Autor: Ryszard Kapuściński źródło: Compass źródło archiwalne: info-poland.buffalo.edu

Compass Vol. 14 #1, Kapuscinski Article

Dossier: Vietnam and Africa, Volume 14 #1

Africa’s Year of Coups and Crises

by Ryszard Kapuscinski

Ghana

On February 24, a coup d’état shook Ghana. That same day, President Nkrumah’s plane landed in Beijing. Someone handed him a slip of paper telling him of the revolt. He shrugged his shoulders, not believing it.

The overthrow was inflamed by the West. The day before the coup, the British had instructed their compatriots to leave Flag Staff House and its surroundings, where Colonel Kotoka’s brigade was skirmishing with Nkrumah’s guard. But talk of inflaming leaves out the half of it.

Nkrumah had invented his own form of socialism, namely Nkrumahism. As the official definition has it, “Nkrumahism is a scientific form of socialism, befitting conditions in Africa.” Unfortunately, the fit was poor. Nkrumah’s domestic policies were impossible: he wanted to build socialism in a country in which power lies in the hands of a well-established bourgeoisie. Traditionally, Ghana differed from other African colonies in its wealth, being a country whose bourgeoisie–shopkeepers and cacao farmers–had long held the power, riches and influence.

This was the Ghana Nkrumah found when he returned to Accra after the Second World War, and in which, after independence, he tried to build a socialist state that would not violate the nonsocialist structure of Ghanaian society. Over time, an unusual compromise evolved: Nkrumah let the bourgeoisie cope with the economy, state and civil service while it professed its devotion to socialism and to Nkrumah. He thus gained a free hand for his progressive international politics and revolutionary pan-African policies.

This compromise prevailed within Ghana until the last phase of Nkrumah’s rule, but Nkrumah paid a heavy price for it. His exceptional character had made the compromise possible. For Nkrumah was indeed a tremendous, impressive personality. But he was in love with his own greatness and this blinded him, finally bringing about his ruin. He saw himself as a messiah for the whole of Africa. He thought of himself not as president of Ghana, but as president of Africa.

“Nkrumah,” explained one of his closest advisers, Dei-Anang, “gave little attention to Ghana. In some ways, Ghana didn’t interest him. Ghana was for him only the starting point for reaching out to all of Africa.”

“I tried repeatedly to discuss Ghana with Nkrumah,” said President Nasser of Egypt. “It was impossible. He wanted to talk about the whole of Africa. His concern was all of Africa.”

Meanwhile, the greedy and double-dealing Ghanaian bourgeoisie exploited socialist institutions to stack up private capital. The bourgeoisie made a fortune out of Ghanaian socialism.

We see here a characteristic of many Third World countries: the chasm between a government’s progressive foreign policy and its opportunistic domestic policies. The two trends can coexist for a while, but there comes a break. This is how Goulart fell in Brazil, Ben Bella in Algeria, Sukarno in Indonesia, Nkrumah in Ghana.

Ghana also illustrates another African phenomenon, one I call “one-man socialism.” The president leads the way–yes, but is anyone up there beside him? Ghana’s administration was so reactionary that no British Communist could get a visa into the country. A single person leaves, and it turns out the army is reactionary, the party is reactionary, the bureaucracy is reactionary. So who’s progressive at the top? A president vanishes and the whole system falls apart.

Congo-Brazzaville

A small boy in the Ngoubi tribe, Marien Ngoubi, grew up to be a captain in the Congo-Brazzaville army. This captain initiated an uprising against Massemba-Débat’s government. Then the conspiracy was uncovered and Ngoubi was sent to the provinces. However, people in the Ngoubi tribe rose against the decision and staged a protest in Brazzaville. This is how the June 28 crisis began in the state of Congo-Brazzaville, in which the army tried to take control of the country. President Massemba-Débat was in Madagascar at the time. Presidential travel is always a risky business in Africa. President Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya has a wise motto: if you want to keep your presidency, never leave the country.

On June 28, incited by the Ngoubi demonstrators, the army rode into town to seize power. The government hid in the stadium. Brazzaville has a well-built stadium, which can be locked and is hard to capture unless you bring ladders with you. It was defended by President Massemba’s personal guard, consisting of eighty-three Fidel Castro Cubans. These eighty-three Cubans faced off against both the Ngoubi demonstrators and the Congo army numbering more than 3,000 soldiers. The guards decided not to tangle with the army, but they took the radio station, keeping the rebels away.

In the face of such resistance, the rebels lost their heads. They drove to the stadium, but the Cubans were guarding it. The revolt started to fall apart. The rebels tried to save face with a show of force: they drove around Brazzaville in jeeps, whizzing about pointlessly, not knowing where to go. They finally returned to their quarters. Then the government, still holed up in the stadium, tried to peer out to see what was happening–to see who was now in charge. All was well: the stadium had come out on top.

Meanwhile, having heard word of the attempted coup, President Massemba tried to get back to Brazzaville from Tananarive. This being Africa, there were no direct flights. So Massemba had to fly to Paris first, all the while not knowing whether or not he was still president. He finally got to Brazzaville a full week after the rebellion broke out. By then peace had been restored.

© 1996 Compass, A Jesuit Journal and Gail van Varseveld

źródło: kapuscinski.info