Diary extract from the poem blessing Essay

Today was the best day ever; the pipe through our village burst. I first spotted it on the way back from my two mile hike to the well, I had two buckets in my hands had spilt a little water on the way back when seeing a spurt of water coming from the pipe. I filled up the buckets and ran home, I told everyone in the village to bring buckets and cups and everything, by this time the gap had grown and there was a good amount of water coming from it. Everyone gather around bring mugs and tin cans to collect some clean water, we filled our metal bath tub with our buckets and everything we could, we have so much water now, the crops we have tried to grow have been watered and we have kept a good amount to water them more often, the drought had finally ended, there hasn’t been rain in a while, but I believe that this is the work of god, he’s finally come through for us, everyone had prayed and thanked him for this deed, the party still hasn’t finished, I am tired, I have been dancing and singing and drumming until the sun rose again, I was the village’s favourite person today because I spotted the leak that has praised us all, I wouldn’t trade the feeling I had for anything in the world, people chanted my name and cheered all night long I loved it, none of the water is being wasted anything waterproof is being filled with clean healthy water, I will not have to go on my hike for water for the next few days and I will not have to be thirsty we are going to church again tomorrow and I think that the whole village will be there just to thank him for this blessing. I can’t believe how lucky we were, this is truly a miracle, the water came when we needed it the most, when everyone was finding it harder and harder to drink the dirty water, but the question is how long will this water last? How long will it take for the rich people to realise they are paying for our water? And will they stop it? I believe that these questions will be answered in time, God may have let this miracle but I don’t think there is much he could do to change those idiots, they have everything, clean house, clean food and clean drinking water and we have nothing. Our homes are dirty so is our food and out drinking water they just get water whenever they want whereas we have to walk over 2 miles to get dirty water from a well. Everyone hates them if only we could swap places for a week, they would know what it’s like how hard it is for us just to survive, to stay alive but they have no idea I wish something could be done about this.

Communication styles of JC Penny v. Sears Term Paper

Communication styles of JC Penny v. Sears - Term Paper Example Penny Company Inc. is one of the largest chains of American mid-range department stores, catalogue, and e-commerce retailers; with headquarters in Piano, Texas. It operates over 1, 100 departmental stores in U.S’s 50 states, Mexico, Chile and Puerto Rico (JC Penney 2012). It also runs 49 Renner department stores in Brazil. J.C. Penny began as a partnership between James Cash Penney, Guy Johnson and Thomas Callahan on April 14, 1902. The three created two more stores. In 1907, Johnson and Callahan dissolved their partnership and Penney purchased full interest in all three locations. In order to be closer to banks and railroads, Penney moved his company headquarters to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1909. The stores expanded and by 1912, there were 34 stores in Rocky Mountain States. The following year, all the stores were consolidated under the name J.C. Penney with William Henry McManus as co-founder. The company’s expansion was mainly due to its diversity of products and affo rdability. After much struggle in the 1970s, following stiff competition from upstart companies such as Wal-Mart that sold goods at discounted prices, the company reverted to a fashion oriented marketing strategy in the 1980s. It also moved its headquarters from New York to Texas, which reduced operational costs. The company was the first to sell zero coupon bonds in the public market. JCP stores are mainly located in suburban shopping malls, which is strategic in its operations. With about 1100 stores in America’s 50 states as well as Puerto Rico and Mexico, it is the second largest department store retailer and the largest catalogue merchant in the America. J.C Penny mainly targets juniors. The company focuses on value-priced fashion with an emphasis on classification and key-items focussed merchandising. JC Penney focuses on its pricing vis-a-vis its competition. Also, it focuses on providing mid-tier fashions in the malls. Its stores are located in attractive markets, tha t attract customers. It increasingly incorporating Sephora inside its locations, aimed at upgrading customers’ experiences in the stores. For the year ending January 2012, the company made sales totalling $17,260.0M and realized an annual growth of 2.8%; its net income for the year amounting to $152.0M (JC Penny 2012). 1.1 Background of Sears Holdings Corporation Sears Holdings Corporation is America’s fourth largest broad-line retailer with over 4,000 full-line and specialty retail stores in the U.S. and Canada. Its headquarters are based in Hoffman Estates, Ill. It became a multi channel store when it opened its first store to complement its catalogue channel which was launched in 1886 (Sears 2009). It provides quality merchandise and exceptional service, leading in retail of appliances, tools, lawn and garden, consumer electronics, and automotive repair and maintenance. The company provides diversified products through a wide range of retail channels. It was crowned the 2011 Energy Star Retail Partner of the year. Its leading brands are mKenmore, Craftsman and Diehard along with broad apparel offering including well known labels as Lands’ End, Jaclyn Smith and Jose Boxer, the Apostrophe and Covington brands. It is the

W5-Data Security Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

W5-Data Security Policy - Essay Example Modern technology poses modern confronts to the protection of entity privacy which existing (Laudon & Laudon, 1999). Privacy is the declaration of individuals to be theft alone, free from observation or intrusion from other individuals of organizations as well as the state. Declarations to privacy are also caught up at the place of work. Information technology and system pressure individual declarations to privacy by making the incursion of privacy inexpensive, cost-effective, and efficient (Laudon & Laudon, 1999). Organizational information security strategies, measures, and standards are entirely significant reflections. Organization has to properly file and put into practice a successful information safety plan. Every category of such information safety serves a diverse function. The W5-Data Security Policy incorporates following main points regarding the organizational data (W5-data security Policy, 2009) Security risk: The data and information security risk can be illustrated as the intensity of affect on organization activities (comprising operational jobs, illustrations, or status), organization possessions, or individuals ensuing from the procedure of an business information arrangement offers the possible influence of a hazard and the probability of that intimidation occurring (Rebecca, 2007). The above section has presented the possible hazard situation is business. Such situation can lead to lot of possible information exploitation cases. Like that any worker can take information regarding any customer and blackmail him for some reason. That will make some bad image of the company information management. Lot of customers will hesitate to provide their information or even do no come to that company. This will case a serious business problem. Data security procedures illustrate how to put into practice the data security strategy. Actions articulate the gradually comprehensive events essential to effectively fulfill a job that chains the

Witchcraft Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Witchcraft - Term Paper Example Witchcraft as is evident from its name is related to witches who are interested in making use of supernatural powers for their purposes. Witches gain knowledge of witchcraft in order to practice it. People relate witchcraft with devil forces while different religions have contrasting views about witchcraft and witches. This paper analyzes witchcraft, its different forms, its practice, people involved and the similarities and differences present between different forms of witchcraft. Witchcraft as seen historically was not always devilish or evil as many people benefited by this craft. Witches were also famous for restoring people back to health, which can be regarded as an advantageous feature associated with witches (Moore and Sanders, 2001). Witches also facilitated people with their wisdom and knowledge by giving them solutions for their problems. Although the image of witches as evil and demonic is much more reputed as compared to their good image. Witches exist in different form s due to which, their delivered witchcraft is also different. Pocs categorizes witches into three categories which are magical witches, social witches and supernatural witches (1999). The witches who helped people through different ways were termed as magical witches or sorcerers as they healed people from their physical problems, worked as midwives and fortune-tellers (Pocs, 1999). Social witches were those witches who used to curse people and cause troubles for them for their disapproving actions and supernatural witches were those who made use of supernatural powers for disturbing people and worked as demons. Supernatural witches also connected the natural world with the supernatural world. (Pocs, 1999) In different religions, witchcraft is regarded differently. Islam categorizes witchcraft as devilish and mischievous and all the practices associated to witchcraft or any such category, are regarded as anti-Islamic. Similarly, Christianity also regards witchcraft as an anti-religi ous activity and condemns it profoundly. In both the religions, witchcraft is looked upon as heretic by its scholars. The people following the mentioned religions get frightened by knowing about witchcraft and associated people and try to annihilate it. It is believed that witches get united with malevolent forces and work against the religious people and the religion as a whole to injure it due to which, witches and witchcraft are completed rebuffed in both the religions (Thomas, 1997). After knowing about witches or accused people practicing witchcraft, a major number of killings have come on the forefront historically describing the unapproved status of witchcraft in Islam and Christianity. In Christianity, witches are regarded as supporters of satanic deeds. Any work that is performed under the title of witchcraft is regarded as an anti-Christian work. Satan is thought to be working against Jesus due to which, any involvement in satanic works is again regarded as anti-Jesus (Tho mas, 1997). Christians because of their faith in Jesus and God pay attention to witchcraft as an activity that is against their religion. Like the followers of Christian religion, Jews, the followers of the religion of Jewish faith also regard witchcraft as an anti-religious activity. Such practices are linked with worshipping of gods and deities, which is a transgression from Jewish religion. To practice magic in Jewish religion is a crime as it relates to the rejection of the religion as a whole. According to the Judaism religion, witches should be punished and brought to death for their practicing the magic (Thomas, 1997). To learn about witchcraft

Discuss the tea party movement, identifyig its positive (or nebative ) Essay

Discuss the tea party movement, identifyig its positive (or nebative ) features, depending on your own political viewpoint. utilize any of the ways of thinking about political ideology your in - Essay Example Rick Santelli of CNBC has been given a high credit when in February 19, 2009 he raised his voice against the administrative proposal of the Obama government, which aimed to purchase the mortgaged securities so as to inject the capital into the economy in response to the sub prime mortgage crisis. (Rowen). However, though it is generally argued that the Tea party movement is a modern political movement staging the protests against the government in a revolutionist way, the criticisms of such movements are also emerging rapidly. The tea party movement with its progress has also mystified the people on the left and right issue. The protesters frequently try to raise them as the true patriots who are working for strengthening the public opinion over limited governmental control, free market mechanism and lower tax policies. However, we can criticize the movements, as the members of the party are very confused over the issues on which they protest. We can also say that with its activities the tea party movement has also brought and conveyed the act of racism. (Conan). However, in many conservative blogs the bloggers have tried drawing the attention of the people in favor of the tea party movement. In the blog like ‘HOT AIR’, Mr Allahpundit has raised his arguments that Mr. Obama also knows the significance of tea party movement in America and he has deliberately use the term â€Å"teabaggers† before the media. (Allahpundit). But in the more liberal blogs like ‘Fred’s Humboldt Blog’ the justification and evaluation of such movement has been discussed more generously. In this blog the blogger has raised his support towards the tea party movements by arguing that there are thousands of people now involved in this movement and it may force the government to go for lower tax and smaller government policies. (The tea parties). Notwithstanding, we may argue that at present there are many crises, which are gradually taking

The Rusty Time Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Rusty Time - Essay Example His father was getting more and more concerned, because Michael wasn’t the sociable little boy he used to be. As if he closed himself from the whole world, even him, his own father. No matter what he did, what he offered, Michael would bleakly, yet determinedly thank him, then refuse. He went downstairs and clicked on the big screen on the wall of the kitchen. A computerized voice greeted him facelessly, and asked what he would like to have for breakfast. He chose eggs and toast. The buzzing of machines wasn’t as loud as it was before they installed the newest Cook-O-Master. He thought to himself that his wife would have loved not having to cook anymore, but just indulge in her painting and taking care of Michael and him. He sighed and took the freshly prepared breakfast tray that the table produced before him. Michael stopped crying, but the sadness was all too visible in his demeanor. He went downstairs and joined his father at the table. He wanted no breakfast. †Å"Please, dad†¦ can we try it? Just once, I believe it is possible,† Michael started. â€Å"Mike, we’ve already had this discussion. You are putting me in an awful situation having to say no over and over again. I told you, even if we did try the procedure, it is questionable whether it would work. You know that the machine transports only live matter,† his father spoke calmly, feeling tired and heartbroken having to discuss a painful thing again. â€Å"I read somewhere that new additions are made to the machine and that they managed to transport some parts of clothing†¦ Dad, we can try, we have money now, I know†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Michael,† his father’s voice was getting louder and more resolute, â€Å"You know it is impossible to transport money through time†¦ and you know†¦ I feel it’s my fault that we couldn’t afford to pay for your mother’s operation†¦ We could have saved her life†¦ If onlyà ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  He buried his face into his hands and went silent. Michael felt bad and hugged his father soothingly. â€Å"Dad†¦ dad†¦ it’s not your fault†¦ you couldn’t have known we would win the lottery†¦ we had no money†¦ it was†¦ it wasn’t your fault, dad, it wasn’t†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"It was, Mike, it was†¦ I am the provider, at least†¦ I was supposed to be, and I couldn’t provide your mother with the treatment†¦ it is my fault... my fault†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"No, dad†¦ listen, we can try, I read†¦ I read somewhere†¦ let’s try, we have money, we can afford it now. You can go, and pay†¦ pay everything they ask†¦ just bring mom back, please, dad, please†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Michael was crying in his father’s arms. His father was crushed by the weight of his guilt. He didn’t want to raise their hopes up, only for them to be shattered like glass. It would be like losing her again. And he wasn’t strong enough to go through that pain again. Not again. But, looking at his son, he felt stronger. Maybe, he thought to himself, maybe it is possible. If I make a few phone calls, maybe someone does know something. Having made several phone calls, he turned to Michael, who was looking at him with puppy dog eyes. â€Å"Alright, son, they said that they did manage to transport several pieces of cloth to the past. And, they said they are willing to give it a try, provided we pay them enough†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Michael jumped into his father’s arms. â€Å"But, Mike, Mike†¦ Promise me that you won’

Prevalence of One Party Rule in African States Essay Example for Free

Prevalence of One Party Rule in African States Essay Africa, often known as the ‘Dark Continent’ rightfully occupies its place as the ‘Cradle of Civilization’ as the first humans have been known to originate from this continent of diverse ethnicities, tribes and clans. Since ancient times, the very nature of African society predicated formation of kingdoms and states centered on ethnicities and clans. Later, the advent of colonialism brought to Africa new forms of governance, which included democratization, socialism, communism and dictatorships. One enduring feature of African style of governance has been the prevalence of one party rule in most African countries. This paper examines why there is such a preference for such single party model of governance in Africa. To fully examine the subject, this paper shall first provide a historical overview of the progression of styles of governance in Africa and then examine the trends in major countries that make up the African continent. The paper will argue that the intrinsic nature of the African society and the effects of colonialism predispose them to following a one party rule. Historical Overview Africa is the world’s second largest continent both in terms of size and population and has 54 countries many of which are struggling democracies, a few communist regimes, and a number of authoritarian regimes bordering on dictatorship. Since ancient times, Africa had its indigenous systems of governance based on tribes and ethnic affinities. Africa also had great civilizations like the Egyptian civilization in 3300 B. C (Martin OMeara, 1995, p. 79). The earliest foreign influence came in 814 B. C. with the founding of Carthage in present day Tunisia under the Roman Empire which was followed by Persian domination of Egypt. In 332 B. C. , Alexander the Great replaced the Persian domination of Egypt and Roman rule continued in much of North Africa till the advent of Islam in the early 7th century (Martin OMeara, p. 99). In all these cases, the style of governance was centralized, as exercised by the emperor based in Rome or Persia through an appointed sovereign. The influence was limited mostly to North Africa, while the rest of Africa was considered too difficult to traverse due to thick jungles. Thus even in North Africa, from ancient times, the focus was on one –man rule and that more or less ‘conditioned’ the North African people to accept models of ‘uni-power’ in those times. Since the jungles were impassable and large number of tribes and ethnicities abounded, it was natural that rest of Africa had thousands of small kingdoms, states and at times independent nomadic tribes who dominated a particular territory. Each tribe had its own set of rules, customs, traditions and styles of governance, which again was predicated on the rule of one man or a tribal elder. The concept of Greek ‘city-state’ like democracy complete with a senate and an executive was non-existence. Over time, some of the tribes became more powerful and evolved into larger settled kingdoms that coalesced around similar ethnicities and language such as the Ghanaian empire that existed in 790-1076 A. D. followed by the Mali Empire from 1230 to 1600 A. D. (Martin OMeara, p. 70) The significant changes in style of governance came with the advent of colonialism. From the 18th century and by the late 19th century, most of Africa was divided up between the colonial powers; France, Britain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Netherlands. Under colonial rule, the African people had to undergo centralized rule of the colonial powers and the brutal suppression of any African revolt reinforced this submissiveness to a one-man rule. During the colonial period, the colonial powers brought with them their systems of governance, jurisprudence and legislation (Martin OMeara, p. 8). Colonialism lost its vigor in the early 20th century and by 1980, most ex-colonies in Africa gained independence. The former colonial powers before exiting from the continent tried to put into place systems of governance in ‘their own image’. Thus across Africa, a variety of ‘democratic’ systems took hold. Most of these ‘democratic systems were basically presidential forms of government, being the closest approximation to what they were used to both as per their pre-colonial experience and their colonial experience. The end of the Second World War gave rise to the Cold War and the Soviet Union tried to expand its influence in Africa also. This gave rise to numerous socialist-communist regimes in Africa that were opposed by the U. S. leading to proxy wars. Having examined the broad trends of the historical period of Africa till the advent of independence, the paper will now examine specific examples of how prevalence of one party rule exists in Africa. It is not intended to cover all 54 countries, but few sample countries that typify the various regions of Africa. For the ease of comprehension and brevity, Africa will be discussed under the heads North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa. North Africa North Africa because of its proximity to Asia had significant influence of Asian and Islamic traditions superimposed on ethnic African traditions and cultures. It is because of the spread of Islam in the 7th century, most of North Africa is Islamic. Islam, an egalitarian religion is considered as a complete body of work wherein all aspects of human life including politics and governance can be practiced through the Quran, the Holy book and the Hadith, the Islamic interpretation of Jurisprudence. Under Islamic law and Islamic political systems, an Islamic state is governed by a Caliph and where a Caliph no longer exists, then by a monarch or a ruler. Ideas such as secularism and democracy have very little congruence with the practice of political Islam. When such a system is overlaid over ancient tribal culture of a village head, it becomes natural that a state be ruled by a monarch or an authoritarian head and if not, the nearest approximation, a single grouping or party. Take for example, Egypt. Egypt, since ancient times was a land ruled by the Pharaohs, then the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Ottomans and the Arabs. In the colonial era, Egypt was ruled by Britain but the largely Islamic populace got independence from Britain in 1922 (Pateman El-Hamamsy, 2003, p. 28). Egypt was initially a constitutional monarchy and had adopted the British parliamentary system of government but constant political interference from Britain led to internal turmoil that finally resulted in a military coup in 1952 (Pateman El-Hamamsy, p. 28) in which the monarchy was overthrown and Egypt declared itself to be a Republic under General Muhammed Naquib. Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser overthrew Naguib in 1954 to become the Egyptian President. Nasser, on assuming power banned all political parties and created a one party named the Liberation Rally to run the government. This move helped him consolidate his power and rule Egypt till his death in 1970 after which he was succeeded by Anwar El-Sadat, the vice President (Pateman El-Hamamsy, p. 29). Sadat carried out political reforms and reverted to a multi-party system (Pateman El-Hamamsy, p. 31); creating one of the parties called the National Democratic Party and remained the President till he was assassinated in 1981 by a group of Egyptian army officers during an army parade (Pateman El-Hamamsy, p. 29). Sadat’s successor, Hosni Mubarak is still in office since 1981 and is the present leader of the National Democratic Party. Though by the Egyptian constitution, multi-party system is allowed, due to sustained state patronage, the National Democratic Party is the only party which has the necessary financial and political clout to win elections. There are other smaller parties that have virtually no chance of winning a single election and till to date Egypt is essentially ruled by a single party. Libya, a British colony was declared as a monarchy under King Idris in 1951 but was overthrown by a revolution led by Colonel Muammer al-Gaddafi in 1969 (Wright, 1981, p. 130) who has ruled the country ever since. Political parties were banned by Gaddafi in 1972 and the country is ruled by the ‘revolutionary leader’, Gaddafi aided by a Revolutionary Committee also called as the People’s Congress. Tunisia was a French protectorate that became independent in 1956 and adopted a Presidential form of government, copying the French model, except that it rapidly turned into an authoritarian police state where most ‘Presidents’ have been military personnel. The present incumbent, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is a former military officer (Perkins, 2004, p. 7). On paper, political parties are allowed but in reality, it is only the President’s party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally that gets almost all the seats. The rest of the political parties are usually browbeaten into submission by the state’s security system and there is virtually no free press. The farcical nature of Tunisian ‘democracy’ can be gauged by the fact that in the 2009 presidential election, Ben Ali received 89. 62% votes to continue as the President (Lowe Amara, 2009, p. 1). The ancient kingdom of Morocco, a French and Spanish Protectorate gained independence in 1956 as a constitutional monarchy, a system that continues till to date. Though the King of Morocco has a prime minister, a parliament and a multi-party system, the style of governance continues to be rule by one man, the King (Forum, 2008, p. 49). West Africa In West Africa, the situation is slightly different. Here more than Islamic influence, it was the effect of local dynamics, ethnic rivalries, Christian missionaries and communist influence that has determined the preference for single party rule. Take for example Liberia, the only other country other than Ethiopia which has an American connection rather than a European past. Liberia was created through a private American enterprise to house freed African American slaves and became independent in 1847. Since, the project was American led; Liberia adopted a presidential form of system. However, the American backed Liberian elite who ruled the country came in conflict with 16 other indigenous ethnicities living in Liberia. Since the regime was thrust ‘top down’ from the Americans, tensions quickly developed and a coup by a group of ethnic military soldiers led by Samuel Doe took place in 1980. Doe replaced the presidential republic with his authoritarian regime. Political parties were allowed to exist but their freedom remained curtailed by the regime which furthered the hold of its own party, the National Democratic Party of Liberia. The 1985 election results in which the opposition Liberal Action Party won were declared invalid by Doe, which led to the Liberian Civil War in 1989. Doe was killed and the power passed into the hands of Charles Taylor (Moran, 2008, p. 106), who continued his dictatorial regime which again led to another civil war in 1999 that continued up to 2003 and only came to halt with Charles Taylor being forced into exile in Nigeria. From 1847 till 2003, Liberia was ruled by the Americo-Liberian elite and their single party. Since 2003, a transitional government was put into place with international intervention, which because of corruption was dissolved and fresh presidential elections were again held in 2005 and was won by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the head of Unity Party who became the first woman President of an African country (Polgreen, 2005, p. 1). Nigeria got its independence from Britain in 1960 and had numerous political parties. These political parties were sharply defined along ethnic lines comprising of three main ethnicities; the Hausa, the Igbo and the Yoruba (Rotberg, 2007, p. 19). The Yoruba dominated Nigerian National Democratic Party won the elections in 1965, which led to political dissensions and instability resulting in two military coups in 1966. This did not resolve the problem as the Igbo, dominating the Eastern region of the country declared independence from Nigeria leading to the Nigerian civil war 1967-1970 that led to over a million deaths. The civil war ended but not the ethnic strife and the military continued to rule Nigeria with coups and assassination of the presidents being a regular feature. For thirty years, Nigeria continued under military rule till 1999 when it finally elected Lusegun Obasanjo, a former military dictator as its President. Obasanjo was re-elected in 2003 (Rotberg, p. 13) as the President amidst allegations of rigging. Obasanjo was replaced by Umaru YarAdua of the People’s Democratic Party in 2007 and on his demise now been replaced by Goodluck Jonathan (Nossiter, 2010, p. 1). So while the American model was adopted, the actual functioning of a presidential type of government has been a recent development in Nigeria’s history. At present there are two main parties in Nigeria, the ruling People’s Democratic Party and the opposition All Nigeria People’s Party with numerous smaller parties. What must be noted is that a democratic political system in Nigeria is still nascent and fragile and should ethnic differences arise again it will not be long that another military coup will take place in the interests of ‘national security’. Angola became independent in 1975 after having been a Portuguese colony from the 16th century. Angolan independence came right in middle of the Cold War where Soviet influence in Africa was rising. The independent country was immediately plunged into a civil war between the Soviet backed Communist MPLA faction and the American backed anti-communist UNITA rebels (Sheehan, Yong, Lin, 2010, p. 38). The Angolan civil war continued for 27 years (Sheehan, Yong, Lin, p. 43) till declaration of ceasefire in 2002 by which time over 500,000 people were killed. The ideological factions had an ethnic base too wherein the MPLA comprised basically Angolans of the Kimbundu clan and the UNITA, the Ovimbundu tribe. Presently, the Communist MPLA holds power in Angola. As can be deduced, this being a communist regime with no legitimacy, the concept of political parties in a democratic system does not apply. East Africa East Africa including the Horn of Africa portrays a region of extreme instability with a few deceptively stable nations. Sudan, the first country being analyzed, after gaining independence from Egypt and Britain in 1956, was gripped by a civil war till 1973 (Barker, 2008, p. 16). This civil war was basically because of ethnic differences between the people of Northern Sudan (Islamic of Arabic lineage) and Southern Sudan (non-Islamic of non-Arab lineage). While the civil war raged, Khartoum was ruled by the Sudanese military. A ceasefire in 1973 negotiated through granting autonomy to Southern Sudan kept the peace till 1983 when the military general, and the de-facto President, Nimeiry unilaterally decided to incorporate Southern Sudan into a federation. The civil war continued (Barker, p. 18), Nimeiry was ousted in 1983 and replaced by a democratic government under Prime Minister Al Sadig Al Mahdi which was not recognized by the Sudan’s People Liberation Army (SPLA) of Southern Sudan. Civil war continued anew. In 1989, Colonel Omar al-Bashir over threw Prime Minister Al Mahdi, abolished political parties and established an Islamic code on entire Sudan. Al-Bashir formed the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation and allied his group with National Islamic Front to consolidate Islamization of firstly, Northern Sudan and then the rest of the country. In the subsequent military action by the Sudanese army, the SPLA were defeated in Southern Sudan by 1994. Having achieved consolidation, Bashir dissolved the revolutionary council in 1993. In the 1996 election Bashir declared himself to be the only candidate eligible to run for President. All other political parties were disbanded and Bashir converted Sudan into an Islamic state with single party at its helm – the newly created National Congress Party (NCP). Meanwhile, Bashir unleashed a brutal war of suppression on the non-Arab ethnic minorities in the Darfur region using proxy militia known as the Janjaweed that has resulted in deaths of over 400,000 Darfuris (Kessler, 2005, p. 1) leading to an indictment of Al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and genocide. At the tip of the Horn of Africa lies the failed state of Somalia where no functional government exists. Somalia was never formally colonized by any power and had come under a variety of influences ranging from Islamic influence during the Ottoman Empire, Fascist influence under Mussolini’s Italy and then British military administration from 1941 that was replaced by the formation of a republic of Somalia in 1961 with a parliamentary form of government (Lewis, 2008, p. 33). This brief democratic interlude was shattered in 1969 when President Shermake was assassinated and replaced by a military government. The military created the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party in 1976 and ruled the nation till 1990. Meanwhile, various Islamic factions and clans grew in size and potency that overthrew the military government leading to a series of skirmishes through the period, 1990-1991. The long standing military dictator, Siad Barre was ousted in 1991 and President Ali Muhammed was installed, yet the civil war continued. The UN Security Council approved the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM) in 1992 that has since been replaced by UNOSOM II with no success. Presently, a Transitional Federal Government (Lewis, p. x)is the internationally recognized government of Somalia whose writ does not even run through the entire city of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. In the dismal narrative so far, Kenya appears to be a bright democratic spark in the African continent. After achieving independence from Britain in 1963, Kenya adopted a semi-presidential form of government albeit, with the peculiar African preference for single party rule. The Kenyan constitution mandated formation of only a single party in Kenya. Governments continued to be formed under the single party system until 1992 when electoral reforms were introduced to allow a multiparty system. The elections since then have been held in generally free and fair manner. The 2007 elections were marred by allegations of rigging in which the main opposition party, the Orange Democratic Freedom accused the ruling Party of National Unity for stealing the election. In the ensuing rioting, over 1000 Kenyans lost their lives (Raghavan, 2010, p. 1) and hundreds of thousands were displaced. Peace was restored through international mediation in 2008 and the country is presently being run by a grand coalition of members of both the parties under a new constitution (Raghavan, p. 1). Kenya’s relative stability is attributed to the British colonial era, where unlike the rest of Africa, the colonists set up educational institutions and government infrastructure. Also, unlike the other African countries, 78% of Kenyans are Christians while 10% are Muslims, 10% indigenous and the rest 2% are Asian immigrants (CIA World Factbook, 2010, p. 1). Central Africa In Central Africa, the Republic of Congo has been in the news for decades for all the wrong reasons. Congo received independence from France in 1960 and adopted the French presidential model of governance. However, the first President, Fulbert Youlou was ousted in 1963 by a military coup, which then installed a puppet civilian government (Rorison, 2008, p. 225) and also adopted communist ideology. In 1965, the Congo republic formally joined hands with the Soviet Union, firmly coming into the soviet bloc (Rorison, p. 226). This alignment did not bring about political stability as the original French democratic influence clashed with the ‘uni-power’ Soviet ideology leading to a series of coups and dictatorship under Denis Sassou. During his first spell of rule from 1979 to 1992, Sassou ruled Congo under a single party rule of the Congolese Labor Party (PCT) (Rorison, p. 227). When external pressures grew strong, he introduced multiparty system in 1990 and was defeated in the 1992 Presidential election. Sassou’s ouster led to a civil war between the supporters of Sassou and his competitor Pascal Lissouba. Sassou, a former colonel won the civil war and proclaimed himself as the President in 1997. In 2009, Sassou was sworn in for another seven-year period (Amnesty International, 2010, p. 1). In Congo’s case too, for most of its independent history, the country has been ruled by a single party and now despite a multi-party ‘democracy’ in place, the original political party, the PCT continues to rule the country. Southern Africa In Southern Africa, any discussion regarding Africa would remain incomplete without illustrating the case of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe, originally Rhodesia became independent after a violent struggle with the British in 1980. Throughout the period, 1965-1979, the country was engulfed in a civil war between British government forces and the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) led by Robert Mugabe and the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) led by Joshua Nkomo as also a number of smaller splinter groups (Raftopoulos Mlambo, 2009, pp. 141-165). In the 1980 elections, Robert Mugabe won by a wide margin but fighting with opposing parties and groups continued. The two main parties the ZANU and ZAPU fought bitterly until 1988 when ceasefire was declared and the two parties merged into ZANU-PF thus starting Zimbabwe’s slide into single party dominated system (Raftopoulos Mlambo, p. 179). Till to date the ZANU-PF has won every single election by force. Mugabe’s policies of throwing out the white farmers and forcibly occupying lands and giving it to the poor black resulted in economic sanctions by the West and a meltdown of the economy. Owing to his bad economic policies, hyperinflation struck the country and created political space for Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change to challenge him in the 2008 elections. The results were rigged but could not conclusively establish Tsvangirai’s claim of having won the elections. In September 2008, Mugabe maintained his power as the President by agreeing to share power with Tsvangirai who became the Prime Minister (Raftopoulos Mlambo, p. xxxii). Yet again, the single party rule dominates Zimbabwe. Finally, a discussion of Africa would be incomplete without examining its most prosperous and advanced state – South Africa. In South Africa, the colonial power, the Dutch did not relinquish their hold over the country and continued in the form of Apartheid, which was once again predicated on the dominance of a single party – the White minority party thereby conditioning the people of South Africa to rule by a single party. However, the violent suppression of the minorities could not continue indefinitely and ever since 1961, when South Africa left the British Commonwealth (Berger, 2009, p. 166) the white minority National Party faced constant protest from the black majority for equality. Till 1993, the National Party had banned other political parties (Berger, p. 166) and it was only in the face of sustained international pressure and internal struggle by the black and colored populations that the ban was lifted in 1993 and the African National Congress (ANC) led by Nelson Mandela was allowed to participate in elections. In Mandela, the South Africans found a charismatic leader who exuded the moral authority and statesmanship, which promised to build a future for the suppressed races. Mandela delivered on his promises but also led to consolidation of the ANC as the only party of choice for the people of Africa. The National Party chose to merge with the ANC and this yet again showed the propensity of Africans to prefer single party rule. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be reiterated that analysis of all the regions of Africa shows a remarkable similarity of circumstances that seemed to have shaped their preference for single party rule. The ethnic make up into tribes and clans were at the most basic level, the building blocks for adhering to the instructions of the clan leader or village headman. This obedience in turn was further conditioned by brutal colonial rule, where the colonial masters used every suppressive means to keep the Africans submissive. Suppression and exploitation itself became the rallying point for the African clans to unite and fight for their independence. Since most of the colonial powers only exploited Africa and did not build institutions, the succeeding indigenous governments had no infrastructural back up to employ their people or give immediate succor; naturally, the people fell back to tribal and clan loyalties as rallying forces. Since these points of opposition had to be formed clandestinely, they became sort of secret societies that formed oligarchic groups to fight for independence. On attaining independence the basic dynamics of the groups did not change and they continued as a closed ‘in-group’, which only heightened social inequalities and strife broke out in most cases. As democratic institutions had not been allowed to mature under the colonial period, people tended to cluster around the ‘village headman’, in other words, any leader with some charisma and since one institution that always has a clearly defined leader is the army, most governments became victims of military takeovers. The populace conditioned by colonial repression now became victims of military repression. Military forces needed a ‘democratic fig leaf’ to govern nations and so they set up political parties which were then headed by serving or former military officers to perpetrate the rule of a single party in the states. Parts of Africa that had predominantly Islamic influence adopted Islamic laws, which ideologically are not compatible with democratic secularism. Therefore, these countries by default became ruled by a king or a dictator or by a single party. Where the Cold War intruded the African political space, communist regimes under laid by African tribalism became the dominant feature. In these cases, the political ideology required the rule of the state by a single party. Later, when communist regimes fell, the old habit of single party rule lingered on. Thus the assertion that there is prevalence of one party rule in African states is emphatically proved. However, as can be seen from the examples of African states discussed, the hold of one party system is slowly changing. Multiple parties are emerging as the African people are becoming more aware of the wider world through the process of globalization. They are also realizing the need for multiple choices for governance as a panacea against corruption and despotism. So while the one-party prevalence in Africa may seem predominant at the present, political evolution of the African polity is taking place that will, in time transform into a more inclusive political process across the continent. References Amnesty International. (2010). Congo (Republic of). Retrieved August 11, 2010, from http://www. unhcr. org/refworld/country,,,,COG,,4c03a835c,0. html Barker, G. (2008). Sudan. NY: Marshall Cavendish. Berger, I. (2009). South Africa in World History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. CIA World Factbook. (2010, August 3). Kenya. 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