LAGOS — From Kenya and Nigeria to South
Africa and
Uganda, Queen Elizabeth’s death met with an outpouring of official
condolences, mourning and memories of her frequent visits to Africa during her
seven decades on the throne.
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But the British monarch’s passing also revived a
sensitive debate over Africa’s colonial past.
Her death came at a time when
European countries are
under pressure to reckon with their colonial histories, atoning for past crimes
and returning stolen African artifacts held for years in museums from London
and Paris.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Kenyan
President Uhuru Kenyatta were among those expressing condolences for the loss
of an “icon”.
But many Africans reflected more on the tragedies
from colonial times, including events that occurred in the first decade of her
rule.
Kenya gained independence from Britain in 1963,
after an eight-year-long rebellion that left at least 10,000 people dead.
Britain agreed in 2013 to compensate over 5,000
Kenyans who had suffered abuse during the Mau Mau revolt, in a deal worth
nearly 20 million pounds ($23 million).
“The Queen leaves a mixed legacy of the brutal
suppression of Kenyans in their own country and mutually beneficial relations,”
The Daily Nation, Kenya’s biggest newspaper, wrote in a weekend editorial.
Elizabeth was visiting Kenya in 1952 when her father
died and she became queen.
“What followed was a bloody chapter in Kenya’s
history, with atrocities committed against a people whose only sin was to
demand independence.”
“While the ties with Britain have been useful, it is
difficult to forget those atrocities.”
Treasures, Biafra war
As part of recent
restorations for the past, Nigeria and
neighboring Benin have seen the return from Britain and France of the first of
thousands of artifacts plundered during colonial times.
Nigeria’s
so-called Benin Bronzes — 16th to 18th century metal plaques and sculptures —
were looted from the palace of the ancient Benin Kingdom and ended up in
museums across the US and Europe.
Nigeria’s Buhari
said the country’s history “will never be complete without a chapter on Queen
Elizabeth II”.
While some praised
her role leading up to Nigeria’s independence, others pointed out she was head
of state when Britain supported the
Nigerian army during the country’s civil
war.
More than 1
million people died between 1967–1970, mostly from starvation and disease, during
the conflict after ethnic Igbo officers declared independence in the southeast.
“If anyone
expects me to express anything but disdain for the monarch who supervised a
government sponsored genocide ... you can keep wishing upon a star,”
Nigerian-born US-based professor Uju Anya said, in a Twitter reference to the
Biafra war that triggered fierce debate on social media.
Similar mixed reactions were expressed in South
Africa, where President Cyril Ramaphosa called her an “extraordinary” figure.
But the opposition
Economic Freedom Fighters or EFF movement was more dismissive, recalling
decades of apartheid, in which Britain, the former colonizer, was often
passive.
“We do not mourn
the death of Elizabeth, because to us her death is a reminder of a very tragic
period in this country and Africa’s history,” EFF said in a statement.
Ugandan legacy
In
Uganda, some went back further, recalling the Bunyoro Kingdom’s ruler
Omukama Kabalega, who resisted British rule in the late 1890s.
He was deposed
and exiled to the Seychelles and the kingdom was then absorbed into the British
empire.
“As much as the
queen was able to maintain cohesion of the former British colonies, she had not
addressed adequately the injustices meted out on some of the states including
Uganda,” said former intelligence director and now political analyst, Charles
Rwomushana.
Last month, the
Uganda Tourism Association called for a committee to lead the return of Ugandan
artefacts from British and other foreign museums, including some 300 from
Bunyoro, according to the parliament.
Charles
Onyango-Obbo, writer and Uganda government critic, said on Twitter many
long-ruling African leaders used Queen Elizabeth’s 70-year reign to justify
their own decades in power.
“Now that she has
passed, they are scrambling to learn how to make their case convincingly in the
past tense.”
Mukoma Wa Ngugi,
the son of Kenya’s world renowned writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o and who is himself a
novelist as well as an associate professor of English at Cornell University,
also questioned the Queen’s legacy in Africa.
“If the queen had
apologized for slavery, colonialism, and neocolonialism and urged the crown to
offer reparations for the millions of lives taken in her/their names, then
perhaps I would do the human thing and feel bad,” he wrote on Twitter.
“As a Kenyan, I
feel nothing. This theater is absurd.”
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