My posts are published now on Africa on the Blog.
On 5 December, a post was published called “Lets look at the Gambia“. In the post, I give a brief description of Gambia. I point at the history of the Gambia and its role in the slave trade, as brought to live in the book “Roots” by Alex Haley. The current borders are a heritage from that time and have nothing to do with what would seem logical to the country now living there. But in fact, most of the people in the Gambia are Mandinka and it would not be so difficult to imagine a more logical country, that would encompass Mandinka-speakers in the Gambia, in what is now part of the Casamance region of Senegal and of Guinea Bissau.
This could even be part of a larger country of Mandingo speakers in the region.
I point out that the fiercely anti-homosexual President of the Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, started off poor when he staged his coup d’etat but is now a very rich man. He is ethnically a Jola, and seems to care only for himself, his family and the Jola people. I point out that this pattern is seen in many more countries in Africa. My thesis is that this pattern is due in large measure to that great design flaw that Europe has imposed on Africa: the problem of its illogical borders. Discussing this is a taboo, one which I argue should be challenged.
africanations 