But the British monarch\u2019s passing also revived a sensitive debate over Africa\u2019s colonial past.<\/p>\n
Her death came at a time when European countries are under pressure to reckon with their colonial histories, atoning for past crimes and returning stolen African artefacts held for years in museums from London and Paris.<\/p>\n
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta were among those expressing condolences for the loss of an \u201cicon.\u201d<\/p>\n
But many Africans reflected more on the tragedies from colonial times, including events that occurred in the first decade of her rule.<\/p>\n
Kenya gained independence from Britain in 1963, after an eight-year-long rebellion that left at least 10,000 people dead.<\/p>\n
Britain agreed in 2013 to compensate over 5,000 Kenyans who had suffered abuse during the Mau Mau revolt, in a deal worth nearly 20 million pounds ($23 million).<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Queen leaves a mixed legacy of the brutal suppression of Kenyans in their own country and mutually beneficial relations,\u201d The Daily Nation, Kenya\u2019s biggest newspaper, wrote in a weekend editorial.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth was visiting Kenya in 1952 when her father died and she became queen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat followed was a bloody chapter in Kenya\u2019s history, with atrocities committed against a people whose only sin was to demand independence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the ties with Britain have been useful, it is difficult to forget those atrocities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Treasures, Biafra war
\nAs part of recent restorations for the past, Nigeria and neighbouring Benin have seen the return from Britain and France of the first of thousands of artefacts plundered during colonial times.<\/p>\n
Nigeria\u2019s so-called Benin Bronzes \u2014 16th to 18th century metal plaques and sculptures \u2014 were looted from the palace of the ancient Benin Kingdom and ended up in museums across the US and Europe.<\/p>\n
Nigeria\u2019s Buhari said the country\u2019s history \u201cwill never be complete without a chapter on Queen Elizabeth II\u201d.<\/p>\n
While some praised her role leading up to Nigeria\u2019s independence, others pointed out she was head of state when Britain supported Nigerian army during the country\u2019s civil war.<\/p>\n
More than one million people died between 1967-1970, mostly from starvation and disease, during the conflict after ethnic Igbo officers declared independence in the southeast.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf anyone expects me to express anything but disdain for the monarch who supervised a government sponsored genocide\u2026you can keep wishing upon a star,\u201d Nigerian-born US-based professor Uju Anya said, in a Twitter reference to the Biafra war that triggered fierce debate on social media.<\/p>\n
Similar mixed reactions were expressed in South Africa, where President Cyril Ramaphosa called her an \u201cextraordinary\u201d figure.<\/p>\n
But the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters or EFF movement was more dismissive, recalling decades of apartheid, in which Britain, the former coloniser, was often passive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not mourn the death of Elizabeth, because to us her death is a reminder of a very tragic period in this country and Africa\u2019s history,\u201d EFF said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Ugandan legacy
\nIn Uganda, some went back further, recalling the Bunyoro Kingdom\u2019s ruler Omukama Kabalega, who resisted British rule in the late 1890s.<\/p>\n
He was deposed and exiled to the Seychelles and the kingdom was then absorbed into the British empire.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs much as the queen was able to maintain cohesion of the former British colonies, she had not addressed adequately the injustices meted out on some of the states including Uganda,\u201d said former intelligence director and now political analyst, Charles Rwomushana.<\/p>\n
Last month, the Uganda Tourism Association called for a committee to lead the return of Ugandan artefacts from British and other foreign museums, including some 300 from Bunyoro, according to the parliament.<\/p>\n
Charles Onyango-Obbo, writer and Uganda government critic, said on Twitter many long-ruling African leaders used Queen Elizabeth\u2019s 70-year reign to justify their own decades in power.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that she has passed, they are scrambling to learn how to make their case convincingly in the past tense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mukoma Wa Ngugi, the son of Kenya\u2019s world renowned writer Ngugi wa Thiong\u2019o and who is himself a novelist as well as an associate professor of English at Cornell University, also questioned the Queen\u2019s legacy in Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the queen had apologised for slavery, colonialism and neocolonialism and urged the crown to offer reparations for the millions of lives taken in her\/their names, then perhaps I would do the human thing and feel bad,\u201d he wrote on Tweeter.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a Kenyan, I feel nothing. This theater is absurd.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From Kenya and Nigeria to South Africa and Uganda, Queen Elizabeth\u2019s death met with an outpouring of official condolences, mourning and memories of her frequent visits to Africa during her seven decades on the throne.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":16940,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,15],"tags":[7,26,25],"class_list":{"0":"post-16943","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-politics","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-politics"},"yoast_head":"\n