African Culture: Moving On or Fading Off?
African Culture: Moving On or Fading Off?
By A. Leslie Lumeh (AN Country Representative, Liberia)
A recent BBC report says that ‘Africa ranked highest – by a 5% increase’ – in the flow of tourists in 2009. Other countries are said to have had a minus 1% of that figure due to the world-wide bird flu endemic coupled with the economic ‘Ice Age’ experienced last year.
A 5% increase in tourism should mean a 5% increase in incomes generated by and for cultural industries as well as their operators on the continent. Though relatively small the incensement may appear, it should be considered highly significant for two main reasons: 1) at the time when most developed and developing nations were caught up in a financial quagmire, ironically, people from those nations were coming and contributing to Africa’s economic growth, 2) the economy is even bond to flourish further owing to the up-coming World Cup the continent is hosting for the first time in South Africa – a great cultural event.
But what does this spell for the continent cultural sector? Let us take a closer look at culture, the bait that draws tourists to any country.
Culture: as defined by the meridian Webster dictionary, is ‘the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations’.
Considering therefore the number of Protocols, Conventions and Rights either signed or adopted over the last 5 decades or so, in which we have witnessed the independence of most African states, can we then say that indeed, today’s generation has fully integrated the pattern of human knowledge?
Independence comes not only with a new flag, or new national anthem, but equally with a new identity which can be found only in the people, because that identity is their culture about which they do not only sing, or engrave it on stones but wear it and carry it with them everywhere they go. That is culture, into which enormous research has gone simply to keep it alive for ‘succeeding generations’.
One example of such research is the ‘Nairobi Plan of Action on the Cultural and Creative Industries in Africa’, a dossier adopted by African Ministers of Culture in 2005. The primary goal of this document among other things is to ‘tap into the vast economic and social potential of African cultural and creative resources’.
Again, from the above definition, another question comes to mind: has the ‘integrated knowledge’ been transmitted to ‘succeeding generations’? Visiting page 14 of the Nairobi Plan of Action, PRIORITY AREA 7: Improving infrastructure for the development of the cultural and creative industries, one would then wonder how well Liberia, a country that in 2008 demolished an entire cultural village built in the 60s (see Daily Observer Vol. 12 No. 66 ‘“Minister [of culture] Misled Me” – President [Ellen Johnson Sirleaf] on Kendeja Riot’ & Vol.12 No 70 ‘Bropleh [Minister of Culture] to Face Legislative Inquest – on Kendeja School Project’) in favor of a modern resort center just outside the capital Monrovia.
What is the problem here? Is it ignorance, greed or development or all combined? If it is ignorance, then why, in the first place, was the center built that has trained so many traditional dancers and singers, carvers, weavers, story tellers etc? Until 2008, the Kendeja was the hub of the Liberian culture featuring all aspects of the sixteen tribes of the land. Was it greed then? By whom, the artists of the center who never wanted to be and has not yet been relocated; or was it greed on the part of someone at the Ministry of Information Culture & Tourism? Or was it because of development – yes development to boost the tourism industry of a nation just rising from the arches of a brutal civil conflict? But again, can any development that compromises culture be considered a lasting development?
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African Culture: Moving On or Fading Off?
Thank you very much for the article African Culture Moving on or fading off? I could not ask for a better title.
You leave us with a question that in my opinion African’s interested in the development of the Culture and Arts sector should bear in my mind before we passionately argue for cultural development. “Can any development that compromises culture be considered a lasting development?” You ask and I seek to further add whose understanding of development and on whose terms?
The example of Liberia that you give is a saddening one and much as I admire President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, I think the minister of culture is a sacrificial lamb to appease people and demonstrate responsiveness to executive failure. How can President Johnson claim that she was misled by the minister? Usually ministers in Africa are political figures appointed to impress electorates and some times donors such that they say there is gender balance or so much number of women ministers in cabinet and to make political statements that please the electorate that their person is given a ministerial post so they believe they are taking their share of national cake otherwise, ministers being political appointees lack the technical know how. A single minister can not shoulder responsibility for mishandling a riot, Is the police not supposed investigate and be on top of it? Where was police? How about security heads? What does the Liberian Constitution say on riots? That aside how can a Minister be involved in the destruction of a school in favor of a modern resort? Where was parliament how about the whole cabinet. Do they not sit to take decisions on such matters? How about the technical team including the permanent secretary who is technically the decision maker in Ministries? Did the permanent secretary, Parliament e.t.c advise the Minister or Ministry officials but they went ahead to destroy the center in favor of a modern resort? About not justifying what the minister did nor am I qualified to talk about the issue with authority as am not conversant with it but one thing is glaringly evident. The problem of Liberia is not unique to Liberia alone. It has been the trend in post colonial Africa only the past decade as witnessed it at its worst. This is because post colonial Africa and I will stick to Uganda where I hail from, development has been mainly attached to moving from one position to another and in this case moving towards modern infrastructures and buildings. The governments have not expanded development to embrace the majority of population in rural areas. It is quite impossible to develop structures in the country side yet in the past forty years rural urban immigration has seen an increment in town settlement. The 60’s building has become smaller and less beautiful. They need even more modern building. The trend therefore has been to destroy the old structures in the name of development to avoid expanding to remote areas where there will be a need to also institute other infrastructural developments including roads, water and electricity among other things. As a result, old institutions and structures have become causalities. It does not make the situation any better but at least the modern resort was built in Liberia. In Uganda, you are lucky if after destruction the proposed project is developed.
Shimoni Demonstration Primary and Teachers Training which was located in central Kampala the country’s capital with a population of over 10,000 pupils from primary one to seven was in 2006 relocated to a less accessible East Kololo and the structures were demolished in favor of constructing a luxurious hotel to host the Common wealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM) in 2007. The protests by Parents, Pupils and teachers fell on deaf ears and Professor Semakula Kiwanuka the Minister of State for Finance, Planning and Economic Development in charge of investments was all over the airwaves and print media criticizing Ugandans for frustrating development and investment opportunities. Needless to say now that the Hotel was never developed in time for the CHOGM meet neither has it been built to date. The buildings though old having been established in 1954 and therefore needed a facelift had contributed significantly to our society. It catered for needs of special children who were mentally disabled and had special classes & rooms for them. After they were confirmed that they had mentally stabilized, they would be promoted to Primary one to study with other normal students. It also had a teachers training college one of the best in the country.
For me the problem is not simply that the school, wetland, market or any of the hundreds of traditional structures and institutions that have been destroyed were destroyed rather the perception of what is considered development. Take for example the issue of Bujagali Hydro Power Project which is now in its final process of development. The project stalled for a number of years until about two years ago when government threw out all issues raised against the dam construction and pushed for its construction citing the power shortage crisis that it would address, more income and job creation among other things.
Apart from being a tourist attraction and providing water rafting adventures which also fetched income, Bujagali is a cultural site where many Ugandans went to worship and relate to their gods. This is not here say, there is a man Bujyagali named after the falls who used to sit on an animal skin and would float on water with out sinking during some spiritual interventions when the ancestors possessed him. Children and youth would also earn a living through holding on to empty jerry cans and diving in to the falls only to come out from the other side. Tourists and perplexed locals would always pay them. The falls have now been destroyed. A lot of cultural consultations and spiritual functions were held to supposedly calm the spirits and shift them to another place. Many of the custodians of culture boycotted in protest arguing that the dam should either be developed on other sites or with a technology that does not tamper with the nature (falls) however, they could not justify their contribution to the social-economic-physical needs of the country and the people as the dam would bring. The issue of Bujyagali falls is but one example of the many conflicts that the country continues to engage in. The development visa vie cultural dilemma is a tricky one for especially the state which also has challenges of improving its people’s welfare using available resources but based on past and present experiences, the need to incorporate culture in the development program is high on the agenda but this of course raises other concerns of how and who the architects of this development program are. Arguably, the Bujyagali development transcends a particular group of people and the benefits go beyond the boundaries of Busoga community or environmentalist crusaders but would for instance the architects of Bujyagali falls have conceived a design that as the anti Bujyagali crusaders had advocated does not tamper with the falls as the proposed Karuma Hydo power project is planned to leave Karuma falls intact but still generate power if the community of Bujyagali had initiated the project or if historically Uganda had a national identity that related to such cultural values and the voice to protect them was larger, bigger and louder than that of the people of the surrounding Busoga community and Environment crusaders?
Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP, 2004) acknowledges that culture is intrinsically valuable and an important dimension of identity and a form of capital with the potential to move people out of income poverty. However, there is a general lack of appreciation of the significance and value of Uganda’s cultural heritage towards the realisation of Uganda’s development goals.
The National Culture Policy has addressed this challenge by providing strategies to enhance the integration of culture into development. These strategies include; advocating for culture, ensuring capacity building, ensuring research and documentation, promoting collaboration with stakeholders and mobilising resources for culture. These strategies are an integral part of the Social Development Sector Strategic Investment Plan (SDIP) whose mission is to create an enabling environment for social protection and social transformation of communities”.
When the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development in which the Cultural department falls says” towards the realization of Uganda’s development goals” in the recently established Cultural Policy, , what are theses goals, in which areas are they, on whose terms and what is the perception of development? Is it still as explained above concerned with more infrastructural developments and monetary benefits with out taking care of the spiritual and heritage needs? Do not these developments have related consequences especially when it deals with tampering with the environment? The anti Bujyagali Crusaders for instance predicted increment in earth quakes should Bujyagali dam be constructed next to the Owen falls dam as it is now. Will the production of over 200MGW of electricity, job creation, Industrial development and rural electrification be worth the destruction of a people’s heritage, loss of tourism and worse the cost of earth quakes should indeed predictions of increased earth quakes as predicted by environmentalists occur?
Sarah Kizza Nsigaye
AN Rep Uganda