Nepotism is not unique to Africa!
Jun 17, 2007
I do not condone nepotism, but I doubt if it is really African, as Dr. Ian Clarke seems to suggest.
SIR — I do not condone nepotism, but I doubt if it is really African, as Dr. Ian Clarke seems to suggest.
I suspect that nepotism was a cultural practice exported from the UK, being a former colonial power, to the colonies or ‘protectorates’ for the sake of cultural imperialism.
The colonial government imposed their rule through the so-called natural or traditional rulers, and introduced the local rulers to eating with them (the colonialists) and only close relatives as loyalists.
Before that, of course, Africans have always lived in extended families, with no one described as a distant relative. On the other hand, nepotism is evident and thrives in the West too, despite some rules against it on paper.
No ordinary person can get a job easily unless someone in a position of influence recommends such a person. They call it ‘networking’.
Moreover, neighbours who have lived next door to each other for 20 years rarely know each other’s names or even greet one another! And individualism is the way of life.
With such a situation, I would say that nepotism is an acceptable practice in the West too, especially for employers who cannot employ people they do not trust or know.
What is the reason for blacks and other visible minorities being kept in job ghettos, if not due to nepotism and outright racism? Racism is also nepotism. But according to Clarke, when Africans practise nepotism, then it is wrong.
Has he bothered writing about the corruption in the West at all? I think nepotism is a universal social problem, and not unique to Uganda or Africa.
I think there is an existing power relationship between Clarke and the society he is writing about.
Everybody likes to see social justice, but how do we expect any fairness, when the writer is privileged over the subject that is written about who actually lives in deprivation?
Jenn Jagire, Ontario, Canada
I suspect that nepotism was a cultural practice exported from the UK, being a former colonial power, to the colonies or ‘protectorates’ for the sake of cultural imperialism.
The colonial government imposed their rule through the so-called natural or traditional rulers, and introduced the local rulers to eating with them (the colonialists) and only close relatives as loyalists.
Before that, of course, Africans have always lived in extended families, with no one described as a distant relative. On the other hand, nepotism is evident and thrives in the West too, despite some rules against it on paper.
No ordinary person can get a job easily unless someone in a position of influence recommends such a person. They call it ‘networking’.
Moreover, neighbours who have lived next door to each other for 20 years rarely know each other’s names or even greet one another! And individualism is the way of life.
With such a situation, I would say that nepotism is an acceptable practice in the West too, especially for employers who cannot employ people they do not trust or know.
What is the reason for blacks and other visible minorities being kept in job ghettos, if not due to nepotism and outright racism? Racism is also nepotism. But according to Clarke, when Africans practise nepotism, then it is wrong.
Has he bothered writing about the corruption in the West at all? I think nepotism is a universal social problem, and not unique to Uganda or Africa.
I think there is an existing power relationship between Clarke and the society he is writing about.
Everybody likes to see social justice, but how do we expect any fairness, when the writer is privileged over the subject that is written about who actually lives in deprivation?
Jenn Jagire, Ontario, Canada