“Africa must unite” was the vision of Kwame Nkrumah, the founding father of Ghana. This convinced pan-Africanist hoped for a common future for Africa, free from all forms of colonization. He wanted to federate the nations of the continent under the name the United States of Africa. It was finally the name Organization of African Unity (OAU) that was chosen on May 22, 1963, regionalism then asserting itself over continentalism. Sixty years after the creation of the OAU, what remains of Kwame Nkrumah’s vision? Interview with his daughter, Samia Nkrumah.
RFI: Sixty years later, are there still reasons to celebrate the creation of the Organization of African Unity?
Samia Nkrumah: We should rejoice. I am an optimist. I also think that there is enough material in favor of this African unity. If we look at Ghana’s proposal in 1963, when Kwame Nkrumah addressed African leaders and urged them to unite, not only economically but also politically, he spoke of the need for us to achieve a continental union, not to be satisfied with ratifying trade agreements, but to have a common vision, a common political basis to advance this unity. If it took us so long, it is because we did not focus on this common political vision.
Why did Kwame Nkrumah fail to impose his vision?
You have to understand that decolonization is a process. The total liberation and unification of Africa, and this is how our father defined pan-Africanism, this total liberation and unification takes time. So the fact that we got political independence was only the first step towards total emancipation: emancipation from the colonial mentality, decolonization in our education system, etc.
So when Kwame Nkrumah gave his vision, we were still at the beginning of our decolonization process. It is therefore understandable that other leaders did not immediately understand or adopt his vision.
We are also talking about a period when the Cold War was at its peak. She was in full swing. It was dragging small economies and small countries into this war. Thus, some nationalist, progressive leaders, eager to establish trade not only with the West, but also with the East, were accused of being communists. They were fought, some were killed, and many leaders eventually changed their minds.
I think of President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania. When he came to Accra on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Ghana’s independence in 1997, he said that Kwame Nkrumah was right, yes he was right to give us the vision of total unity, beyond beyond the division into regional blocks.
“He linked the struggle for independence to the restoration of the dignity of the African man”
Where did his passion for African unity come from?
By his upbringing, of course. It began first in Ghana, where Kwame Nkrumah was influenced by the nationalist thinking of Professor James Aggrey at Achimota College. Then he spent 12 years abroad: 10 years in the United States, two years in Great Britain. These years were very important in consolidating his pan-African vision.
In the United States, he worked with the African diaspora, he was then influenced by Marcus Garvey and his Back to Africa campaign. He also worked with the sociologist William Du Bois who died in Ghana. Kwame Nkrumah gave him a home and today we have Center Du Bois.
I tell all this to say that Kwame Nkrumah had forged links with Africans in the diaspora who were fighting for human rights, who were fighting against racism. He worked closely with them. And he linked the struggle for independence to the restoration of the dignity of African man everywhere. And that is really the heart of pan-Africanist thought.
For our second phase of independence, which is based on our economic emancipation, on the construction of our industries and our autonomy, we still need the total collaboration of Africans, of the entire African diaspora everywhere in the world.
You talk about economic empowerment, don’t organizations like Zlecaf, African Continental Free Trade Agreement, bring us closer to Nkrumah’s vision?
If we are optimistic, it is because the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, Zlecaf, is exactly what Kwame Nkrumah was talking about in 1963. You know, he was talking about three components of unity: development economy, the planning of our economies on a continental basis, a common defense and foreign policy. So if you take economic development, continental planning, you will see that the Zlecaf is more than a free trade zone. I know we haven’t reached it yet, but the goal is a single continental market, not just a free zone. A single continental market comes with so many other things: a currency, a central bank, but the fact that it is not only African leaders who are advocating Zlecaf, but also strong organizations like the Afro Champions, Exim Bank and d others shows that we are rallying behind the ideas promoted 60 years ago by Nkrumah himself.
“The road to peace is still long”
On Kwame Nkrumah’s third objective of an Africa at peace, how do you judge the work of the African Union which succeeded the OAU in terms of peacekeeping?
We have a long road before arriving at peace. And of course there are many reasons for this, including the many foreign bases in Africa, military bases which do not help matters. So there is still a long way to go. At this point, we are entangled in the various protocols that each country has signed in favor of peace. But I am optimistic that the day will come when we can have enough political will to move closer to unity. And that will happen as we have more committed Pan-Africanist leaders.
Did your father pass on his passion for African unity to you?
His decision to marry an Egyptian, in this case our dear mother, someone from North Africa, was a pan-African political decision. It was an arranged marriage. They didn’t know each other before. But it worked, not only on a personal level, but their marriage brought North Africa closer to the rest of the continent. It should be remembered that at that time most of North Africa was independent, while the rest of Africa was not.
And it was these North African leaders who supported the formation of the OAU. It was these North African countries that provided assistance to the African liberation movements. Sometimes I like to imagine that this marriage really brought the north closer to the rest of the continent, or to black Africa. As in everything he did, he merged his personal life and his political life. Kwame Nkrumah was living his vision of a united Africa.
Sixty years later, what remains of his vision?
The guidelines are there, the whole project is there, there are more than 15 books and many speeches by Kwame Nkrumah that exist. We have to take them back. We have to study them. We have to discuss it. We don’t have to agree with everything he said. But we must familiarize ourselves with his ideas. Because I believe that’s where our redemption lies. And this is where we will draw inspiration to make the unity of the 1.5 billion Africans on the continent and abroad a powerful force for progress and peace throughout the world.
