Why are we so cursed?

Why are we so blest?—a novel by one of Africa’s leading fiction writers, Ayi Kweyi Arma—shows mental disturbance due to disillusionment in action.

In Why are we so blest?, largely set in the United States, Arma tells the story of Modin Dofu, an African student who drops out of Harvard University and decides to return to Africa after becoming disillusioned with his experience with Western education.

Dofu brings his white lover Aimée Reitch. However, his return to Africa proves disastrous when the conflict between values and his involvement with Reitch eventually destroys him.

Dofu is the embodiment of the psychological effects of colonialism on the people of contemporary Africa leading to mental disturbances across the continent.

The reason is that the political history of Africa is replete with sons and daughters of the continent who for a while had left to pursue studies overseas or to go into exile, but had upon return eventually become presidents and prime ministers while others went on to occupy the various structures of the bureaucracy of the post-colonial State.

But the culture of importing leaders from the marooned stocks overseas has caused so great damage to the African countries’ psyche that there is need to reboot the system.

Surely, the methods of governance as well as development of such returnees and their breeds are skewed and extremely out of touch with the bulk of the population. And the malaise is highly contagious!

Little wonder, last Friday the African Union (AU) honoured former president Joyce Banda (JB) and four other prominent African women politicians and entrepreneurs as ‘The Living Legends’ in recognition of their efforts in paving the way.

But JB left Malawi for the United States some months ago amid condemnation of her People’s Party (PP) administration’s failure to curb theft in the civil service, which led to some politicians, businesspersons and civil servants pocketing huge sums of money in what is known as Cashgate.

The former president, however, manifestly depicted that kleptocracy is an integral of her and her administration’s political DNA. That was when she attempted to appear as the most sainted president the country has ever had and help her government lie its way out of Cashgate. But the shameful thieving was biting deepest and wreaking irreparable havoc on the innocent lives of countless Malawians touched by the needless suffering visited upon them by the malfeasance.

She criss-crossed the country shamelessly telling Malawians the revelation of the unprecedented theft was her government’s breakthrough.

Again, in defiance of any known ethical and legal principle, JB responding to a question from the media on what action she was going to take if some of the suspects claimed that they donated proceeds of Capital Hill looting to her party argued that “a thief is the one who stole and is caught,” implying anyone who received a share of looted public finances is in the clear.

This, frankly, is a plain case of the one person who ought to most personify the rule of law forever being at odds with it.

JB also at first attempted to cancel the elections, citing massive irregularities, and later saying there be a rerun but she would not be taking part in the presidential poll.

It took the divided opposition, the civil society and concerned citizens for Democratic Progressive Party’s Peter Mutharika to be announced winner after days of unease as concerned parties battled in court.

So is JB the woman worth honouring?

It should be clear now why African States are so cursed with corruption, despotism and mediocre leadership.