My Fifteen Months in Government

My Fifteen Months in Government, by Moise Tshombe (Bookmailer, $4.00).

Non-ideological politicians have found the twentieth century a tough era in which to rise to power. And nowhere is the ad_vocacy of an “ism” seemingly more important than in post-colonial Africa. In this remarkable little volume, Moise Tshombe has given us – an interim political testament that establishes him as Africa’s most realistic and genuinely African leader, while it simultaneously reveals the reasons for his inability to retain power. Written in a simple, sincere, and occasionally delightful droll manner, the book concentrates exclusively on Tshombe’s fifteen-month tenure as Congolese Prime Minister, leaving his complete memoirs for a later time. It was Tshombe’s misfortune to be a too-successful Prime Minister, thus incurring the enmity of President Kasavubu and occasioning his downfall. The reasons for Tshombe’s success are readily apparent in this book: he never forgot that the real Africa is “the Africa of the peasants,’ no matter how high-sounding the great discourse of Westerners on the problems of development. At the same time he refused to develop an ideology that would satisfy the domestic and international intelligentsia: we must avoid accepting too easily “ready-made ideas which may be cleverly presented to us with excellent slogans, but which might involve us in more trouble than profit . . . after all, independence of mind is the most important of all forms of independence.” If there is truth in the thought that people are ruled by the government they deserve, then there is no doubt that Moise Tshombe is simply too good for the Congolese.

JB

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James Burnham

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My Fifteen Months in Government, by Moise Tshombe (Bookmailer, $4.00).

Non-ideological politicians have found the twentieth century a tough era in which to rise to power. And nowhere is the ad_vocacy of an “ism” seemingly more important than in post-colonial Africa. In this remarkable little volume, Moise Tshombe has given us – an interim political testament that establishes him as Africa’s most realistic and genuinely African leader, while it simultaneously reveals the reasons for his inability to retain power. Written in a simple, sincere, and occasionally delightful droll manner, the book concentrates exclusively on Tshombe’s fifteen-month tenure as Congolese Prime Minister, leaving his complete memoirs for a later time. It was Tshombe’s misfortune to be a too-successful Prime Minister, thus incurring the enmity of President Kasavubu and occasioning his downfall. The reasons for Tshombe’s success are readily apparent in this book: he never forgot that the real Africa is “the Africa of the peasants,’ no matter how high-sounding the great discourse of Westerners on the problems of development. At the same time he refused to develop an ideology that would satisfy the domestic and international intelligentsia: we must avoid accepting too easily “ready-made ideas which may be cleverly presented to us with excellent slogans, but which might involve us in more trouble than profit . . . after all, independence of mind is the most important of all forms of independence.” If there is truth in the thought that people are ruled by the government they deserve, then there is no doubt that Moise Tshombe is simply too good for the Congolese.