A PANEGYRIC ON ALI MUZRUI- REVISITING GENERAL HISTORY OF AFRICA SINCE 1935

Abstract

Volume. 8 on the General history of Africa since 1935 edited by Ali A.Muzrui is one of its kind dealing with African history post Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia, the author hailing from Mombasa, Kenya with European education has played a massive role in the field of non-doctrinal research. The volume published courtesy the International scientific committee of United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (hereinafter referred to as ‘UNESCO’)  took four decades to be completed. The preface by director-General of UNESCO Amadou-Mahtar M’Bow is a startling revelation on the underlying myth and prejudice surrounding African history. The earlier works on African societies done by the likes of Leo Forbenius, Maurice Delafosse lacked scientific study of the society at large. The volume underscores the rich and diverse African oral tradition trumping the European yardstick of mode of production, social relation and political institution. The Sahara was often presented as an impenetrable space preventing any intermingling of ethnic groups and peoples or any exchange of goods, beliefs, customs and ideas between the societies that had grown up on either side of the desert. Another roadblock that laid in the study of African history is the deep-rooted phenomenon of slave trade, colonization, racial stereotype, economic and psychological enslavement, which highlighted the marred history in the real sense. The first stage, from 1965 to 1969, was devoted to gathering documentation and planning the work. The collection of unpublished manuscripts in Arabic and Ajami. The second stage, which lasted from 1969 to 1971, was devoted to shaping the History and linking its different parts. The third stage has involved actual drafting and publication. This began with the appointment of the 39-member International Scientific Committee, two-thirds African and one-third non-African, which assumes intellectual responsibility for the History.