The influenza pandemic in colonial Asante: Lesson drawing for the fight against COVID-19 in the twenty-first century

This paper pays attention to colonial strategies that were deployed to fight against the influenza pandemic among the Asante of Ghana. It does a comparative analysis of the outbreak and mode of spread of COVID-19 and influenza pandemics in Ghana and Asante, in particular. Based on the theory of lesson-drawing, the authors aimed to ascertain whether the strategies adopted to fight the current COVID-19 pandemic reminisce the earlier strategies deployed during the influenza pandemic of 1918. Based on primary and secondary data, the authors have constructed a history which proffers some insights into the fight against COVID-19. Authors conclude that the various health interventions toward the prevention and control of influenza in Asante during the colonial period were skewed in favour of Europeans and natives who worked within the colonial civil service. This did not support relevant strategies and efforts to reduce the spread of the disease at a faster pace. Despite several efforts made to curtail the spread of the disease, the colonial administration together with traditional authorities encountered challenges of inadequate health personnel, culture conflict, financial. The role of security agencies and the collaboration between the colonial administration and traditional authorities offer a very significant lesson for confronting the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana.

The African Participation and Experiences in the First and Second World Wars in Northern Rhodesia: A Historical Perspective 1914–1948

Unlike existing studies that examined each of the two World Wars and Africans separately, this study explores African participation and experiences in the First and Second World Wars in Northern Rhodesia (colonial Zambia) together during the period, 1914–1948. A lot has been written on the history of the World Wars in colonial Africa. However, there is not much literature that focuses on African participation and experiences during the two world wars. This study is focused on the core theme, that is, the role played by Africans in both World Wars. This is the main theme that informs the study. The core theme is sub-divided into the following three sub-themes: the making of the Northern Rhodesia Police under the British South African Company, BSACo, a Chartered Company that prohibited by law from housing a standing; recruitment of personnel for the Northern Rhodesia Regiment; the role played by traditional authorities in the recruitment of ‘Askari’ – the Foot Soldiers and the ‘Tenga-Tenga’ War Carriers and the role of government propaganda while bringing to the fore African agency during both Wars. Also discussed in the study is the demobilisation process in which African servicemen – the Foot Soldiers and the ‘Tenga-Tenga’ War Carriers – felt cheated by an Empire-wide system of racial discrimination and hierarchy. Although an expanded government propaganda machinery contributed to the growth of an African political voice in Northern Rhodesia during the period, 1914–1948, that political voice neither included nor translated to much debate or discussion about the concerns of African ex-servicemen and their personal affairs. The study equally examines how their state of affairs affected the relationship between the ex-servicemen and their traditional leaders who were active in the recruitment process that brought them into the Wars in the first place. The study concludes with the re-examination of the older arguments that African servicemen did not play an active role in nationalist politics after the World Wars, and submits otherwise, that is, that they actually did.

The Shifting Terms of Religious Authority in North Atlantic Politics and Culture

Religion continues to evolve on both sides of the North Atlantic. In both contexts, traditional ways of understanding religion are confronted by new realities. The emerging and growing influence of modern media and media institutions are important causes of these changes. It is no longer possible to think of ‘religion’ and ‘secular’ as separate categories when ‘secular’ media increasingly define and deploy religious images, interests, and networks, displacing the influence of traditional authorities. The role of media in these trends is especially obvious in relation the emerging politics of populism, nationalism, and retrenchment. The media operate in a number of registers in these relations, including their textual, institutional, and practical dimensions.

Implications of Climatic Stressors on Agro-Pastoral Resources Among Mbororo Communities Along the Slopes of Kilum-Ijim Mountain, North West Region, Cameroon

Mountains are rich in pastures and water for agro-pastoral resources and supports rain-fed farming that sustain the livelihoods of many indigenous communities. This work seeks to examine the implications of climatic variability on agro-pastoral resources (pasture land, water) and food security within the Mbororo communities. To ascertain this, 350 household questionnaires were randomly administered in four Mbororo Ardorates and in-depth interviews conducted with local authorities. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of data collected revealed that the link between climate, land and water is paramount in animal rearing and crop farming in mountains. Cattle rearing and crop farming have been the main source of livelihoods for about 90% of the Mbororos as they depend on it for food and income. Climatic perturbations characterized by frequent dry spells, rainfall anomalies and other environmental stressors predicted degrading pastoral resources and the independent variable explained the outcome variable at R = 0.787; R2 = 0. 623; ΔR2 = 0.622; p < 0.01. This implies that 62.3% of degradation is accounted for by environmental stressors. As such, the carrying capacity of grazing have gone above the authorized number of two cattle per hectare, leading to overgrazing and degradation. Encroachments into grazing lands by crop farmers, invasion by unproductive grass species and farmer-grazer conflicts are aggravated by climatic stressors. The Fundong council and traditional authorities of the Kom Fondom have been working together to demarcate grazing land and provide water for cattle rearing. Mbororo communities are equally diversifying their activities to ensure food availability.

Perception et autoportrait de l’interprète indigène en Afrique coloniale française

African interpreters were hired to serve as intermediaries between Europeans and Africans, but they ended up establishing themselves as key parties in the mediation process, wielding as much power as both the colonial administrators and the traditional authorities. In so doing, they actively participated in the colonial enterprise, which involved dominating and exploiting native masses, promoting Eurocentrism, as well as fostering the rule of injustice and violence. Although in the African community the interpreter ’s status brought him privile ges and some respect, he was viewed with suspicion – and even contempt – by European colonial officers, who considered him as a threat to their own existence. Eventually, this indirect actor of the disintegration of African traditional societies could really identify neither with his fellow natives, for whom he was part of the colonial administration, nor with Europeans, who would rather keep him in a state of servitude. His personality reflected the contradictions of the new social order which he had helped to establish.

‘Traditional Authorities’ and Community Rights in Contemporary Mozambique: between Activism and Incorporation

Mozambique’s donor-inspired ongoing programme of ‘traditional authorities’ ‘(re-)integration’ carries considerable emancipatory potential for local communities in their relations with central political institutions and the globalized economy. By analysing ‘traditional authorities’’ specifically elaborated discourse and highlighting their agency within the dynamics emerging from state institutions’ attempts at ‘incorporating’ them in the sense indicated by Zenker and Hoehne, that is, to deny them all political auton-omy, this article aims to clarify ‘traditional’ leaders’ role in defending their own com-munities’ interests and rights vis-à-vis the state, private enterprises, and development actors/donors. Close examination of empirical data collected during field research in Inhambane province provides convincing evidence of traditional authorities’ general inability to develop effective discursive strategies for the representation and defence of their communities’ interests and rights. By choosing to retreat within the domain of spirituality and to cede much of their statutory prerogatives to more dynamic and bet-ter resourced actors, ‘traditional authorities’ end up accepting their ‘incorporation’ into the institutional structure of the state as merely symbolic objects and sources of inter-nal as well as international legitimacy, thus obliterating their role as natural repre-sentatives of their communities.

‘We Owned the Land Before the State Was Established’: The State, Traditional Authorities, and Land Policy in Africa

This chapter looks at the land policy reform challenges in Africa, focusing on the struggle between the state and traditional leaders over the control of customary land. The governance of customary land is one of the most contentious land issues in Africa. As many African governments seek to reform land policies in order to respond to the challenges of population growth and urbanisation leading to the increasing demand for land, the proposed reforms are often challenged by traditional leaders who see the reforms as a ploy to undermine their authority over customary land. It is argued in this chapter that, while the state sometimes attempts to co-opt traditional leaders into cooperating with it, this alliance often does not hold for long, especially when traditional leaders sense that their interests are being undermined by proposed land policy reforms. Drawing from the Zambian experience, the chapter shows that although the state, as a sovereign entity, has the authority over all land under its territory, the situation is complicated by the fact that traditional leaders also assert authority over customary land. This situation sometimes leads to contestations that often frustrate the formulation and implementation of land policy reforms.

Land Administration, Chiefs, and Governance in Ghana

This chapter examines the role of chiefs in the administration of land in Ghana within a historical framework dating back to the pre-colonial period. It examines the relationship between the dynamic of internal political factors and of international pressures for governance reforms. It argues that while present land governance reforms fit into the framework of market liberal governance reforms advocated by international financial institutions and the USA, the origins of the present role of chiefs in land administration date back to the political coalitions that came to dominance following the overthrow of Nkrumah in 1966. Although these appeal to notions of community, they are also based on a coalition of national elites with traditional authorities, which enables rural resources to be appropriated for capital accumulation with the connivance of chiefs who give legal authority to these transactions, through the customary notion that they are the owners of the land. The chiefs are closely connected with national elites, and many prominent politicians originate from chiefly families. It is argued that current reforms strengthen the process of private acquisition of land rather than the user rights of smallholders and their ability to resist expropriation.

Farmer-herder conflicts, tenure insecurity and farmer’s investment decisions in Agogo, Ghana

Owing to climate change, population growth and tenurial changes, the past decade has witnessed high interest among migrant and settler pastoralist groups in the vegetal-rich customary lands of the Agogo Traditional Area. This has resulted in lease grants of large land areas to pastoralists by traditional authorities and usufruct families, for reasons of ensuring optimum use and gaining the highest returns from lands. This paper examines the implications of consequent competing interests over land resources between farmers and herders on indigenous farmer’s agricultural investment decisions. The study uses qualitative methods and empirical evidence is given by primary data from semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions in the case study area. Results indicated that land owners exploit lapses in customary land administration systems to allocate lands in exchange for money, to pastoralists while neglecting indigenous farmers’ land use rights. Thus, indigenous farmers report land tenure insecurity and a sense of deprivation from their customary lands. Despite tenure insecurity concerns, farmer’s agricultural investment decisions remain unchanged because such changes in investment decisions may reduce incomes and compromise their livelihoods. The findings herein contradict theoretical expectations and provide new perspectives for understanding the relationship between tenure (in)security and investment decisions.