IN DEFENCE OF AFRIKA AND HER LEADERS
Dear Editor,
This a reply to the ex-editor of the New Africa magazine Alan Rake about an
article he wrote in june. i thought it necessary to send it to you for the
wider Afrikan community who might have read his malicious article and be
convinced. i hope this small piece will help to clarify the situation.I have
also sent a copy of this same letter to New Africa.
I am writing this article with the hope that you would publish it in your
magazine. It is in reaction to your ex-editor Alan Rake's article "A drum
boy in Afrika", in the June 99 issue of the New Africa magazine in which he
talked about his Afrikan experience which was a diatribe against Afrikans,
as far as am concerned. Particularly, I am concerned about his Ghana
experience and his comments about Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the True Guide
of the Afrikan Revolution. I deem it my duty to protect and promote the
great personalities of my nation who especially happened to be grossly
smeared and misinterpreted. I consider it my duty because I recognise that
the peace and independence I enjoy today, even though not satisfactory, was
not a charity from any monarch or president of Euope, or anybody else for
that matter, but as a result of a struggle gallantly led by my ancestors. I
owe them gratitude and respect for having fought for my freedom and
upliftment when I was not even aware of my own degradation. Ungratefulness
is the biggest sin a man can commit. To start, I am Madi Jobarteh a Gambia
student at the University of Ghana, Legon. I am a revolutionary
pan-Afrikanist, and as such my thoughts and actions and feelings are guided
by Afrocentricity.
Mr. Rake said in his article that Nkrumah was an idealist. I guess he said
that in reference to Nkrumah's pursuit of Afrikan Unity. At the dawn of
independence the Osagyefo pointed out that the only way for us to make
progress was that we need to unite politically and economically. This was
more apparent and necessary considering that we just emerged out of foreign
domination of our lands, bodies and minds for a very long time, by a force
which was never willing to leave, in fact for which it was necessary to
oppress us in order for them to advance. Lack of unity, claimed Nkrumah,
will lead us into the spheres of these powers which will manipulate and
exploit us, while at home we will be engulfed in a guagmire of poverty,
fratricidal fighting and ignorance. At the Casablanca Group Conference
from 3-7 January 1961, he made this statement to his colleagues. "I can see
no security for Afrikan states unless Afrikan leaders, like ourselves have
realised beyond all doubt that salavation for Afrika lies in Unity ... for
in unity lies strength, and as I see it, Afrikan states must unite or sell
themselves out to imperialist and colonialist exploiters for a mess of
pottage, or disintegrate individually."
In this statement not descriptive of Afrika today? All our countries are
either puppets, exploited for a mess of pottage, or are disintegrating and
burning. Today who can claim that Afrika and Afrikans are protected. We are
probably the most defenceless and valunerable species in the world,including
whales, rocks and trees. Which Afrikan Army can protect its territory from
American or European aggression or terrorist attacks from outside?Which
AFrikan currency can compete with the dollar or Yen?Which Afrikan economy
can determine world market trends?Which Afrikan government can twist the arm
of the UN or FIFA?Which Afrikan country can protect its citizens from toxic
waste dumping through foreign aid or technical assistance? The only
government to protect every individual Blackman and Blackwoman is the
continental government of Afrika. Afrika is rich, but Afrikans are poor,
and no afrikan government can determine either its resources or its destiny,
especially if such a move would harm the interest of the multinational
corporations exploiting our people. The answer lies in unity. This was
the Osagyfo's call, and how dare Alan Rake call that idealism. Are Europeans
not calling for unity? Is that idealism too? True, Nkrumah was impatient.
He said that in his book "Afrika Must Unite", that as far as the development
of Ghana was concerned he was impatient.But which leader would not be
impatient if you lead a nation like Ghana at that time.To be impatient
doesn't imply irrationality or madness. Nkrumah was no fool. He was a
success, but which was interrupted by the imoperialists who overthrew him.
Since he took office up to his overthrow, he set up more that 100
industries, numerous schools, hospitals, roads, harbours, townships etc.
In fact today Ghana is surving because of the foundation laid down by
Nkrumah. All the governments of Ghana put together do not come near an
inch the Osagyefo's achievements. In fact there is no government in Afrika
which has come near the Osagyefo's achievements in Ghana. The only
comparable government would be Libya under the courageous and revoluntionary
Gaddafi. Here is the statistics of some of his successes since he joined
the government of Ghana in 1951, in school enrolment:
1951 1961 %Increase
Primary Schools 154,360 481,500 211.9
Middle Schools 66,175 160,000 141.8
Secondary & Technical Schools 3,559 19,143 437.8
Teacher Training Colleges 1,916 4,552 137.5
University Students 208 1,204 478.8
The building of schools and colleges was given top priority in his
development plans.
BASIC SERVICES
Number of Hospital beds 2,368 6,155 159.9
Rural and Urban choices 1 30 -
Doctors and Dentists 156 500 220.5
TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION
Roads (in Miles)
Class I (Bitumen) 1,398 2,050 46.7
Class II (gravel) 2,093 3,346 59.8
(Since 1961 up to his overthrow, the mileage of motor roads has risen to
19,236. Feeder roads connect most villages to the trunk road network).
Post Offices 444 779 75.4
Telephones 7,383 25,488 245.2
ELECTRICITY
Installed electrical capacity (kw) 84,708 120,860 42.7
Electrical power generated (kw '000) 281,708 390,174 38.4
Anything that makes Ghana stand today was built by Nkrumah's government.
1. Akosombo Dam 2. Tema Oil Refinery
3. Tema Township 4. Tema and Takoradi Cement Works
5. Kumasi Sports Stadium 6. Trade Fair, LA
7. Steel Works, Tema 8. GIHOC Pharmaceutical
9. Ring Road 10. Ghana Airways
11. Tema harbour and drylocks
plus numerous other development plans rudely interrupted by the unpatriotic
NLC neo-colonialists agents and their masters in Washington & London.
These were the progresses taking place in Ghana, and with his pursuit for
Afrika to unite in order to control her destiny and resources the
imperialists felt threatened and the next logical thing to do was to remove
the Osagyefo, the 2nd Greatest Leader of Afrika this century after Marcus
Mosiah Garvey. So they started to squeeze Ghana economically both from
within and without. In 1965 they drastically and artificially dropped the
price of cocoa, knowing that commodity was Ghana's leading earner, from £476
in 1954 to £87 10s. a ton in 1965. This meant that although Ghana exported
500,000 tons of cocoa, she earned only £77 million, or less than her
receipts in the mid 50's for 250,000tons. In 1965 he published his book
"Neo-Colonialism: The Last stage of imperialism". In that book he exposed
how the West controls and exploits Afrikan through economic, political,
cultural, educational and spiritual means. He reiterated the need for unity
and the potential we will create by uniting. That book was the last straw
for the imperialists. The U.S government sent a note of protest to him and
promptly refused Ghana $35 million of "Aid". These were the dynamics of the
condition engulfing Nkrumah at that time, even though most of us, because we
are so much obsessed with Western ideas and materials, think that
nation-building, especially in our case, was just easy. We do not know that
the countries of the West had to take centuries to establish themselves
which was characterised by very severe fraticidal conflicts and a brutal
onslaught on the peoples of other lands whom they ensalved and looted . Up
to today Europeans are trying to fully define themselves, as events in the
former Yugoslavia demonstrate. Ghana and Afrika cannot go that way, that is
why we have to realise that even in an individual's life there comes a
moment in which you have to open up your eyes because of the circumstance in
which you find yourself. This becomes more true for a society.So those of
you who claim that Nkrumah was a dictator and greedy, need to realise this
fact.For Nkrumah, the prime agenda was Ghana and Afrika and not any
individual, especially those bourgeois intellectuals who want the status quo
to remain so that they can continue to bash in their misguided prestige
while majority of our people continue to live in conditions of poverty,
disease and ignorance. This is an abnormal situation as far as Revolutionary
Pan-Afrikanists are concerned. America, which most of us admire today,
though sadly, had to spend the first 100 years of her independence on
fighting and oppressing each other. In fact the greater majority of
present-day USA never wanted a USA, but they had to be forced to accept and
belong. But nobody claims that George Washington or Abraham Lincoln was a
dictator. So why do you want to destroy and confuse us? why are you so
malicious? True, there were corrupt individuals in Nkrumah's government, but
that does not discourage us, because we know every society has its
contraditions. There are enemies everywhere, within and without. But was
Nkrumah himself corrupt or had he done anything to anyone out of malice or
greed or pomposity? All his actions are calculated and geared towards
building Ghana and Afrika. Most of us can criticise now, especially our
intellectuals. But that is just talking. Ask them what they have ever done
for Ghana with their so-called BA's, MA's and PHD's. Ask them, have they
ever organised one or two fellow Ghanaians to talk about Ghana's problems
seriously? Have they ever spent a whole night awake seriously thinking about
what they can do for Afrika? They are all talkatives who want some school
in America or Europe to employ them ot to head some UN project.They are all
running away from their distressed Motherland? Mkrumah does not belong to
that category.
Alan Rake said Nkrumah built a personality cult by naming himself
"Osagyefo". This is a big lie. In Afrika, our people are fond of giving
names to their beloved leaders. It is part of our culture. So that is why we
have 'Madiba' for Mandela, 'Mwalimu" for Nyerere, 'mushin' for Kenyatta and
'Kairaba' for Dawda Jawara, and many others.So where does your case lie,
Alan? We call him the Osagyefo which means the Redemeer.That title fits
him, and we are proud of it.
You pointed out that Nkrumah wanted to become president of Afrika. Who
told you that? Did Nkrumah himself tell you that? Or was it the enemies
of Afrika who told you? Surely it must be them. Nkrumah declared on May 25
1963 at Addis Ababa in Ethiopia on the day the OAU was formed that he was
ready to serve under any leader in the United States of Afrika.He even
proposed at that gathering that Bangui or Leopoldville in Central African
Republic and Congo respecitvely to be the capital of the New Afrika. He did
not name himself or Accra or Kumasi. So how can you conclude that he wanted
to lead Afrika. Never in his life has he ever said or gave an impression
that he wanted to be the president of Afrika.So to claim that is a white lie
only designed to distort facts and destroy our leader. This was the same
madness the neo-colonialist puppet leaders of most French-speaking countries
in Afrika at the time were spreading, surely under pressure from their
devilish French masters. The lying is too much, man!
You also insinuated that the Osagyefo concentrated power in his hands, and
by-passed the parliament. Now you may think that the parliament in Ghana at
that time was a true parliament, but I tell you it was nothing other than a
bundle of neocolonialist bourgeois agents who were the internal force of the
imperialists bent on destroying the progress of Ghana and Afrika. Could you
imagine a patriotic parliament in an emerging country like Ghana objecting
to the building of the Akosombo Dam? They couldn't see the wisdom in it that
to industrialise and develop first and foremost you need energy! But they
couldn't see it because they lack vision for Ghana and Afrika. Nkrumah noted
that:
"a serious well-intentioned opposition keeps a government alive to its
responsibilities, guarantees exteme care in the preparation and formulation
of programmes and underlines the need for sponsors of legislation to be able
to justify their proposals."
In other words an opposition must be constructive.He said this is the
strength of the opposition in established democracies of the world.
"They recognise that they, together with the government of the day, proceed
from the major premise that they have a joint aim to advance the welfare of
the people...the government initiates; the opposition is constructively
critical."
This was not the case in ghana and because they have been repeatedly
rejected by the electorate the possibility of gaining office by
constitutional means was remote,they resorted to indecent politics. Nkrumah
speaks again:
"their politics have been narrowly regional in concept, and often violent,
abusive and terroristic in action. Within parliament, the castigation of the
cabinet has been, to them, and end in itself rather than an instrument for
securing better condition for the people...it may be argued that some of
these characteristics are present in any opposition party. This is true, but
not to the same extent as in Ghana.Elsewhere they are set in the context of
an alternative over-all programme of government.The Labour party in Britain,
for example, follows a political doctrine opposed to that of the
Conservative Party. Ideologically they are widely removed. There are clashes
over such concepts as nationalisation. There remain, however, broad areas of
internal and foreign affairs where there is a community of view... the
opposition in Ghana cannot boast this same sense of responsibility and
maturity".
In fact Nkrumah did personally invite J. B. Danquah to join his government,
arguing that Ghana being so young does not need infighting among her
people.He refused. This clearly shows that we didn't have an opposition, but
a bunch of self-destroyers, bourgeois intellectuals overwhelmed by colonial
mentality and myopics who are interested only in their personal welfare.
This is why Nkrumah declared a party-one state.
"A people's parliamentary democracy with a one-party system is better able
to express and satisfy the common aspirations of a nation as a whole, than a
multi-party parliamentary system which is in fact only a ruse for
perpetuating, and covers up, the inherent struggle between the 'haves' and
the 'have-nots'".
So Alan if you don't know the facts on the ground, shut your mouth and don't
foul the atmosphere.While you shout on Afrika to establish numerous parties
U.S and most of Europe have essentially two parties only, which are neither
regional, religious not ethnic, but patriotic and mature. And as Nkrumah
said, in fact, democracy and multi-partyism are not necessarily compatible.
You can have a democracy without multi-partyism, and on the other hand also
you can have mutli-partyism without democracy. sometimes, if not always,
multi-partyism serves only the elites and bourgeois, while majority of the
people suffer. For example, in India every minute they change a government
in parliament, but never is there a change of condition of the people. So
don't confuse us with your standards and desires. We know what we want and
we went for it. Majority, if not, all Afrikan countries have multipartyism,
but there is no iota of democracy and development in any of them. They are
all puppets, sterile and oppressive. Criticise those ones, and praise those
who are pro-people, like the Osagyefo.
You said "his dreams were soon shattered on the rocks of reality". Which
'rocks of reality?" The 'rocks of reality' which shattered his dreams and
our dreams are the United States and Great Britain and your allies. You
plotted against him and you removed him. I guess you must be proud of that.
It was because he was an obstacle to your diabolical activities in Afrika,
that you have to remove him. This is the reality. Why don't you just speak
the truth for once? While you call him a dictator, you never called Mobutu
a dictator, because that stupid man opened his legs wide open so that you
can rape Zaire as you please. Nkrumah is no prostitute and Ghana is a
dignified Black Star. No rapist can succeed.These are the "rocks of
reality", you refused to see.This is the same reason why you refused to see
the development which was taking place in Ghana, but only doom was what you
wanted to see there. But this attitude is typical of White people and
confused Black intellectuals.You never see anything good about anything or
anybody which is not admitting to your desires. This is especially true with
regards to Afrika. You have painted everything about Afrika as backward.
This clearly shows that no good thing comes from Afrika. You say our culture
and people are savages and backward, and your scholars went all out to
create theories and hypothesis just to prove that assertion. When we try
to define ourselves and chart a way for ourselves, you say we are wrong,
stupid and evil. Why?
And what beats my imagination is that Baffour Ankomah and all those Afrikan
staff at "New Africa magazine" are there without showing up any objection.
This is gross irresponsility and an act of betrayal. This act befits only
traitors. While they condemn our leaders, they are proud of their abominable
anti-christ dictators such as Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaule,
Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin etc.etc. Why don't you talk about those?
There wouldn't by any Nkrumah or a call for united Afrika if your fathers
and mothers had not stepped their filthy feet on our land. This has always
been their preoccupation to destroy our leaders. Anytime someone comes up
you beat him down. You either kill him or you smear him in order to get our
people shun that leader:
- Marcus Mosiah Garvey - smeared
- Kwame Nkrumah - smeared
- Amilcar Cabral - killed
- Sekou Toure - smeared
- Malcolm X - killed
- Martin Luther King - killed
- Tom Mboya - killed
- Eduardo Mondlane - killed
- Patrice Lumumba - killed
- Winnie Madikizela-Mandela - smeared
- Nelson Mandela - smeared
I call on all Afrikans everywhere to be alert, and for the first time to
stand up and defend the name and integrity of our leaders and Afrika, our
beloved Motherland. We have to understand that it was those leaders, who
were raped, killed, beaten, jailed and humiliated that we are free today.
But it is not complete, and it is our responsibility to complete it. To all
youths of Afrika, rise up and take your stands again. The enemy is at it
again, and as Nkrumah said they mask themselves in all manners. You can see
that while we thought the 'New Afrika' magazine is for us and truly we are
proud of it, on the whole it has in the midst of it our enemy!
To conclude, I demand the management of the Magazine to apologise to all
Black-people for such irresponsible, misleading and malicious article by
Alan Rake, immediately. We do not wish anybody or any magazine who bears our
name to ridicule us with impunity. We do not wish anybody or any magazine
who bears our name to destroy us. And we do not wish anybody and any
magazine who bears our name to mislead us.
Long live Afrika!
Long live the Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah and all our Leaders!
Long live Afrikan Unity !!!
MADI JOBARTEH
LEGON HALL
UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON
GHANA.
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