Cabral: saviour of the colonies
Amilcar CabraL was born in what is now Guinea-Bissau (then Portuguese Guinea) on 12 September 1924. In his youth he was schooled in both Portugal and Cape Verde, the birthplace of his parents, which must have given him a unique perspective in terms of his experience of the western world contrasted with the way the colonial masters were running the affairs of his homeland.
Cabral returned to Africa after his studies abroad, determined to see his homelands (he was a citizen of both Guinea and Cape Verde) stand on their own feet. His quest led him to create the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), which in turn led to his waging a guerrilla war against the Portuguese from the early 1960s. He found some support in this from fellow revolutionary leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah, who let him set up training camps in Ghana.
Cabral’s focus was on increasing the standard of living of the local populace. One of the many policies he put in place was to teach local farmers how to best utilise their land. Even the soldiers, when they were not fighting, had to help in the cultivation of the land. Cabral also had a nationwide ‘bazaar’ system in place to make needed commodities available to rural communities and people who would normally not be able to afford them.
However, by taking direct action for the betterment of his people, Cabral had committed a grievous crime against the powers that be. He had stepped on toes of those who had the interest in keeping the people of Cape Verde in shackles, and had crossed the invisible line in his breaking the people of Guinea-Bissau out of their metaphorical (and sometimes even literal) prisons. Like Lumumba before him, Cabral had to go.
Though it has been described as a botched attempt at imposing house arrest, the end result was exactly what Portugal wanted: Amilcar Cabral was killed by Inocêncio Kani, a lieutenant in his guerrilla army, in 1973, with the help of Portuguese secret police.
Yet again, another brilliant African mind was snuffed out by the colonial powers. Cabral was no more, and despite nominally declaring independence in late 1973, his home countries remained under the control of the imperialists.
As is the case with most other African countries, I think it’s safe to say neither Guinea-Bissau nor Cape Verde have truly lived to their potential – at least not the potential Amilcar Cabral saw in them.
Olajide Jatto is a software engineer and writer based in Dublin.
