Nkrumah’s African Unity Project six years after his overthrow

Author’s note: On the 57^th anniversary of the military overthrow of Africa’s Man of the millennium Dr Kwame Nkrumah, first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, I reproduce here my assessment of the state of his African Unity project six years after his overthrow. It was published in KANYAN, an annual magazine of the University of Queensland residential college International house, in 1972 when I was second year student at the university and vice president of International house.

Nii Armah Kweifio-Okai, Melbourne

GEORGE KWEIFIO-OKAI
https://core.ac.uk/reader/43356640

The Bond of 1844 signed between the chiefs of Ghana and the British colonial "masters" gave the latter the power to rule Ghana (then GOLD COAST) for only a century. Power did not come to Ghanaians a hundred years later. In 1957, however, she gained her independence with the election of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah as her first President, the man whose mention and foreign policy is pertinent to the initiation of the concept of "African personality” and African Unity.

Being the first black African country to gain independence, Ghana was confronted with the formidable task of helping the still colonised peoples of Africa in their own struggles. This task obviously dictated a militant foreign policy which was expressed by Nkrumah on the eve of Ghana’s independence as follows "The independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of the continent of Africa".

Nine years after this statement was made, more than thirty-three black African countries won independence. Some used force, others fortunately only needed negotiations. In Kenya, for example, the violent uprising under the "Mau Mau” movement did not only create conditions for the eventual freedom for Kenyans but also ignited the fire which eventually burnt down the chains of British colonialism throughout East Africa.

In South Africa and Rhodesia, black Africans are under illegally imposed governments. Angola, Mozambique and Guinea Bissau are still under total or partial Portuguese domination. The White South African government presently rules South-West Africa (MAMIBIA).

The determination to win independence was intimately linked with the aim to unite Africa. Independence from colonial rule was indeed a pre-requisite for the realisation of an African Unity. Too soon, considerations were being given to the formation of an African high command, an economic market and a cultural and political integration of all African countries. The Organisation of African Unity was born.

The concept of "African personality” was forming and a sense of pride being developed in it. In fact the term "African personality” may seem rather crude to the "sociological ear". The sociologist knows "personality" as "the dynamic organisation of those psychophysical systems such as attitudes, values and beliefs which determine one’s unique adjustment to the environment". He knows that personality is culture-dependent and since African countries have different cultures, the term "African personality” must be inappropriate because it is suggestive of One African culture. Nevertheless, strictly speaking, the term epitomizes the fact of correlation and similarity that exists between the various cultures of Africa. It represents the one personality that has survived the thorns of colonialism, slavery and oppression. It symbolizes the personality that is reforming and self-actualizing.

The posture of rising African peoples to unite added a new dimension to world political thinking and it’s no exaggeration to say that some political blocs found a danger and a threat in the success of this political aspiration. The overthrow of Nkrumah in a military coup d’état in 1966 marked an end to the nature and style of approach to the unification programme.

The Strength and vigour with which the aim was to be achieved was further lessened by certain unfortunate political uprisings in some other independent black African countries. Nigeria, for example, faced a stage of political instability characterised by a series of military coup d’états and climaxed by the tribal war, which ended some few years back. Congo had a serious constitutional crisis, which led to some amount of bloodshed. Also, a wave of military coup d’états swept through the African continent.

This state of affairs is attributable to some of the following.

1. In black African countries where the illiterate population constitute a favourable proportion of the population, the relative literacy in the military is significant. These are more politically educated than the masses and when the masses are not changing an obviously corrupt government, they jump into the scene and resume the reigns of power.

2. The people are hypersensitive and intolerant to programmes of economic experimentation having long term, but not immediate, benefits.

3. Some of the politicians regard politics not as a means of service to a people but a gold mine where they reap in money, the reward of campaigning and shouting pre-election times. These types of politicians are always guilty of amassing wealth and manipulating situations to their economic gain. Having created an economic mess for the country and consequently fearing an election loss, these demagogic politicians resort to means, fair or foul to entrench themselves ‘in power. The lackeys and hangers-on - who benefit material-wise from such an irresponsible government, intensify their sycophancy and frenzied adulation, thus creating a situation in which an inefficient government stays in power indefinitely. At this point only a military intervention could convert the status quo.

4. An adventurous group of military officers may also arise out of selfish considerations to stage a coup.

5. There may be occasionally the coups engineered with the help of foreign hands who may not appreciate the ideological standing of the government in power.

It is significant to note that after the overthrow of Nkrumah, African leaders started re-appraising Nkrumah’s ‘proposed’ methods of achieving the Unity. The methods of force and sabotage were denounced. It is now seemingly agreed that meanwhile, and, as a first step towards the unification of Africa, there must be regional groupings based on cultural, economic and social co-operation. A union of African Government must come as a natural and a necessary sequence.

Nkrumah's proposed programme of an outright formation of a union government with, among other things, her own military, is costly. At least with help from other blocs, the project requires part financing by Africans themselves. But Africa faces real economic problems. Union Government will thus spell an economic collapse with no means o f resuscitation. Another fact. Africa lacked effective interstate communications. The new approach of regional groupings is therefore popular. There is the East African grouping consisting of Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. Today these countries have a unified airline system and they enjoy co-operation in the economic, social and cultural spheres. The West African grouping consists o f 11 countries which include Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Upper Volta and others. Here co-operation is mainly in the educational, cultural and economic spheres. Also prominent are joint sporting activities. A proposed West African Stock Exchange is under way and an agreement on a cocoa-producing and cocoa-selling strategy are in the forming. Other groupings are in their embryonic stages.

This assessment is not to overlook inter-regional and continental programmes going on. Under construction now is a 1,200-mile Tanzam railway linking Tanzania and Zambia. Extensive and Intensive economic and trade relations are developing among African countries. There is, in fact, a proposed African Chamber of Commerce under way. This is significant in developing a trading strategy for African goods and improving trade relations between African states. A proposed African Highway from Mombasa (Kenya) to Lagos (Nigeria) is under study. The 3000-mile highway, referred to as U N IT Y H IG H W AY, will (to put it in the words o f Robert Gardiner, the Chairman for the Economic Commission for Africa) "Open up the whole continent and foster a greater flow o f trade and more intimate cultural and political relations among African States".

The likelihood of an African Unity is based mainly on the effectiveness of these regional groupings. It is no exaggeration to say that apart from any good it w ill do to African peoples, an African Unity will constitute a unified African front and an effective new force to reckon with in the conduct of world affairs. A feeling of An African Unity is an old dream. Today it is a NEW R E A L IT Y because it is being given an effective new approach