Africa Betrayed (Paperback)
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Description
With independence from colonial rule, Africans had hoped for liberty, prosperity and a new beginning. Instead, they have experienced have brought nothing but economic misery, famine, senseless civil wars, wanton destruction, flagrant violations of human rights and brutal repression. Africa Betrayed is a powerful attack on the dictators who have ruined an entire continent. Dr. Ayittey writes devastatingly on the horrors of black neo-colonialism, arguing that it is naive for commentators to blame Africa's misery on external factors: African leaders have betrayed both the just aspirations of their countrymen and Africa's indigenous political systems, which in no way endorse tyranny. He argues that a second liberation struggle is beginning 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 neo-colonialism.
Praise for Africa Betrayed…
"As a black African, Ayittey brings a personal, passionate commitment to his analysis. He develops a comprehensive prescription for addressing the continent's lack of representative, responsible government."--Christian Science Monitor
"Mr Ayittey's bitter reading is an appropriate first therapy to the malaise American politics have helped to breed."--Wall Street Journal
"This vigorous attack on corruption and mismanagement by post-colonial African leaders is bolstered by the author's experience as a dissident in his native Ghana. Ayittey, who teaches economics at the American University in Washington, D.C., blames African elites, foreign powers and even black Americans for aiding and abetting black dictators. Surveying indigenous political institutions--but neglecting the treatment of women--he argues that current leaders distort history when they claim their heritage supports not democracy but one-party and/or military rule. He ranges through the colonial and independence periods before cataloguing depredations in places like authoritarian Zimbabwe and Zaire, the "epitome of African kleptocracy." Ayittey proposes decentralized, democratic government based on indigenous principles to counter tribalism, a problem examined too briefly. Arguing that the West can best help Africa by promoting freedom of expression, Ayittey calls upon Africans to author their own intellectual, political and economic reforms."--Publishers Weekly
