120

3 vi INDIGENOUS AFRICAN INSTITUTIONS d. The Gikuyu of Kenya 123 e. The IKung of the Kalahari Selection and Role of the Headman in Stateless Societies 130 C. Government in Chiefdoms Day-to-Day Administration 133 CHAPTER 4: THE AFRICAN CHIEF 143 A. The Selection of the Chief 143 B. The Functions of the Chief 153 C. "Corruption as a Cultural Trait" A Digression 157 D. Checks Against Abuse of Power by the Chief Religious or Supernatural Sanctions Institutionalized Sanctions 162 a. Private and Public Admonitions 162 b. Prohibitions Against Office of Chieftaincy or Kingship 164 c. Political Pressure from Various Groups and Associations E. The Destoolment of the Chief (Removal from Office) 170 F. Spontaneous (Peasant) Responses 174 G. Lemma 176 CHAPTER 5: AFRICAN KINGDOMS 185 A. Organizational Structure The Serer State/Kingdom (Senegal) The Kingdoms of Sierra Leone (Temne and Mende) The Mossi States/Kingdoms The Ga-Dangme Kingdom The Kingdom of Ife The Kingdom of Kongo The Basoga Kingdom of Uganda The Swazi Kingdom The Zulu Kingdom 199 B. Exceptional Kingdoms The Kingdom of Dahomey The Dyola Kingdom 205 C. The Traditional Role of African Kings The African Concept of the Universe The King's Link to the Universe 208 D. The Selection and Removal of African Kings The King of Cayor (Former Province of Ghana) The Bur (Serer King) The Ga King The Asante King The Oni or Oba (Yoruba King) The Kongo King 227

4 CONTENTS vii 7. The Luba King The Zibondo of Basoga The Kabaka of Buganda 229 CHAPTER 6: GOVERNMENT IN NATIVE AFRICAN EMPIRES A. By Assimilation The Mandinka (Islamic) Empire, The Eighteenth Century Zande Kingdom The Zulu Kingdom 235 B. By Indirect Rule The Ancient Empire of Ghana The Wolof Empire The Mali Empire Nineteenth Century Asante Empire The Oyo Empire (Yoruba) The Kingdom of Benin The Kanuri Empire (Northern Nigeria) The Lunda Empire The Kingdom of Kuba The Empire of Mwene Mutapa (Great Zimbabwe) 263 CHAPTER 7: THE NATIVE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT: ASUMMARYAND AN ASSESSMENT 265 A. Summary Chiefdoms and Kingdoms 265 a. Stability 268 b. Indigenous Curbs Against Despotism 272 c. Native Freedom of Expression 275 d. Peasants' Power The Empires 280 a. Checks Against African Imperialism 283 b. Absence of Strong Centralized Rule 285 B. Features of the Indigenous Political System Beliefs Native Courts The Political System 293 C. The Indigenous African Constitution 294 D. The Indigenous African Political System: An Assessment 297 E. Kritarchy and Democracy 305 CHAPTER 8: THE INDIGENOUS ECONOMIC SYSTEM: CAPITAL AND PRODUCTION 311 A. The "Economic Problem" 311 B. Production 317

5 viii INDIGENOUS AFRICAN INSTITUTIONS 1. Organization and Occupations The Factors of Production: Supplies and Ownership 322 a. Land Tenure 322 b. Land and Chief in the Tribal Policy 323 c. Land Acquisition 326 d. Land Grab 331 e. Land Sale 335 f. Land Reform A Digression 340 g. Labor 342 h. Capital 344 i. Entrepreneurship and the Profit Motive 346 CHAPTER 9: THE INDIGENOUS ECONOMIC SYSTEM: DISTRIBUTION 355 A. Free Market and Free Trade Tradition Markets Types and Organization 355 a. Market Regulations and Controls 360 b. Market Tolls and Taxes 361 c. The Importance of Markets in Indigenous Africa 363 d. Media of Exchange 371 e. Market Prices 374 f. Role of Women in the Distribution System Means of Transportation/Roads 389 B. The Role of Government in the Indigenous Economy Government Intervention Taxes 397 C. Summary of the Features of the Indigenous Economic System Land Tenure European Enterprise 397 D. The Indigenous Economic System: An Assessment 404 E. Appendix: Gold Is Black and a Curse 410 CHAPTER 10: THE INDIGENOUS INSTITUTIONS UNDER COLONIALISM 415 A. Colonialism Early Contacts and Scramble for Africa Resistance Against Colonialism 418 B. The Colonial State and Traditional Africa Colonial Atrocities African Chiefs Under Colonialism Colonial Policies The Native Institutions Under Colonialism 432 C. Colonialism: An Assessment European Imperialism Arab Imperialism 449

6 CONTENTS ix CHAPTER 11: THE POSTCOLONIAL DESTRUCTION AND BETRAYAL OF AFRICA 459 A. Introduction 460 B. Monumental Leadership Failure 462 C. The Ten-Count Indictment Against the Postcolonial Leadership Charge Number 1: The Betrayal of the Cause for Freedom Charge Number 2: The Institution of Brutal Political Tyranny Charge Number 3: Intellectual Repression Charge Number 4: Refusal to Take Responsibility Charge Number 5: Functional Illiteracy "Development by Imitation" Charge Number 6: The Imposition of Alien Ideologies and Systems on Africa 479 a. Socialism An Alien Ideology 480 b. "Swiss-Bank" Socialism Charge Number 7: The Economic Ruination of Africa 483 a. The Golden Age of Peasant Prosperity Charge Number 8: Butchers, Bombers, and Bandits (The 3-Bs) a. The Butchers 488 b. The Bombers/Destroyers 489 c. The Bandits Charge Number 9: Denigration of the Indigenous.491 a. The Indigenous Versus Western Institutions Charge Number 10: The Persecution of the African Chief 494 D. Summary 506 CHAPTER 12: EPILOGUE 507 A. Africa Beyond the New Millennium 507 B. Botswana: Indigenous Success The Keys to Botswana's Success 514 C. Somalia's Collapse: Elite Folly 517 D. African Solutions for African Problems 523 E. Selected African Solutions Resolving Political Crises: The African Way Conflict Resolution: The African Way 528 a. Benin City (Nigeria) A Haven of Tranquility Rural Development Under a Traditional Chief 535 a. KwaDumisa: A Successful Village Development Model Traditional Medicine Integrating the Traditional and Modern 551 a. Conservation: Lesson Under a Mango Tree 551 b. How a Modern African Country Should Be Governed 552

7 x INDIGENOUS AFRICAN INSTITUTIONS Maps Map 1: Principal Peoples and Languages of Africa 559 Map 2: Trans-Saharan Trade Routes 560 Map 3: Precolonial African States and Kingdoms, Tenth-Sixteenth Century 561 Map 4: Precolonial African States and Kingdoms, Sixteen-Nineteenth Century 562 Map 5: Colonial Africa Map 6: Political Map of Africa Bibliography 565 Index 575