AFRICA ' S LIBERATION
Reflections On African Liberation Movements
Frederick Golooba-Mutebi
The term ‘ liberation movement ’ has been part of political lexicon in Africa since the emergence of organised groups , usually armed , to free African countries or societies from the yoke of colonial rule . Interestingly , those that sought to achieve independence through peaceful means never qualified for the label . Instead , they became ‘ independence movements ’. Liberation movements usually sprang up in countries where the colonial powers were so determined to frustrate calls for independence that they could kill to preserve the status quo . In the end , they lost , which was inevitable . Those fighting for freedom were always destined to win . These first-generation independence warriors or liberators made such extravagant promises that in the end they were generally eventually unable to deliver .
In some instances , they turned out to be just as oppressive and , in some instances , more detached from the lives of ordinary people than their colonial-era predecessors had been . They had inherited systems which they had fought hard to topple and change , only for them to now find them useful as tools of repression and oppression . With time other groups emerged , whose declared objectives were the liberation of fellow citizens from the new oppressors . They too promised democracy and respect for civil liberties . These second-generation movements made promises that mirrored those made previously by the very leaders whom they had emerged to fight and remove from power . Promises of democracy and freedom earned the new groups the support of fellow citizens for whom oppression had become the normal order of
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