posted by Crossed Crocodiles at
1/29/2008 11:56:00 PM
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In Akan symbolism there is a design of crossed crocodiles, two joined crocodiles that share the same stomach. You can find the description at the Akan Cultural Symbols Project by scrolling down the page of Akan Political Beliefs. I have always been particularly fond of this as a symbol for the competing interests of constituents in a democracy. FUNTUMFUNAFU DENKYEM FUNAFU - JOINED CROCODILES Symbol of UNITY IN DIVERSITY, DEMOCRACY, and UNITY OF PURPOSE The symbol is also referred to as odenkyem mmemu - Siamese twin crocodiles joined at the stomach. From the proverb: Funtumfunafu, denkyemmfunafu, won afuru bomu nso wodidi a na worefom efiri se aduane ne de ye di no mene twitwi mu. Literal translation: Two headed crocodiles fight over food that goes to a common stomach because each relishes the food in its throat. This symbol, in essence, depicts the Akan notions about the inherent difficulties of reconciling individual and group interests in a democratic system. (You can reach me at crossedcrocodiles [the usual at] gmail [dot] com.
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3 Comments:
Great post XCrocs. I thought that your comment about the way AFRICOM could 'outsource' some of its operations to PMCs was particularly interesting.
By
Anonymous, at 3:41 AM, February 03, 2008
great start ;-)
also worth exploring is what the ongoing recruitment/employment of africans by private security firms to fill primarily guard & service positions in iraq -- heavy on ugandans, from what my initial research turned up -- portends for africa's future & the PMCs.
i spent one evening last october starting to trace out a story about SOC-SMG getting kicked out of namibia for hiring "Namibian mercenaries to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan" here (though it sounds like the hirees in that case, and others, were not actually to be employed for waging battle).
a sentence from one of the articles - "Analysts said Africa, because of its experience in peace-keeping efforts, had become a breeding ground for mercenaries and mercenary activities."
that mix of [1] a push for the privatization of energy sectors on the continent, [2] the increased outsourcing of & reliance on privatized security operations to provide capacity support, and [3] a large resource pool to hire from, will feature into the narrative at some point.
By
Anonymous, at 11:28 PM, February 03, 2008
Kotare, Thank you for your generous remarks. That was a difficult article to put together. It is nice to have it appreciated. Also, it is always pleasant to have you drop by.
b real, As I say, it is very nice to have the work appreciated. I went and looked at your Namibia links but was not able to read all of them today. I'll go back to take another look. It seems to me the role of mercenaries, PMCs or PSCs, as corporate employees and corporate agents is where things are likely to get particularly ugly. Although they are ugly enough already. What the ISS is doing is a much needed first step. There is not much hope of improvement in the US under Bush. I hope we can get a bit of change in the next administration. I gather about 50-70% of US intelligence work is currently outsourced, and that the president's PDB should probably be festooned with corporate logos like a NASCAR car.
By
Crossed Crocodiles, at 12:55 AM, February 05, 2008
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