Eritrea at a crossroads

“Eritrea at a Crossroads: A Narrative of Triumph, Betrayal and Hope”

Ch 11. The African State in Crisis

[T]he modern African state remains largely irrelevant to the needs, interests, and aspirations of the people. 

-Agbese and Kieh 

እታ ዘመናዊት ኣፍሪቃዊት ሃገር ንጠለባት፡ ረብሓን ሃረርታን ህዝቢ ዘይተማልእ ኢያ

– ኣግበሰን ክየህን

Some of the recent literature on the nature of the postcolonial state in Africa is reviewed in Chapter 11: The African State in Crisis in order to ground the Eritrean experience in state construction and development in the African setting. The chapter highlights the European heritage of the state system in Africa and interrogates its suitability to the socio-economic conditions of African society. It notes the impacts of slavery, colonialism and the Cold War on Africa’s development. Slavery robbed Africa of millions of its most productive work force, drained its creative energy, and sapped its potential to develop. Colonialism plundered Africa’s natural and human resources and disrupted its indigenous progression. The Cold War turned Africa into an ideological battleground, disoriented its priorities, and destabilised its polities.

Further, the chapter notes how the African state, as a graft of the European state system rooted in the industrial and political revolutions in Europe, gave rise to anti-colonial nationalism and Pan-Africanism that fuelled the drive to independence, and ended up inheriting the authoritarian features of the colonial state. It explores how these features led to the failure of the postcolonial state to build functional governance, establish stability, achieve sustainable development, and deliver public wellbeing for most of its citizens. The chapter notes that the prototype African state faces a deep crisis of legitimacy, delivery and relevance and, as recent events in North and West Africa have shown, remains dysfunctional, repressive and fragile.

ምዕራፍ 11፡- ኣፍሪቃዊት ሃገር ኣብ ቅልውላው፡ ተመክሮ ኤርትራ ኣብ ህንጸት መንግስትን ሃገራዊ ልምዓትን፡ ብመንጽር’ቲ ኣብ ኣፍሪቃ ዚጸንሐ ክዉንነት ንምምዛን፣ ንገለ ካብቲ ኣብዚ ቀረባ እዋን ብዛዕባ ባህርይ ናይታ ካብ መግዛእቲ ዚተገላገለት መርኣያ ኣፍሪቃዊት ሃገር ዚወጸ ጽሑፋት ትግምግም። እዛ ምዕራፍ’ዚኣ ንኤውሮጳዊ ውርሻ ስርዓተ-ሃገር ኣብ ኣፍሪቃ ተጕልሕን ምቹእነቱ ንማሕበረ-ቍጠባዊ ኵነታት ኣፍሪቃዊ ሕብረተሰብ ትምርምርን። ብዛዕባ’ቲ ባርነት፡ መግዛእትን ዝሑል ኲናትን ኣብ ምዕባለ ኣፍሪቃ ዘስዓቡዎ ስንብራት ተዘኻኽር። ባርነት ንኣፍሪቃ ብሚልዮናት ዚቝጸር ናይቲ ኣዝዩ ዚዓበየ ኣፍራዪ ዓቕሚ ሰባ ዘሚቱ፣ መሃዚ ሓይላ ኣማሲኑ፣ ናይ ምምዕባል ዓቕማ ረሚሱ።ባዕዳዊ መግዛእቲ ባህርያውን ሰብኣውን ጸጋታት ኣፍሪቃ ራስዩ፣ ጕዕዞ ባህርያዊ ኣመዓባብላኣ ዘሪጉ። ዝሑል ኲናት ንኣፍሪቃ ናብ ስነሓሳባዊ ዓውደ-ውግእ ቀይሩ፣ ቀዳምነታታ ኣስሒቱ፣ ዘይምርግጋእ ናይተን ፖለቲካዊ ስርዓታት ኣስዒቡ።

ብተወሳኺ፡ እዛ ምዕራፍ’ዚኣ፡ እታ ከም ላቔባ ናይቶም በቶም ኣብ ኤውሮጳ ዚተኻየዱ ኢንዳስትርያውን ፖለቲካውን ሰውራታት ዚተተኽለ ኤውሮጳዊ ስርዓተ-ሃገር ዚቘመት ኣፍሪቃዊት ሃገር፣ከመይ ኢላ፡ ነቲ ቃልሲ ንናጽነት ዘጐሃሃረ ጸረ-መግዛእታዊ ሃገራውነትን ፓን-ኣፍሪቃውነትን ከም ዘለዓዓለትን፣ ነቲ መላኺ ጠባያት ናይቲ መግዛእታዊ መንግስቲ ብምውራስ ከም ዚቘመትን ትገልጽ። ቀጺላ፡ እዚ ጠባያት’ዚ ከመይ ኢሉ ነታ ካብ መግዛእቲ ዚተላቐቐት ናጻ ሃገር፤ ዚሰርሕ ወይ ተግባራዊ ምሕደራ ኣብ ምህናጽ፣ ርግኣት ኣብ ምስፋን፣ ቀጻሊ ልምዓት ኣብ ምጕንጻፍ፣ ብልጽግና ናይቶም ዚበዝሑ ዜጋታት ኣብ ምርግጋጽ፣ ናብ ፍሽለት ከም ዘምርሓ ትድህስስ። ኣብ መወዳእታ፡ እዛ ምዕራፍ’ዚኣ፡ እታ መርኣያ ዘመናዊት ኣፍሪቃዊት ሃገር፣ ከምቲ እቲ ኣብዚ ቀረባ እዋን ኣብ ሰሜንን ምዕራብን ኣፍሪቃ ዚተኸስተ ፍጻሜታት ዘረጋግጾ፣ መሰረታዊ ጠለባት ህዝቢ ከተቕርብ ኰነ ንረብሕኡ ኪትሰርሕ ብዘይ ምኽኣላ፣ ዓሚቝ ቅልውላው ናይ ሕጋውነት ኣጋጢሙዋ ከም ዘሎን፣ ጌና ዝርግቲ፡ ደቛሲትን ድኽምትን ምህላዋን፣ ትገልጽ።