Africa Is Still Paying A ‘Colonial Tax,’ Funding The Countries That Once Exploited It!

Imperialism: a system of extending a country’s supposed power and influence through the colonization of a country by any means. Often brought to this type of conversation is the overtaking of Africa, its mind and its resources, but to this conversation specifically how we as Africans are subjected to its systemic control. The first means for this discussion are firstly the legal systems that we have adopted and serve as the legislative grundnorm, even after the apparent end of imperialism. Next, we will delve into how western countries intentionally implemented laws that perpetuate the maintained control over the African continent, focusing specifically on how Botswana is affected by this perspective.

Botswana and South African common law, the existing systems of both these countries’ common laws are what is known to be the Roman-Dutch law. This means Botswana’s common law is a mixed legal system where both the English common law and Roman Dutch law co-exist. Mind you, this influences the majority of the legal system in Botswana being the property law, family law, and commercial law, making our legal system of governance inherently western based. It is important to note that the country does have a customary law system, which allows the country to instil into its legal system a fair share of indigenous cultural practices, norms, and values. However, the influence it has in legal terms is debatable. This, in all fairness, cannot be overlooked. The idea of independence and self determination is being undermined by the existence of this system: reason being the moral standard of all things morally is based on European standards of governance that firstly overlook the foundation of the people and their culture. To further prove this, 54 countries that are member states of the British commonwealth, pay heed to the fact that a good majority of these member states are former colonies, this somewhat confirms the policing efforts of imperialist governments to check and control these states’ efforts to attain genuine autonomy.

How colonial-era legal systems continue to shape modern African governance?

Before we dive into a detailed breakdown of the laws that exist i.e, those that cushion western powers to  subtly control African economies, it is important to mention the blatant breach of self-determination in what is known as “colonial tax”. Fourteen former French colonies in Africa pay this tax which amounts to about 500 billion dollars. This consists of countries like, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo, Cameroon, Central African Republic etc. So, this means that although France has halted its colonisation policy, its colonisation of these African states persists. To further delve into this matter, France literally appropriates 85% of these colonies annual income, meaning they get into debts and have to borrow back their own money from the French central bank. It is a blatant form of control perpetuated by a history of hardships placed on Africans, that while no Western nation is killing in the name of racial superiority, it is direct proof that the oppression is now systematic, stifling African efforts in economic emancipation, before they even begin.

How is Botswana directly affected by the maintenance of this system? 

Simply, there is no African basis to a genuine economic and legal reform that investigates the actual upliftment of African states away from western control, including Botswana. In July of 2002, the African Union was formed, spearheaded by leaders of state such as Muammar Gaddafi of Libya. The intention being the unification of all African states under a single legal system and currency. Unfortunately, because the west controls the media and controls the majority of the African economy as stated in my argument, the vision was destroyed before it even began, especially following the death of Muamar Gaddafi, which was orchestrated by the American leadership all in the aim of maintaining the oil supply from Libya. This unfortunately means Botswana being a low populated country, which is also landlocked, is at the mercy of western control. This is worsened by the fact that the resources it has, that could be shared amongst other African countries, are overtaken by the imperialist minded countries of the west.

However, what happens in the dark always finds a way to shine. How? The legal system as proposed by the president of Botswana, Advocate Duma Gideon Boko, suggests that we should shy away from the western sphere or view, that means shying away from looking at economic and legal systems from western based capitalistic, socialist or communist theories. Essentially, he proposes that all we do should be based on the norms and values that are primarily Botswana and Africa centred, thus being the first step of escaping the western disease.