Fidel Castro; African in all but Colour

On the occasion of the resignation of Fidel Castro, the substantive leader of the Cuban revolution, it is prudent that Africans in general and Ghanaians in particular take a moment to reflect on the immense contribution that El commandante has made to the African personality. Bar the historic munificence of Anthony Blair in dispatching British peace keepers into Sierra Leone, it is hard to pinpoint a time in recent African historiography when a foreign government has so selflessly given to the African continent, generally and Ghana in particular, as the minuscule island nation of Cuba has done.

Before I am dismissed as a communist apologist and anti democratic, let me commence by pointing out that I am no lackey of the dictatorial regime in Cuba and I am an ardent advocate of the rule of law and democracy. In my judgment, Mr. Castro has clearly overstayed his welcome and should soberly chew over ending the Castro- dynasty, for Cuba- after all- belongs to Cubans and not Castro et al.

This treatise is, however, tangential and seeks to assess the contribution El Commandante has made towards the so-called “dark continent”; and it this priceless munificence that should forever keep his name on the lips of Ghanaians.

For starters, Fidel's was one of the countries that deemed it fit to put words into action and, indeed, commit troops in an attempt to strike at the foundations of the South African apartheid government after its invasion of Angola between the late 50s to the middle of the 70s. That the west in general, and the UK and the US in particular stealthily supported and, indeed, funded the apartheid government is a truism albeit they explicitly issued impotent threats towards the dehumanizing quandary of the black African. Individuals who failed to see the façade behind the facile barring of South Africa from the Olympic Games and other world events had clearly been hoodwinked by the wily west; for these proscriptions had no effect apart from the aesthetic on the South African neo-colonialists. With their own Black populations resorting to civil disobedience and outright anarchy, the twin arch instigators of global unrests, the USA and the UK, had a vested interest in maintaining white minority rule in the Republic of South Africa. It is worthy to note that Mrs. Thatcher, the erstwhile British prime minister, and many a British prime Minister had made substantial private investments within this racism ensconced country.

Even under the daunting difficulties of American sanctions, Fidel, saw it fit to offer scholarships to many African students to study in Colleges in Cuba. Over the years Cuba offered admission to legions of Ghanaians to study medicine free of charge within that country. Till today, Cuba still sends an armada of highly trained doctors into the Ghanaian hinterland, where their aboriginal coordinates have- in many instances- found it belittling to settle and practice.

Having endured nine American presidents and their groundless victimization of the tiny island nation through a perilous economic barricade, Fidel and Cuba have demonstrably proved to be to the United States what Hannibal and Carthage were to the ancient Roman Empire.

As late as half a dozen months ago, Cuba granted scholarship slots to twenty Ghanaian students to study medicine within its borders. In May 2003, it was announced that Cuba would establish a medical network project with Ghana which would train Ghanaian medical practitioners in the use of telecoms equipment and software in the furtherance of their practice.

It is without a shadow of a doubt that when Ghanaian developmental historiography is perused by later generations, the name of First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, His Excellency, Dr. Fidel Castro will and should, indeed, have its rightful lofty place in it as the ever-munificent and ever-present help to Ghana in time of need.

El Commandante, I salute you, Ghana salutes you. Mbo na yε!

Bernard Asher is a lecturer of Business Management & Economics@ Guildford College of Higher Education & an External Tutor @Reading University, England, United Kingdom. Email: basher@guildford.ac.uk

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