I think in Africa the biggest problem is individualism. The colonizers really did a number on us. Made us forget that although we were tribal, nepotistic, and “backward” in each of our cultures the community was of utmost importance. So we discarded our communal living without ever really asking ourselves what were its merits? What role did it do?
Let me use a very bad example of a backward practice to make my point. Among the Kalenjins, girls used to undergo female genital mutilation (fgm)/the cut and they would be given new names after transitioning from girlhood to womanhood. Conversely, men were and still are circumcised, apprenticed and taught some form of Kalenjin philosophy which we are not allowed to share with outsiders. FGM is bad yes, we all know that, but what has replaced that month in seclusion learning from elders?
As a Kalenjin muren, I know my ageset Kipnyige, our reputation is peacekeepers. That knowledge of what ageset represents influences how I act and make decisions. But what about Kalenjin women my age? Did they get that chance to be taught the wisdom of older Kalenjin women that have been passed down through the ages? Were they given new names for that girl to woman transition?
Every Kalenjin man has lifetime advisors, brothers and peers of “bakule” but there is a lost sisterhood which older Kalenjin women called Taplule, Tapnyole, Taprantich etc consulted and benefited from for life. The physical act of FGM is bad, but there are good things about that rite; the seclusion, learning sacred/guild knowledge millenia old, and having life companions.
There is wisdom in dark places. Let us not throw out the baby with the bath water.
The philosophies of our African cultures are beautiful. But we have to interrogate them with an open mind to find the diamond in the rough. We have been alienated from them by modernity, capitalism, and ultimately individualism. Some communities such as the Maasai have adapted well to modern times while still holding on to the core philosophies of their cultures.
Us, other African communities, we should aim to be proud of who we are. Modern education is very good, for example I benefit from learning English as my third language up to now as it is the language I write and communicate most easily. This might mean losing a bit of fluency in native languages but I practise often and enjoy it. .
Another bad example, when my grandfather was a young man, after earning his manhood name, the standard back then in the 1940s was to go steal cows from neighbouring communities to prove his worth to the community, and earn a wife. His ageset believed in such things which we know of today as “cattle rustling” and “banditry” but back then it had a name which if I translate is closer to “hustling.” Bad thing but the prosperity of the community was dependent on that.
The cattle bandits of North Rift are still operating on these philosophies by the way. It is a misguided warrior way but we have to see the situation as they see it first before attempting any remedies, adverse or otherwise. It is through understanding that my grandfather lived in a different landscape with different rules and guidelines that I can sympathize with the bandits of North Rift. And since I identify as Kipnyige, a peacemaker, I consider peaceful solutions.
That is the story I tell myself. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’ve thought long and hard about this for sometime now. The African crisis is a crisis of losing communal identity and purpose. We have to marry modernity with communal African living. It is a worthy paradox to live by.
Unreliable Narrator 