–– Lennox Kalifungwa
The audio version of this article is available here: YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.
Africa is a continent intimately acquainted with tyrannical regimes. For much of the last century, several African nations have hosted dictatorships like ill-mannered houseguests who refuse to leave—resulting in over 220 military coups, with 109 successful ones. Political chaos is as much a staple in African governance as bureaucratic red tape is in Western democracies. The results? Violence, censorship, corruption, towering national debt, and economic collapse. It’s the kind of grim reality that would make even a dystopian novelist throw in the towel. Yet, remarkably, many of the continent’s citizens, though crushed under the tyrant’s boot, seem to have taken this abuse as a badge of honor, treating it almost like a national pastime. In many ways, their oppression is self-inflicted.
Continue reading