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Derek R Peterson Profile picture
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18 Jan, 5 tweets, 3 min read
Today is the 60th anniversary of the assassination of Patrice Lumumba.

In Dec 1964 Jomo Kenyatta opened the Lumumba Institute on a 20-acre plot off Thika Road. Maurice Lumumba--brother to Patrice--was there for the opening.

Here's a clip, from @Reuters. 1/
2/
 Building the Institute cost $140,000. Funds came in large part from the Soviets. It was headed by Bildad Kaggia, independent Kenya's most radical politician, who can be seen in the clip.

It was meant for the training of KANU party cadres. @guardian report here. Image
3/
 There were two Russian teachers on the Lumumba Institute's teaching staff.

Here's Oginga Odinga receiving equipment from the Soviets for the Institute, Feb. 1965. There were a number of radio sets, and two Russian-made loud-hailing trucks.
4/
 In April 1965 govt took over the Institute, ousting Kaggia. Kenyatta feared that the Institute would undermine his rule.

Kenyatta scorned Kaggia's call for socialism: 'Kaggia you are advocating for free things. What have you done for yourself?', Kenyatta asked. Image
5/
 The Lumumba Institute was summarily closed.

Today the Pan-African Christian University sits on its 20-acre plot. But the street on which the University sits is--still--called Lumumba Drive. Image

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Derek R Peterson Profile picture
21 Jan
Today, 20 Jan., is the anniversary of the assassination (in 1973) of Amilcar Cabral.

Cabral was the key figure in the independence struggle of Guinea-Bissau & one of the great theorists of African politics.

Below: youth in Dar es Salaam protest Cabral's assassination. 1/
2/
 Cabral led the Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde. The party went to war against the Portuguese in 1956.

Here's Cabral in Dakar, May 1969. By then the PAIGC had freed 2/3 of the country. Cabral introduced civilians who'd been injured by Portuguese bombs.
3/
 Cabral's PAIGC established schools in liberated zones & provided free education. They offered health care with the help of Cuban doctors; and PAIGC soldiers gave peasants training in agriculture, too.

Below: PAIGC school near Conakry, May 1971.
Read 5 tweets
Derek R Peterson Profile picture
20 Jan
The TAZARA railway was built btwn 1970 and 1975. It was to connect Zambia's copper mines to the port at Dar es Salaam.

The funds--over $400 million--came from Mao's China. It was China's largest aid project to date.

Here's Nyerere & Kaunda at the groundbreaking, Oct. 1970. 1/
2/
 Nyerere & Kaunda hoped the railway wld help create economies freed from the control of the racist regimes of S Africa & Rhodesia.

By Aug. 1973 50,000 workers had laid 600 miles of track. Here's the ceremony when the workers reached Tunduma, at the border between TZ & Zambia.
3/
 Here's Nyerere in 1970 defending his government's willingness to work with China.

When the skeptical interviewer asked about Mao--who had said that Africa was 'ripe for revolution'--Nyerere replied that 'I, too, say Africa is ripe for revolution'.
Read 6 tweets
Derek R Peterson Profile picture
29 Sep 20
In March 1909, at the end of his term as President of the US, Theodore Roosevelt departed for East Africa. He & his party traveled through Kenya, Uganda, the Congo & Sudan, arriving in Khartoum in 1910.

Below: 'Roosevelt in Africa', shot by Cherry Keaton w/ a hand-crank camera.
Roosevelt's trip was financed by the Smithsonian Institution. Altogether they killed or trapped 11,397 animals, most of which were pickled & sent back to Washington for display at the new Museum of Natural History.

The 'Zulu' dancers shown here were Masai, not Zulu.
The trip was a sensation in the American press, and even in the smallest newspapers there was a constant stream of coverage. It was the first time that most white Americans had reason to think about Africa.
Read 5 tweets
Derek R Peterson Profile picture
28 Sep 20
From @Reuters: 'Major' Bob Astles in Nairobi as Idi Amin's spokesman, 13 Nov. 1978. He was tasked with explaining Uganda's invasion of Tanzania (which had happened a few days before).

Astles was a remarkable character. In the mid-60s he'd helped run Obote's secret service, 1/3
2/3
 while also operating cameras for UTV. Under Amin's govt he headed Uganda Airways, ran the 'Heart Beat of Africa' troupe, & was head of an anti-corruption task force. He told a visiting Kenyan businessman in 1978 that 12 attempts had recently been made on his life (see below).
3/3
 When the Tanzanians took Kampala in April 1979, Astles was reported to have perished. In fact he'd escaped to Kenya. He was put on trial in Kampala, when the clip below was made.

In Nov. 1981 Astles was acquitted. He spent the rest of his life in England, & died in 2012.
Read 7 tweets
Derek R Peterson Profile picture
22 Sep 20
In Aug. 1972 Pres. Amin ordered Uganda's Asian community--80,000 people--to leave the country by 7 Nov.

This @Reuters clip shows the human dimension of the expulsion. The focus is on a Gujarati family, obliged to dispossess themselves of their possessions in 3 months. 1/
2/
 Here's Amin discussing the expulsion order with the international diplomatic corps. He argued that Asians' presence in Uganda was an enduring consequence of colonial rule, diminishing Africans' social and economic power.
3/
 The expulsion was a logistical mess: Africans had to be hastily appointed to take over Asians business, offices, & homes.

Here's Amin touring shops formerly owned by Asians. A new body--the Departed Asians Property Custodial Board--was meant to allocate property to Africans.
Read 4 tweets
Derek R Peterson Profile picture
18 Sep 20
Here's a British newsreel (in 3 parts) documenting Haile Selassie's return to Addis Ababa, May 1941. It's a fascinating bit of film.

The narrator emphasised the victory as a British triumph. He was wrong: Ethiopia's liberation from the Italians was won by African soldiers. 1/3
2/3
 A wide range of African units fought to free Ethiopia from the Italians. 8,000 African troops & Belgian officers came from the Congo. The King's African Rifles came from Kenya. The Somali Camel Corps was deployed in Ethiopia. There were 20,000 volunteers from S. Africa.
3/3
 Around half of the volunteers from S. Africa were black. And there were thousands of Ethiopian men & women who fought the Italians, as @MaazaMengiste's brilliant _Shadow King_ shows.

The liberation of Ethiopia was won with Africans' sweat and blood. It was the first victory
Read 4 tweets

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