From Lumumba to Gbagbo

From Lumumba to Gbagbo
Author: K. Martial Frindéthié
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2016-02-08
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0786494042

In recent years, the Euro-American powers have made multiple armed incursions into Africa. The election of President Obama, greeted by most Africans as providential for their centuries-old troubled relations with the West, instead inaugurated a destructive coalition against Africa. In places like Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt and Libya, the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have supported military intrusions, arbitrary imprisonments, deportations and political assassinations under the guise of bringing freedom and democracy to benighted Africa. The destabilization of Africa, the division of the continent into lawless zones controlled by thuggish warlords, the displacement of millions of refugees and the systematic sacking of Africa's resources are telling: In Africa, the West was not on a goodwill mission. This book examines the West's policy of aggression in Africa over the last 50 years as a legacy of colonialism, with human and economic costs that are radicalizing African nationalists.

Laurent Gbagbo‘s Trial and the Indictment of the International Criminal Court

Laurent Gbagbo‘s Trial and the Indictment of the International Criminal Court
Author: Gnaka Lagoké
Publisher: Vernon Press
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2023-02-14
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1648896359

The International Criminal Court (ICC), created in 2002 to combat impunity, projects a sense of unfairness and stirs an unending debate. A trial before the court epitomizes the controversy surrounding it, perceived as a neocolonialist tool in the hands of the most powerful nations. This research critically examines the trial of the former president of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo. The two-decade crisis in Ivory Coast was a series of armed, diplomatic, and political conflicts in which human rights were violated by all sides. Military confrontation resumed as a result of an electoral stalemate that followed a controversial presidential election in the fall of 2010. The most atrocious human rights abuse was perpetrated at the end of March 2011 by the rebel forces backed by the French and the United Nations troops: the massacre of Duékoué. In one day, hundreds of Laurent Gbagbo’s followers were killed. However, the ICC undertook a selective prosecution against Gbagbo’s camp. After a trial of eight years, Laurent Gbagbo was finally acquitted. The news of his unanticipated acquittal shocked the world. Later, that decision was overturned and transformed into freedom with binding and coercive conditions by the Appeals Chamber, which had succumbed to political pressure. The former president of Ivory Coast spent months of confinement in Belgium until the Appeals Chamber rebutted the prosecutor’s appeal against his release and confirmed his total acquittal and that of Blé Goudé. He eventually went back to Ivory Coast on June 17, 2021. The trial of Laurent Gbagbo before the ICC, despite his acquittal (a tardy one), reflects a series of biases germane to international law and international justice, such as the victor’s justice stance, the conflict between national law and international law, the question of sovereignty, and the issue of lawfare. The trial of Laurent Gbagbo, which was the hallmark of the selective international justice system embedded in unfairness, led to a historical landmark with his shocking acquittal, which led to the indictment of the International Court, whose fate has thus been sealed before history.

Modern African Conflicts

Modern African Conflicts
Author: Timothy J. Stapleton
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 513
Release: 2022-06-30
Genre: History
ISBN:

An essential resource for students or general readers interested in post-colonial Africa, this encyclopedia provides coverage of different regions, countries, wars, battles, factions, leaders, and foreign powers. Armed conflict represents a substantial part of African history since around 1960, yet this history is either insufficiently taught or overshadowed by negative stereotypes about African "tribal warfare." In an effort to introduce this vital topic to students and general readers alike, this one-volume encyclopedia provides concise historical information on conflicts that occurred in postcolonial Africa. The entries cover all the regions of Africa (North, West, Central, East, and Southern); the Cold War and post–Cold War periods; a range of important leaders; various types of conflicts from civil wars and insurgencies to conventional military engagements; involvement of foreign powers; and such themes as airpower, women and war, and genocide.

The assassination of Patrice Lumumba

The assassination of Patrice Lumumba
Author: Dr Ley G. Ikpo & Miss Jackline Seka Sahlberg
Publisher: Kindle Direct Publisher
Total Pages: 105
Release:
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

Congo, a former Belgian colony, at the beginning of the independence of the territory, a brave and dedicated leader, Patrice Emery Lumumba, won the election and was appointed Prime Minister. As the first Prime Minister of a democratic Congo, the newly elected representative of the country filled with devotion had in mind to providing Congolese with a better future. He therefore fought on behalf of Congolese. His methods were disliked by the former colonizers for whom he became a danger to their interests in Congo after his speech on independence day, on June 30, 1960. Since then, various plots were arranged against him to be killed. Those conspiracies never succeeded against him since they were unfortunately aborted for the most. The country fell into a state of incredible disrepair due to recurrent oppositions since September 14 of that year. Soon, Mobutu's forces backed by the CIA arrested Lumumba, on December 1, 1960 and he was guarded by the UN troops. Later, Lumumba was sent to Elizabethville, in the Katanga, the territory of his rival Moïse Tshombe. At his arrival, he was beaten by both Katanga's and Belgians' forces to death. On January 17, 1960, Patrice Emery Lumumba, the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo was assassinated in cold blood by various perpetrators. After 61 years in Belgium the remaining teeth were sent back the the DRC for burial on June 30, 2022.

TRIUMPH OF RACISM: The History of White Supremacy in Africa and How Shithole Entered the U.S Presidential Lexicon

TRIUMPH OF RACISM: The History of White Supremacy in Africa and How Shithole Entered the U.S Presidential Lexicon
Author: Emmanuel Neba-Fuh
Publisher: Miraclaire Publishing
Total Pages: 678
Release: 2021-04-05
Genre: History
ISBN:

Emmanuel Neba-Fuh in this comprehensive chronological compilation and thorough narrative of the history of white supremacy in Africa provide an unflinching fresh case that African poverty - a central tenet of the “shithole” demonization, is not a natural feature of geography or a consequence of culture, but a direct product of imperial extraction from the continent – a practice that continues into the present. A brutal and nefarious tale of slave trade, genocides, massacres, dictators supported, progressive leaders murdered, weapon-smuggling, cloak-and-dagger secret services, corruption, international conspiracy, and spectacular military operations, he raised the most basic and fundamental question - how was Africa (the world’s richest continent) raped and reduced to what Donald J. Trump called “shithole?” (V. Mbanwie )

Towards Pan-Africanism

Towards Pan-Africanism
Author: Stephen M. Magu
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 365
Release: 2023-03-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9811989443

This book traces the development and impact of regional economic communities (RECs) in Africa and addresses a timely question: do REC members, and the REC itself, positively influence member states’ behaviors towards other members and more broadly, regionally and continentally due to REC membership? ‘Changing member states’ behaviors’ is measured across three ‘interconnected, fundamental dimensions of societal-systems’ proposed by Marshall and Elzinga Marshall in CSP’s Global Repot 2017. These are i) the persistence of conflict or its counterpoint, achieving peace, ii) fostering democratization and better governance, and iii) achieving socio-economic development and (as proposed by this research, a fourth dimension), iv) being active participants in multilateralism? Is membership in a REC ultimately beneficial to the member and other countries in the region? While there are no clear and obvious – at least, discernible traditional – benefits such as increase in trade (perhaps because Africa’s overall trade relative to the world is about 3 percent), there are other non trade benefits (e.g., decrease in conflict, coercion to take certain actions towards peace and refrain from others, coups and wars) presenting in REC member states. These in/actions, abilities, coercions, exclusions and cooperation instances are outlined and discussed in the book.

Protecting Minority Rights in African Countries

Protecting Minority Rights in African Countries
Author: John M. Mbaku
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 419
Release: 2018-01-26
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1786438615

In this enlightening book, John Mukum Mbaku analyses the main challenges of constitutional design and the construction of governance institutions in Africa today. He argues that the central issues are: providing each country with a constitutional order that is capable of successfully managing sectarian conflict and enhancing peaceful coexistence; protecting the rights of citizens ? including those of minorities; minimizing the monopolization of political space by the majority (to the detriment of minorities); and, effectively preventing government impunity. Mbaku offers a comprehensive analysis of various approaches to the management of diversity, and shows how these approaches can inform Africa?s struggle to promote peace and good governance. He explores in depth the existence of dysfunctional and anachronistic laws and institutions inherited from the colonial state, and the process through which laws and institutions are formulated or constructed, adopted, and amended. A close look at the constitutional experiences of the American Republic provides important lessons for constitutional design and constitutionalism in Africa. Additionally, comparative politics and comparative constitutional law also provide important lessons for the management of diversity in African countries. Mbaku recommends state reconstruction through constitutional design as a way for each African country to provide itself with laws and institutions that reflect the realities of each country, including the necessary mechanisms and tools for the protection of the rights of minorities. From students and scholars to NGOs, lawyers and policymakers, this unique and judicious book is an essential tool for all those seeking to understand and improve governance and development in Africa.

Images of Africa

Images of Africa
Author: Julia Gallagher
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2015-05-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0719098084

Images of Africa challenges the widely-held idea that Africans are powerless in the creation of self-image. It explores the ways in which image creation is a process of negotiation entered into by a wide range of actors within and beyond the continent – in presidents’ offices and party HQs, in newsrooms and rural authorities, in rebel militia bases and in artists’ and writers’ studies. Its ten chapters, written by scholars working across the continent and a range of disciplines, develop innovative ways of thinking about how image is produced. They ask: who controls image, how is it manipulated, and what effects do the images created have, for political leaders and citizens, and for Africa’s relationships with the wider world. The answers to these questions provide a compelling and distinctive approach to Africa’s positioning in the world, establishing the dynamic, relational and sometimes subversive nature of image.

Côte D’Ivoire

Côte D’Ivoire
Author: Ley G. Ikpo
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Total Pages: 451
Release: 2015-09-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 1514403048

The end of the twentieth century, which was marked by multiparty democracy in Eastern European entities and Third World countries, moved Cte dIvoire to adhere to the new democratization system in 1990. Nine years later, the territory registered its first bloodless state coup. On September 19, 2002, the country was shared into two parts with human losses and damages when President Gbagbo was on official visit to Italy. After different attempts in negotiations (Linas-Marcoussis (2003), Pretoria agreement (2005), and the Political Agreement of Ouagadougou (2007)), for some protagonists, international organizations and NGOs, the perfect conflict resolution was about running elections so that the former peaceful land could regain its image of a prosperous and stable country. The elections that were delayed six times came to pass, and two presidents came out of the scrutiny. Gbagbo was proclaimed victorious by the Ivorian Constitutional Council, while Ouattara was acknowledged by the Independent Electoral Commission. Once more, the country fell into a postelection crisis. Meanwhile, the African Union, the European Union, the USA, the French Licorne, and the United Nations urged President Gbagbo to step down since Ouattara was considered the happy winner of the scrutiny. The refusal of Gbagbo cost human losses and led to his arrest on April 11, 2011. Nowadays, the country is not unified and reconciled, but it will have the 2015 elections.

Africa and the Backlash Against International Courts

Africa and the Backlash Against International Courts
Author: Peter Brett
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
Total Pages: 267
Release: 2020-07-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1786993007

At the start of the twenty-first century the story of Africa’s engagement with international law was one of marked commitment and meaningful contributions. Africa pioneered new areas of law and legal remedies, such as international criminal law and universal jurisdiction, and gave human rights jurisdiction to a number of new international courts. However, in recent years, African states have mobilised politically and collectively against the regional courts and the International Criminal Court, contesting these institutions’ authority and legitimacy at national, regional and international levels. Africa and the Backlash Against International Courts provides the first comprehensive account of this important phenomenon, bringing together original fieldwork, empirical analysis and a critical overview of the diverse scholarship on both international and African regional courts. Moving beyond conventional explanations, Brett and Gissel use this remarkable research to show how the actions of African states should instead be seen as part of a growing desire for a more equal global order; a trend that not only has huge implications for Africa’s international relations, but that could potentially change the entire practice of international law.