We sit down with Mr. Faith Abiodun, a thought leader, executive director of United World Colleges (UWC), and former Executive Director of Future Africa. Recorded in 2021 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa, this conversation provides an in-depth look into youth involvement in leadership, activism, and the broader politics of the African continent.Tune in for a thoughtful, formative conversation that encourages critical thinking and active participation in the political and social evolution of Africa.

In this second session of “The Ideological College”, we (with Surumani Manzi, Thomas Lesaffre, Twahiirwa Asiimwe and Mushamba Dauda) consider the origins of the twin ideologies of liberalism and Neo-liberalism and their expression in Uganda including why the initially ideologically opposed NRM regime embraced it.

Featured Resources

For our very first session of "The Ideological College", I sit down with comrades Surumani Manzi, Thomas Lesaffre, Twahiirwa Asiimwe and Mushamba Dauda in Kampala. We explore what politics is, how ideology enters and features in politics and the place of/for tools of analysis. We also do a preliminary interrogation of the predominant ideology of Nationalism.

Featured Resources:

In this conversation with founder and chairperson of the Pan-African Youth Conference (PAYC), Trevor Lwere, we delve into a history and contextual analysis of the rise and evolution of the dynamic movement of Pan-Africanism both within and outside the African continent. We unpack the motivations of its early thinkers as well as the historical circumstances that birthed them. We question the necessity of Pan-Africanism for Africa's very survival in light of lessons from the movements intellectual ancestors and crusaders. 

Wondering: what lessons we can draw from the earlier debates between Kwame Nkrumah and Mwalimu Nyerere regarding the pace of continental unity; takeaways from Thomas Sankara, and today's crop of leaders; how historical circumstances have necessitated a greater African unity; how events like the current war in Europe can inform the need for our strategic security; the threat of neocolonialism and imperialism; the importance of Dr. Achille Mbembe's question "Who owns the world?"; what your role is in Africa's protracted struggle for emancipation; this is the podcast for you.

Materials referenced:

Speeches

Papers

My Inquiry Essay

The Evolution of the thought and praxis of continental pan-Africanism

Musical Break

The song played at the musical break is Bob Marley's "Africa Unite"

In Part 2, we explore the effects of technology, particularly social media on the youth. We address some of the following questions;

The 4th Generation family extends its deepest gratitude to Omar Belghith who has produced this Episode and the Episode on Sankara's legacy. We convey our best wishes as he continues on his revolutionary journey.

In this age of "planetary entanglement" and  "technological escalation", where "innovation has become the norm";

In Part 1 of this episode, I am joined by my politics and governance teacher Mr. Thomas Lesaffre in an attempt to answer the afore-stated questions. Mr. Thomas' Ph.D. thesis is centered on the "digitalization of finance."

The closing song is 13 We are also praying / Julius Nyerere by Didier Awadi

Part 2 features a critique of Uganda's opposition, the National Unity Platform (NUP) party & the person of Bobi Wine (Robert Kyagulanyi) its leader as well as his politics. Manzi makes a case for challenge of our time, a "transition" sustained by an answer to "ethnic question." He postulates that Ugandans, just like Bobi Wine himself, may be expecting too much from the "people's messiah".  We discuss the problems plaguing grassroot politics in Uganda most notably poverty as Manzi recounts his trip around " a representative" sample of districts across the country. 

Manzi offers a critique of the 11th Parliament including their ability to properly fulfill their principle functions.  We make a case for young people to be politically aware and conscientious. In addition to eliminating pedestrian thinking, we search for the hope in a seemingly bleak political situation that unjustifiably drives many into apathy.

From President Museveni's seemingly unending reign in power, the emergence of a new face for opposition politics in Kyagulanyi Robert Sentamu (alias Bobi Wine) with his NUP vehicle to the nature of our 11th Parliament, this episode offers a critique through a historical analysis of the moving parts of Uganda's politics. 

Our guest, political commentator, Surumani Manzi approaches these intricate topics through a balanced examination of history. By way of critique, we delve into the significance of key historical events (from the 1966 Kabaka Crisis that was a major turning point in Uganda's political history) that have shaped the ethos and modus operandi of the current regime. We tackle the challenges that threaten the stability of Uganda including balkanization of the country as well as the level of "ethnic consciousness." This episode also tries to make sense of the November killings that were featured in this BBC documentary as well as the recent attempt on Gen. Katumba Wamala's life. A case is also made for a shift of focus to preparation for a Uganda post-Museveni - effectively a "transition."

Surumani Manzi is a "civically and politically conscious Ugandan", a poet with the Lantern Meet and an author whose first book " They were Ugandan" - a short story anthology publishes soon. A very well read young Ugandan, Manzi also works with the African Studies Bookstore and is a critical observant of what happens in Africa's civic space.

To preorder his book; "They were Ugandan." 

Ending song

"Dr Wangaala" by Simon Kaate Nsubuga

“The present generation of Africans is thirsty, searching for where to draw the moral, intellectual and spiritual courage to effect change. The waters to quench the thirst, as other continents have already established, lie fundamentally in history – in Africa’s forebears, men, women and children who experienced much of what most Africans currently experience, but who chose to toe a different path” and we dare add that Thomas Sankara was such a man (preuxeastafrican).

In part 2, we continue our discussion on Sankara's legacy and his relevance to politics and leadership in Africa today. The episode is punctuated by Gil Scott-Heron's "The Revolution will not be televised" and Didier Awadi's "16 La Patrie Ou la mort / Thomas Sankara".

“Few young Africans have ever heard of Thomas Sankara. In reality, it is not the assassination of Thomas Sankara that has dealt a lethal blow to Africa and Africans; it is the assassination of his memory, as manifested in the indifference to his legacy, in the lack of constant reference to his ideals and ideas by Africans, by those who know and those who should know (Preuxeastafrican).”

In this 2-part series, show host Brian Olemo is joined by Siyabonga Michelle Hadebe for an in-depth analysis and discussion of the legacy of Capt. Thomas Sankara. The discussion is facilitated by University of Chiekh Anta Diop alumna Thomas Lesaffre who teaches Politics and Governance at the African Leadership Academy. We go into the nitty-gritties of Sankara’s politics and policies, his revolutionary struggle and his foreign policy including his unprecedented stance on women and youth in the state. We speak to his moral uprightness, his crackdown on corruption as well as increased government expenditure. We can all agree that in an epoch where role models are scarce in the political realm, Thomas Sankara is a leader worth studying and emulating.

If you have only heard of Sankara, seen his face at a protest or by any gathering of especially leftist political parties but you have no concrete knowledge of the man - this is the episode for you.

Resources

Watch this documentary on Thomas Sankara the Upright Man by Afrikanews on YouTube.

You can also read: "Thomas Sankara Speaks" & other resources on Sankara here 

Articles; 

Justice for Sankara: https://thewalrus.ca/thomas-sankara-tried-to-liberate-his-country-from-the-west-then-he-was-murdered/

Role Model for the capacity of African transformation: https://www.thomassankara.net/role-models-for-africain-capacity-for-transformation-thomas-sankara/?lang=en