Chiedza Vol 12 No 2 Africa's Reconstruction of the Past: Blessing or Curse

Abstract

There is an old African proverb that goes, "until lions write their own history, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter .... ". True to this statement, with few cxceptions, outsiders who have sought to say something about the history of Africa have not done justice to the continent. Deliberately or otherwise, the history of Africa that has made it to the books has been meant serve different purposes by explorers, anthropologists, missionaries, slave traders, and colonial masters. These purposes have determined which part of the past makes it into history books. The British historian Hugh Trevor-Roper said in the sixties, "Perhaps in the future, there will be some African history to teach. But at present there is none: There is only the history of Europeans in Africa. The rest is darkness." Maybe he was right. The former Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba is also quoted as having said, "Africa will write its own history and it will be, to the north and to the south of the Sahara, a history of glory and dignity". This has been the attitude of most African historians who have sought to correct the negativity that most of the available literature offers. The new purpose of history has been corrective and this has meant glorifying the past sometimes at the expense of faithfulness to the events as they actually happened. Is this what Lumumba meant by Africa writing its own history? Is this what Trevor-Roper meant by African history'! Is this not just replacing a biased account of past events with another biased construction? These questions of historiography lead us to more questions on the value of our history. Can history ever be objective? Is history not just a creation, a selection of past events and interpretation of those events for a particular purpose? Is rewriting history a way to understand ourselves better and to achieve a higher historical consciousness? We ask our contributors in this edition to grapple with this one big question: is this rewriting of history our blessing or our curse as Africans? Tbeophill Makuni and Farai Mandaza tackle the question of African bistory from the philosophical point of view. They make the rewriting of bi story and correction of errors in Eurocentric historiography the primary task of African philosophy. They explore the possibility of praxis through philosophy and urge Africans to try and understand themselves historically so that they may discard the negative labels that have long been associated with the continent and its peoples. Tabona Shoko looks at a case in point, the exhumation and reburial or war veterans in Zimbabwe. He probes the historical aspects of the reburial and the political use lo which they have been pul. The political agenda introduced by the government into the who It! religio-spiritual discourse of burial rituals is for him a regrettable fact. He explores how in its proper use in the traditional religious sense the exhumation and reburial could be used to heal the living and the dead. Tn other words how going back in time to rectify historical mistakes can bring healing. Pacho Ogalo tackles the question of re-writing history in Africa from the point of an educator. Looking at the past through the lens of Critico-Creative Education he sees a solution based in the education curriculum. Accepting that U1e history of Africa has been stained by negative experiences, which in turn result in low self esteem for n1any Africans, he argues that through critical and creative education Africans will be able to grow out of the negative self-image. l:Ie does not only blame external forces but challenges Africans to take it upon themselves to develop Africa and develop a positive African image. Bernard Shitemi goes back into history to look for sources of Africa's governance problems in the hope of discovering some lessons for the future. He finds the original ethnic conflicts, the scramble and partition of Africa as well as the attitude of colonial masters all part or the problem. [n addition, however, and more importantly, he cites the despairing Africans, the Africans in denial and the current crop of politicians as the major problem because the historical difficulties, though present, can be rectified, but this needs good governance systems and determination to make Africa and the world a better place. Erasmus Masitcra looks at a particular history, the history of impunity in Zimbabwe and its consequences. He proposes a more active civil society as a possible solution LO the problem of retrospective impunity and its projection into the future. Curios Mniroce goes back to the long debated issue of the contribution of the African continent to world history. He appeals to one of Africa's earliest civilisations, Ancient Egypt, to argue this point. He traces its contribution to the famous philosophy, art and architecture of the Greeks. Hee shows how, contrary to popular opinion, Africa had civilizations that contributed greatly to the world but were largely unappreciated. In the end the reader has to look at all these and decide on what the right use of history is and whether U1e lessons drawn by our contributors from history are the correct and pertinent ones. The Chiedza board extends it gratitude to Board members who have moved on. lsaac-El. Fernandes, Ezevia Murambiwa, Victor Okongaand James Moro for their faithful service to the board. We wish them well in their future undertakings. Your comments and responses to articles are welcome
Happy reading. ·

Courage R. Bakasa SJ.