Ndirangu Mwaura
This is the story of modern Africa: the reality of poverty, underdevelopment and the donor community. Are governments using politics and imported culture to trap ordinary Africans in a weakening web of international "friendship" and "economic partnership," cemented by "developmental assistance"? The author analyzes modern African history to identify the reasons for conflict, economic collapse and other disasters, revealing a world of victims and executioners. The process of selection and emphasis in history inevitably entails taking sides; this work is skeptical of governments whether domestic or foreign. Mwaura tells the story of the brief but bloody 1997 war in Congo (Brazzaville) from the standpoint of the oil connection, not the ethnic aspect that is usually given broader coverage. Similarly, he presents the dismal objective results of various events that have been painted as cultural but the impact of which - and the underlying causes - have been economic, and initiatives that have been promoted as being for the "welfare" of Africans while in fact worsening their plight. The author strives to cover all major topics, problems and trends as they affect the central questions of poverty and inequality, and tries to anticipate a new future as well as to propose solutions. Part One is an investigation of the historical roots of African underdevelopment. Part Two traces the mechanisms by which poor African countries become trapped in their backwardness, including aspects of domestic and international politics which frustrate positive reform through political instability and war. This work is a prism through which the complex direct and indirect effects of global policies may be viewed, raising questions as to results and intentions, and stimulating a subtler appreciation of the consequences of international politics. The book will be indispensable for students, academics, and policy makers interested in African Affairs, Development issues, American foreign policy, UN policies, government, political science, international economics, race relations and history, and as a survey of the problems in Africa for general readers. * The author, a Black Kenyan, has degrees in sociology and history from the University of Nairobi. He lives in Nairobi; this is his first book to be published in the West.
Kenya Today - Breaking the Yoke of Colonialism in Africa