Duma

 

Duma¹ - cheetah.

Duma² - capture (esp. in war).

Methali (proverb)

Uendapo kama duma, hutakosa nyama. 

Translation: If you go [as fast] as the cheetah, you will not lack meat.

The proverb emphasizes the certainty that arises from gaining physical superiority over competitors and adversaries, for example through speed, rather than relying on exploiting the weaknesses of a competitor or adversary, for example through means like ambush and guile.

Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. This means that there has to be a set of values developed as sound premises, from which actions can be rationally deduced. It then follows that, foreign policy is the application of these guidelines to foreign relations. Values are developed indigenously, genetically and organically over a long period of time.

It is often cited that Chinese diplomats, in a move that puts off and baffles European diplomats, describe themselves as coming from a developing country and hence they don’t have a foreign policy. This is despite China having physical superiority in many sectors over the developed countries with established foreign policies. Consequently, it is often seen that Chinese international relations deal with the world “as it is” as opposed to what they think “it ought to be”. This position is however meeting headwinds lately, as Chinese foreign relations actions get more compelled to act assertively due to provocations.

The question that follows is, “have African states discovered and developed national values on which foreign policies are based?”

States in Africa are mainly running countries with artificially created borders that divide common nationalities with thousands of years of common values and amalgamate them with different nationalities having contradictory values. The borders reflect European geographical resource interests, for example, the division of Lamba people due to external competing interests on the Katanga Copperbelt. From such a foundation, it is difficult to organically develop values.

If this is the case, what are the determinants of African states’ diplomacy?

The impetus for foreign relations of African states are being generated from internal dynamics within their countries. The main problems facing African countries are internal, which in turn greatly influence the external policy. The problems morph into the determinants of foreign relations, and may be categorized as follows:

1.    Economy – this is the pursuit of foreign partners for the purpose of securing economic aid, foreign investment and export-import trade. An example of this is Kenya.

2.    Internal political pressures – this is foreign relations influenced by internal pressure groups like trade unions, opposition parties, religious groups. For example, in Senegal, it was said that it was pressure from Muslim marabouts, on whom president Senghor was dependent, that held him from recognizing Biafra in 1969, in the line of other French “sphere of influence” territories in sub-saharan Africa.

3.    Colonial control – former European colonial occupying governments actively inhibit and influence foreign relations to align with their own interests. For example, through United Nations votes, education policies, standardization of goods & services, “favored nations policies” in trade, tenders and extraction.

4.    Influence of personalities – these are states whose foreign relations are influenced by the nature and ideology of a charismatic leader. For example, Thomas Sankara in Burkina Faso or Julius Nyerere in Tanzania.

5.    Geographical location – this is foreign relation pursued with the purpose of maintaining transport and communication infrastructure, hence logistics. It mostly involves relations with neighboring countries. Examples include that pursued by Kenya in the east African region for the purpose of logistical royalties to inland countries and trade in electricity. On the flipside, it was pursued by Nigeria during the genocide of Biafrans to block movement of goods to Biafra through neighbouring countries like Cameroon.

 

References & further reading

TUKI (2001), Kamusi Ya Kiswahili-Kiingereza; Swahili-English Dictionary. Published by Taasisi ya Uchunguzi wa Kiswahili (TUKI), Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Vernon McKay (ed.) (1966). African diplomacy: studies in determinants of foreign policy