Page 27 - EVOLUTION OF THE SUDAN PEOPLE’S LIBERATION MOVEMENT(SPLM),

and cultural environment. Thus on his part and the party they considered the ethnic, geographical, social,
historical, economic and political reality under Portuguese colonialism to come up with a workable political
reality (Cabral, 1980:46).

Cabrals understanding of materialism was premised on the assumption that material cause is the force of
history. Human beings too are a product of social environment in which they find themselves. Cabral was
however categorical that people do not contest for ideas alone, but also, to gain physical advantage. This
infers that national liberation should translate into better lives. There was no supernatural or superhuman

being that could bring about the national liberation but the people themselves.

Cabral argued that a national liberation must have a theory of national liberation and in particular a political
program, ideology, strategy, clear objectives, fundamentals and tactics of execution rooted in people’s

culture necessary in creating a new society by emphasizing the special role of petty bourgeoisie in national
liberation as a conscious class. Furthermore, he warned against self-serving elites and trappings of power
that can lead to betrayal especially at the critical juncture when such machinations are real and have caused
neocolonial leadership in Africa. His political thought places more emphasis on the reconstruction of the
economy and total decolonization (Ntalaja, 1984, Mukandabantu, 1983).

The combination of all those ideas cumulatively builds a body of thought on how the national liberation
struggle and social reconstruction could be undertaken during and after capturing state power. To Cabral,
state and power were very central to the reconstruction of the state, which he considered the last phase of the
struggle. Mcculloh (1983) identified three views that Cabral held about the state.Firstly,he regarded the state

as an instrument of power. Secondly, the state as an impartial one and lastly functional to the development of
society. He thus assumes that Cabrals preferred state was developmental state. A developmental state would
play active and traditional responsibility of the state including security besides economic development. The

anticipated development and social transformation was therefore state led. The state was therefore seen as
an agent of social and economic revolution.

The debate as to the exact role, strength and size of the state in the economy was generating public debate
and policy options across the globe especially in Africa that was already experiencing serious economic

crises and many countries implementing the first generation structural adjustment programs in the 1980s.
The World Bank was of the view that the state should be delinked from the economy to allow free
market economy no role in the redistribution of resources even if the markets fail. The idea of market led
development is based on the beliefs of classical liberal scholars such as Adam Smith, John Locke, John

Stuart Mills and Jeremy Bentham among others. They place greater emphasize on the role of free market
and individual freedom in accelerating development. The ideology forbids any form of state or government
control, intervention or regulation. To achieve economic progress is assumed to be the responsibility or
product of individual pursuits of their self-interests. The state therefore, the assumption here is that the state

is a problem as far as development is concerned to be replaced with markets regarded to be more efficient
in resource allocation (Mukandabantu, 1983).

The World Bank reports in the 1990s advised that state is delinked from the economy through privatization
of state property and liberalization of the economy. The neoliberal state and economy that the World Bank

promotes does not take into account that the state embodies the collective will and promotes public good
more effectively than the preferred markets. What is more is that the state has the capital wherewithal
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