Immaculate NES Five: Blood From A Stone

The Bantu Ubuntu Government

The current Bantu Ubuntu Government is the Federalist outgrowth from the initial Confederation of the All Bantu Peoples. Due to it’s origins -- namely, eternal alliance of once independent warlords and tribal states -- the Federal Government was once weak and indecisive, mortally stricken by factionalism and regionalism. This was especially noticeable after the initial surge of “Ubuntu Unity” wore off. However, the Mikoa Umoja (Regional Unity) Reforms of 2080s, especially the empowerment of the Senatorial Branch, the recreation of the Supreme Court, and the creation of the Presidancy, allowed them to better balance regional, national, and international concerns.

The Bantu Ubuntu Government consists of many overlapping layers. Although we will only discuss the Federal Level of government, below it consists Regional, Tribal, Municipal, Traditional, and Local divisions. These divisions often overlap in seemingly nonintuitive ways, although their basic interrelations are necessary to understand the Federal level of government.

Regional divisions, similar to states and provinces of other federal divisions, are the primary and most discussed sub-national structure. Similarly, Local divisions, often called prefectures or counties, are subdivisions of Regional divisions for administrative purposes, and are the smallest common division out there. Municipal divisions are merely larger cities and towns. They are unique in that they, unlike Local divisions and like Regional divisions, contribute to the Grand Assembly.

Tribal divisions are either tribal confederacies, or a tribe of people divided before the formation of the Ubuntu who applied for greater united status. Whether or not Tribal divisions correlate to regional divisions or not, each Tribe is also represented in the Grand Assembly and are granted their own powers.

Finally, there are Traditional Divisions. These are the borders of the old original warlord states. Although increasingly inconsequential and indeed, no longer represented after the Mikoa Umoja, they remain important in areas of strong regionalist tendencies. Indeed, in areas such as Shonaland, warlordism and thus, Traditional Divisions remain strong, and a force to be reckoned in regional politics.

Each of these subnational governments have little to no requirements on their authority. One of the earliest concessions of the pre-Mikoa Umoja Ubantu was to allow each and every subnational government to rule itself however it wish, as long as they obey the Federal laws, and do not violate human rights. And so, the Ubantu became a patchwork of direct democracies, hereditary monarchies or dictatorships, “peaceful warlordism”, communes, and even semi-fuedal societies. After the Mikoa Umoja, each regional also must ensure at least some electoral participation, although the details are still left to the regions, and remain rarely enforced (except for the Grand Assembly.)

The Bantu Ubuntu Federal Government consists of five branches. Two Executive Branches, Two Legislative Branches, and the Judicial Branch. We shall begin with the Legislative Branches and their methods of selection. The discussion of their powers are to be delayed for another time.

The “People’s Branch” is known as the Grand Assembly. The Grand Assembly can be subdivided into two portions. First is the Tribal Assembly. Every Tribe, Region, and Municipality is granted three representatives, one of which MUST be chosen by election with a maximum term of ten years. The other Tribal Representatives may be hereditary, chosen by lot, or, I dunno, won through a lottery. It’s a cluster f*ck in here, ok? Then there is the People’s Assembly. Each People’s Representative is chosen from electoral districts drawn within Regions, proportional to their population, and with a limited surface-area to perimeter ratio (to prevent gerrymandering). Each district receives one Representative elected every four years. These elections are staggered. Half of the People’s Assemby, therefore, is replaced every two years. Their main powers are to declare war, and to change taxes. Many powers were moved to the Senate due to the Mikoa Umoja.

The “Higher Branch” is known as the Senate. The Senate always consists of 100 Senators. Each Senator is elected from the Grand Assembly. Every member of the Grand Assembly selects 5 members they wish to be Senator during election year, and Representatives with the most votes become Senators. Senators vacate their Assembly seat and are granted eight year terms. This is staggered, so 25 Senatorial seats are up for reelection every 2 years. The vacated assembly seat is to be filled within the year through local laws. Due to the Senate’s smaller numbers, they are often seen as the Agents of Action, while the Grand Assembly represent the Agents of Popular Opinion. The Senate has the power to spend budgets, and stuff.

The Ministries is the original Executive Branch. The original Warlords feared giving up their militias and their local executive power, but recognized that some is necessary for a functioning federal/confederate government. The “Big Five” original Ministries are the Ministry of State (foreign relations), the Ministry of Interior (infrastructure/resources), Ministry of Agriculture (food security), Ministry of Energy (energy security), and the Ministry of Municipalities (industrial security). War, before the Mikoa Umoja, was handled by the Warlords once declared by the Grand Assembly. Although there are no chief executives, unofficial “Prime Ministers” were often assigned ex post facto for the sake of history students and in recognition of the vast powers some ministers held in their day.

The Presidency is a new fangled Executive Branch established by the Mikoa Umoja. The President controls the Federal Military and a plethora of other powers designed to maintain the Federal nature of Bantu Ubuntu. Presidential agencies are known as Departments (warning: retcons ahead Immac!). The President is elected by the “Electoral University.” This is due to the misconception that a University is better than a college, and also somehow implies universal brotherhood, a concept that the Mikoa Umoja reformers wished to support. The Electoral University consists of the Grand Assembly, and delegates from each Regions, Tribal lands, and Municipalities. The Delegate count is granted by population. Generally, the executive (Governor/Mayor/Chief) and several chosen cronies form each delegation. However, more progressive regions elect delegates. In the end, no one is really sure how the President is chosen. Probably has to do some some kind of majority or something. However, they do have 7.75 year terms, designed to frustrate those attempting an easy transition between the Legislature and the Executive branch.

Finally, the Judicial Branch, or the Supreme Court, rules over inter-subnational affairs, as well as appeals upon various federal laws. The old court, before the Mikoa Umoja, was famed for it’s corruption and depravity before being subsumed as the Ministry of Justice. After the reforms, the newly cleansed Supreme Court was returned its independence, primarily as a balance against the New President.

This government may seem very nonsensical and badly designed. Guess what, it is. It is designed by a bunch of overly masculine illiterate warlords impressing a gaggle of frightened intelligentsia to “constitutionalizeateifycation” their confederacy. What did you expect?


Major Coalitions in the Senate
Although the Senate could not vote in the Electoral University, their lesser numbers allows the establishment of powerful Coalitions, which represent the countless and everchanging parties and factions within the Grand Assembly. These Coalitions are better able to organize alliances for the election of Senators and Presidents than the individual parties of the Assembly that make them up. However, do not be fooled by their numbers and relative power. Most coalitions do not truly represent their significance in the Assembly. Additionally, parties change coalitions, if not constantly, continuously as they jockey for position. It is estimated that no party remained in the same coalition for more than 16 years, or two terms of the presidancy.

President Vuai Kagunda was elected by a coalition of Federalists, Nationalists, Popular Front, and the African Brotherhood, which held a total of 62 Senate Seats at the time of his election.


Nationalist
Seats: 18
People: Governor Azizi Afolayan, Senator Hamila Ihejirika, Minister Amadi Jumaani
Associated With: National Socialists, Communists, Federalists, Pan-African Brotherhood
Ideology: The Nationalists emphasize the power of the national government and supports the reorganization of the subnational divisions. The Senate and the Ministries will become the main branch of the state. The Army will enforce Federal Laws in all states, and the government will head towards a more Unitarian ideal.
History: The “Radical” elements of the “Grand Reforming Coalition” convinced that the Mikoa Umoja did not go far enough, their succession led to the collapse of the reforms and several years of Regional predominance. Although they hold significant power alone, they often rely on an alliance with the Federalists to pursue their agenda.
Current: Although their influence in the Grand Assembly is merely modest, their powerful organization gives them a commanding cut of the Senate seats.


Regionalist
Seats: 17
People: Chief Chike Eshe, Senator Berko Chuks, Representative Enu Faraji
Associated with: Communalists
Ideology: Moving towards a decentralized Ubuntu closer to that originally envisioned by the Framers, with united effort delivered voluntarily by the individual regions and the Grand Assembly the primary vehicle of national “suggestive” legislation.
History: Quickly gaining power after the original United feelings died down, they were marginalized by the “Great Reforming Coalition” of the Federalists and CIP. When the latter two collapsed, they surged back into power before losing ground to powerful new coalitions.
Current: Although the Regionalists are much more powerful in the Grand Assembly, their very nature limited their influence in the Senate and thus, amongst potentially friendly coalitions.


Federalist
Seats: 23
People: President Vuai Kagunda, Senator Ayo Katlego, Senator Tendai Temitope, Mayor Chinedu Afolayan
Associated With: Nationalists, Regionalists, Market Socialists, Pan-African Brotherhood
Ideology: The “Moderates” between the Nationalist and Regionalist debate, the Federalists focus primarily on the balance between the Federal Government and the SubState structures, their support passing between the two other major coalitions throughout history. Their ruling ideology is thus: Federal government must be able to enforce Federal laws, and able to intervene in Regional affairs if they violate Federal writ or if their laws places undue hardships upon neighboring regions.
History: The Coalition of the Framers and the original Ubuntu, they quickly waned as the United spirit died. Forming a powerful alliance with the CIP, they led the Mikoa Umoja reforms. Eventually, questions of how far to take reforms destroyed the “Great Reforming Coalition”, leading to the rise of the Socialists, Nationalists, and Isolationists. Directly after the collapse, they supported Regionalist predominance, then the Nationalists, and shifted support back and forth ever since.
Current: The main force behind President Vuai Kagunda, they have surged in the Grand Assembly over the past few years but, due to various political manuverings, lost ground in the Senate. Many worry that their alliance with the Nationalists will prove more detrimental than helpful in the future, as they begin straying further from their centralist position.


Popular Front
Seats: 13
People: Senator and Party Chairman, Babatunde Kayode
Associated With: Nationalists, Federalists, Isolationists, Pan-African Brotherhood
Ideology: The establishment of a state-run worker’s paradise, with a strong central government either at the national or regional level and the elimination of the entirety of the ancient regime.
History: The various Socialist and Communist groups of Bantu Ubuntu were too weak to establish their own factions, as is popular in older electoral systems. But the idea of a state-led socialist paradise remained strong, and after the reforms the Popular Front rose and quickly gained popularity.
Current: Although only as strong as the Communalists in the Grand Assembly and often torn by doctrinal debate and factionalism, their nationalistic outlook gave them a powerful coalition which, when united, is double the strength of their Communalist rivals.


Communalists
Seats: 6
People: None
Associated with: Popular Front, Regionalistsm, Isolationists
Ideology: The establishment of a worker’s paradise at the local level, with an extremely limited federal government dedicated primarily towards defense and international diplomacy.
History: Communalists existed in the first days of Bantu Ubuntu, as ideological unity ran high and thinkers predicted the creation of an African paradise. This was quickly crushed by reality, and they became prime supporters of the CIP. After the Reforms, they were the first to succeed and form their own coalition, inadvertently creating their strongest rival, the Popular Front.
Current: Although the Communalists are almost as strong as the entirety of the Popular Front combined in the Grand Assembly, they, similar to their Regionalist allies, are limited din the Senate due to their factional nature.


Coalition of Independent Representatives
Seats: 12
People: None
Associated with: None
Ideology: There are many groups within the Grand Assembly which are not represented in the Senate. The CIP seeks to organize the election of compromise candidates to key Senate seats and ensure representation
History: First formed after the Mikoa Umoja, they initially held over 40 seats before quickly collapsing to the rising Nationalist and Socialist groups.
Current: The Coalition of Independent Representatives nearly doubled their Senatorial footprint, using a highly effective party structure to target weak Senators for replacement by their own representatives. (5->9) The CIP Senators are known as prodigious dealmakers and backstabbers, although in an yissue important to any individual CIP member, they vote as a powerful bloc.


Pan-African Brotherhood
Seats: 7
People: Mayor Chinedu Temitope
Associated with: Popular Front, Regionalists, (CIP)
Ideology: Establish international relations, political, economic and militaristic, with other African states.
History: Closely related to the original cooperation between Tukufu Tanganyika and the young Bantu Ubuntu, the Pan-African Brotherhood always remained in the sidelines, sometimes independent and sometimes subsumed within the greater CIP.
Current: They are strong supporters of the SubSaharan Pact, and the independence of SubSaharan Africa from the clutches of the Mahgreb. They include many merchants in their number.


Isolationists
Seats: 4
People: None
Associated with: Regionalists, Popular Front, Communalists
Ideology: Focused on building a strong, self-sufficient local economy, with minimal ties to other countries.
History: The Isolationists are mostly defined by their nemesis the Pan-African Brotherhood. Unlike the PAB, they are more associated with the Regionalsits and Communalists, or even the Popular Front in times of weakness.
Current: The international views of Vuai Kagunda has led to a resurgence of the Isolationists, although they only one 1 seat in each Senatorial election since Kagunda’s election.


OOC: Current means “Since Kagunda’s Election c. 2100ish”
Names are all Swahili/”African”
Also, apologies but I am not ready to define every significant politician’s personal beliefs and stuff yet. :3 So they are all blank slates for now, other than Vuai Kagunda, who’s using foreign issues to distract people from his internal consolidation and is running for his 2nd term. He is willing to step down if he is seen as a negative influence.
 
A reminder to all players,

You cannot spend your income. Nations have access only to their treasury.

If you are one of the four nations who attempted to spend more EP than they have in their treasury, I will do my best to accommodate the projects and spending you have outlined by reducing the spending on everything outlined proportionally.

For these players, its obviously better of course, if you just resubmit your orders with corrected spending.
 
I have every intention of sending orders for this. However as this is the week leading up to finals -- how lovely -- I have a prohibitively limited amount of time to sit down and think reasonably and methodically about what it is I plan to do, and then write intelligently about how to accomplish it. I'm working on it.
 
Well now that you've gone and measured it, tis dead.
 
Hey Immaculate, how are things coming along?

Well now that you've gone and measured it, tis dead.

Sorry for the tardiness. I've had some rather serious deadlines at work, visiting family, and my six-year old girl is having surgery. Things have been hectic.

I am one-third done and should be able to do quite a bit tonight. I can't promise when the update will be done exactly but it IS progressing.
 
Take as long as you need. Family matters.
 
Terrance use spoilers pls
 
So much text it hurts D:
 
So... how's the update coming along?
 
Dammit you got my hopes up!
 
My apologies for taking so long. I AM working on it- slowly but surely and will have it up at some point- things have been VERY busy at my end lately however and I am about to leave for another business trip so thats not going to make things easier. That said, its ongoing and i am committed to posting it soon(ish).
 
Yeah, certainly better late than never!
 
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