The Book Review
Dr. Emund Abaka is an associate professor of Africa and Africa Diaspora History at the Miami University and a style documentary photographer. He studied in Ghana and Canada and has travelled to different countries to present his papers such as in Senegal, Cape Verde, Canada, and Ghana. Dr. Emund Abaka is also a writer and has currently written three books; House of Slaves and Door with no Return, Kola is God’s Gift, and Dubois on Africa. He is currently working on a project of the relationship between Cuba and Africa, a relationship that was developed in the womb of decolonization, revolution and slavery. This paper will review on the problems that central Africa countries have faced since independence and the steps that the leaders of those countries have taken to solve the problems; this paper will focus on Angola and Rwanda. Dr. Emund Abaka says that most of the central African countries have fallen into pits on their journey to independence, due to fights over the vast resources found in those countries.
It is possible to compare the two countries as they have had ethnic conflicts after independence as the communities did not agree who would get the ruling power. Dr. Emund Abaka says that Angola has faced a lot of challenges since independence and the country has been chaotic especially due to ethnicity between the Bakongo in the North, Mbundu at the center, and Ovimbundu in the south part of Angola (Emund 816). The communities had formed liberation movements against the Portuguese that is National Front of Liberation of Angola (FNLA), Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), and National Union for Total Independence of Angola (UNTIA).After gaining independence in 1975, power was not transferred to a single group and they had to fight until MPLA formed the government. Dr. Emund Abaka also states that Rwanda has had the cruelest genocide due to ethnicity that existed between the Hutu and Tutsi communities. The Tutsi occupied most of the leadership position while the Hutu were the le-population. The war led to the famous genocide, and after which, the two communities decided to form a government that included everybody. After genocide, the Rwanda Patriotic Front under Paul Kagame as the president formed the government (Emund 810).
Dr. Emund Abaka writings on central Africa since independence are interesting to read and I would recommend other students to read it. The writings stipulate how African leaders in Angola and Rwanda led their people into ethnic war after independence that yielded no solution. It is also the same leaders that stopped the ethnic battles and opted for dialogue to form the government. It means that the leaders had both solutions in mind from the beginning, and they would have opted for dialogue instead of going to war and shedding blood. Dr. Emund Abaka writings on central Africa since independence are coherent, they are logical orderly and consistent. He explains every aspect that happened after independence and the steps that the leaders took to stabilize the nation. He does this in clear topics and subtopics, making it easier for the readers to capture the main topics.