adminNgoni Dapira
FORMER Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah had a vision to form a united states of Africa which to date, 43-years after his death remains a pipe-dream.Next Monday, the entire African continent will commemorate Africa Day, celebrating independence from colonial bondage and African unity.
Nkrumah known as the ‘father of African nationalism’ and president of the first black African country to shake off the chains of colonial rule on this day is always cherished for his famous words back in 1960 during the All African People’s Conference;
“This mid 20th century is Africa’s. This decade is the decade of African independence.
“Forward then to independence, to independence now, tomorrow the united states of Africa,” he said.
This year’s Africa Day commemorations are momentous for Zimbabwe because President Mugabe is chairman of both the Southern African Development Community and the African Union.
President Mugabe known for his passionate pan-African and black consciousness drive, in his acceptance speech as the in-coming AU chairman early this year vowed to ignite Nkrumah’s lost vision of uniting Africa and tackling head-on the current problems dogging the continent.
Below are some excerpts from his acceptance speech where he set-out his vision during his reign:
“More than five decades ago, I had the unique privilege, as a representative of Zanu, a liberation movement then, to attend the historic occasion of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963, here in Addis Ababa.
“It was indeed a momentous occasion at which Africa decisively took destiny into its own hands.
“I still recall, quite vividly, the palpable collective resolve, dedication and commitment of our forebears, to unite and free our continent from the twin scourges of colonialism and poverty.
“Our freedom and the socio-economic progress, we have thus far attained, are ample testimonies of the correctness of our forebears’ vision,” said President Mugabe in his opening remarks.
“Africa has come a long way since then, We are now at the threshold of launching, for ourselves and future generations, yet another framework in the form of the 50-year Agenda 2063.
“As we move forward with this noble agenda, we must emulate and draw inspiration from the principled stand and selfless sacrifices that our forebears made to bring us a strong and united Africa that we are so proud of today.
“During my tenure as Chair, I will deliberately provoke your thoughts to pay special attention to issues of infrastructure, value-addition and beneficiation, agriculture and climate change in the context of Africa’s development.
“Numerous studies have pointed out that the lack of physical infrastructure and interconnectedness in Africa has hampered economic development.
“Our roads, rail, air and sea route networks are not sufficiently developed to stimulate intra-African trade, investment and tourism.
“Given that the continent is rich in mineral resources, such resources should be seen to contribute more meaningfully to Africa’s development. While we continue to exploit the mineral resources, we seem not to have paid sufficient attention to their value-addition and beneficiation.
“If the present practice of exporting our minerals in their semi or raw form continues, Africa will continue to have people without employment, who languish in extreme poverty…” he said.
On civil wars and violence that is now rife in West and North Africa this is what President Mugabe had to say;
“As we look ahead, the African Union should continue to endeavour and double its efforts in bringing about sustainable peace and security on the continent.
“We are disheartened by the turmoil in Libya, a key member of this august body.
“Violence in that country has reached unacceptable levels. In the Central African Republic and the Republic of South Sudan, communities that have lived peacefully together for centuries, are now torn apart “Add to this, the, recurrent disturbances in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo which have taken a heavy toll on human, national and regional resources.
“The scourge of terrorism and all its attendant evils, threatens all our gains achieved since 1963.”
Online Reporter