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Political Liberation and Decolonization in Africa: Lessons from Country Experiences.

Article Excerpt
Political Liberation and Decolonization in Africa: Lessons from Country Experiences. Julius Omozuanvbo Ihonvbere and John Mukum Mbaku. Westport CT: Praeger, 2003. 373 pp.

African scholars who have first hand experience of political developments in the continent since independence in the late fifties constitute all of the contributors to this collection of essays edited by Julius Ihonvbere and John Mbaku. This is a companion volume to the earlier The Transition to Democratic Governance in Africa: The Continuing Struggle (Praeger, 2003). It provides a gory assessment of the performance of African states since decolonization, focusing particularly on the failure of the African elite to deliver on the promises of independence. It paints a very sordid and unflattering picture of the lackluster performance of the post-colonial state (neo-colonial states) in most African countries, and the increasing alienation of these states from the civil society. The editors of the volume, both of whom have written extensively on African political economy, blame the current state of African political and economic terrains on the unpatriotic ambition of the new elite, whose primary goal is the pursuit of personal wealth at the expense of their people. The primary objective of this volume, according to the editors, is "to determine how best to proceed with the continent's transition to democratic governance and economic systems that enhance wealth creation and sustainable development" (pp. xi).

The authors, in the introductory chapter, offer bold solutions to current African crises and suggest new paths to African future, which they claim could only be found in a transition to "democratic constitutionalism". This magical transition to "democratic constitutionalism", according to the authors,...