Many may find it hard to believe, but the failure in Haiti mirrors that in Kenya: a foreign force controls both nations through local power brokers at the expense of the majority. This is precisely what the Kenyan people are resisting—foreign influence trying to dictate their lives and make their laws. Unfortunately, this is the reality for the majority, if not all, African countries today. Many of these nations are virtually failed states.
The root of this failure lies in the missed opportunity of 1963 when African heads of state either refused or failed to unify the continent. The formation of an African Union government was the key to shifting the global balance of power in which Africa would attain full freedom for independent action and the following rapid development, and its failure opened the door to unchecked imperialism, domination and subjugation of the African people except the ruling class who are themselves not entirely free but must in fear serve foreign interests, today.
Kwame Nkrumah had a clear process for Africa’s liberation:
- Achieve independence.
- Consolidate that independence through an African Union Government.
- Start the rapid reconstruction of Africa and provide help to all people of African descent.
Africa failed at the second stage. Instead of uniting, the continent fell into divisions—tribalism, petty regionalism, unfounded suspicion and narrow nationalism. Independence was compromised, and this is why Africa finds itself in its current state, with mass suffering in the midst of abundance.
Some leaders, like Julius Nyerere, realized this mistake—but it was too late. Nyerere, who championed regionalism, later admitted that it took him 10 years of studying Nkrumah’s work after his death in 1972 to fully grasp what Nkrumah had been advocating in 1963. In 1997, he even gave a reconciliatory speech admitting not to have understood Nkrumah’s philosophy and ideas of African unity and liberation during Nkrumah’s lifetime.
Some African leaders were selfish, while others simply didn’t understand the reality of the situation. They believed that achieving independence meant having the freedom to act without outside interference. But Nkrumah had warned them even though they didn’t listen to him.
Today, many so-called heads of state still don’t understand the predicament Africa is in. Some have sold out, while others have given up.
Our challenge TODAY (this generation) is to reconcile this chaos being handed to us and bring order to the continent. It’s an extremely difficult task, but one we must undertake.
The ideological divide between the African liberation movements—such as the Casablanca and Monrovia groups—though portrayed as part of Cold War politics, had several other serious other factors at play:
- Imperialist sabotage: Efforts were made to isolate Nkrumah and exaggerate differences between African leaders. Many fell for these tactics.
- Selfish leadership: Some leaders sold out to maintain power, believing they would remain in power indefinitely.
- Ignorance: Many were unaware of the global reality, believing that a flag, an anthem, and a seat at the UN qualified them as truly independent. This was not true then, and it is not true now.
Imperialism exploited these divisions and thwarted the project of African unity for its own benefit. African leaders were fed various lies: that an African Union government was unnecessary, that Nkrumah sought to take their power, that regional unity was preferable, or that Africans simply lacked the capacity to create a unified superstate.
Imperialism fought hard to maintain control of Africa for several historical reasons:
- Continued Access to raw materials: Africa’s wealth of resources was and remains a key interest.
- Access to markets: Africa continues to serve as a dumping ground for American and European finished, substandard products like petroleum and other rejected goods like secondhand clothes and shoes which have contributed to the destruction of Africa’s textile industry.
- Financial exploitation: The continent is treated as a cash cow, burdened with unfavorable loans backed by worthless printed dollars from the United States of America and colonial allies by way of the IMF and World Bank.
- Geopolitical influence: The West, especially the U.S., uses Africa to maintain its global hegemony, especially at the United Nations because old-fashioned colonialism is no longer acceptable in plain sight, imperialism now operates through deception, coercion and intimidation using corrupt media platforms, intelligence and loans to mislead and control.
These are all Challenges that we must face in this generation, fortunately for us, the chances have been enhanced, so many tools are at our disposal if purposeful and consistent work is cultivated. The Pan African Forces must begin to converge and carry out a more intensified struggle against the evil of imperialist neocolonialism in all its forms.
