18
Domesticating populations
Flashmag! Issue 163 August 2025
In many African states, where leaders cling to power, a slow but profound transformation of social dynamics is taking place. This phenomenon, which some refer to as the“ domestication” of populations, is leading citizens to become spectators of their own history, disarmed in the face of external aggression and internal injustice. This mental formatting is fuelled by propaganda, fear and impoverished education, creating a culture of resignation. African dictators use multiple and multiform communication vectors, favored by the predisposition of populations to respond to them. After independence, many African leaders, despite the suffering they endured under colonial rule, inflicted similar devastation on the continent, proving to be power-hungry, selfish and insensitive. The longevity of dictatorships fosters citizen inertia, cultivating submission as a value and building a national identity based on dependence rather than resilience. Civilian dictatorships are characterized by a long history of conflict, preventing the pacification of political relations. From Mobutu Sese Seko to Paul Biya, via Eyadema and Omar Bongo, African dictators have all understood one fundamental thing: to last, it’ s not enough to repress- you have to seduce, infantilize and reprogram the national conscience. Mobutu, for example, didn’ t just ban political parties and demonstrations. He imposed Zairean authenticity, a cultural ideology that glorified him as an“ enlightened guide”, changing names, dress and historical references- to the point of erasing all traces of the colonial era- the better to install a cognitive dictatorship. the better to install a cognitive dictatorship. The TV news began and ended with a portrait of the president. His speeches were broadcast in schools, markets and churches. The cult of the leader became a cult of the soul.“ When power becomes sacred, criticism becomes sacrilegious.
18