Challenges which faced the struggles for independence in the African colonies

Challenges which faced the struggles for independence in the African colonies

The struggles for independence in Africa faced many challenges. Some of the challenges included the following:

1. Lack of awareness among Africans: This was due to the fact that many Africans were not educated. Colonial education was given to few Africans. Therefore, many Africans did not see the importance of struggling for their countries or of governing themselves;
2. Lack of funds for organizing and sustaining the struggle for independence: Many Africans were poor; some of them were employed and paid very low wages. Others were small-scale peasants. Thus, they did not have enough money for financing the struggle for independence;
3. Abolition and banning of some African political parties: This forced leaders and freedom fighters to devise strategies to fight for freedom while they were still abroad. For example, the freedom fighters from Mozambique, South Africa, Angola and Namibia organized their liberation struggles from Tanzania and Zambia;
4. There was also detention, imprisonment and execution of prominent leaders who were leading the struggle for independence in Africa. For example, Nelson Mandela was jailed for 27 years by the apartheid regime of South Africa, and Edwardo Mondlane of Mozambique was assassinated by the Portuguese using a bomb while he was in Tanzania;
5. The existence of ideological, religious and ethnic differences among African political parties;
6. The existence of a large number of African political parties which opposed each other: These differences weakened unity among Africans during the struggles for independence;
7. The presence of puppets among Africans: Such puppets disclosed the secrets and plans of the freedom fighters to the colonialists; and
8. The presence of neo-colonialism and its mechanisms of destabilizing Africans.

In spite of these challenges, the struggle for liberation enabled many African countries to gain their independence. Figure 2 shows the year in which each African country attained her independence

African countries and their year of independence