Germany can learn a lot from EAC

It was quite timely to see the front page of The New Times of October 21, 2010 carrying a picture of Pres. Paul Kagame meeting a delegation of Germans. The moment I looked at the photograph, the headline-grabbing revelations by the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel came to my mind. During a speech at a place called Potsdam, Mrs Angela Merkel told a gathering of young members of her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party that the approach to build a multicultural society and to live side by side had “utterly failed.” The German’s are irked by the fact that some immigrants from Turkey and Islamic countries do not speak German and have made no effort to integrate and adopt the culture of their hosts. When the BBC’s website on its Have Your Say page posed the question, “Does multiculturalism work?” the comments were numerous and diverse. Some readers said it was working in USA and Canada while some Europeans said it just cannot work and had failed, thus agreeing with Angela Merkel. We should not forget that of late most of Europe has just elected or seen the resurgence of right wing parties and politicians who are against immigration. The question that Angela Merkel should have asked herself before uttering the unfortunate truth ought to have been, “Why has multiculturalism failed in Europe?” The Germans are known for their perfection in most of the things they do. They manufacture the most efficient cars (Mercedes Benz, BMW & VW). In football, they play with perfection only attainable on video games. Remember what they did to Argentina and England during the World Cup. This is what is often referred to as the German machine. The problem therefore is that the Germans thought they could engineer society the same way they engineer wonderful car engines in Bavaria. It does not work like that. One of their main concerns has been that some of the immigrants do not speak German. As a person interested in the social dynamics of the East African Community, (EAC) I think the Germans have a lot to learn about society and I wish they had consulted our president for some clues. Multiculturalism can work and it is certainly working in the EAC. The important thing is for there to be mutual respect between the hosts and the immigrants. What Angela Merkel could not say for fear of sounding politically incorrect is that there is a lot of racism in most of the Western countries. Because of racism, foreigners are expected to quickly adapt the language and culture of their hosts. Germany even had the luxury of inviting the Turkish immigrants. Here in East Africa, we did not invite white missionaries or the Indians. We just woke up and found new faces on our land. Uganda (or Tanzania) did not invite Rwandans in 1959; a genocide regime forced them to flee for their safety. When Burundians run to Tanzania for refuge, they had not been invited by the Tanzanians. In other words despite the uninvited communities, East Africans have struggled to live together in harmony and have proven that multiculturalism can work. Just take a look at Kigali. Although Rwandans speak one language, Kinyarwanda, is it not amazing that we have radio stations with Luganda programmes? Have you been to Gikondo or Gisenyi? Don’t you already feel like you are in Bukavu (DRC)? How about the ‘basajja’ of Gatsata and Giporoso? The Rwandan government does not complain that the Congolese in Gikondo or the Baganda in Gatsata cannot speak Kinyarwanda. Here the foreigner and the host respect and learn from each other. If you go to the Kagera area of Northern Tanzania, you may think you are already in Uganda. And a trip to the Kabalagala surbub in Kampala may lead you to think that you are already in Nairobi or Dar es Salaam. This place has a university with more Kenyans than Ugandans! The Ugandan constitution even went a step further and recognised Banyarwanda as Ugandans. In Uganda, it is very normal to hear Kinyarwanda, Sheng or Tanzanian Swahili being spoken. Why can’t Germany think about doing something similar for the Turkish people? Kiswahili is a language that emerged from the interaction of indigenous coastal people with Arabs. There is no better proof of integration than a new language being formed out of numerous languages. Imagine if the Gikuyu had told the Indians to learn Gikuyu or leave? Here Ugandans, Kenyans and Congolese can be seen partaking in Umuganda but speaking their language is not a crime. They make an effort to learn Kinyarwanda but not speaking it well does not mean multiculturalism has failed. Multiculturalism can work based on respect not on racist laws that do not consider the foreigner’s background, history and experiences. ssenyonga@gmail.com