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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 August 2021
At a panel discussion on “Uganda After Amin” at the 1980 African Studies Association annual conference, Professor Ali Mazrui wondered aloud why social scientists on Africa were speaking of reconstruction in Uganda after the fall of General Idi Amin, rather than re-design. Professor Mazrui suggested that since the political system inherited by Idi Amin when he overthrew Milton Obote was faulty and unable to meet the needs of Ugandan people, and since Amin, who was kicked out of office by Ugandan guerrillas and Tanzanian soldiers early in 1977 had left the system practically in shambles, would it not be a much better idea for the new leaders (if one can consider Milton Obote in his return engagement as President of Uganda as a new leader) to think of creating a new political system rather than simply reconstructing one on the basis of the old system.
1. Since his ASA presentation, Ali Mazrui has developed his argument on the Ugandan Dilemma in two major lectures, one at Makerere University in Kampala and the other at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Mazrui posed the question whether what he called “a devastated society” should simply be rebuilt back to its old condition or whether it should be redesigned altogether. “Reconstruction is an effort to bring back to life what had been there before whereas restructuring is an effort to design an alternative order for society.” Mazrui’s case-study was Uganda and was subsequently broadcast by both the Voice of America and the Voice of Kenya. A senior civil servant in Zimbabwe, hearing this broadcast, asked Mazrui if the dilemma between reconstruction and restructuring or between rehabilitation and redesigning also applied to Zimbabwe. Dr. Vincent Khapoya argues here that the dilemma is false, since “re-designing” is not a realistic option. [Editors]
2. Kay, George, Rhodesia: A Human Geography, New York, Africana Publishing Company, 1970 Google Scholar.
3. Ibid.
4. Khapoya, Vincent B., “African Political Actors in Post-UDI Rhodesia: Resistance or Accommodation?” Ufahamu, IV, 2 (Fall), 1973, p. 133 Google Scholar.
5. Richard R. Leger, “A Talk with Robert Mugabe,” Wall Street Journal, March 27, 1979, p. 18.