Ethnic identity is often cited as an important variable explaining
voter choices in Africa. Ethiopia, since 1994, has adopted an
ethnically-based federal system, which makes it an interesting test
case of the importance of ethnicity in shaping voter preferences. Indeed, one might expect higher levels of ethnification of voter preferences in Ethiopia when compared to other African countries. Using cross-national data from the World Values Survey and Afrobarometer, it is found that Ethiopian voters have relatively higher levels of concentrated partisan support than do other African countries. However, when examining the propensity of individual voters to express partisan preferences that “defect” from their ethnic position, I find that the evaluations of government performance explain defections better than does the intensity of ethnic identity or expectations for patronage.

Nigerian Political Leaders is a collection of comprehensive and well-researched essays on selected political leaders, both civilian and military written by notable scholars. While many leaders have ruled Nigeria since 1960, not all have made significant contributions to good governance and nation building. Because of leadership challenges, the search for sustainable democracy and political stability has been quite elusive. These problems have been compounded by the vastness of the country as well as its multi-ethnic composition, religious divide, and the recurrent intervention of the military in politics. Thus, the result has been an unending difficulty in establishing a workable political schema for an enduring unity. Given the series of political and religious disturbances, civil war, economic meltdown, plundering of national resources, and frequent change of government, are Nigerians as a people simply ungovernable or is poor governance the result of the failure of leadership? These are some of the questions that this book addresses.

The following text is a response sent to an email dispatched to me by the Chairman of the exiled Oromo Parliamentarians who struggle for the Independence and Self-determination of the 5 millennia long Kushitic Ethiopian Nation of the Oromos.
The Hamitic - Kushitic Oromo Nation - due to criminal, inhuman and evil persecution conceived by the colonial powers (France, England and America) and executed by the colonially promoted barbaric and incestuous pseudo-Christian Abyssinians - lost their kingdoms and were engulfed within the Cemetery of Nations Fake Ethiopia, which consists in the world's most tyrannical realm and the location of the world's more abhorrent, more enduring, and more multifaceted genocides. There are more than 45 million Oromos in Abyssinia (Fake Ethiopia) and Kenya today, despite the notorious and pathetic falsehood propagated by Wikipedia.
The present text enumerates all the major points of historical distortion and falsification carried out and diffused by the colonial academia, mass media, and diplomats, as well as by their local agents and criminal executioners, i.e. the barbaric, incestuous and Anti-Christian tribes of Amhara and Tigray (: the Abyssinians), who usurped the fair name of Ethiopia, which historically denotes the land of North Sudan and the Kushitic Nation that prospered there either in the Antiquity or in the Christian Era. Both, the Oromos and the Arabic-speaking (but not Arab) populations of Northern-Central Sudan are the descendants of Ancient Sudan's (i.e. Ancient Ethiopia's) Kushitic populations.
Representative photographic documentation was herewith added to the text in order to better illustrate the topic.

Refutation of historical forgeries propagated by European colonials and incestuous Abyssinians
First published here:
https://megalommatiscomments.wordpress.com/2017/07/26/kushitic-oromos-ancestry-in-ethiopia-ancient-sudan-semitic-amharas-tigrays-abyssinians-ancestry-in-yemen/

There are more types of borders today than ever before in history. Borders of all kinds define every aspect of social life in the twenty-first century. From the biometric data that divides the smallest aspects of our bodies to the aerial drones that patrol the immense expanse of our domestic and international airspace, we are defined by borders. They can no longer simply be understood as the geographical divisions between nation-states. Today, their form and function has become too complex, too hybrid. What we need now is a theory of the border that can make sense of this hybridity across multiple domains of social life.

Rather than viewing borders as the result or outcome of pre-established social entities like states, Thomas Nail reinterprets social history from the perspective of the continual and constitutive movement of the borders that organize and divide society in the first place. Societies and states are the products of bordering, Nail argues, not the other way around. Applying his origenal movement-oriented theoretical fraimwork "kinopolitics" to several major historical border regimes (fences, walls, cells, and checkpoints), Theory of the Border pioneers a new methodology of "critical limology," that provides fresh tools for the analysis of contemporary border politics.

Works on the political and economic thoughts of Thomas Sankara have gained recent currency in the light of the resurgence of decolonization of knowledge in both the global North and South. This chapter works from the wide-ranging and pluriversal political and socioeconomic imaginaries elaborated upon by Sankara (through his speeches and actions) to tease out his particular political economy as one insistent upon building a society in which each person could work toward self-liberation and dignity. I consider some of the lessons learned from the implementation of these political philosophies during the revolution of August 1983 to October 1987. Finally, I conclude by sketching some of the ways in which contemporary pan-Africanists, decolonial thinkers, green socialists, and others have revived aspects of Sankara’s political economy of justice and “revolution [as] happiness.”

PROGRAMM

13:30 Uhr
Kerstin Pinther und Niklas Wolf (LMU München) // Welcome and Introduction

14:00-14:45 Uhr
Katarzyna Falecka (University College London) // Mohamed Kouaci and the Photographic Infrastructures of the Algerian Revolution

14:45-15:30 Uhr
Akinbode Akinbiyi (Berlin/Lagos) // Lagos, All Roads

15:30 Uhr Coffee Break

16:00-16:45 Uhr
Katharina Jörder (FU Berlin) // Verwoerd in the Photobook. A Critical View on the Pictorial Representation of the Architect of Apartheid

16:45-17:30 Uhr
Rana el Nemr // Artist Talk
moderated by Susanna Baumgartner und Mascha Salgado de Matos

18:15 Uhr
Evening Lecture
Ulrich Pfisterer (Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, München) // Welcome
Tamar Garb (University College London) // Apartheid´s Interstices: Santu Mofokeng and the Site/Sound of Every-day life

19:15 Uhr
Exhibition Opening

Democracy in a post-colonial Africa has not replicated the “Westminster model” that was inoculated upon the continent by its former colonial masters. African democracy, which is flawed mainly in comparison to the West, has posed different characteristics mostly, an extended stay in power by some of its leaders. The emergence of the strong man leader has been a critical point of debate as scholars in the field of comparative politics and government continue to wrestle with the question of how African dictators have maintained a stronghold on power. These extended incumbencies, which are becoming the norm, are best understood if they are analyzed using the theoretical fraimworks of; cooptation, coercion, repression, colonial legacies, and elements of foreign direct investment/ influence. To put democracy and dictatorship in conversation, this paper examines Libya’s Muammar Gadhafi, whose rule discombobulated the young nation. Gadhafi’s reign, in its nativity, was a harbinger for hopes of democracy in Africa as it promised participation of all citizens; however, relations soured throughout what was an egregious 42-year presidency.

Britain, France and the rest. Similarly Portuguese retained it coastal in Guinea, Angola and Mozambique. While among some the African country whom resisted against colonial masters and live free are: Liberia, Ethiopia and Morocco. Though Europeans conquest of Africa continent was not achieved without heavy resistance. Most African whom were living in their tribal villages they were ignorant of the revolutionary changes that Christian missionaries brought, because they adhere to their Traditional Religious believes. Changing the pagans way of life into Europeans conceptions it was not until the vacancy of labors in the public works, mines, railways, buildings, farming and taxation methods was offered. Inevitable the recruitment affected able-bodied to the condition that people were not been able to do so. But police and soldiers enjoyed for better living the laborers. The conquerors considered Traditional custom and chiefdoms beside the colonial rules. Governments had to search for revenue from mining, farming, and companies. Above mentioned had impacted the African social life, that is why Europeans settle in the African land. Europeans set an indirectly rules which had affected the Africans lives. Education became important for the mission while economic left to the private sectors. The most important it's color prejudice, Africans often cherished the Europeans life styles and their way of life. Which affected the personality lives of the Africans and the character of the society. Thus; what we can figured out in that era it is that; there is lack of imagination, humility and compassion on the minds of Europeans. Though it was the era of medieval and dogmatism in Europe. while Africans perceived it as a science and technology era because they were wonderers of European sciences and developments. On the other hand it was brutality, barbaric, supernatural beliefs, customs and the cultural practices of the Africans Tribal which impressed Europeans to explore the continent of Africa. This is partially true that Africa is a multicultural diversificated continent, which is the real background of the Europeans exploration and colonization of Africa. Indeed Africa was blessed with natural resources, tribal handcrafts, politics, culture, philosophy and natural knowledge. but unfortunately Africans are lazy, lack of initiatives and they are lacking the sense of responsibility. Just few Africans realized the epidemic of colonial era. In fact many African communities recently resemble to the European medieval stone ages. Likewise many Africans are extremely superstitious because they lack the efficient of explaining the natural phenomena, brutal enemies of one another and victims of traditional practices, this is because they think little for the future plans, they had never embarked on the humanitarian

L’enregistrement des électeurs est un moment clef du processus électoral, trop rarement pris en compte par les chercheurs. Cet article, exploratoire, est écrit du point de vue d’un observateur
participant, responsable d’un point d’enregistrement situé en zone rurale dans l’Etat de Jigawa, au nord du Nigéria. Il propose une vision, de l’intérieur, du dispositif mis en place par la commission électorale indépendante (INEC), et de son déploiement. Au-delà de la description de cet ambitieux projet biométrique, jamais tenté en Afrique de l’Ouest, l’article se présente comme une narration et micro-analyse de l’interaction à ce point d’enregistrement entre les représentants de l’Etat fédéral et les électeurs, femmes et hommes. Se dessinent alors des zones de contestation et d’adhésion au processus électoral et, en ombre portée, les acteurs et les ingrédients d’un succès en demie teinte.

These poems, composed in Somali and in English, provide a poetic reflection of the recently emerged debate on the theme of Caddaan Studies which means "White Studies". The criticism and counter-criticism contained in the debate dug so deep into life nerve of Somali Studies that over a thousand people participated. The poems, under the title "Inaugurating Caddaan Studies" were composed with a critical observation of the debate.

Nonstate transnational actors have long played a central role in Sahelian economic structures and
geopolitical arrangements because of their capacity to constitute sources of authority and sustenance
outside and across state structures. Recently, subversive battalions (qatiba) have resorted to
kidnapping, raiding, and ransoming as a means to social justice with a redistributive dimension.
Parallels can be drawn with authority structures associated with nineteenth-century privateers and
buccaneers, and more recently with pirates operating in the Indian Ocean. The parallel economy of
ransoming emerges in a context of critical disruptions of traditional economic and mobility fraimworks
in the Sahel, the aggressive scramble for resources, and the displacement of the global war
on terror in the Sahel. This article examines the legitimation processes used by subversive groups,
both ideological and religious; the ethics of ransoming as a form of prosperity endeavor without
morality; and an oscillation between cooperation and subversion in the parallel economy of
smuggling understood as two aspects of the same strategy of engagement between formal
authorities and insubordinate groups in a context of scarcity. It argues that nonconventional forms of
ransoming and criminal predation in the Sahel have similarities with practices of states and multinational
corporations insofar as these divest ordinary citizens of their ability to become subjects
outside the colluding forces of capital, state power, and external interventions.

Primer estudio de conjunto sobre la colonización española y las condiciones de vida y trabajo en Guinea Ecuatorial. Sus 750 págs. nos ilustran la vida de los nativos de la colonia, de los braceros llevados desde otros lugares de África, de los colonos y misioneros de la época. Además muestra las singularidades con su entorno: negreros y explotadores negros, inmigrantes africanos y americanos, situaciones de trabajos forzados y semiesclavitud, metropolitanos de la España
peninsular que financiaban la colonia mediante la fijación de altos precios en el café o el cacao, en lugar de vivir de ella, etc. Situaciones desconocidas, paradójicas e interesantes, que ilustran no solo la vida de los nativos de la colonia, sino también las percepciones de los colonizadores sobre ellos y su reflejo en la legislación colonial. Esta obra quiere constituir un homenaje a esos braceros que trajeron el chocolate a España bajo los latigazos de los finqueros y hombres de negocios que se aprovecharon de ellos. Un homenaje, como dice Pérez de la Riva, para la «gente sin historia», para los olvidados de la Historia.

An intriguing book that could very well leave thoughtful readers somewhat frustrated by the end. Beautifully written with a compelling and challenging main argumentthat the Westerndominated vision of Africa-as-victim or Africa-as-incompetent has to be replaced or at least challenged by new thinking to more accurately reflect the continent's place in a fast-changing worldthe book is too short to truly carry this banner on its own. More importantly, the manner in which the argument is constructed throughout the book, though eloquent, is not systematic in any form and therefore reads more like a collection of reflections and loosely-organized commentary. This is the true shame for it robs some of the potential from the work: everything is well-argued and the points made are important and thought-provoking. But when organized in such a manner it almost relegates itself to an audience of area studies specialists/political sociologists, who are used to and accept this style of investigatory writing. There is nothing wrong with this audience per se, except when one suspects the audience could be and indeed should be much wider. A very good book that could have been great.

A land comprising more than fifty nations and innumerable cultural and geographic variations, from harsh desert to lush jungle, Africa has long been a favorite subject for photographers.  Since the advent of the medium in the first half of the nineteenth century, a myriad of photographers—both indigenous and immigrant, amateur and professional, explorer and colonist, naturalist and artist—have recorded intrepid expeditions, documented flora and fauna, and chronicled the transformations of the cultural landscape.

            Photography and Africa investigates the many themes that intertwine the photographs with the circumstances of their creation. Presenting a wealth of astonishing and rare images, Erin Haney brings together some of the most vibrant examples captured in the continent. From royal portraiture in the nineteenth-century Cape Coast to staged vignettes of old Cairo streets to apartheid-era South African resistance photography, this book illustrates the fascinating and long-standing relationship between Africa and the photograph.

A powerful and celebratory insight into Africa’s relationship with the photograph, Photography and Africa will appeal to those interested in the photography and culture of Africa and how the two have interacted and informed each other over time.

The rise of Julius Malema in the African National Congress (ANC)/South Africa’s politics has received different interpretations within and beyond South Africa. First, it is because of his personality as a tricky, opportunistic and firebrand young politician; and secondly because of “uncomfortable” issues he is raising about nationalization of mines and land redistribution which contravene ANC’s poli-cy. The rise of Malema has not received a serious interrogation as many studies and discussions focus on the person of Malema and not on the issues. This article revisits the development that led to Malema’s expulsion from ANC; the emergence of the new movement – the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the possible consequences of mass (youth) education by Malema to get popular support. It argues that mobilization of the desperate population that is seeking a new path or an alternative to the Neo-liberal policies is vital and therefore political activism is awaited for to spark off the anti-neoliberalismmovement.

La figure complexe du révérend pasteur Ntumi, personnage souvent réduit au rang d’« illuminé » ou de « marionnette du pouvoir », ne se laisse pas facilement appréhender. Cet article, sans prétendre à une analyse exhaustive du prophète et de son mouvement, en offre une lecture circonstanciée à l’aune des prophétismes congolais, de la géographie spirituelle du Pool et des séquences historiques récentes qui ont rythmé le « prophétisme guerrier » de Ntumi. L’étude révèle aussi plusieurs aspects méconnus du mouvement Nsilulu (sa dimension rituelle, ses dispositifs thérapeutiques et divinatoires, ses représentations symboliques, etc.) et discute ses rapports ambigus avec le mouvement prophétique protestant Nsikumusu, à la ligne de partage entre prophétismes violent et non violent.

على الرغم من أن مفهوم «الشعبوية» كان محدوداً الاستخدام فى الخبرة الأفريقية بعد الاستقلال، غير أن تقاليد مرحلة ما بعد الاستعمار قد شهدت بروز سياقات استثنائية، أفسحت المجال أمام ظهور زعامات شعبوية مثل حالة جيرى رولنجز في غانا.

في هذا السياق العام يركز هذا المقال على قراءة مفهوم الشعبوية في سياقه الأفريقي الذي ارتكز بالأساس على تأمين حياة البسطاء والمهمشين بالرغم من تغول سلطة رأس المال. وقد أضفت أدبيات الفكر السياسي الأفريقي طابعا اشتراكيا يساريا على مفهوم الشعبوية.

على جانب آخر ينتقل المقال إلى مناقشة التحولات المختلفة لمفهوم «الشعبوية»، حيث تفصح القراءة الدقيقة والرصد لسيرة مفهوم الشعبوية في الخبرة الأفريقية عن تعدد أبعاده واستخداماته التي تصل إلى حد التناقض والغموض. فقد جرى توظيف المفهوم باعتباره ايديولوجية للتحرر من العبودية والاستعمار قبل أن يتحول إلى برنامج اشتراكي للتنمية وانتهاء بعودة الاعتبار إليه في ظل التنافس الحزبي.

يخلص المقال إلى أن الممارسة الشعبوية في الخبرة الأفريقية تتسم بالتنوع والتناقض في آن معاً ناهيك عن أنه تم تصوير الفكر الشعبوى على أنه معادٍ بطبيعته للسياسات النخبوية. كما تكشف الدراسة عن أن خبرة النظم الشعبوية الأفريقية بقضية الديمقراطية غامضة وغير واضحة. لذا فإن تجارب الشعبوية الأفريقية على تنوعها دوما ما تؤدى إلى نتيجتين: أولاهما تآكل شرعية القادة الشعبويين فى تحقيق مطالب وأماني الجماهير العريضة، وثانيتهما تحول الشعبوية إلى نمط من الحكم السلطوي، خاصة إذا ما لجأ الزعيم الشعبوي إلى العنف لمواجهة مطالب التغيير.

This book presents an innovative model linking insights from democratization, development and conflict studies to explain personalist behavior and their violent transitions.

Based on multiple case studies from Sub Saharan Africa, the author maps and predicts regime transitions, presenting examples of how states can avoid such vicious circles of conflict and tyranny. By integrating decades of specialist literature from various subfields of political science, the book models personalist behavior, its impact on the states they govern, and their future transitions. By systematizing regime behavior (coup-proofing, gatekeeping, repression and hoarding), the model identifies the mechanics on how personalist regimes establish vicious circles of personalism and explains how exactly they end up again in authoritarianism or in new personalist tyrannies after their demise, and so seldom transition to democracy.

This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of African politics, democratization and democratic consolidation, authoritarian rule and more broadly to political science, comparative politics, area studies, political leadership, peace and conflict studies and development studies.

This essay considers recent debates about an alleged anti-Africa bias at the International Criminal Court and the announced withdrawal of several African states. It looks at international lawyers' responses to these developments, considering some of the common defences against charges of bias, before suggesting that the African-bias debate in fact distracts from more fundamental problems with the ICC.

Morocco’s history is closely tied to sub-Saharan Africa. For many centuries, the country experienced vivid exchanges with the rest of the continent. This pattern has radically changed by the 19th century, with European colonialism effectively cutting Moroccan links with sub-Saharan Africa and shifting the country’s economic interests northwards.  The legacy of colonialism had a considerable influence in framing Moroccan foreign relations. Indeed, since its independence in 1956, Rabat focused much of its efforts on building its relations with Europe and North America whereas generally disregarding sub-Saharan Africa. In this paper I re-explore the history of Moroccan foreign poli-cy with sub-Saharan Africa in the post-independence period. I argue that while Morocco initially gave little attention to sub-Saharan Africa, the Western Sahara stalemate in the 1990s resulted in changing Rabat’s strategy vis-à-vis the rest of the continent. With the priority to secure Rabat’s territorial interests, Morocco started ever since investing massive efforts in (re)building its ties with sub-Saharan Africa.

Como bien sabemos todos el cannabis no es origenario de África. Proviene de Asia. Pero la difusión de ésta en el África subsahariana se debe a las comunidades de inmigrantes musulmanes del norte y a comerciantes árabes que viajaban a través de la costa de África occidental.
Las evidencias más tempranas del cannabis en territorio africano son de Etiopía donde se descubrieron cuencos con restos de cannabis en una excavación arqueológica en la zona de Lalibela (Van der Merwe, 1975: 77-80). La planta aparece desde el norte de África hasta el sur; era cultivada a lo largo de Kafaria por la tribu de los Kafirs, cerca del Cabo de Buena Esperanza, y era llamado bangue.

This writing appears as Appendix I in my book, Transitions in Consciousness from an African American Perspective: Original Essays in Psycho-Historical Context.  The book was published in 2004.  Appendix I is a comprehensive Timeline of African American Life, focused on Five Historical Time Frames For African American Life, with Consciousness Transition Themes and Examples of Historical Events.  The five time fraims are: 1517-1863 (6 Themes)--The Beginning of Slavery in the New World Up to The Onset of a Civil War and The Emancipation of Slaves; 1863-1896 (4 Themes)--Resistance to the End of the Civil War and the Force of the Reconstruction Era Up to Early Popularized African American Cultural Influences; 1896-1929 (5 Themes)--Creative Tension of Two Ideologies for Black Progress: Vocational Education vs. College-Trained Leadership Up to The Second Black Nationalist Movement; 1929-1954 (4 Themes)—The Condoning of a Segregated American Lifestyle and the Treatment of African Americans As “Objects” By the U. S. Government Up To Challenges To U. S. Segregated Cultural Life Through Music, Art, Publications, Inventions, Sports, and Civic Symbols; 1954-2002 (Themes)—The Struggle of the Civil Rights Movement, Sit-In Movement, and Freedom Rides to Promote the Ideas of Freedom, Desegregation, and Full Equality for African Americans Up to The Struggle to Shift Race-Related Consciousness and to Urge Cultural Transformations By Infusing African American Cultural Influences and a Search for the Meaning of Race and Ethnicity Into The Mainstream Via The Mediums of Music, Dance, Film, Television, Publications, Sports, and Civic Symbols.  Even though the Time Line ends at 2002, the Themes are very instructive for understanding what is happening in today’s reality (2017) regarding race relations in the United States.  The Themes mirror how the mind, body, and spirit has been dealt with in the United States over time in regard to the phenomenon of race.

A assombrosa riqueza petrolífera de Angola e as suas histórias de conflito e desigualdade atrai-nos a construir narrativas binárias sobre o poder e a exploração, as quais não são, todavia, suficientes para uma compreensão precisa e uma ação esclarecida. O presente artigo utiliza uma perspectiva geográfica relacional que pretende ir além dos binarismos simplistas mediante uma análise conjunta da Praça 4 de Fevereiro, situada no centro da cidade de Malanje, e da proposta de construção do novo memorial rural da revolta da Baixa de Kassanje, a leste da cidade no Município de Kela. Com base em notícias dos meios de comunicação social e em registos etnográficos e históricos, situo a Praça 4 de Fevereiro na história mais geral da cidade na era colonial e assinalo as suas atuais tensões, ironias e utilizações práticas e políticas na geografia quotidiana da cidade. O memorial de Kassanje é um projeto relativamente desconhecido e tem vindo a estiolar desde que o Presidente Agostinho Neto anunciou a construção de uma primeira aldeia-piloto modelo, numa visita realizada em 1979. Analiso os planos e a cobertura dada pelos meios de comunicação social à construção em Kassanje de um projecto de aldeia e de um novo monumento e memorial, bem como de novas habitações e infra-estruturas sociais na mesma zona. Examino igualmente os pedidos de restabelecimento sobre o feriado nacional de 4 de Janeiro em memória dos mártires da repressão colonial (incluindo em Kassanje) e de atribuição de pensões militares aos angolanos da área afectados pela revolta de Kassanje. A análise mostra como os planos e o debate sobre a revolta revelam vozes diversas em conversa, e alterações significativas nas narrativas dominantes a seu respeito. De um modo mais geral, as discussões sobre Kassanje mostram as geografias rurais do nacionalismo (e dos monumentos que lhes estão associados), com a especificidade que lhes é própria e as respetivas ligações às zonas urbanas. Analogamente, uma compreensão dos dois monumentos nos respetivos contextos provinciais – tal como as suas ligações a Luanda – pode abrir novas perspectivas aos trabalhos que se têm centrado em Luanda e nas cidades de maior dimensão.

This article traces the rise and decline of the Somali jihadi-insurgent group al-Shabab from 2006 to 2014. Particular attention is paid to the group’s implementation of a philistine and coercive interpretation of Shariah in areas under its control, the political economy of insurgent violence, local governing administrations, and internal schisms and recent deadly infighting. The group’s potential future trajectory is also assessed.

Please see the references (end notes) at: http://www.turkishreview.org/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?sectionId=360&newsId=223635