Skip to main content

 

MUAMMAR GADDAFI: A Legacy of fraternity and equality.

                                            The Late Col. Muammar Gaddafi, ruler of Libya  from 1969-2011


Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (7 June 1942 – 20 October 2011) was a Libyan revolutionary, politician, and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until his killing in 2011 by rebel forces. He first served as Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then as the Brotherly Leader of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011. Initially ideologically committed to Arab nationalism and Arab socialism, Gaddafi later ruled according to his own Third International Theory.

Globally, this African icon, The Late Col. Muammar Gaddafi was labeled a tyrant who hated his people, and before his demise in 2011, he was a man under siege, hunted by NATO forces as he was accused of tyranny and gross abuse of human rights. 

A highly divisive figure, Gaddafi dominated Libya's politics for four decades and was the subject of a pervasive cult of personality. He was decorated with various awards and praised for his anti-imperialist stance, support for Arab—and then African—unity, as well as for significant development of the country following the discovery of oil reserves. Conversely, many Libyans strongly opposed Gaddafi's social and economic reforms; he was posthumously accused of various human rights violations. He was condemned by many as a dictator whose authoritarian administration systematically violated human rights and financed global terrorism in the region and abroad.

Well, he stands guilty of the violation of human rights in some isolated cases, however contrary to global opinion, he stands to be immortalized for transforming the quality of life of Libyans for over 40 years. This man was commended for providing free education, housing, cars, and monthly allowances to all his people consistently and without prejudice. He practically made it possible for his people to enjoy the proceeds of oil exploration and trade. Oil was by then the main national natural resource that placed Libya at the helm of Global Oil Producing Countries.

How did he manage to do all that? In Africa, a National resource is considered a curse instead of a blessing as most leaders take advantage of exploration and trade of such resources and loot the proceeds in favor of themselves and their cronies.

Muammar Gaddafi ruled based on a philosophy founded on the principles of equality, grassroots involvement, and fraternity (the economic unification of all people). This philosophy was engraved in a book dubbed 'The Green Book of Libya', which stated that Libyans should organize themselves into small groups, subdivided into jurisdiction localities, and appoint representatives from within themselves. 

                                                         The Green Book of Libya.

These representatives were tasked to sit periodically to discuss the distribution of National resources to the people, plan development projects, and attend to arising challenges. They would then report to the National Government, in their endeavors, the representatives were always reminded to act based on morality, national duty, and love for the people.

Is this the way to go for Kenya?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

SIGH OF RELEIF!: High Court lifts ban on printing of new national IDs

                                       Kenya will resume printing national ID cards, the government announced after the country’s high court lifted an injunction against the new Maisha Namba digital ID system. This decision arrived on 23rd February 2024 allows Kenyan authorities to address a backlog of 600,000 applications for new or replacement IDs. Immigration Principal Secretary Julius Bitok thanked Kenyans for their patience with the process and said his agency is committed to expediting the digital ID issuance process. High Court Judge John Chigiti ruled that Maisha Card printing could resume, but also ordered the complaint by Katiba Institute to be heard by the court’s constitutional human rights division. The State Department of Immigration & Citizen Services had requested the injunction be lifted because the Katiba Institute failed to disclose that a similar complaint had been...

ANOTHER BIZARRE AIRBNB MURDER!

Residents of Naivasha are shaken by the weekend murder of a woman whose throat was slit with a knife. The identity of the killer was not known but a phone possibly belonging to him, or the victim was found. The knife believed used in the murder was found. The body was found on Sunday in a dingy lodging in the town center as cases of murdered women keep rising. Increasing cases of femicide have caused an uproar in Kenya and other African countries. Kenya has set up a task force to investigate and reduce the killings. Naivasha OCPD Stephen Kirui said the woman and a man checked into the lodging along Kariuki Chotara Road hours before the body was recovered. He said workers in the morning found the room unlocked and found the body on the bed, its sheets soaked in blood. “From initial investigations, the victim was not sexually abused but the killer used a sharp knife to slit her throat before fleeing,” he said. Kirui said investigating officers were going through the mobile phone found at...

Ghana's Parliament passes Anti-Gay Bill with Jail Terms

 Ghana's parliament has passed a tough new bill that imposes a prison sentence of up to three years for anyone convicted of identifying as LGBTQ+. It also imposes a maximum five-year jail term for forming or funding LGBTQ+ groups. Lawmakers heckled down attempts to replace prison sentences with community service and counselling. It is the latest sign of growing opposition to LGBTQ+ rights in the conservative West African nation. The bill, which had the backing of Ghana's two major political parties, will come into effect only if President Nana Akufo-Addo signs it into law. He previously said that he would do so if the majority of Ghanaians want him to. Gay sex is already against the law in Ghana - it carries a three-year prison sentence. Last month Amnesty International warned that the bill "poses significant threats to the fundamental rights and freedoms" of LGBTQ+ people. Activists fear there will now be witch-hunts against members of the LGBTQ+ community and those ...