The African Scene

Extract

In speaking of the present state of Africa it will be necessary to limit oneself severely by designating the areas about which information is fairly reliable. In the case of the present writer, these areas are the Sudan, the Belgian Congo, the Rhodesias, East and South Africa.

All these are, at the time of writing, territories which present a bewildering picture. One exception within the general framework is Tanganyika, where the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), under the leadership of Mr Julius Nyerere, has achieved at least the appearance of stability and gives some promise of steady development. In Tanganyika there is something, or perhaps one should say someone, to work for, as Mr Nyerere is ‘the necessary man.’ His prestige, integrity and ability combine to give him a unique position in to-day’s Africa, and he provides a rallying-point for the one hundred and forty African tribes of his country and a head of government whom Europeans and Asians can support with a fairly clear conscience. The indications are, on the other hand, that he alone stands between Tanganyika and chaos. There is no one to replace him should any untoward event remove him from the scene.

The Sudan is also overtly peaceful, but this is far more illusory, since the Muslim Military Government is pursuing a policy of ruthless suppression. Many of the former M.Ps. are in prison, including at least one priest, and these prisoners are the representatives of the Southern Sudan, a territory entirely different in race,