Independence Without Liberation: the Relevance of Franz Fanon's Diagnosis of the Post-colonial African State to Contemporary Kenya

Abstract

Almost sixty years after Kenya obtained independence from the British, the perception that the fruits of liberation have yet to manifest, despite decades of self-internal rule has spurred debate in regards to the crisis of independence without liberation, and in particular has led to the resurgence of the study of Franz Fanon’s works to understand the crisis of the postcolonial state. This study, therefore, set out to assess the relevance Franz Fanon's diagnosis of the post-colonial African state, with regard to the problem of independence without liberation to contemporary Kenya. The study had the following objectives: a) to examine the relevance of Franz Fanon's diagnosis of the post-colonial African state to contemporary Kenya; b) to examine factors that can account for Independence and liberation within a framework of decolonial theory; c) to assess the relevance of Frantz Fanon’s decolonial critique of the nation state and the national bourgeoisie to contemporary Kenya; and, d) to apply Franz Fanon’s delinking approach to contemporary Kenyan society. The study objectives were interrogated by employing decolonial theory to understand why Kenya obtained independence but has yet to achieve liberation, with intent on demonstrating the extent to which Franz Fanon’s decolonial approach is relevant to contemporary Kenya. Decolonial theory offers a critique of the perceived universality of knowledge from a euro-modern perspective, and the attendant in authentic superiority of western culture. Through philosophical reflections, the findings of the study include: a) that while independence is a concept used to endorse for the emancipation of a new social class, the bourgeoisie, and puts forward proposals of internal reform within the logic of euro-modernity, liberation, provides a wholesome context of freedom that encompasses non-western peoples that Europe colonized; b) the instruments used by the British colonisers to enforce imperial rule created a system of power that is the foundation of the Kenyan state; c) since the dawn of independence, the national bourgeoisie have controlled formally authorized knowledge, institutions, violence, and important connections to the outside world by linking themselves to the colonial matrix of power; and, d) that delinking from this colonial matrix of power means the use of hidden histories, forgotten memories and social organisations to advance a new political society, and to introduce new concepts into the economic, political, philosophical and ethical debates in order to create a new humanity. The study recommends that Fanon’s delinking option can be useful for the Kenyan context because within the context of euro-modernity and its attendant logic – coloniality, full liberation cannot be attained. Furthermore, the study also recommends for the development of other possible imaginaries for human existence outside of euro-modernity, in particular further developing Fanon’s idea of a new philosophy of man in the creation of a new humanity.