To Hell With Authenticity!

I am sick and tired of reading books that talk about authentic this or authentic that - authentic human, authentic African, authentic Christian, etc. etc. They talk about authenticity as if they intend to hawk a particular kind of ware and are not sure if they will be trusted unless the ware is authentic. Why does it need to be authentic this or authentic that? Who creates such authenticity and what purpose does it serve? What does it mean to be authentically Christian or authentically human, or authentically African or authentically anything? We know what Mobutu Sese Seko did with the idea of African authenticity in the then Zaire. We know how talk of authenticity are often designed to exclude. The sooner we learn that there is no authenticity about any human artifact the better it will be for all of us. I do not want to read another book about what it means to be authentically African or authentically Christian or authentically anything. Just tell me what you are selling and I will know whether I want to buy it or not! 

Why Are Priests Turning Up Dead In Cameroon?

Just in the past two months, three Roman Catholic priests - one a bishop - have died in suspicious circumstances in Cameroon. One was found dead in his home while the other drowned in a river, purportedly leaving behind a suicide note. These deaths would raise suspicion even in normal circumstances. But the circumstances in Cameroon have been far from normal for a long while now. Priests and nuns have turned up dead in the country and others have even fled the country. This is why these recent deaths are raising many eyebrows. Will the answers to the many questions people are asking ever be found? What does the government know about these deaths?

2000 Days of Protesting Paul Biya's Murderous Dictatorship in Cameroon

Cameroon's Paul Biya

Cameroon is a very small country in West-Central Africa and it may be best known for football (soccer) rather than much else. But the country has very talented and hardworking people who, but for their tenacity, would have been completely broken. Their hard work has however not paid off in the postcolony because the country is lead by a rapacious dictator who has been at the helm of the country for over 34 years now - Paul Biya. Under his regime, the country not only bowed to severe economic crisis which has killed many poor people, but the infrastructure of the country has far diminished. Cameroon is the site of ghastly rail and road accidents that are due to the dilapidated nature of the transportation system. The morality and morale of many people in the country have been almost destroyed as many young people do not appear to see a future for themselves in the country. The healthcare system is so broken that many women continue to die in childbirth and many people continue to die from little, curable diseases. Meanwhile, Paul Biya himself spends much of his time in France and other European countries, especially when he is sick, as he often does, given that is a very old man now.

The flashpoint in the country now is the Cameroon Anglophone crisis which Paul Biya has totally ignored. Schools have closed in Anglophone regions but Paul Biya has been busy cutting the Internet there rather than seeing to it that children go to school. Spreading illiteracy in Anglophone Cameroon seems to be Paul Biya's primary goal now, as he continues to serve the interest of France rather than Cameroonians. His focus on serving France rather than Cameroon has led some to say that he is actually a Frenchman rather than a Cameroonian.
We here at FlourishingAfrica have been protesting this rapacity for 2000 days since Paul Biya rigged the last election. We will continue to do so until he is no longer the dictator of Cameroon. Cameroonians deserve much better.

Cohen's Hallelujah Given an African Flavor

On the Sainthood of Julius Mwalimu Nyerere

While some are calling for the first post-independence President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere, to be made a saint, others are debating whether this should be so. What is remarkable in all this is not the debate itself but that such debate is about an African politician not an African priest, bishop or nun. It is more remarkable that such debate is taking place at all! For a continent whose politicians are often mostly noted for their amorality and cultivation of all kinds of vices, just the claim that one of its previous leaders should be made a saint is quite remarkable. It is further quite remarkable because the Mo Ibrahim Foundation has for years been looking for worthy African leaders to squander cash on as a lifetime gift, but has found very few. It is even more remarkable because there are currently many Roman Catholic politicians in Africa whom one would not be surprised to find them in hell!

President Julius Nyerere and Pope John Paul II

From BBC via Getty

In spite of all this, some are calling for, and others are debating, that one of them should be made a saint, declaring that such a person is in heaven with God! If nothing else, this speaks of the complexity and even paradox that is Africa - a place of amazing beauty and astounding rapacity.

Morality and Law are for Losers

This is not a significant insight for it his been reiterated throughout intellectual history. It is however worth another iteration because of its detractors and the fact that examples for the case keep piling.  I use just three cases in our very recent memory to make the case. The case of Donald Trump is just so glaring that it hardly needs elaboration. The lies, bullying, insults that led him to America's presidency are there for all to see. Just this week, a gentleman in Montana won an election for the US congress even though the fact that he had beaten up a journalist in the process was captured on audio. It was only after he won the election that he apologized for the ignominy. If I had beaten up a journalist, this post, if I had been able to write it at all, would have been about my experience in jail and probably about my way to prison. I would have been fired from my job also if my employer had been made aware of the incident. However, our gentleman from Montana will be heading to Washington, DC, to make laws for America. Finally, the Dictator of Burundi who says he is the president of the country. A born-again Christian (by the way, all the examples here are from Christian people), he shot and killed his way to power and manipulated the election to keep himself there. Now he says he wants to revive moral rectitude in the country. His target is people who are co-habiting. He says that co-habitation increases the population of the country and poses a danger to the moral fiber of society. He has given an ultimatum for those who are co-habiting to marry, as if that would solve the population problem he is talking about. Perhaps the population crisis does not matter if the people increasing the population are married. There you have it - three examples why morality and law are for losers.

Healthcare Rankings Around the World: African Countries Still at the Bottom

The Lancet has recently ranked the healthcare access in 195 countries in the world based on how they succeed in preventing people from dying from curable diseases. The results are not encouraging for most African countries because they find themselves at the bottom of the list.  The last country is Central African Republic which has been at war with itself for a while now. The report shows that between 1990 to 2015, the highest increases in access to healthcare have happened in countries like South Korea and China rather than in African countries. Access to healthcare and mortality rate should be the number one criterion by which the idea of a rising Africa is measured. This report significantly challenges the notion of a rising Africa. In the table below, most African countries have a failing grade when it comes to treating preventable diseases. Compare it to the countries at the top of the list in the second table.





Source: The Lancet.