Some Africans resisted the takeover, but their spear wielding armies were swept aside by the Maxim gun and the repeater rifle. Much of Africa gave in without a fight, its kings signed away sovereignty with a thumbprint. Many allied with the intruders believing they would help them fight with other tribes. Others were overawed by the technology they saw in the shape of guns and other weapons. Thus, various European powers blast!
             ed or signed their way through Africa. When the "scramble " as it is called threatened to cause a rift among the Europeans, they decided to meet and sort out their differences. This resulted in the partition of Africa by the powers into spheres of influence. This partition was done in a way that displayed the indifference the Europeans felt for the African people. The partition was done by diplomats sitting thousands of miles away by simply drawing straight lines on a map without a thought for the people that they be might separated or the geography. That was perhaps the least of their worries.
             Posing as parents to the Africans, The Europeans counted them taxed them and ordered into tribes and where there weren't any, they created them. The best land was taken for plantations and the minerals dug out and shipped back to Europe. Africans saw little of their land's wealth.
             The European occupation of Africa was short-lived – barely a generation in some areas. Throughout their rule, the European version of politics was kept exclusively for Europe, only a few references were made to it while they lowered the flag. Africa was left psychologically and politically impoverished. Much of it is still so.
             Floods in Mozambique, threats of famine in Ethiopia, mass murder in Uganda, he implosion of Sierra Leone, and a string of wars across the continent. The new millennium has brought more disaster than hope to Africa. However, a few candles of hope are still flickering or a brief moment in t...