Timothy Kalyegira writing in the Monitor:
Somebody has to write a book or university thesis on the role that the maalo and materialism of the intellectually limited, simple-minded, upwardly mobile, university-educated urban African woman (or Men) plays in perpetuating the backwardness of this continent.On our 'Leaders'and their medical trips:
What do German doctors think and discuss among themselves when President Yoweri Museveni and his family show up on a presidential jet in Berlin, then go to a clinic for basic medical checkup? In power for 26 years, billions in foreign aid, but still one must fly to Germany for basic medical checkup? Our heads of state also need special advisers on how to overcome their own “maalo”.A lack of intellectualism:
Europe, the most influential continent in history, developed first and foremost because it developed the mind. Long before electricity, computers, air travel and when life was still a daily grind, Europe already had a profoundly developed intellectual tradition. A need for insight
Eyes that see in the dark. That is what we need: well-developed, thoughtful, solid minds with a level of perception, penetrating insight and in-depth knowledge that is solely missing in our African societies and to have such developed minds run our companies, government departments, schools, universities and families with mental clarity.He concludes with scathing indictement of the African elite:
We can only get this gravitas and rock-solid stature by reading and writing and researching advanced knowledge and information.
Not just the bits and pieces of cram work homework, coursework, theses, lecture and classroom notes we work with at school and university, to be left there upon the attainment of a diploma, certificate or degree, but advanced knowledge.
Most Africans, even the best-educated, best-paid and most widely-travelled, are held hostage to a mindset in which university-educated professionals are still impressed by things that Whites outgrow as teenagers.More here
Rather than keep giving us their financial aid and grants, the best Europe and China can do is send us teachers, philosophers, thoughtful guides to help us see that a flashy Range Rover or a house with 40 metres of cables leading to satellite dishes and 50-inch flat screen TVs is not really the true mark of success, but rather is a sign of our maalo.