dc.description.abstract | Almost sixty years after Kenya obtained independence from the British, the perception that
the fruits of liberation have yet to manifest, despite decades of self-internal rule has spurred
debate in regards to the crisis of independence without liberation, and in particular has led to
the resurgence of the study of Franz Fanon’s works to understand the crisis of the postcolonial
state. This study, therefore, set out to assess the relevance Franz Fanon's diagnosis of
the post-colonial African state, with regard to the problem of independence without liberation
to contemporary Kenya. The study had the following objectives: a) to examine the relevance
of Franz Fanon's diagnosis of the post-colonial African state to contemporary Kenya; b) to
examine factors that can account for Independence and liberation within a framework of
decolonial theory; c) to assess the relevance of Frantz Fanon’s decolonial critique of the
nation state and the national bourgeoisie to contemporary Kenya; and, d) to apply Franz
Fanon’s delinking approach to contemporary Kenyan society. The study objectives were
interrogated by employing decolonial theory to understand why Kenya obtained
independence but has yet to achieve liberation, with intent on demonstrating the extent to
which Franz Fanon’s decolonial approach is relevant to contemporary Kenya. Decolonial
theory offers a critique of the perceived universality of knowledge from a euro-modern
perspective, and the attendant in authentic superiority of western culture. Through
philosophical reflections, the findings of the study include: a) that while independence is a
concept used to endorse for the emancipation of a new social class, the bourgeoisie, and puts
forward proposals of internal reform within the logic of euro-modernity, liberation, provides
a wholesome context of freedom that encompasses non-western peoples that Europe
colonized; b) the instruments used by the British colonisers to enforce imperial rule created a
system of power that is the foundation of the Kenyan state; c) since the dawn of
independence, the national bourgeoisie have controlled formally authorized knowledge,
institutions, violence, and important connections to the outside world by linking themselves
to the colonial matrix of power; and, d) that delinking from this colonial matrix of power
means the use of hidden histories, forgotten memories and social organisations to advance a
new political society, and to introduce new concepts into the economic, political,
philosophical and ethical debates in order to create a new humanity. The study recommends
that Fanon’s delinking option can be useful for the Kenyan context because within the
context of euro-modernity and its attendant logic – coloniality, full liberation cannot be
attained. Furthermore, the study also recommends for the development of other possible
imaginaries for human existence outside of euro-modernity, in particular further developing
Fanon’s idea of a new philosophy of man in the creation of a new humanity. | en_US |