Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka has launched a new attack on Africa's political leaders, this time singling out heads of state who retain their grip on power by entering into coalition or unity governments.
Speaking as an invited guest at the Julius Nyerere Intellectual Festival Week in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Soyinka described the unity governments in Kenya and Zimbabwe as illegitimate.
"We cannot entertain solidarity with African leaders who undermine the rule of law and good governance as it happened in Kenya and Zimbabwe;
but rather, we should tell Mugabe and Kibaki that they are not legitimate leaders," he said, according to a report in The Citizen, a Tanzanian daily.
He also challenged African leaders for failing to engage in self-criticism: "There is no defence for an inefficient government and we should not wait for the powers from Europe to come and say so..."
He called for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to face the International Criminal Court to defend the war crimes with which he is charged in Darfur, The Citizen reports.
Soyinka, the 1986 Nobel literature laureate, has been outspoken on political issues in the past, from military rule in Nigeria to the role of religion, the review of the country's constitution and the current Nigerian government.
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What is the theoretical basis of the poet's critique?
Unity Governmnets are sired by practical realities, namely pragmatic compromises over issues that, if pressed, would become politically aporetic, and that spells political violence.
Poets and violence? The power of pen, sounding in the metagenre of poetry, comes nowhere close to the power of the gun, which is precisely what "unity governments" attempt to prevent from asserting itself.
But, poets should be given some critical slack: their forte is in the realm of productive imagination, not reality, not to mention political reality.
I think Africa and Africans should be proud of voices of that of Wole Soyinka, your analogy of pen and political issues is not only flawed but weak and ignorant. I think Africa needs more voices like that of Wole Soyinka and not corrupt, embezzling and short-sighted appeasers like yourself. Wole - o kare! Duran
Wole soyinka is perfectly right in turning the hammer on the heads of African Leaders who used the vast illiteracy environments in the continent to exploit and stay in power. Many of these power greed leaders used many insane behaviors which will later blurred their thinking about quitting from power. Not only that they are afraid of their skin when they leave power because of their behaviors,the involvement of their tribe also paved the way for more dissaters which will later pump in genocide and other evil activities. Of course, since many of the greedy leaders( want freeby from Africa) from the west are also involved in helping these so called leaders to ride on the sweat of Africans; these leaders tend to remain more stubborn to leave because they will receive guns from the power above to kill their own people.
So is the story of " Mother Africa" whose tears continued to drop because of wicked sons and daughters who are so greedy that they will sell even their dads, mothers and other siblings to remain in power.
The current African war lords masquarading as leaders are nothing short of political pirates that have hijacked the political freedoms and stunted the political and economic growth and development of Africa below acceptable standards anywhere else around the globe, when it needn't be so.
They blame European colonialism and then in the same breath use European history to justify their illegitimate and corrupt regimes, and of course their selfishness to cling to power to hide their greed.
Kibaki, Mugabe, and Bashir have collectively come to represent modern day despicable Africans; and they are "educated".