Where are the East African icons?

With about 10 African countries celebrating 50 years of independence this year, several media houses have been coming up with projects to mark this continental milestone. Recently, BBC’s Focus on Africa magazine (Oct-Dec 2010 Issue) published a list of what it considers to be the continent’s 50 most iconic figures. The list is made up of 13 former presidents and two serving ones, 12 musicians and fashion models, six writers, eight political leaders and activists, seven footballers and athletes who have had a profound impact on the continent in the last 50 years. At country level, South Africa leads with seven representatives. Nigeria follows closely with six icons. From a regional perspective, still West Africa and Southern Africa hold the lion’s share. East Africa performed very dismally coming out with just four representatives. Tanzania has the indefatigable Mwalimu Julius Nyerere while Kenya is represented by writer Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, environmentalist Wangari Maathai and athlete Paul Tergat. Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi have no one on the BBC list. The million dollar question therefore is where are the other East African icons? Is this the best we could come up with? To answer the above questions we need to acknowledge the fact that it is not easy to agree on a clear cut criterion over who can be considered an icon. According to the World English Dictionary, an icon is a person regarded as a symbol of belief, nation, community or cultural movement. An icon can also refer to a person considered as a sex symbol or a symbol of the latest fashion trends. BBC was modest enough to admit to the controversy of the word and even gave the example of whether Idi Amin can be on the same list that has Kofi Annan or Nelson Mandela. More so, the BBC argued that the list was not conclusive and urged readers to send suggestion of names to be included or removed. With all that in mind, we may still have to accept the bitter fact that our region has not produced so many icons since gaining independence. For example none of our musicians can be placed in the same pool with the likes of Fela Kuti. Our footballers have not yet matched the prowess of George Weah. A list that has Independence winners like Kenneth Kauda, Kwame Nkrumah and Patrice Lumumba leaves out names like Jomo Kenyatta and Milton Obote probably because the two soon became enemies of their own legacy. Kenyatta turned his back on Jaramogi Odinga Oginga while Obote drove Uganda’s first president (Muteesa) to exile and rigged elections. Only two serving presidents made the list. Liberia’s Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is probably there for making history as the first female African leader while Gadaffi’s flamboyance is too hard to ignore. And besides we have to remember that he successfully built a huge water system for the desert country. I wonder whether BBC has a sound reason for leaving out two of Africa’s finest scholars? I am talking about Professors Ali A. Mazrui (Kenya) and Mahmood Mamdani (Uganda). Mamdani who is a prolific academic writer, has often been listed among the world’s top 100 intellectuals. Meanwhile Mazrui is an authority on African studies and is best remembered for partnering with none other than BBC to produce a fine documentary and book titled, “The Africans: A triple heritage”. Why BBC turned their back on him is beyond my understanding. Somalia is represented on the list by supermodel Iman Abdulmajid. On these same grounds, I think Princess Elizabeth Bagaya of Toro (Uganda) should have been on the list too. After all she was a model, actress, lawyer, diplomat and a cabinet minister long before Iman knew a thing about modelling. The inclusion of Southern Sudan’s John Garang also implies that Rwanda’s Fred Rwigema should also have been included. After all he fought liberation wars against Idi Amin and then served in Museveni’s NRA before leading the RPF attack in Rwanda. Rwigema’s light was kept burning by Pres. Paul Kagame who led RPF in liberating Rwanda from the genocidal regime. The fact that Kenyans paint some of their matatus with images of Pres. Kagame should be enough evidence to prove that he is a generational icon for the region and continent. Although Congo Kinshasa is not part of the EAC, I think it was a gross injustice for BBC to leave out our ‘cousin’ and maestro, Franco Lukiadi Makiadi whose music ruled global airwaves for more than 30 years. The inclusion of Le Grande Maitre would has been a consolation for the region from the days when reliable recording studios were based in Nairobi, Kenya. So we (East Africans) technically own a part of his legacy. Over to you BBC! ssenyonga@gmail.com