2007: A Year Of Heroism And Martyrdom In Africa

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

Heroism is the ability to triumph over adversity. Its kernel is fuelled by defiance and fired by a steel will.

Either as an individual or a corporate body, heroism urges the subject to go against the grain of conservative establishment. Motivated by independent assertiveness, the subject breaks free from monolithism and complacency to embrace the collective vision of his or her society. Ali Mazrui says heroes are symbols of achievements; they are ultimate victors.

Either as an individual or a corporate body, heroism urges the subject to go against the grain of conservative establishment. Motivated by independent assertiveness, the subject breaks free from monolithism and complacency to embrace the collective vision of his or her society. Ali Mazrui says heroes are symbols of achievements; they are ultimate victors.

Martyrdom on the other hand is the ability to sustain the elasticity of one's belief. Its engine is lubricated by the oil of faith and propelled by the wings of a strong cause. Ali Mazrui says martyrs are symbols of anguish; they are ultimate victims.

Transmutations between heroism and martyrdom are common currency as far back as in the persona of Jesus Christ.  Indeed heroes and martyrs are always wedded to their consciences as they insist on speaking to the volcanic injustices of their societies.

Africa's Share Of Heroism In 2007

Laurent Gbagbo and Guillaume Soro of Ivory Coast would have to be taken seriously for any peace award considering their heroic exploits in negotiating rough bends and surmounting political hills, some of them built by Eurocentric intrigues, in the year 2007. The courage of Gbagbo and commitment of Soro to unite a much fragmented country caught even their most vitriolic critics applauding.

Robert Gabriel Mugabe's perennial defiance in the face of Western jingoism has endeared him to most Africans. His frank and fiery oratory during the 62nd anniversary of the United Nations on September 26 as well as his magnetic stimulus that pulled African leaders towards him during the European Union-African Union Summit in Portugal (7-9 December) remains memorable benchmarks of Mugabephilia.

Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma rose from disgrace to grace when on December 18 the African National Congress, ANC, elected him as its head. Not even the charges of corruption today, like the charges of rape yesterday, shall stop this Zulu enigma with a formidable Teflon character from becoming the next President of South Africa come 2009.

Mariam Sankara, the widow of Thomas Sankara, mustered both courage and crowd to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the death of her maverick husband on October 15. She broke both her psychological and physical exile to commune with the grassroots in Burkina Faso in a feat that was reminiscent of Corazon Aquino of Philippines.

Guinean trade union leader, Rabiatou Serah Diallo, became the Lech Walesa of Guinea, when in January - February, she "marched shoulder to shoulder with determined demonstrators, demanding sweeping government reforms in Guinea" using dialogue as a veritable political spear and mass mobilisation as a sustainable social shield.

Idris Derby of Chad won the hearts of Africans for insisting on carrying out the "Zoe Ark" trial in December right in Chad. The country's judiciary reclaimed its sovereign voice by sentencing the French abductors to 6-8 years of hard labour even if the abductors are supposed to serve their sentences in France.

The African-American billionaire and talk-show host Oprah Winfrey spent her own 40 million dollars to build a school for girls (Leadership Academy) in South Africa. The school was commissioned on January 2, 2007.  According to Oprah, she wanted "to give this opportunity to girls who had a light so bright that not even poverty could dim the light".

Toyin Agbetu, founder of a London-based Pan-African human rights organisation challenging the misrepresentation of the African people in the British media, stood up on April 22 during a church service organised by the British establishment to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of transatlantic slavery and requested Britain to apologise for slavery and pay reparations to Africa.

Joachim Chissano, former President of Mozambique, was the first winner of the Mo Ibrahim prize; a prize he received on November 7. The prize of 5 million dollars does not only celebrate a leader's ability to formulate a vision and to convince others of that vision but also testifies that over and above Africa's ocean of predatory governance, there are also islands of servant-leader paradigms.

Paul Kagame of Rwanda was also awarded on December 11, the African Gender Award for his country's achievement on women issues.  Rwanda has the highest proportion (48.8 percent) of female parliamentarians in the world; half the country's judges are women and the constitution provides for a 30 percent quota of women's representation in political decision-making.

John Agyekum Kufour, President of Ghana, respected his country's constitution of a two-term mandate and convened his party (New Patriotic Party) to elect a new party leader (Nana Akuffo Addo) on December 22.   Nana Addo shall be the party's flag bearer during the 2008 presidential elections in Ghana.

Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone shall be remembered for not only stepping aside as the country's constitution requested (two-term mandate) but showed mature statesmanship in the organisation of presidential run-off on  September 8 that saw his own party (Sierra Leone's People's Party) lose to the opposition party (All People's Congress) led by Ernest Bai Koroma.

The African Union rekindled the hopes of Africans when its summit of 1-3 July debated the Pan-African dream of a United States of Africa or All African Union Government. It was a milestone given that the debate on a United Africa had been shelved away from the summits since 21 October 1965.

While Didier Drogba, the Ivorian of Chelsea was awarded CAF footballer of the year on March 1, Michael Essein, the Ghanaian of Chelsea was awarded the BBC African Footballer on January 5, 2007.

Manu Dibango, the musical maestro of Cameroon was rolled a red carpet home on December 16, after a stalemate of personal cum official idiosyncrasies, to celebrate 50 years of his musical excellence.

Adama Baka Modi, a member of the CPDM ruling party and MP for Mayo-Kani constituency, Far North Province, stunned Cameroonians on August 31 when he decided to throw party discipline to the winds by challenging the party hierarchy's choice of the National Assembly Speaker, Cavaye Djibril.

The interview of Dr. Ntoko Mekolle CPDM Section President for Kupe Mwanenguba III captioned "those clamouring for constitutional amendment (in Cameroon) are demagogues" and which appeared in the EDEN newspaper of December 19 speaks volumes of the ideological heterogeneity even within Cameroon's ruling party.

Meanwhile, Cameroon's judiciary system rose to the occasion last year by slamming Methuselah sentences on those who considered themselves very close to the royalty.

A Year Of Martyrdom

The floodgates were opened in the months of January and February when more than 100 Guinean youths, like the Buddhist monks in Burma and students in Venezuela, were gunned down for engaging President Lansana Conte in pro-democracy dialogue. The Guinean youths represented a "catalyst and a metaphor for a new Guinea that was to serve all Guineans and not just a rich powerful and protected clique".

Moussa Caca, the journalist from Niger has spent more than 100 days in jail since his arrest in October for being loyal to the canons of his profession.Bate Besong, Kwasen Gwangwaa, Hilarious Ambe (three precious jewels in the Anglophone literary crown) together with their driver Awoh met their deaths on March 8, through a ghastly road accident, only hours after they had all attended the book launch of Bate Besong's collection of intrepid poems titled "Disgrace".

Like Benazir Bhutto who was assassinated on December 27 in Pakistan, Lucky Philip Dube, the South African Reggae legend was assassinated by gunmen on October 19; Adelaide Tambo (widow of Oliver Tambo) and herself anti-apartheid activist died on January 31;

Fathia Nkrumah (widow of Kwame Nkrumah) who shared her husband's faith in African Unity died on May 31; Ousmane Sembene, the man described as the Duke of African cinema and Senegalese movie legend died on 9 June. He made 14 movies, most of which exposed the hypocrisy and graft of post-independent African middle class.

114 passengers perished in the Kenya Airways Flight 507, Boeing 737 in Mbanga Pongo, near Douala airport on 5 May; 21 Cameroonian soldiers were killed in a cowardly assault in the Bakassi Peninsula on November 12; Tom Yom's, the romantic and spiritual Cameroonian musician died on Christmas day.

More than 180 people were shot in Kenya on December 31 for protesting against election rigging after the December 27 controversial Presidential elections.The rehabilitation of global hero, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela on August 29, and global martyr Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo on October 17 in London where their statues were respectively unveiled underlines the role heroism and martyrdom play in a continent where self-preservation and self-aggrandisement are the trademarks of survival.

But the greatest incarnation of both heroism and martyrdom was conducted on the legendary icon of the Mau Mau fame, Marshal Dedan Kimathi of Kenya. Kimathi was referred to as a terrorist by the British colonial government and was hanged on February 18, 1957. 50 years later (February 18, 2007) Kimathi was proclaimed a national hero/martyr as his statue got unveiled by President Kibaki in Nairobi, Kenya.

And going by Kimathi's heroic and apocalyptic slogan "it is better to die on our feet than to live on our knees", Kenyans are already embracing 2008 with more martyrdom than heroism; a kind of "Rwandasation" of Kenya. Will it be the same phenomenon for other Africans in this New Year?

Martyrdom on the other hand is the ability to sustain the elasticity of one's belief. Its engine is lubricated by the oil of faith and propelled by the wings of a strong cause. Ali Mazrui says martyrs are symbols of anguish; they are ultimate victims.

Transmutations between heroism and martyrdom are common currency as far back as in the persona of Jesus Christ.  Indeed heroes and martyrs are always wedded to their consciences as they insist on speaking to the volcanic injustices of their societies.

Africa's Share Of Heroism In 2007

Laurent Gbagbo and Guillaume Soro of Ivory Coast would have to be taken seriously for any peace award considering their heroic exploits in negotiating rough bends and surmounting political hills, some of them built by Eurocentric intrigues, in the year 2007. The courage of Gbagbo and commitment of Soro to unite a much fragmented country caught even their most vitriolic critics applauding.

Robert Gabriel Mugabe's perennial defiance in the face of Western jingoism has endeared him to most Africans. His frank and fiery oratory during the 62nd anniversary of the United Nations on September 26 as well as his magnetic stimulus that pulled African leaders towards him during the European Union-African Union Summit in Portugal (7-9 December) remains memorable benchmarks of Mugabephilia.

Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma rose from disgrace to grace when on December 18 the African National Congress, ANC, elected him as its head. Not even the charges of corruption today, like the charges of rape yesterday, shall stop this Zulu enigma with a formidable Teflon character from becoming the next President of South Africa come 2009.

Mariam Sankara, the widow of Thomas Sankara, mustered both courage and crowd to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the death of her maverick husband on October 15. She broke both her psychological and physical exile to commune with the grassroots in Burkina Faso in a feat that was reminiscent of Corazon Aquino of Philippines.

Guinean trade union leader, Rabiatou Serah Diallo, became the Lech Walesa of Guinea, when in January - February, she "marched shoulder to shoulder with determined demonstrators, demanding sweeping government reforms in Guinea" using dialogue as a veritable political spear and mass mobilisation as a sustainable social shield.

Idris Derby of Chad won the hearts of Africans for insisting on carrying out the "Zoe Ark" trial in December right in Chad. The country's judiciary reclaimed its sovereign voice by sentencing the French abductors to 6-8 years of hard labour even if the abductors are supposed to serve their sentences in France.

The African-American billionaire and talk-show host Oprah Winfrey spent her own 40 million dollars to build a school for girls (Leadership Academy) in South Africa. The school was commissioned on January 2, 2007.  According to Oprah, she wanted "to give this opportunity to girls who had a light so bright that not even poverty could dim the light".

Toyin Agbetu, founder of a London-based Pan-African human rights organisation challenging the misrepresentation of the African people in the British media, stood up on April 22 during a church service organised by the British establishment to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of transatlantic slavery and requested Britain to apologise for slavery and pay reparations to Africa.

Joachim Chissano, former President of Mozambique, was the first winner of the Mo Ibrahim prize; a prize he received on November 7. The prize of 5 million dollars does not only celebrate a leader's ability to formulate a vision and to convince others of that vision but also testifies that over and above Africa's ocean of predatory governance, there are also islands of servant-leader paradigms.

Paul Kagame of Rwanda was also awarded on December 11, the African Gender Award for his country's achievement on women issues.  Rwanda has the highest proportion (48.8 percent) of female parliamentarians in the world; half the country's judges are women and the constitution provides for a 30 percent quota of women's representation in political decision-making.

John Agyekum Kufour, President of Ghana, respected his country's constitution of a two-term mandate and convened his party (New Patriotic Party) to elect a new party leader (Nana Akuffo Addo) on December 22.   Nana Addo shall be the party's flag bearer during the 2008 presidential elections in Ghana.

Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone shall be remembered for not only stepping aside as the country's constitution requested (two-term mandate) but showed mature statesmanship in the organisation of presidential run-off on  September 8 that saw his own party (Sierra Leone's People's Party) lose to the opposition party (All People's Congress) led by Ernest Bai Koroma.

The African Union rekindled the hopes of Africans when its summit of 1-3 July debated the Pan-African dream of a United States of Africa or All African Union Government. It was a milestone given that the debate on a United Africa had been shelved away from the summits since 21 October 1965.

While Didier Drogba, the Ivorian of Chelsea was awarded CAF footballer of the year on March 1, Michael Essein, the Ghanaian of Chelsea was awarded the BBC African Footballer on January 5, 2007.

Manu Dibango, the musical maestro of Cameroon was rolled a red carpet home on December 16, after a stalemate of personal cum official idiosyncrasies, to celebrate 50 years of his musical excellence.

Adama Baka Modi, a member of the CPDM ruling party and MP for Mayo-Kani constituency, Far North Province, stunned Cameroonians on August 31 when he decided to throw party discipline to the winds by challenging the party hierarchy's choice of the National Assembly Speaker, Cavaye Djibril.

The interview of Dr. Ntoko Mekolle CPDM Section President for Kupe Mwanenguba III captioned "those clamouring for constitutional amendment (in Cameroon) are demagogues" and which appeared in the EDEN newspaper of December 19 speaks volumes of the ideological heterogeneity even within Cameroon's ruling party.

Meanwhile, Cameroon's judiciary system rose to the occasion last year by slamming Methuselah sentences on those who considered themselves very close to the royalty.

A Year Of Martyrdom

The floodgates were opened in the months of January and February when more than 100 Guinean youths, like the Buddhist monks in Burma and students in Venezuela, were gunned down for engaging President Lansana Conte in pro-democracy dialogue. The Guinean youths represented a "catalyst and a metaphor for a new Guinea that was to serve all Guineans and not just a rich powerful and protected clique".

Moussa Caca, the journalist from Niger has spent more than 100 days in jail since his arrest in October for being loyal to the canons of his profession.Bate Besong, Kwasen Gwangwaa, Hilarious Ambe (three precious jewels in the Anglophone literary crown) together with their driver Awoh met their deaths on March 8, through a ghastly road accident, only hours after they had all attended the book launch of Bate Besong's collection of intrepid poems titled "Disgrace".

Like Benazir Bhutto who was assassinated on December 27 in Pakistan, Lucky Philip Dube, the South African Reggae legend was assassinated by gunmen on October 19; Adelaide Tambo (widow of Oliver Tambo) and herself anti-apartheid activist died on January 31;

Fathia Nkrumah (widow of Kwame Nkrumah) who shared her husband's faith in African Unity died on May 31; Ousmane Sembene, the man described as the Duke of African cinema and Senegalese movie legend died on 9 June. He made 14 movies, most of which exposed the hypocrisy and graft of post-independent African middle class.

114 passengers perished in the Kenya Airways Flight 507, Boeing 737 in Mbanga Pongo, near Douala airport on 5 May; 21 Cameroonian soldiers were killed in a cowardly assault in the Bakassi Peninsula on November 12; Tom Yom's, the romantic and spiritual Cameroonian musician died on Christmas day.

More than 180 people were shot in Kenya on December 31 for protesting against election rigging after the December 27 controversial Presidential elections.The rehabilitation of global hero, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela on August 29, and global martyr Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo on October 17 in London where their statues were respectively unveiled underlines the role heroism and martyrdom play in a continent where self-preservation and self-aggrandisement are the trademarks of survival.

But the greatest incarnation of both heroism and martyrdom was conducted on the legendary icon of the Mau Mau fame, Marshal Dedan Kimathi of Kenya. Kimathi was referred to as a terrorist by the British colonial government and was hanged on February 18, 1957. 50 years later (February 18, 2007) Kimathi was proclaimed a national hero/martyr as his statue got unveiled by President Kibaki in Nairobi, Kenya.

And going by Kimathi's heroic and apocalyptic slogan "it is better to die on our feet than to live on our knees", Kenyans are already embracing 2008 with more martyrdom than heroism; a kind of "Rwandasation" of Kenya. Will it be the same phenomenon for other Africans in this New Year?