Family – The African Diplomatic Corp

Throughout African history individuals and their families have lived and traveled between cities, kingdoms, and nations to conquer, espouse, learn, trade, negotiate, rest, and explore different cultures. Out of these relations, have emerged new nations, and kingdoms, and in most recent history, the nation-state has emerged. As part of building relationships, these families, communities, and nations have exchanged protocols and traditions that have been instruments and symbolic of their interactions. These interactions have largely been unwritten, evolved over time yet accepted as “standard operating procedures” with codes, which have been celebrated with pomp and splendour, yet when broken have had clearly defined consequences and sanctions. The custodians of these interests, protocols, standard operating procedures, consequences, and sanctions have been the responsibility of the African diplomats within these communities.  

Through all this and over time, Africa has also been an attractive destination for tourism as a part of global international relations. As an evolving “ism” through centuries, tourism as a part of migration has established diplomatic relations, which has brought both interest and envy to Africa’s shores, its geography, culture, technology, and people. As demonstrated by Arabic, Asian and European explorers and merchants, Africa has, is, and remains an island of great and mystic splendour. The African family, either in the form of clan, kingdom, or nation has been the central institution and home of this African diplomatic corp. Each generation, its classifications, and division of labor have provided a role and responsibility allocation, that facilitated interaction and exchange between African families and her visitors.  

A study of the decision-making process, accountability, and responsibility of this leadership within the various family organizations, tells a story and showcases adaptive leadership. A further examination of African literature, art, engineering, built environment, and craft, displays centuries of nurtured family legacies. However, unlike her Asian counterpart, the African family has seemingly lost her glory within the Commonwealth of Nations. From royalty to subject, dominant cultures have been able to colonize, structure, and exchange the African family’s tangible and intangible heritage for an attractive and foreign lifestyle in different variations depending on which side of the African continent one finds oneself.   

As part of an evolution of the organization of African unity, which ironically came about as a result of a liberation struggle from British, French, German, and Portuguese colonization, which mobilized both violent and non-violent action, coalitions of African families have formed into the establishment of the modern state. This nation-state is what we commonly refer to as republics across the African continent. Instead of a reset, these colonial governance models, fuelled by a global education and market system, have over the past 70 years taken pre-eminence over the governance role of the family. This role has administered the natural and physical assets, and fuelled a scramble and battleground for a European war, spilt the African island into factors of production for a growing global economy. The establishment of this modern African state, governed by predominantly British and European kingdoms has established a forced recognition and model of global nation-state diplomacy over pre-existing models. 

This article is the first of a three-part series on African diplomacy that seeks to paint a picture of a transformation and restoration of an ancient pathway of a diplomatic corp out of African families. As Kenya celebrates 60 years of this model on the 12th of December 2024, these families, nations, and tribes find themselves caught up in a cycle of continental-scale battles, marriage, peace treaties, and wars. These experiences have drawn African families into deeper partnerships and coalitions over territories and resources in a bid to establish self-determined models of government and negotiated outcomes. These outcomes, well-intentioned, yet lacking in the original essence of adaptive leadership and execution muscle have hoped to reframe the colonial economic model and post-war modern state. As several of these African states like Kenya celebrate 6o years of independence, coalitions of African families at local and national levels have formed political parties with the hope of restoring the role of the African family, as a facilitator of regional relations and African diplomacy. 

Tendai Mtana