Abstract

In Sub-Saharan Africa, one observes a consubstantial intricacy based on a contemporary reality of power where messianism, built on both indigenous and non-indigenous rituals, plays a crucial role in the political arena. This article examines the methods and the legitimacy of the ideological resumption of the "Messiah" myth and its reinvention into terms like "Father of the Nation," "Providential Guide," etc., by political leaders shortly after their African countries gained independence from France. It also shows that "postcolonial messianism," a strategy often used by the power elite, and employed as a new political tool to replace the old order, (colonial or neo-colonial), rather resembles what John L. Austin calls "legitimate imposture."

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