Nelson Mandela’s Blueprint for Successful Revolutions

By Peter Wuteh Vakunta

With two historic revolutions (Tunisian and Egyptian) now behind them; one ongoing in Libya, and many more to come, many an African are brainstorming incessantly on the ingredients that make or mar a revolution. And who else to turn to for ample elucidation but Africa’s legendary revolutionary, the illustrious Nelson Rolihlahla Dalibhunga Mandela aka Madiba?  In his recently published book, Conversations with Myself (2010:99-108), ex-president Mandela provides a blueprint for the successful organization of revolutions in Africa and beyond.  What follows is Madiba’s recipe for highly effective revolutions—vital matters which have to be borne in mind in building up a revolution. 

1. Good organization is critical. There must be an absolute guarantee that all precautions have been taken to ensure success. There must be a network in the country, first and foremost. Many uprisings fail because the idea was not shared by all parties. An uprising that is local must be avoided. A revolution must be organized in such a way as to ensure its continuity. You must have a general plan that governs all daily operations. In addition to the general plan that deals with the total situation, you must have a plan for the next three weeks or even months. There must be no action for the sake of action. Every individual action must be done to implement the strategic plan. Your tactical plans must be governed by strategy, and should cover such things as the political consciousness of the masses of the people, as well as the mobilization of allies in the international field.
2. Timing is of essence. The date of an uprising must be chosen when it is absolutely certain that the revolution will succeed and it must be related to other factors.  Choosing date(s) should be influenced by psychological opportunity. Conception of when you begin the struggle will determine failure or success of the revolution.  To start a revolution is easy but to continue and maintain it is most difficult. The duty of revolutionary leaders should be to make a thorough analysis of the situation before a start is given a blessing.
3. Take stock of human capital. Plan and provide for replacements.  Right from the beginning, you must show the enemy that your strength is inexhaustible. Take into account the fact that the longer the revolution lasts, the more the massacres continue the more the people will get tired. You must plan and provide for replacements simply because in combat you will lose combatants. You must have the courage to accept the fact that there will be reprisals against the population. But you must try and avoid this by a careful selection of targets. It is better to attack targets that are far away from the population than those that are near. Targets must be as near as possible to the enemy. You will break the revolution if you do not take the necessary precautions.

    4. Galvanize the entire population. Seek the support of the entire population with a perfect balance of social classes. The base of your support will be among the common people, poor and illiterate but the intellectuals must be brought in as well. In all activities and operations, there must be a thorough diffusion of the intelligentsia and the masses of the people—peasants, laborers, workers in the cities and more.  There must be perfect harmony between the external delegation of the revolutionary movement and the high command. Both must consist of similar and equally developed personnel. Your plan should be to destroy the legality of the Government and to institute that of the people. The underlying objective should be that your forces will develop and grow while those of the enemy disintegrate.

It is hoped that these cautionary words of wisdom from a man who has been through it all and knows where the shoe pinches would be heeded by freedom fighters of all shades and colors.  There is no gainsaying the fact that the recent abortive uprising in the Republic Cameroon is attributable to the ineptitude of its organizers compounded by unfamiliarity with the mantra adumbrated by Comrade Mandela in his seminal book. 

About the Author

Dr. Vakunta is Professor of Modern Languages at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey-California, USA.

 

Comments

[ambeno]

The original UPC was designed to have local cells and a national organization, and so was very effective in the places in which it was well established. The UNC, which is the forerunner of today's RDPC was created as a reactionary organization with similar structures as the UPC, in order to compromise the grassroots networks of the UPC.

[ra]

CPDM slaves. Wuna never finish chop free rice? You will see the revolution unfold very soon.

[yawning]

Cameroon is not South Africa. They might want to call Alassane Ouattara for advise.

[limbekid]

"The must be no action for action sake". Even more important is the question: Who are the real winners of these revolutions?

While the Middle East and North Africa have been seething with dissenting voices, Wall Street speculators have been rubbing their hands with glee. Since Libya went up in flames oil prices have escalated (just as cocoa prices burgeoned since the Ivory Coast debacle) earning finaciers a wind fall.

While this storm has been brewing the Prime Minister of Great Britain has paid a visit to the Middle East, accompanied by a cohort of arms dealers, as if to say, "it`s business as usual". Even the leader of the Green Party has condemned the cynicism of such a move.

Further down in Sub-Saharan Africa such uprisings are accompanied by the habitual police brutality, looting, destruction of our meager infrastructure, as well as settlement of personal vendettas. In the wake of it all, we go back cap in hand for reconstruction assistance, to the same institutions (IMF, World Bank, foreign aid...) which have enslaved us for generations. Foreign companies will rake reconstruction contracts and we will start the cycle all over again.

I am not advocating complacency, but let`s not forget, even dictators have exhaustive life spans. Hastings Banda clung to power until he was wetting his nappies, but almost 15 years since he left the stage, Malawi hasn`t moved an inch. An attempt to uproot the governing elite must be accompanied by examination and re-enforcement of the capacity of followership. It is frustrating to lead a revolution, only to later discover you have have been herding a feckless, work-shy, disorganised flock to a cul-de-sac.

[yawning]

Africa is doomed.

[Gan Charles]

These are indeed words of wisdom. There has to be a structure that defines what is being fought for. Participants must agree and commit. Continuity is key. None of the steps discussed in Mandela's blueprint has manifested itself in any of the Cameroon movement for change. This is why it has failed and will continue to fail. It will continue to fail because you have a hundred different leaders going with one hundred different agendas.

[DA POSITIVE]

We need GREEN REVOLUTION on our father land ,cameroon.its just total mess that we have got no productivity from mr biya and his crew members.blak legs there is no more time to eat baked cakes from biya,out 2011.prophetic revolution on the way

[Gan Charles]

Nothing I have seen or foresee gives me reason to believe change is close in Cameroon. Come 2012 Biya will still be president of Cameroon and these discussion will continue. Cameroon is nowhere near instituting all the elements necessary to effect a change.
We are all sticking our heads in the sand. We peruse the same old strategies and weave the same tired rhetoric. We are stuck in the same spot. It has been 28 years. Lets not count Ahidjo's era, since the movement for change was not yet born.
The only thing that will save Cameroon is space aliens, swooping down and snatching Biya and his regime yonder. Baring this daring but grateful act, come 2012 we will still be having this conversation.

[Va Boy]

It is hard to believe that it is closing in on 20 years since Nelson Mandela was released and apartheid began to crumble. There are people today, who are almost adults who never heard about apartheid except as history. South Africa was a tougher, more organized foe than Cameroun or Biya could ever dream of becoming. Soviet union was a super power. Anything is possible. History is on the side of those fighting for liberty, but they need to be conscious that they might not see the promised land. That is just how it is.

The main problem with the Southern Cameroons struggle and with the Cameroun revolutionary idea is the lack of resources. We should remember that the struggle against apartheid was supported by the OAU. Countries like Tanzania and Zambia gave bases. The soviet union, China and activists all over the world gave money. That meant that revolutionaries existed who gave 100% of their effort towards effecting change. Impoverished Southern Cameroonians are engaging in a valiant struggle with scarce resources. Some of them are on exile, but few if any with deep pockets.

Will a godfather or angel emerge who would fund these struggles? It is hard to say, but we do not know. Nobody knows exactly what would happen and what surprises lie around the corner. One thing is for sure, if you are not looking for opportunity, it will pass right next to you and you will not see it. So, these seemingly small scale actions are very important, because it keeps the struggle alive and ensures that there are people who are awake and alert, who will not miss opportunities.

People raise the point about who wins a revolution. Important point. Revolutionaries need to focus now on training revolutionaries and developing ideology and plans.

[Gan Charles]

Cameroonians are mostly all talk when it comes to supporting a cause. Sure a few may come out to protest and be seen, but their motivation is usually unclear. There often no sustainably of the principles for which they protested.
In addition to organization and strategy, a movement requires funding in order to operate. Movements are funded by supporters and the well off (supposed big talkers in Diaspora) the individual supporter or group the more money they would donate to the cause. But ask Cameroonians to support a cause and you start to get excuses. But they can party!!! One other flaw is that people seem to feel that there is not a direct benefit to them, forgetting the fact that this is for the good of the country as a whole.
Change in most societies have come from some significant, mostly monetary support from abroad. Because those abroad cannot be on ground their contributions would make a big difference in helping fund logistics etc. Problem with this is that there has not been the accountability on the part of the leaders of some of these movements giving the holdouts more excuses not to contribute.
From my experience and given the history of the various movements for change, I do not see any hope for Cameroon.

[pet supplements]

These are indeed words of wisdom.There has to be a structure that defines what is being fought for. Participants must agree and commit.It will continue to fail because you have a hundred different leaders going with one hundred different agendas.

[Vibram Fivefingers for Sale]

everyday for tomorrow