VOICES from Africa!

The colonial habit of Mission Societies


Today I received the following mail from a Tanzanian:

"Colonial administrators gave orders to their subordinates who were regarded as uneducated. Democracy did not exist then! Governors and Church ministers / bishops / clergies control and give orders… they do not discuss. The people in Tanzania got used to that old admin system... No negotiations! No consultations! No flexibility! Conservatism does not respond well to change and challenges! Accepting change is an uphill struggle. Makete was under the missionaries and colonial government for a long time ... after independence the missionaries took over and continued to "rule and control" the society ... they still do.

Such thinking takes all the credit for everything good, even when the work has been done by other people. They would not allow others who are full of progressive ideas, those with vision that is different from theirs, continue to outshine them ... taking the center stage! This for colonialists and missionaries is bitter saliva to swallow.

Can you see the pattern here from those old days?"