Africa's Political Wastelands: The Bastardization of Cameroon

Africa's Political Wastelands: The Bastardization of Cameroon
Author: Emmanuel Fru Doh
Publisher: African Books Collective
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2008
Genre: Africa
ISBN: 9956558621

Africa's Political Wastelands explores and confirms the fact that because of irresponsible, corrupt, selfish, and unpatriotic kleptocrats parading as leaders, the ultimate breakdown of order has become the norm in African nations, especially those south of the Sahara. The result is the virtual annihilation of once thriving and proud nations along with the citizenry who are transformed into wretches, vagrants, and in the extreme, refugees. Doh uses Cameroon as an exemplary microcosm to make this point while still holding imperialist ambitions largely responsible for the status quo in Africa. Ultimately, in the hope of jumpstarting the process, he makes pertinent suggestions on turning the tide on the continent.

Dissent, Protest and Dispute in Africa

Dissent, Protest and Dispute in Africa
Author: Toyin Falola
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 323
Release: 2016-12-19
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1315413078

This book provides unique and detailed perspectives on different aspects of dissent, protest and disputes and how these have, in turn, continued to pose challenges in Africa. The contributors argue that, dissent, protest and most forms of disputes in Africa are the result of daily challenges that its people have faced and continue to encounter to this day. These challenges include, amongst others, demands for transparency, good governance and accountability; waves of instability that have created insecurity in most parts of the continent, an unsustainable level of youth unemployment, rapid population growth, a continent-wide healthcare and poverty crises and numerous environmental challenges. The chapters elevate the debates on dissent, protest and disputes/conflict in Africa by adding new ideas and introducing new and useful interpretations. The book’s strength lies in the contributors’ ability to conflate colonial and postcolonial tendencies to show how challenges of the past are not so different from those of today, while also presenting important historical issues from various scholarly perspectives. Dissent, Protest and Dispute in Africa will be of interest for students and scholars of African history, politics, and culture as well as those interested in social movements and civil society.

The Leadership Challenge in Africa

The Leadership Challenge in Africa
Author: John Mukum Mbaku
Publisher: Africa World Press
Total Pages: 592
Release: 2004
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781592211791

This collection of essays, written by an outstanding group of scholars, makes a significant contribution to the debate on poverty alleviation in Cameroon, the country's stalled transition to democratic governance, identity and citizenship and the equitable allocation of resources. The essays contain a refreshing, rigorous and informative analysis of the Biya regime, opposition politics and provides practical strategies to enhance peaceful co-existence and sustainable develpment in the country.

Decentralization and Constitutionalism in Africa

Decentralization and Constitutionalism in Africa
Author: Charles M. Fombad
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 673
Release: 2019-09-10
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0192585037

This collection of essays assesses the efforts of African governments to constitutionalise decentralisation, be it in the form of federalism, local government or traditional authorities. Since the end of the Cold War jurisdictions across Africa have witnessed an ostensible return to multi-party democracy within the paradigm of constitutionalism and the rule of law. Linked to the democratisation process, many countries took steps to decentralize power by departing from the heavily centralized systems inherited from colonial regimes. The centralization of power, typically characterized by the personalization and concentration of power in the hands of leaders and privileged elites in capital cities, mostly resulted in repressive regimes and fragile states. As decentralisation is a response to these challenges, this volume analyses the dynamic relationship between the efforts to implement decentralization and presence or absence of constitutionalism. This volume examines a variety of forms and degrees of decentralization found across Africa. It advances a new understanding of trends and patterns and facilitates the exchange of ideas among African governments and scholars about the critical role that decentralisation may play in democratization of and constitutionalism in Africa.

Institutions and Development in Africa

Institutions and Development in Africa
Author: John Mukum Mbaku
Publisher: Africa World Press
Total Pages: 360
Release: 2004
Genre: Africa
ISBN: 9781592212071

A significant contribution to the debate on poverty alleviation in Africa, Professor Mbaku offers practical policies for economic growth. He argues that the most important contributor to poverty and deprivation in Africa is the absense of institutional structures that enhance indigenous entrepreneurship and wealth creation. He explains that these are so vital that living standards will continue to deteriorate unless these building blocks are put in place.

French Africa in World War II

French Africa in World War II
Author: Eric T. Jennings
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2015-07-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 1107048486

Only months after France's defeat in 1940, a new army was raised in Africa to fight the Nazis. Eric T. Jennings tells the story of an improbable French military and institutional rebirth through Central Africa and gives a unique look at the role Free French Africa played during World War II.

Constitutional Identity and Constitutionalism in Africa

Constitutional Identity and Constitutionalism in Africa
Author:
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 438
Release: 2024-01-23
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0198906323

In its modern history, Africa has experienced different waves of constitutional ordering. The latest democratisation wave, which began in the 1990s, has set the stage over the past decade for what is now a hotly debated issue: do recent, new, or fundamentally revised constitutions truly reflect an African constitutional identity? Thoughtfully navigating a contested field, this volume brings to the fore a number of foundational questions about African constitutionalism. Constitutional Identity and Constitutionalism in Africa asks whether the concept of constitutional identity clarifies our understanding of constitutional change in Africa, including an exploration of the relationship between constitutional identity and a country's unique culture(s) and histories. Building on this, contributions examine the persistent role of colonial heritages in shaping constitutional identity in post-Independence African nations, and the question of path-dependency. Given the enduring influence of the colonial experience, the volume asks how, why, and to what end African constitutions must be 'decolonised' to form an authentic constitutional identity. This theoretical insight is supplemented and further deepened by detailed case studies of South Africa, Ethiopia, Cape Verde, Cameroon, and Egypt and their diverse experience of constitutional continuity and change. This volume in the Stellenbosch Handbooks in African Constitutional Law series, brings together contributions from established scholars and emerging voices on the study of constitutional processes. They provide an urgent critical analysis of existing paradigms, concepts and normative ideologies of modern African constitutionalism in the context of constitutional identity.

The Dialectics of Transformation in Africa

The Dialectics of Transformation in Africa
Author: E. Bongmba
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2006-03-15
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1403984581

A discussion of political and religious crisis in Africa, this book covers such topics as democratic transition, good governance, civil society and the African renaissance. Elias K. Bongmba proposes humanistic interventions centred on the recovery of interpersonal relations and seeks to understand the ongoing struggles in Africa.

Preparing Africa for the Twenty-First Century

Preparing Africa for the Twenty-First Century
Author: John Mukum Mbaku
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2018-12-20
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0429764359

First published in 1999, this volume is written by seasoned African scholars and is intended to make a significant contribution to the debate on peaceful coexistence and sustainable development in the continent. The book contains a very refreshing, rigorous, informative and multidisciplinary analysis of the transition in Africa and provides practical and effective policy options for Africans. It breaks new ground in that it emphasizes the importance of institutions to economic growth and development in Africa. As such, it differs significantly from previous efforts which have tended to blame Africa’s underdevelopment on incompetent, ill-informed and poorly educated leadership. While agreeing that the shortage of competent and skilled technocrats has been a significant problem for many African countries during the last four decades, the contributors argue that the most critical determinant of poverty and deprivation in the continent has been the absence of institutional arrangements that enhance the creation of wealth and allow ethnic and other social cleavages to live together peacefully. Thus, as Africans prepare their societies for the new century, the first line of business should be state reconstruction - a task that was supposed to have been undertaken shortly after independence but was never accomplished. The main purpose of such an exercise is for each African country to design and adopt institutional arrangements that enhance peaceful coexistence of groups, the creation of wealth, and sustainable development.