8 Principles of Fuller on Inner Morality of Law

Impact of Colonialism on African State : Did colonialism develop or underdevelopment ?

Before European colonisation, Africa was a vibrant hub of economic activity, with thriving trade networks and sophisticated systems of finance. However, the arrival of Europeans and the "Scramble for Africa" dramatically altered this trajectory. Colonialism, driven by the pursuit of economic exploitation, disrupted existing African economies, forcibly extracting resources, suppressing local industries, and disrupting trade networks. 

The Atlantic slave trade, while introducing some forms of exchange, primarily served European demands for labor, profoundly disrupting African societies. This disruptive impact is exemplified in Kenya, where British colonialism led to land dispossession, the suppression of resistance movements like the Mau Mau Uprising and the forced integration into the British economic system, with detrimental consequences for the Kenyan people.

Developed Africa

• Infrastructure Development: In some cases, colonial powers invested in infrastructure projects such as railways and roads. While primarily serving colonial interests, these projects could have long-term benefits for economic development. Example: Some railway lines built during the colonial era in South Africa and parts of West Africa continue to be used for transportation and trade today. Their interests were only to market their products and not the improvement or enrichment of the colonies themselves.

• Introduction of Modern Western education, legal systems, and administrative structures. While often imposed in a top-down manner, these concepts could have some positive long-term impacts.

• Example: The introduction of Western education, while often biased towards European perspectives, provided some Africans with access to new knowledge and skills.Kenya the elite will take their children to top class but poor will go to .

  Underdeveloped Africa 

• Economic Exploitation: Colonial economies were designed to benefit the coloniser, prioritizing the extraction of raw materials (minerals, timber) over the development of local industries. This created a dependency on resource exports and limited opportunities for economic diversification.Example: In the Congo, forced rubber extraction under Belgian rule devastated the Congolese economy and environment, leaving little room for independent economic growth.

• Suppression of Local Industries: Colonial powers actively discouraged the growth of local industries to protect their own markets. This stifled innovation and prevented the development of a strong manufacturing base in many African countries.Example: In Kenya, British colonial rule limited the development of local industries to maintain a market for British manufactured goods.
• Political Inequality: The arbitrary borders drawn by European powers during the "Scramble for Africa" often divided ethnic groups, leading to post-colonial conflicts and instability. Example: Kenyan political class formation The Rwandan Genocide was fuelled by ethnic divisions exacerbated by Belgian colonial policies that favoured one group over another.
• Suppression of African Leadership: This created a power vacuum and contributed to political instability after independence.Example: In South Africa, the apartheid system, a legacy of colonial rule, systematically oppressed the black African population and suppressed their political and economic rights.
• Disruption:/Erosion of Cultural Identity: Colonial policies often sought to undermine traditional African cultures and values, leading to a loss of cultural identity and social cohesion.Example: In many African countries, colonial education systems emphasised European values and downplayed the importance of African history and culture.
• Forced labour and land dispossession: This disrupted traditional social and economic structures and created lasting social and economic inequalities. Example: In Kenya, the British government seized land from African communities to establish white settler farms, leading to displacement and conflict.
• The individual subjects of the various colonial empires did experience some gains in wealth, income, and standard of living, but nothing comparable to the resources they developed. Africa was a net exporter of its wealth during this period.
• Thus colonialism saw the rise of a large, landless squatter class of labourers who travelled from place to place in search of work. Mau Mau 
• Limited Economic Diversification: The lack of diversified economies hindered industrial development and job creation.Over-reliance on single cash crops:
• Colonial economies often focused on the production of a single cash crop (e.g., coffee, cocoa, cotton) for export to European markets.This created vulnerabilities:Price fluctuations in the global market directly impacted the economies of these countries.Natural disasters or diseases affecting the single crop could devastate the economy.Limited diversification hindered agricultural development and food security.
• It's crucial to acknowledge that the "development" resulting from colonialism was often uneven and exploitative. Poverty in Africa is a result of unequal opportunities created by colonialism and current economic systems.
• While some infrastructure and modern concepts were introduced, they primarily served the interests of the colonial powers and often came at a significant social and economic cost to the African populations.

The impact of colonialism on Africa was overwhelmingly negative, contributing significantly to underdevelopment, instability, and social and economic inequalities. While some limited benefits may have been derived, these were often outweighed by the devastating consequences of exploitation, oppression, and disruption.

• Unequal Opportunities: Colonialism favoured certain regions, creating a lasting divide between those that benefitted and those that were marginalised. This economic marginalisation translates to unequal access to education and healthcare. Elites can afford private options, while the poor are limited to public systems that often lack resources. Political systems may also favor certain communities, concentrating power and resources in the hands of a select few.
• Failed Development Approaches: Both modernistic and dependency theory approaches to development. Modernistic approaches, driven by Western powers, often fail to address the root causes of poverty and create dependency.Dependency theory blames external forces for Africa's problems but doesn't offer practical solutions.
• African Renaissance approach that emphasises African agency in solving its own development challenges. Africans need to take responsibility for their development and resist continued exploitation by Western powers.

 In essence, the author calls for African solutions to African problems, advocating for self-reliance and a move away from dependence on foreign models of development.

Africa should say:

 "Thank you very much, but we need this money to meet the needs of children who are dying, right now, so, we will put the debt-servicing payments into urgent social investment in health, education, drinking water, the control of AIDS, and other needs".

• Economic Domination-Impact Land Ownership: Despite independence, significant portions of Kenyan land remain in the hands of foreign corporations and wealthy elites, often of European descent. This historical legacy of land dispossession continues to fuel inequality and limit economic opportunities for the majority of Kenyans.
• Debt Dependence: Kenya has accumulated substantial debt from international financial institutions like the World Bank and IMF. These loans often come with conditions that prioritize debt repayment over social spending, hindering the development of crucial sectors like healthcare and education.
• Unequal Trade: Kenyan exports, primarily agricultural products like tea and coffee, often face low prices in the global market, while imports of manufactured goods from developed countries are expensive. This unequal trade dynamic perpetuates economic dependence and limits Kenya's ability to develop its own industries.
• Resource Extraction: Exploitation of Kenya's natural resources, such as oil and minerals, often benefits multinational corporations more than the Kenyan people. This can lead to environmental degradation, displacement of local communities, and limited economic benefits for the country.
• Political Influence:Foreign Aid Conditionalities: Foreign aid disbursements to Kenya are often tied to specific policy reforms, such as privatization of public services and liberalization of trade, which may not always align with the best interests of the Kenyan people.
• Election Interference: Concerns have been raised about the influence of foreign actors in Kenyan elections, including allegations of funding and support for specific candidates.
• Security partnerships with Western powers can sometimes lead to the deployment of foreign troops in Kenya, potentially infringing on national sovereignty and raising concerns about local control over security matters
• Cultural Domination:Education System: The education system in Kenya, while having undergone some reforms, still reflects colonial influences, often prioritizing Western curricula and neglecting the importance of Kenyan history, culture, and languages.
• Western media dominates the Kenyan media landscape, shaping narratives and perceptions about Kenyan society and often portraying a negative or stereotypical image of the country.
• The promotion of Western consumer culture through advertising and marketing campaigns can lead to the erosion of traditional Kenyan values and lifestyles, increasing dependence on imported goods and contributing to environmental degradation.

 Neocolonialism and its Impact on African Development Post Colonialism and African agency 

• The term neocolonialism refers to the continuing dependence of former colonies on foreign countries, but its meaning soon broadened to apply, more generally, to places where the power of developed countries was used to produce a colonial-like exploitation.
• Neocolonialism takes the form of economic imperialism, globalization, cultural imperialism and conditional aid to influence or control a developing country instead of the previous colonial methods of direct military control or indirect political control (hegemony)
• In Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of Imperialism, Retired President Kwame Nkrumah wrote: In place of colonialism, as the main instrument of imperialism, we have today neo-colonialism, which, like colonialism, is an attempt to export the social conflicts of the capitalist countries.". For him Neo-colonialism, insidious and complex, is even more dangerous than the old colonialism 
• The result of neo-colonialism is that foreign capital is used for the exploitation rather than for the development of the less developed parts of the world. Investment, under neo-colonialism, increases, rather than decreases, the gap between the rich and the poor countries of the world. The struggle against neo-colonialism is not aimed at excluding the capital of the developed world from operating in less developed countries
• Dependency theory proposes that the global economic system comprises wealthy countries at the centre, and poor countries at the periphery. Economic neocolonialism extracts the human and natural resources of a poor country to flow to the economies of the wealthy countries. It claims that the poverty of the peripheral countries is the result of how they are integrated in the global economic system.
• Dependency theory derives from the Marxist analysis of economic inequalities within the world's system of economies, thus, under-development of the periphery is a direct result of development in the centre. It includes the concept of the late 19th century semi-colony.It contrasts the Marxist perspective of the theory of colonial dependency with capitalist economics. The latter proposes that poverty is a development stage in the poor country's progress towards full integration in the global economic system. 
• Critics of the practice of neocolonialism also argue that investment by multinational corporations enriches few in underdeveloped countries and causes humanitarian, environmental, and ecological damage to their populations. They argue that this results in unsustainable development and perpetual underdevelopment. These countries remain reservoirs of cheap labor and raw materials, while restricting access to advanced production techniques to develop their own economies. In some countries, monopolization of natural resources, while initially leading to an influx of investment, is often followed by increases in unemployment, poverty and a decline in per-capita income.
• American economist Jeffrey Sachs recommended that the entire African debt (c. US$200 billion) be dismissed, and recommended that African nations not repay either the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund (IMF):The time has come to end this charade. The debts are unaffordable. If they won't cancel the debts, I would suggest obstruction; you do it, yourselves.