s Ubuntu a Political Myth?

Abstract

This research article argues that, from the African traditional thought perspective, Ubuntu is a principled value system that assists in  advancing political thought. For many years, Ubuntu has been given a utopian myth in the academic space. Ubuntu should be  distinguished from its political usefulness, and the article questions where to locate the theory of Ubuntu. Thus, the argument is centred  on how the description of Ubuntu lies within its principle and values as an African ideology that could ensure harmony in a community.  The article argues that its undecidable nature arises from the comparison between what it ought to be and what it is, as it is practised  today. This article discusses the ongoing challenge for decolonisation is for African scholars to revisit old culture and traditional practices,  and to address the issues that challenge their respective states. Africans ‘wanted to find a space to finally speak for themselves  and define themselves and their relationship with the universe’.1 Africa’s voice meant that they could finally dig in deep and  retrieve information about the continent, their true reflection of their heritage, ancestors, culture, and traditions.