Mutumwa Mawere

A bitter row has been ignited by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams; over what he appeared to claim was the unavoidable adoption of sharia law in the UK.  Although he laterconceded that his controversial comments may have been unclear and "clumsily deployed", his comments helped generate debate about the responsibility, if any, of the Church of England to other faith groups like Islam given that the United Kingdom now has a Moslem population estimated at about 2 million.

The issues raised by Dr Williams concerning the possibility of assimilating sharia principles into English law touched on key and fundamental foundational principles of English society and what it means to be British.  He was reported to have proposed a notion of a parrallel justice system and this naturally enraged many British citizens not only because they value an English identity but because they are concerned about the implications of a possible dilution of their system.

Dr. Williams' opponents argued that British law has been built upon Jadaeo-Christian foundation over many centuries and established through parliament and courts and, therefore, it shoulde apply to everyone in Britain, Muslim or not.  In other words, British values, principles and systems ought to apply to everyone with zero tolerance for any enrichment from new British citizens who now call the country their own in as much as settlers from Europe call Africa their own home.  Underpinning this argument is a notion that anything English is superior and it is not surprising that this ideology informed the colonial project which sought to undermine native values, principles and systems.

It has been argued that sharia law would be impossible to implement in England and would disturb the integrity of the legal tradition that is rooted in quite different moral and spiritual vision deriving from the bible i.e. respect for the individual, the ideas of rights and responsibilities.

It is evident in the debate that followed Dr. Williams' lecture that it matters for the English to promote and protect their identity.  In the context of Africa, it is true that the legal tradition that has informed the post colonial era is principally an inheritance from the British system.  The decolonization of Africa was informed by a desire to build a system founded on a new African identity and sadly after more than 50 years of uhuru, there is a lot that needs to be done to transform our minds to think about what kind of Africa we want.

Do we want an Africa that is less tolerant to divergent cultures, religions and systems than the British system?  What kind of legal framework should Africa have?  What values ought to inform the legal system?  With respect to political systems, we need to critically look at Africa's archtecture and examine whether it responds to the aspirations of the continent.

In the current debate in the UK, some argue that there must be equality under one single law of the land, but if the law continues in the best democratic tradition, there should be reasonable room for individual conscience and expression.  In the case of Africa, it is important to locate discussions about the rule of law, property and human rights in an African perspective of what is right for Africa and whose values, traditions and systems should inform the legal and political architecture.

Many post colonial states purport to be against the colonial system that they inherited and yet have failed to transform the political systems to respond to the needs of Africa. 

The importance of knowledge in building a new African civilisation cannot be overstated.  If we know better we can surely do better.  However, our collective literacy on political and legal issues needs to be improved if citizens have to assume the responsibilities expected of them in the republican constitutions that have been adopted by many post colonial African states.

Recognizing the compelling need to develop a shared African sense of what is right and wrong, Africa Heritage Society (AHS) is hosting a conversation this Wednesday, 13 February 2008, to share ideas on what kind of Africa we should have.  Citizenship of Africa has its own rights and obligations.  We have often taken for granted what it means to be African and expected other people to invest in the changes that we want to see.

In discharging our responsibilities to Africa, we have to raise the bar and refuse to accept the notion that the continent's future is someone else's responsibility.  We need to invest in the changes that we want to see and if you believe that Africa can be better then please join us at: http://www.africaheritage.com/ and add your voice to the big debates about our continent.  Please remember that the only power people who do not have power is the power to organise.