A brief case study of  institutions and practices in Fouta Tooro, Fouta Jallon, the Lebou Republic and the Mali Empire from the 12th century to the 19th  century

Western literature has always generally presented the history of Africa, including the Senegambia Basin, as if our ancient and glorious past only suddenly started when adventurous European explorers "discovered" us in the 15th century followed by not less than four centuries of colonial domination.  Yet other earlier credible sources - Arab (Ibn Batoutta, El Bekri, Leo Africanus/Al Hassan Ibn Muhamad al Wazzan al Fasi especially) and famous local traditional communicators (Griots) – exist and provide ample evidence that our history and glorious past clearly pre-date European incursion into Africa.

Eminent African scholars like the late Professor Cheikh Anta Diop, J. Ki - Zerbo, Ahmadou Hampate Ba and their illustrious peers have unequivocally proven this point. In this brief presentation it will be demonstrated that highly developed  states  such as Fouta Tooro, Fouta Jallon, the Mali Empire and the Lebou Republic (quite apart from the great Ghana and Songhai Empires) had flourished in the Greater Senegambia Basin very early after the end of the first millennium A.D.  

It will be shown with strong supporting evidence that some popular concepts and practices that are commonly attributed, albeit erroneously, to Western and European origins had already existed in highly sophisticated forms in our area, and other parts of Africa, of course long before knowledge and civilization crossed the Mediterranean Sea from our continent to subsequently transform and modernize societies in Greece, Rome and Western Europe.   

Fouta Torro
In the 10th century AD, the area now known as Fouta Tooro, situated along the banks of the River Senegal was originally called Tekrour and inhabited mainly by the Toucouloors together with other closely related ethnic groups namely Peul, Wollof, Sereer, Mandinka, Soninke/Sarahuli, Moors and Berbers, all under one sovereign ruler.  But such central power was often destabilised by a cycle of internecine conflicts and wars with hostile neighbours (Jollof,  Walo, Taraza, Brakna, Boundou and Kaarta especially).  

Between the 11th and 12th centuries Tekrour fell easy prey to the powerful and highly organising neighbouring Soninke/Sarahule Ghana Empire. Conquest and occupation by the legendary and formidable Mali Empire followed and lasted for about three centuries before the Manding Sosebee hegemony was terminated in the early 16th century after a bloody war led by Koli Tengele Ba.  He is said to have come from Tilibo (the East) by some, while other sources claim that he came from Fouta Jallon but that he was not a Muslim.

It is postulated by authoritative sources (Yaya Wane) that he, Koli Tengele, changed the name Tekrour to Fouta Tooro in memory of his country of origin, Fouta which appears plausible and credible.  Thus Koli Tengele became the absolute ruler as Saltigi, starting the Denyanke dynasty which henceforth ruled Fouta Tooro for two and a half centuries. Although over the long period, the pagan Denyankobee ruled Fouta Tooro, many of them became Muslims and were progressively absorbed by the indigenous Toucouloor population, through intermarriage and other social interactions.

The Toucouloors who had never fully accepted the foreign domination and occupation of their land revolted under the able leadership of Soulayeman Baal and successfully defeated the ruling Denyanke Peul.  That epic event, which was to change Fouta Tooro profoundly, took place around 1776 after continuous Peul hegemony since the 1500s.
 
At a time in human history when it was the norm for people especially war heroes (Sunjatta, Lat Jorr, Chaka Zulu, Samori Touray, etc) to proclaim themselves or be crowned emperor, king or ruler, it was the popular expectation that Soulayeman Baal as liberator should, by right, unilaterally assume the reigns of power or at least be a candidate to fill the erstwhile  leadership vacuum  in the newly liberated  Fouta Tooro.

Yet when the leaders and people of Fouta assembled on the initiative of Baal to elect its first leader, and unanimously chose Souleyeman Baal, the national hero and the most powerful man in the land as their  sovereign, Baal declined that historically tempting offer. The people of Fouta were stupefied.  Despite genuine popular persuasion and strong pressure, Soulayeman Baal vehemently refused, insisting that he was not interested in power for himself and that his only ambition was to restore Fouta Tooro to its rightful owners, the Toucouloors.  

Instead he nominated and strongly backed Abdoul Kader Khan who was duly elected by the Grand Counsellors of Fouta as the first Almamy i.e Sovereign, with the title of Amir el Moumineen, Defender of the Believers, in the new   Islamic Imamate of Fouta Tooro State as designed and approved by Souleyeman Baal and the people.  

To consolidate the democracy that drew inspiration and support from the people, the new Islamic State of Fouta Tooro was divided into provinces whose Grand Council would henceforth elect the Almamy, Head of State of Fouta Tooro. A Peoples’ Assembly was established, with consultative status, to represent the masses and to constitute the necessary checks and balances so as to ensure peace, stability, progress and development.

No one, including those who have been distorting our history, will disagree that Souleyeman Baal’s behaviour was exemplary and rare by any standard, past or contemporary. By his action, he had displayed the highest qualities of a patriot, a nationalist, a democrat and a leader and visionary of exceptional foresight and talent. His legacy ensured the stable longevity and survival of his people and country, a situation which was only interrupted by French colonial occupation of Senegal and the dismemberment of Fouta Tooro starting in 1859 and culminating in the destitution of Sire Baba Leigh, the 51st and the last  ruler of Fouta Tooro as an independent sovereign State.

Fouta Jallon
The Peul migration from the east into the Greater Senegambian region goes a very long way back in history with the second wave of migration dating back to the Middle Ages and the massive arrival taking place between the 17th and 18th centuries.  While the earlier migrants were mostly pagans, the newcomers who were Muslims conquered the indigenous Jallonkes and created Fouta Jallon as an Islamic State.

The new masters of Fouta Jallon established a system of government so complex and sophisticated that it makes many so-called modern states look primitive. That was the Alfaya and Soriya system of alternate succession by election of the Almami of Fouta Jallon, the overall sovereign.

Alfaya and Soriya constituted an ingenious device to limit the term of any ruling Almami to two years.  This arrangement which enabled two rival  eligible members of the  different branches of the ruling family to be elected Almami, simultaneously with the understanding that one will rule at a time  for only TWO years and voluntarily cede his power position as Almami to the alternate who had in the interim been waiting.  

This system of bicephalism was decided by the Assembly of Fanguma which promulgated that each faction of the ruling family must accept the principle of alternate rule as a precondition for accession to power. It was the only way to ensure peace and stability in the new Islamic State of Fouta Jallon. While a number of Almamis ruled alternately several times, a few tried to change the system with the temptation to overstay and perpetuate their rule but hardly succeeded.  Alfa Yaya was one of them and that contributed to his downfall and defeat by the French.

To ensure that the system worked, the leaders and people of Fouta Jallon entrenched in their constitution, representative institutions providing the checks and balances that limited the powers of the ruling Almami,  and as guarantee against dictatorship and oppression, so that all the people would enjoy their hard-won  freedom.

The system was accordingly organized from the bottom at hamlets to villages in the provinces and towns at the summit of which the most important were the Council of Elders of Labe; the Council of Elders of Timbo; the Great Council of Elders and Federal Assembly of Fanguma. The most important of these state organs was the last mentioned, the Federal Assembly of  Fanguma.   

Therefore when certain experts hail and eulogize today the principles of the rule of law, separation of powers, democracy, and human rights as if these are recently invented ideas and  sacrosanct values exogenous to Africa, we must go back to our endogenous sources and origins to discover or rather reeducate ourselves about the fact that Africa had sophisticated systems which would have survived but for the destructive interruption of colonialism that lasted several centuries.   

The Lebou Republic
The Lebou Republic was born in 1790  after a successful battle of resistance against Cajorr, whose sovereign, the Damel, had expansionist ambitions on the strategic Cap Vert Peninsula, on which Senegal’s capital stands today, and which he considered part of Cajorr.  

To preclude the concentration of powers in a single family, lineage or royalty, as was the case in the autocratic and bellicose neighbouring states of Baol and Cajorr, the Lebous opted for a system of statehood based on the sharing and exercise of political and social functions and responsibilities by different lineages and families.  Accordingly, all the clans that participated in the struggle for independence from Cajorr were given specific but complementary political or social functions.  And to consolidate their independence in their newly-created state system, three major organs of state were set up on a power sharing basis that was clearly defined and composed of an Executive (Government), Legislature and Judiciary based on the absolute respect for the separation of powers.

In this regard the three highest personalities of the republic, elected by a college, were Serigne Ndakarou, Head of State; Ndeye Ji Rew, prime minister; Ndeye Jambour, speaker of  the Assembly of Elders (Jambours). Six ministers were appointed by Serigne Ndakarou in his capacity as Head of State and these included Jaraff, minister of Finance and Agriculture; Khali (Cadi), minister of Justice; and Ndeye ji Fre, president of the Assembly of young deputies.  

Parallel to the Executive was the Legislative Assembly of Elders composed of 36 elders elected by the 12 wards of Dakar on the basis of equal representation of 3 elders per ward. All state dignitaries could be removed from office by the organ that elected them.
No major decision could be taken by the Executive without prior consultation and the expressed opinion of the Assembly.  

Where necessary, that is in the absence of a concensus, the issue in contention was subjected to a vote. Furthermore, there existed over and above the Executive, a seven-man Authority composed of older elders and community dignitaries constituting a kind of Council of State whose advice was solicited and respected with regard to important questions.  Only the Council of State had the power to nullify decisions made by the Executive and the Legislature if they conflicted with the functioning of the institutions of State and as such the Council played the important role of the recourse of last resort.   
 
In the event of a power vacuum, it was the Ndeye Ji Rew who conducted consultations with the Ndeye Jambour, the competent state organ sitting as an electoral college about the eligible candidates or candidate to fill the vacancy. On the investiture of Serigne Dakar, he was reminded of his responsibilities, what the people expected of him in the manner of governing desired by his people.  Holding the Coran, he swore never to transgress the imperative functions and authority of institutions of the Lebou Republic. The rule of law was scrupulously and uncompromisingly safeguarded.

The Lebous still exist as a homogenous ethno-cultural group in the Cap Vert peninsula around Dakar and its environs, within the nation state of Senegal, retaining all their ancestral practices and customs. Hence they still elect the Serigne Dakar as their leader and other traditional dignitaries whose status and functions within the Lebou community are recognized and respected by the secular Senegalese State.   

Mali Empire
I have already written extensively on the democratic model adopted in the ancient Mali Empire and this has already been published in this paper a few months ago. So I will economize space and time by limiting this part to a brief outline, leaving it to the interested reader to go back to the full article  devoted entirely to the abolition of slavery by the first emperor of Mali, Sounjatta Keita, in the 13th century. (Observer July 2008).

After the defeat of Soumangourou Kante, the tyrant King of Sosso at the last final battle of Narina, Sounjatta Keita commenced his reign early in the 12th century by an act unprecedented in the history of humanity - the solemn proclamation of the abolition of slavery and the slave trade in Mande.  

This was at the first meeting of the Great Council of Mande set up by Sounjatta with the mandate to take all the important decisions on national matters but only after extensive consultations or a vote if necessary.  The Mande Charter of Kouroufoukan-Fouga  guaranteed freedom and justice for all the people of Mali.  

The historic declaration, also called the Kouroufoukan-Fouga Charter (the town square where the proclamation was made) was not only addressed to the people of Mali but to the whole of the then known world. Thus it was the first public universal declaration of Human Rights which, historically, is by centuries much older  than the United Kingdom Bill of Rights of 1688, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen of 1789, the United States Bill of Rights of 1791,  the abolition of the slave trade and slavery in 1807 and 1833 respectively, and finally the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.     

Conclusion
The facts and points advanced in preceding paragraphs clearly establish that between the 11th and 19th centuries, the prevalence of democracy, good governance and the respect for human rights that we talk about so much today and wrongly believe are recent intangible fancy imports, were in fact normal and common practices in the Greater Senegambian States long before the advent of European colonization and its heinous aftermath, the slave trade.

Part of rectifying the flagrant wrongs inflicted on Africa and its people by outsiders is, consequently, the re-writing of our glorious history by the sons and daughters of our continent for publication worldwide, but more importantly for teaching in our own schools.
 
NB: The Greater Senegambian basin includes the area watered by the Rivers Gambia and Senegal and their tributaries.

gedehalwar@yahoo.com