72 Global Ethics for Leadership
High Human Development category, and only six are ranked in the
Middle Human development category. Lobbying and negotiations dur-
ing the Tenth WTO Ministerial Conference at Nairobi, Kenya in De-
cember 2015 clearly indicated that the old colonial legacies remain in-
tact, particularly over food subsidies, trade liberalization of trade and
ownership of intellectual property. African nations stood their ground,
and a compromise was reached which may, or may not be implemented,
since implementation is voluntary.
The deep religiosity of Africans apparently sustains their hope. De-
spite many reasons for despair across a century of conflicts and wars-
fuelled from both without and within, Africans remain hopeful, because
in their view, God is more powerful than any human regime. African
ontology and religiosity provides the bedrock of African cultural identi-
ty. Superimposed religions and ideologies have become mere veneers
deceptively tanning the skin of Africa’s identity, while deep within, the
Africans sense of belonging remains intact, both among those at home
and those in the Diaspora. For Africans “community” is not a theoretical
notion; it is the definition of one’s identity. In Kiswahili, this insight is
summarized as Mtu ni Watu- A person is persons. John S. Mbiti re-
phrased this saying in a more philosophical expression: “I am because
we are; and since we are, therefore I am”. Descartes’ Cogito ergo sum-
“I think, therefore I am”- is familiar to African Students of European
Philosophy, as an insight from a distant culture. But it does not blend
with African cultural identity. Thinking is cerebral. Community is com-
munal. Ethics is intellectual; morality is practical. Ethics without appli-
cation remains practically irrelevant, and morality without rationality
suffers the risk of inconsistency and emotive outbursts.
5.2 Multiple Meanings of “Community”
In the English language the word “Community” has a wide range of
meanings. To discern the intended meaning one has to read, understand