Are traditional institutions inconsistent with modernization?


This past weekend i attended the 11th Annual Harvard Business School Africa Business Conference. I have never been so excited to be in the same room with so many smart people with great ideas. In Washington Obama gave his first speech to the joint congress. It looked like a state of the Union speech to many people including some Senators and congressmen who spent hours on the senate floor positioning themselves to shake the President's hand. Obama also unveiled his health plan and budget.

On the show we discussed the role of our traditional institutions and leaders. In many African societies,traditional power structures that have been in place for thousands of years play a crucial role in providing the social cultural anchor for millions of people. Pre-colonial African states were governed by traditional institutions headed by Kings,chiefs,village heads etc. The strength of such institutions lay in the people who paid homage and submitted to their rule.

Many scholars say that one of the main causes of conflicts in Africa was the forced adherence to an imposed state system to people who were used to traditional rule. Almost fifty years after independence,many African states still maintain traditional systems and others have had to restore them as is the case in Uganda. In many countries there has been little attempt by government to harmonize the new state systems with traditional institutions. This has created a schism between the two power structures at the behest of new development paradigms.

We discussed some of the existing conflicts between governments and traditional institutions. These are questions that many governments grapple with on a daily basis. Where do these traditional leaders derive their powers from? Should they be governed by the constitution?
Many of our 'pundits' on the show agreed the need for African governments to recognize these leaders as development partners. Since these leaders have better knowledge of their communities, they are in position to understand the social economic needs of their people.

That would sound that we are advocating federalism. I am not sure where i personally stand on this issue. For many years i looked at efficient political systems as the solution to modern African democracies. I am also averse to authority derived through hereditary systems of rule. However it is not efficient to have one over reaching administrative system in a country that is divided in a multitude of traditional societies.

In countries like Uganda, the current president is criticized for having restored traditional institutions majorly for political reasons. In most case these have backfired because of the current standoff regarding the conflict of land rights. The Buganda Kingdom is laying claim to all the land in the south of the country including the City of Kampala. Uganda's land tenure system is a creation of the colonial government's Buganda Agreement of 1900, which gave the king and chiefs thousands of acres of land to reward them for co-operating with the British. Much of this land had millions of people already living on it and by giving it away to one traditional leader ignored their rights.

This agreement inadvertently created a landed gentry and a serf class, obligating these people to pay ground rent or a portion of their agricultural yields to the Buganda chiefs and King.
I personally have issue with traditional leaders and institutions that seek to undermine the rights of their people thought such unfair land systems. There is also something to be said about some traditional leaders who want to maintain cultures that are questionable in our modern societies; for example female genital mutilation and others.

We concluded that these institutions should be the engine that drive positive social economic development in their societies. Scholar J.Senyonjo says that such institutions can be effective "translators of new ideas through reference and contrast to pre-existing ones...they form the foundation on which new concepts are built. This foundation enables the people to incorporate new ideas into their body politic"

This week will forever be remembered for the historic signing of the stimulus package by President Obama. Even though it failed to garner support from republicans --the bill passed with only three supporters from senate republicans--it was necessary that something gets done about this crisis.
The three motor giants announced this week that they will need more money to help them avoid bankruptcy--that is in addition to the millions they received last month. However the good news for me was that finally main street was bailed out by the new plan to reduce home mortgage foreclosures. That is a break we can believe in.

On Upfront we continued with a discussion on what ails our health care systems. It is evident from the high mortality rates and low life expectancy that most African countries have failed to design a system that meets the health care needs of their citizens. The existing health care services are inadequate and in many cases the situation is worsening before it improves.The tragedy is that even in cases where the donor community pours billions of dollars in the health care of our communities,the monies have ended up in the coffers of a select few government officials.
i was reminded of the famous case of Ugandan officials who embezzled millions of dollars of World Fund money meant to purchase antiretroviral drugs for thousands of Ugandans with HIV/AIDS. These officials were not reprimanded by their governments.

But the problem does not lie solely with corrupt officials who steal money meant to fund health programs. It is the governments that spend more money on their defense budgets than their health care sector. A recent report says shows that African governments find room in their budgets for disproportionately large "defense" expenditures and for lavish salaries for members of parliament. All-important public health priorities like sanitation and hygiene are routinely ignored. Too often, public funds are stolen by corrupt officials - often with the active help of networks in rich countries designed for the purpose.


Experts have been alarmed at the deteriorating rates and the proportion of women receiving skilled attendance at birth. Statistics show that fewer children are receiving immunization and treatment for the seven killer diseases. Dr Malik Samba says that it is wrong to blame such declines on the strain of HIV/AIDS on our health care systems.
He says that "the genesis of the decline predates the emergence of the HIV/AIDS crisis." So what went wrong with African health care systems?
Dr Malik and other experts say that some of the answers lie in the huge amounts of foreign aid that most African countries relied upon to deal with the economic depression of the 80's. The strings attached to some of the foriegn aid required that governments make huge cuts to health programs, education and layoffs in the civil service. This meant that people could not afford to pay for their treatment because they were jobless and the government could not afford to subsidize their medical costs.

Dr Malik says that the consequence was that by end of the last decade "the health systems in most sub-Saharan countries had virtually collapsed" Subsequent annual reports by the WHO and other health organizations reflect a health care system that is near ruins. Most people are not aware or can't afford to go for an annual medical check-ups, medicines is more expensive and many people are putting off visits to a doctor because they just cant afford to relocate the meager resources of the household. As a result there has been an increase of cases such as malaria, tuberculosis and cholera.

On the show i had three college students from Ghana. They said that unlike most sub-Saharan countries health care is provided by the government. However the health care is very variable through the country. Those in urban areas receive better health care than those in the villages.

We mentioned the irony of government officials going to Europe and North America to receive medical care. These are supposed to be the custodians of our health system, and when they show no confidence in the health care system to such an extent,what is a common person supposed to do?
It indeed reflects poorly on our officials when they spend thousands of dollars to pay a doctor in Europe, when such money could pay hundreds of our doctors on the continent. This also accounts for the large number of college graduates who migrate to the West for 'greener pastures'. Our medical students receive governments funds to educate them, and leave after they graduate. It is a vicious cycle that needs to be stopped from the top down. Governments need to invest more in our health care,encourage medical practitioners to stay on the continent and most importantly build the necessary infrastructure that reflects a modern health care system.
Finally, international donor agencies like the Global Fund and The World Bank should encourage recipient governments in Africa to adopt national health strategies.

Big news in Africa this week,Zimbabwe president Robert Gabriel Mugabe swore in his main rival Morgan Richard Tsvangarai. We can only hope that this will not only last but provide the type of political relief for Africans that will lead to some badly needed socio-economic reforms for Zimbabweans.

Now,if you were born and raised in Africa or Asia,chances are that you grew up on some form of traditional medicine. It is still common that whenever one falls sick, parents prescribe a remedy containing some leafy or root concoction to drink or bath.
In our household,my mother was the 'doctor' without any formal training. However she carried with her a wealth of knowledge passed down to her through generations of self trained herbalists. These were not formal sets of knowledge that you can find documented in a book or report. Her grandmother passed it down to her mother who passed it down to her.

In most African societies,traditional medicine plays an important in the lives of millions who can't access western medicine. It is part of the first set of response mechanisms that people rely on in cases of medical emergencies. In other societies the whole health system of the community is hinged in medicines plucked from leaves and roots found in their backyards.
So on this week's Upfront,we asked our listeners and guests,about the importance of traditional medicine in the face of a changing medical landscape that for the past couple of decades has promoted western medicine at the behest of traditional medicine.

The World Health Organization describes traditional medicine as "the sum total of knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures that are used to maintain health, as well as to prevent, diagnose, improve or treat physical and mental illnesses".

Many listeners agree that traditional medicine still plays an important role in their lives,however the majority seemed to downplay their effectiveness. Odonkwo a young mother from Ghana says that even though her mother often gave her herbs to cure common ailments like headache and the cold,she would not recommend it for her own kids. So my next question to her was if her exposure to western medicine and education had soured her to her mother's herbs. She admitted that her current location in rural New Jersey was not a hotbed for African traditional medicine,but she also said that science had come to far for Africans to remain stuck on medicines that have not passed any formal scientific research.

Joseph Massembe a Ugandan Law school student in London had a different opinion. He remains convinced that traditional medicine is responsible for having raised generations of Africans, before western medicine made its forays in our communities. It turns out that Massembe is a big proponent for the continued use of herbs and other concoctions that his mother gave him as a child. "People like Odonkwo are sellouts" he said.
My question to the people who say that traditional medicine has not been tested was; did they not consider the generations of people who used these herbs and survived on them as testament to their effectiveness. Isn't that test enough?

It appears that many young people in the face of a growing African middle class have no exposure to African traditional medicines. To them,people who take herbs are uneducated or can't afford the modern western medicines. The tragedy here is that even though most of their parents grew up on African herbs, they shield their offspring from accessing such herbs because they represent the past--a past they have tried to bury away. It is the reason young mothers like Odonkwo will not prescribe herbs to her children even though she admits it worked for her.


By refusing to acknowledge the effectiveness of our herbal remedies,we are throwing away a wealth of knowledge that has sustained generations before us. Most of our information is orally passed down,mother to daughter and so on. Most importantly we fail to recognize that most western remedies are based off of traditional medicine. Pharmaceutical industries come to our backyards and take roots and leaves and indigenous knowledge that they use in their expensive medicine.
The World Health Organization says that there is limited scientific evidence from tests done to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of traditional medicine products and practices.
I agree that further study of products and practices is needed. There is a cost of taking something that could have adverse effects on your body. However we should encourage our governments to increase research in these herbs.It should begin by integrating traditional medicine into national health systems.There should also be a national health policy that regulates these herbs and the providers to ensure safety and quality.

Please feel free to join the debate!

According to Global issues research,there has been over 9 million refugees and internally displaced people from conflicts in Africa. Hundreds and thousands of people have been killed and continue to suffer in the numerous conflicts on the continent.
Experts say that if this scale of destruction and fighting was in Europe, it would be known as the 3rd World War.The international community would scramble to provide aid, mediate and find ways to diffuse such a situation.Not in Africa,many of these conflicts are almost tolerated. Most aid agencies come to help after the damage has already been done.

In this week's episode of Upfront we looked into the issue of why Africa seems to be as one put it --a 'hot-bed' of conflict. For the past couple of decades Africa has been plagued by some of conflict leading to civil wars that have caused the death of millions of lives and destruction of societies. Many analysts on the show agree that there has been a tendency by African politicians to ignore the path that leads to a peaceful resolution of disagreements. Instead they chose to resolve petty political squabbles by use of force. This ends up creating a situation where one group of people allies with another to fight the other. This scenario explains how most civil conflicts in Africa are started.
Now we can't ignore the fact that sometimes there is a need for a forceful change of political systems. These are legitimate revolutions in which some form of conflict is inevitable. Still,i believe that revolutions can be carried out without loss of life.
So the question that we sought to answer was; are we Africans socialized in ways of resolving issues through force? can we have a legitimate disagreement without resorting to violence?
In case people accuse me of painting Africa with the same brush,let me explain that i understand that many parts of Africa including countries like Ghana,have known relative peace for years. However much of Sub-Saharan Africa has been embroidered in one conflict after another.
The information on the site below give you a brief glimpse in some of these conflicts. The gist of our discussion today is to figure out if there are other ways we can resolve conflicts without resorting to war.

The following information is found on the website!
(http://www.globalissues.org/article/84/conflicts-in-africa-introduction)

The Democratic Republic Of Congo

The conflict in the DRC (formerly known as Zaire) has involved seven nations. There have been a number of complex reasons, including conflicts over basic resources such as water, access and control over rich minerals and other resources and various political agendas. This has been fueled and supported by various national and international corporations and other regimes which have an interest in the outcome of the conflict.

Nigeria And Oil
Last updated Saturday, July 03, 2004.
The Niger Delta in Nigeria has been the attention of environmentalists, human rights activists and fair trade advocates around the world. The trial and hanging of environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other members of the Ogoni ethnic minority made world-wide attention. So too did the non-violent protests of the Ogoni people. The activities of large oil corporations such as Mobil, Chevron, Shell, Elf, Agip etc have raised many concerns and criticisms. Oil, which could potentially have allowed Nigeria to be one of the wealthiest countries in Africa has instead led it to become one of the poorest.

Read “Nigeria and Oil” to learn more.

Sierra Leone
Last updated Monday, July 23, 2001.
Sierra Leone has seen serious and grotesque human rights violations since 1991 when the civil war erupted. According to Human Rights Watch, over 50,000 people have been killed to date, with over one million people having been displaced. There have been numerous factors contributing to problems such as the the diamond connection, the gross abuses committed by both rebel and government forces, and the problems of the current peace treaty.


Conflict Between Ethiopia And Eritrea
Last updated Wednesday, December 20, 2000.
30 years of war and conflict as Eritrea attempted to gain independence, finally resulted in an April 1993 internationally monitored referendum, where 98.5% of the registered voters voted. 99.8% of the votes were for independence, although the borders were not defined clearly. While the two nations seemed to get on fairly well, relations deteriorated into war a couple of years after Eritrea introduced its own currency in 1997. War again resulted over what seemed to be a minor border dispute in May 1998.

There is a countdown on Obama's first hundred days and if his first week is any indication of what's to come,we should be optimistic,but also worried about how tough it will get in the coming days. Obama himself has already reminded Americans of this grim prospect "things are going to get worse before they get better".

So this week the stimulus package was passed in the house without any republican support. Even after Obama went on a charm offensive all week trying to garner support from the other side of the aisle. To me that is why we should be worried. If congress continues to play politics the old way,any attempts to deal with this crisis will be viewed in a partisan lens. Politicians usually oppose anything the opponent suggests because it is either risky,and they don't want to share the blame if it fails,or just for the heck of it.I will let you pass judgment on this.

So as Obama starts off this bumpy ride of a first term,many Africans are eager to hear from him about what he will do to help the continent as it grapples with dwindling aid,less direct foreign investment and a decreased amount in dollars of the remittances that we send back home.

Is it a little to soon to be expecting that the Obama administration has Africa on its agenda. They have their own problems to deal with. How can we as Africans position ourselves to benefit from this crisis,because as we all know,with every crisis comes a set of opportunities too.
With Obama we have a familiar face in the White House,but we are yet to find out if he will be a friend to the continent. Still the opportunity here is that Africans have a positive visibility that we don't have to pay for. The opportunities are endless.
We should hope for more PEPFAR funds to continue providing treatment to millions of people with with HIV/AIDS. I personally hope for more educational funds that seek to reform our educational systems. The right education will breed the right ideals that are very much needed on the continent.