Concrete Bridge on Wooden Pillars

W Nkhalamba John

Description

A Concrete Bridge on Wooden Pillars is a collection of opinions and wishes presenting how the African rural masses, who are the largest economic contributors, think how their rural problems can be resolved politically, socially and economically. It is a culmination of the author's early experiences of rural living. As a young boy he wonders why young men have to be hunted down by tax police in order to pay tax. He is intrigued and troubled by issues surrounding tax and the many difficulties of rural living, including poverty, hunger and conflicts.The author ascribes all these problems to the destruction of rural environment that has been enhanced by incompatible models of rural habitation with changed demographic and economic models. He suggests neglect of the rural by successive governments whose erroneous policies have resulted in skewing of resources towards the cities and their exportation are to blame. He also argues that this has been made worse by continued use of carbon copies of western governance systems that provoke adverse political and social issues that create the environment not conducive to investment. The author suggests that African governments need to develop adaptive governance systems and tap the eager and willing human resource that is desperate to escape poverty in order to achieve credible development.

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
• Date de parution: 06 janvier 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528992640
• Langue: English

Extrait

A Concrete Bridge on Wooden Pillars
Opinions and Wishes of the Marginalised
John W. Nkhalamba
Austin Macauley Publishers
2023-01-06
A Concrete Bridge on Wooden Pillars About the Author Dedication Copyright Information © Acknowledgement Preamble Part I Chapter One A Crossing for Life Chapter Two Dreams and Desires Chapter Three A Wasted Human Resource Chapter Four What Went Wrong? Part II Chapter Five Land Habitation and the Impact On the Environment Chapter Six Engineering for Good Environment Chapter Seven The Role of Agricultural Subsidies Chapter Eight Cultural and Social Considerations For Disappearing Forests Chapter Nine It’s Like Imposing One’s Own “Death Sentence” Part III Chapter Ten Traditional Systems and Their Value Chapter Eleven “Eating Together Is Strength” Chapter Twelve Suitability of Western-Style Multiparty Democracies Chapter Thirteen Brainstorming For Governments By The People And For The People Chapter Fourteen Conclusions References
About the Author
John has a doctorate degree in soil chemistry and fertility from the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, and a BSc degree in chemistry and earth sciences from the University of Malawi, Chancellor College. He is a published author in a scientific journal Geoderma on soil chemistry and fertility. John has worked in agricultural research institutions, both in Malawi and Mozambique, and he has taught at Pedagogical University in Mozambique. He has also worked at Cawood Scientific Laboratories in the United Kingdom.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my mother, Monica Selemane, and my father, Gabriel Nkhalamba, who died in 2012. Along with my two youngest siblings, Raquel and Frank, my parents were kidnapped and victimised by rebel forces at their camps in 1988 during the Mozambican Civil War that took place between 1975 and 1992.
Copyright Information ©
John W. Nkhalamba 2023
The right of John W. Nkhalamba to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528992633 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781528992640 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published 2023
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd ® 1 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5AA
Acknowledgement
My special thanks go to my granddaughter, Elsie. Over the two years it took to produce the first draft of this book, Elsie, who was a toddler at the time, sacrificed her CBeebies programmes on television, giving way for me to watch current affairs programmes in order to gather information that contributed to writing this book.
It was from the living room—in a home I shared with my wife, daughter and her young family—that I had tutorials through television on many subject matters that contributed to some understanding of politics, economics and related social issues. The living room was my classroom. Therefore, using the living room rendered an inconvenience; not only to Elsie, who wanted to watch her CBeebies programmes, but the whole family that also wanted to watch their respective television programmes as well. Many thanks, therefore, go to the whole family for being patient with me during the period of writing this book.
I would like to thank Dr David Rowell for his early contributions and many suggestions on the layout of the earlier manuscript, that developed to become an early draft for this book. Dr David Rowell also happened to be my doctorate degree supervisor. Having built trust from the earlier relationship, it was, therefore, easier to work together on an earlier draft towards this book. Many thanks also go to Dr Allan Tonkyn, who edited the final draft. Besides editing the text, his contributions and suggestions on many issues included in this book are greatly appreciated. His rounded knowledge of African affairs and history is invaluable.
My special gratitude also goes to the people in my rural villages, both in Malawi and Mozambique, some of whom continue to suffer due to rural neglect, and with whom I continue to interact. Through casual and homely interaction with them, they have contributed invaluable information and experiences that have made writing this book possible.
Preamble
A Concrete Bridge on Wooden Pillars gives opinions and suggestions that may seem controversial to some but, at the same time, sensible to others. With limited space for comprehensive discussion, it represents a rapid brainstorming of opinions, ideas, and wishes of a mainstream African population in the South of the Sahara, particularly of rural areas. As the author of A Concrete Bridge on Wooden Pillars , I am not a political scientist, economist or a development economist. I am an environmental scientist, and my writing in other matters are in a lay person’s simple language, based on interpretations from what I have observed and experienced during my childhood and adult life. Even so, my opinions have strongly been influenced by my academic background in natural and environmental sciences, as well as my rural upbringing and interaction with rural people.
On the assumption that my views reflect those of the rural masses in the places where I spent the majority of my childhood years, and with whom I continue to interact as an adult, suggestions and opinions expressed in this book can be considered to represent those of the rural masses in Africa South of the Sahara, and it is hoped they will make sense to a wider public of different educational backgrounds. It is also hoped that some of the conclusions will be of use in positive policy decision-making for Africa South of the Sahara, to enable its inhabitants to experience a new sense of security and success.
To explain the misfortunes of Africa south of the Sahara better, I have used my first-hand experiences wherever necessary to provide first-hand understanding. My parents being from a border area between Malawian Likoma Island on Lake Malawi and Mozambican Cobué area are the natives of the border area of these two colonially carved-up states. Both have family connections and relations on either side of the carved border, currently rendering the hard border an inconvenience. This also meant that before Malawi became independent and with Mozambique on the brink of war to claim its independence a decade later, the border between the two sides was still soft with both my parents having extended family relations on both sides. The soft border during that time meant free movement was the order. It also meant communal events and customs, including traditional leaderships, were shared.
Having been brought up in a Malawian rural area but with occasional visits to the Mozambican rural district where my parents resided many years later, I acknowledge that my perspectives will mainly express strong Malawian sentiments with a sprinkling of Mozambican sentiments. Additionally, the fact that I have been a resident in the United Kingdom for a large part of my adulthood has meant that some of the views in this book have clearly been influenced by my Western experiences. This book is, therefore, written based on a mixture of experiences and views from both worlds: the third world in Africa South of the Sahara, where one has to struggle to get what he or she desires, and the Western rich world in Britain, where living one’s life is assisted and subsidised, and getting by is made easier.
From a snapshot of my life stories, A Concrete Bridge on Wooden Pillars tries to explain that Africa is a continent of mixed stories. These are the stories of extreme desperation and extreme poverty for the majority but also the stories that bear witness that Africa is a continent of people with ambitions. These are also the stories that underscore the extreme difficulties and dangers that many African children go through in order to achieve their dreams to get an education and make something out of their lives. These are the stories of young and old who would want to go to any length to try to succeed despite the impossible hurdles placed before them. At the other end of society, these can also be stories of extreme luxury and riches for the elite few – the outlier stories separate from the mainstream struggling African population in the south of the Sahara.
However, most of these stories are a demonstration that many Africans can be and are as hard-working, determined and as desirous of success as people from anywhere else in the developed world. With a willing human resource to improve its circumstances, these are stories of a demonstration that Africa South of the Sahara has the potential to develop too. This desire is more visible now among women who, on their own, are on the march in search of the success that for many never comes. According to Cable News Network (CNN) statistics of November 2017, 41% of African women are engaged in entrepreneurship compared to only 10% of women engaged in the same way in the USA. This is a type of statistic that is often overlooked and not taken seriously. At the same time, it is a type of statistic that is not taken advantage of and tapped into for the good of the African development agenda.
In the first part of the book, I have highlighted missed opportunities by Africa south of the Sahara, conveyed through the stories of real people. I have explained that Africa is a continent of people that have been let down through greed and deceit by the elite who have skewed resources away from the rural population at the expense of the mainten