Synopsis
Africans are angry - 30 years of independence have brought nothing but economic misery, famine, senseless civil wars, wanton destruction, flagrant violations of human rights and brutal repression. At independence from colonial rule, Africans had hoped for liberty, prosperity and a new beginning. They have been cruelly disappointed. This study is an attack on the dictators who have ruined an entire continent. Almost all the nationalists who took power after independence have proven worse than the colonialists they replaced. Declaring their countries one-party states and themselves "presidents for life", they have banned the opposition and gagged the press. Any word of dissent is rewarded with jail or death, and under the guise of "socialism", these leaders and a phalanx of kleptocrats have settled down to loot Africa's wealth. Each violent coup has simply replaced the nationalists with military juntas who have then applied a soldierly rigour to the same plundering operation - a 2nd betrayal. The author writes about the horrors of black neocolonialism, arguing that it is just not good enough for commentators always to blame external factors for Africa's misery: African leaders have betrayed both the just aspirations of their countrymen and Africa's indigenous political systems, which in no way endorse tyranny. Dr Ayittey sees a 2nd liberation struggle building up throughout the continent - one that will sweep away the kleptocracy and rediscover the African traditions that have endured throughout the horrors of both white colonialism and black neocolonialism. By the author of "Indigenous African Institutions" and has written articles for "The Wall Street Journal", "The New York Times", "The Washington Post", "The Washington Times", "The Globe and Mail", "International Herald Tribune" and the London "Times". George B.N. Ayittey has also written for African newspapers, including "Ghana Drum", "The Christian Messenger", "The Sowetan" and "The Continent".

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• History > Countries & Regions > Africa > 20th Century