THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
Participants from different African countries and the diaspora gathered in Accra between 8-13 December to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the first All-African People’s Conference (AAPC). The event marks the 1958 congress, which also took place in Accra and that brought together freedom fighters from all over Africa, including independent and colonised states, to strategise on how to free the continent from colonial rule and unite its peoples. David Boahene, founder of Africa Radio Stuttgart (Germany) who was at the AAPC@60 conference, reports.
Pan-Africanists around the globe assembled from 8-13 December at the University of Ghana, Accra, to find solutions to the continent’s numerous problems. The 2018 AAPC, organised by the Pan-African Federal Movement (PAFM) and the Kwame Nkrumah Pan-African Centre (KNAC), rekindled the spirit of continental unity initiated 60 years ago by the first president of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
In his keynote address, President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo of Ghana paid special tribute to past heroes who liberated the continent from colonial rule, including Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Kenneth Kaunda, Julius Nyerere, Frantz Fanon and Odinga Odinga, among others.
Nana Addo, quoting from the historic speech of Dr Nkrumah in 1958, “We again rededicate ourselves to the struggle to emancipate other countries in Africa because our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up to the total liberation of the African continent.”
“Kwame Nkrumah became a symbol and the voice for the cause of African independence and freedom, those famous words generated hope and excitement not only in Ghana but across the entire African continent …There was a renewed optimism born on the fact that if Ghana has made it the rest of Africa could equally be free,” Nana Akufo Addo said.
The president urged Africans, both at home and in the Diaspora, to rededicate themselves to the continent´s political emancipation from colonial hegemony. The process of rededication entails creating avenues for investment in quality education for the youth across the continent. President Akufo Addo praised the organizers of the conference for bringing people of African descent from across the globe together to brainstorm on a common solution that could decolonize Africa from psychological, political and economic captivity.
READ MORE Pan-Africanists to discuss strategies for continental unity in Accra
Advising the participants on security issues, General Mamadou Seck, a retired military officer from Senegal, said the unification of Africa was a must and posterity would not forgive the current generation if it failed to act. Virtually all the guest speakers were of the conviction that a unified Africa was key to sustainable economic development, allowing a free flow of goods and human resources across the continent.
Activities that took place during the 6-day event included podium discussions, workshops and seminars on how to improve the socio-economic integration of African countries.
“Despite all challenges, in terms of organization and financial constraints, we were able to mobilize the youth across board to participate in such a historic event,” Bernard Mornna, the Secretary General of People Conventional Party in Ghana and a member of the AAPC@60 committee.
The founder and president of the Kwame Nkrumah Pan-African Centre, Samia Nkrumah (daughter of Dr Nkrumah), outlines the mission for this generation of Africans, namely “the political unification of Africa under one government, with one currency, one foreign policy and economic planning and a central military command”.
- To be continued.
