FACTORS THAT DELAYED INDEPENDENCE IN THE PORTUGUESE COLONIES

 

  • The Portuguese regarded their colonies as overseas territories leading to delayed independence. The Portuguese leader Don Salazar smuggled this issue into the Portuguese constitution and it became illegal and difficult to grant independence without amending the constitution.

  • The existence of a tight and strong spy network in the colonies delayed independence. Portugal had repressive police called PIDE that crashed African struggles. The PIDE police arrested, detained and assassinated African leaders. It is on record that Eduardo Mondlane of Mozambique was assassinated in 1968 and Amilcar Cabral of Guinea Bissau in 1973. This affected Africans’ clear road to independence.

  • The military superiority of the Portuguese contributed to the delayed independence of Portuguese Africa. Portugal was very powerful militarily; the army was well trained and equipped compared to the Africans.

  • Portugal had very few colonies in Africa and this gave it a strong advantage against Africans. Unlike other colonial masters like Britain and France that had many colonies and met resistances, Portugal had very few and had the capability to silence riots, not willing to surrender hence delaying African independence.

  • The support received by Portugal from the North Atlantic Treaty organization (NATO) hindered the independence of Portuguese colonies. The NATO forces came to check the spread of communism that gave support to the liberation movements eg MPLA in Angola, FRELIMO in Mozambique and PAIGC in Guinea Bissau. The military and financial support of NATO weakened the Africans.

  • Limited exposure to nationalistic ideas among the Africans delayed independence struggles. It is true that Africans were denied external contacts and interactions. Banning of liberal press reports and literature were all a stumbling block. The Portuguese accessed African mails and telegrams hence delaying independence.

  • Lack of constitutional avenues to attain independence hindered early decolonization. Africans were denied participation in political affairs, were not represented in the parliament and all political activism was restricted.

  • The conservative rule of Dr. Don Salazar (1928 – 68) delayed the independence of Portuguese colonies. Don Salazar was very repressive and not prepared to grant independence. He was opposed to liberal ideas and he remarked thus;
    “ I cannot bend the winds of change” This broke the hopes of the Africans not to get early independence.

  • The ruthless policies of the Portuguese administrators also delayed the independence of the Portuguese colonies suppressed the African programs, strikes, about 49 dock workers were shot dead in Mozambique, 50 in Guinea Bissau and 200 in Angola. Leaders like Augustinho Neto were arrested and publicly flogged hence discouraging Africans
    activities.

  • The establishment of rehabilitation centres (reserve camp). These camps housed suspects who were tortured and killed. Examples of these camps were in Zambezi valley, fortifiedvillages were created and African homes were destroyed, the scotched earth policy was applied which denied African freedom.

  • The increased deployment of Portuguese troops to counter African resistances delayed independence. The large number of troops that amounted to 200,000 soldiers by 1970 which weakened Africa hopes for early independence.

  • The economic advantage of African colonies to Portugal delayed independence. The independence of Africans could weaken the economy of Portugal. The existence of Portugal in Africa had guaranteed her middle – manship position in Europe and could not therefore let the colonies get independence.

  • The economic dwarfness of Portugal delayed the independence of Portuguese colonies. Portugal was very poor and could not sustain its economy without the financial support of African territories. This therefore delayed independence.

  • The high literacy rate among the Africans delayed the independence. It should be noted that the Portuguese deliberately offered inferior education and the education did not offer technical skills to Africans and intellectual abilities. This therefore limited the scope of nationalistic Movements hence delaying independence.

  • The divide and rule policy of the Portuguese affected nationalistic sentiments among Africans. National unity of purpose was destroyed by the Portuguese of the Ovimbundu against the Bakongo in Angola, the Fula and the Balante in Guinea Bissau and the Makua, Nyanja against the Makonde in Mozambique. This retarded early independence struggles.

  • Existence of ethnic nationalism (micro – nationalism) affected the independence of Portuguese colonies. The Bakongo, Mbundu and Ovimbundy in Angola were not united. The Fula and Balante in Guinea Bissau never co-operated and the Nyanja, Makua and Makonde in Mozambique were also grumbling. The failure to diffuse ethnicity delayed the independence of Portuguese colonies.

  • The aparthy that existed among Africans delayed independence. Some Africans were not interested in the cause for independence and could not join the liberation struggles. Others used peaceful means to demand for independence yet colonial masters understood the language of violence.

  • Absence of capable and charismatic leaders in the initial stages of liberation delayed independence. The fierce leadership of Don Salazar discouraged people to offer leadership in the infant stage, the likes of Eduardo Mondlane, Amilcar Cabral and Agustinho Neto emerged in the 1950s to catalyse the effective and meaningful struggles.

  • Lack of organized internal bases for the liberation movements delayed independence. Most of the liberation movements like FRELIMO operated in Tanzania and Malawi, MPLA operated in Congo Zaire and Congo Brazzaville, PAIGC operated in French Guinea. This made them to have slim impact on the Portuguese stay in Africa.

  • The weaknesses of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) affected nationalism in Portuguese Africa. OAU had established a Liberation Committee based in Tanzania, but it made more condemnation and its contribution remained theoretical due to limited funds and military incapacitations.

  • The double standards of the United Nations Organisation (UNO) frustrated the efforts of Africans in Portuguese colonies. The UN verbally reacted and imposed weak sanctions on the Portuguese. Some members of the UN also doubled as members of NATO that gave support to the capitalist Don Salazar. This left the Africans more disappointed.

  • The formation of the “Triumvirate Alliance” strengthened the Portuguese administration in Africa. This was a repressive movement or a gang of the three dictators i.e. Don Salazar of Portugal, Verwoerd of South Africa and Ian Smith of the UDI of Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). These pledged effective assistance to each other in case of war and resistance and suppressed Africans.

  • The ideological differences of the African leaders affected early independence. A case in point was Simango in Mozambique who disagreed with Mondlane and joined the Portuguese leading to the assassination of 1968, MPLA against UNITA of the capitalists. All these left Africans stumbling.

  • The negative attitude of the Catholic Church hindered early independence. The Catholic Church condemned the African liberation movements as terrorist clubs, they used their spiritual platform to scare away 1000s of Africans contributing to the delayed independence.

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