Abdoulie,

You are most welcome; it's always a pleasure to share.

Regards,

Kabir.


On 7/5/07, jawo abdoulie <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Many thanks Kabir.
>
> Abdoulie Jawo
> University of Bradford
>
> Kabir Njaay <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Continental Government for Africa
>
> This is an excerpt from Kwame Nkrumah's Africa Must Unite*, published by
> Panaf Books, London, in 1963.*
> **
> We have seen, in the example of the United States, how the dynamic
> elements
> within society understood the need for unity and fought their bitter civil
> war to maintain the political union that was threatened by the reactionary
> forces.
>
> We have also seen, in the example of the Soviet Union, how the forging of
> continental unity along with the retention of national sovereignty by the
> federal states, has achieved a dynamism that has lifted a most backward
> society into a most powerful unit within a remarkably short space of time.
>
> From the examples before us, in Europe and the United States of America,
> it
> is therefore patent that we in Africa have the resources, present and
> potential, for creating the kind of society that we are anxious to build.
> It
> is calculated that by the end of this century the population of Africa
> will
> probably exceed five hundred millions.
>
> Our continent gives us the second largest land stretch in the world. The
> natural wealth of Africa is estimated to be greater than that of almost
> any
> other continent in the world. To draw the most from our existing and
> potential means for the achievement of abundance and a fine social order,
> we
> need to unify our efforts, our resources, our skills and intentions.
>
> Europe, by way of contrast, must be a lesson to us all. Too busy hugging
> its
> exclusive nationalisms, it has descended, after centuries of wars
> interspersed with intervals of uneasy peace, into a state of confusion,
> simply because it failed to build a sound basis of political association
> and
> understanding.
>
> Only now, under the necessities of economic stringency and the threat of
> the
> new German industrial and military rehabilitation, is Europe trying -
> unsuccessfully – to find a modus operandi for containing the threat.
>
> It is deceptively hoped that the European Community will perform this
> miracle. It has taken two world wars and the break-up of empires to press
> home the lesson, still only partly digested, that strength lies in unity.
>
> While we in Africa, for whom the goal of unity is paramount, are striving
> to
> concert our efforts in this direction the neo-colonialists are straining
> every nerve to upset them by encouraging the formation of communities
> based
> on the languages of their former colonisers.
>
> We cannot allow ourselves to be so disorganised and divided. The fact that
> I
> speak English does not make me an Englishman. Similarly, the fact that
> some
> of us speak French or Portuguese does not make us Frenchmen or Portuguese.
>
> We are Africans first and last, and as Africans our best interests can
> only
> be served by uniting within an African Community. Neither the Commonwealth
> nor a Franco-African Community can be a substitute.
>
> To us, Africa with its islands is just one Africa. We reject the idea of
> any
> kind of partition. From Tangier or Cairo in the North to Capetown in the
> South, from Cape Guardafui in the East to Cape Verde Islands in the West,
> Africa is one and indivisible.
>
> I know that when we speak of political union, our critics are quick to
> observe an attempt to impose leadership and to abrogate sovereignty. But
> we
> have seen from the many examples of union put forward, that equality of
> the
> states is jealously guarded in every single constitution and that
> sovereignty is maintained.
>
> There are differences in the powers allotted to the central government and
> those retained by the states, as well as in the functions of the
> executive,
> legislature and judiciary. All of them have a common trade and economic
> policy. All of them are secular, in order that religion might not be
> dragged
> across the many problems involved in maintaining unity and securing the
> greatest possible development.
>
> We in Africa who are pressing now for unity are deeply conscious of the
> validity of our purpose. We need the strength of our combined numbers and
> resources to protect ourselves from the very positive dangers of returning
> colonialism in disguised forms.
>
> We need it to combat the entrenched forces dividing our continent and
> still
> holding back millions of our brothers. We need it to secure total African
> liberation. We need it to carry forward or construction of a
> socio-economic
> system that will support the great mass of our steadily rising population
> at
> levels of life which will compare with those in the most advanced
> countries.
>
> But we cannot mobilise our present and potential resources without
> concerted
> effort. If we developed our potentialities in men and natural resources in
> separate isolated groups, our energies would soon be dissipated in the
> struggle to outbid one another.
>
> Economic friction among us would certainly lead to bitter political
> rivalry,
> such as for many years hampered the pace of growth and development in
> Europe.
>
> At present most of the independent African States are moving in direction
> which expose us to the dangers of imperialism and neo-colonialism. We
> therefore need a common political basis for the integration of our
> policies
> in economic planning, defence, foreign and diplomatic relations.
>
> That basis for political action need not infringe the essential
> sovereignty
> of the separate African States. These States would continue to exercise
> independent authority, except in the fields defined and reserved for
> common
> action in the interests of the security and orderly development of the
> whole
> continent.
>
> In my view, therefore, a united Africa – that is, the political and
> economic
> unification of the African Continent – should seek three objectives:
> Firstly, we should have an over-all economic planning on a continental
> basis.
>
> This would increase the industrial and economic power of Africa. So long
> as
> we remain balkanised, regionally or territorially, we shall be at the
> mercy
> of colonialism and imperialism. The lesson of the South African Republics
> vis-ą-vis the strength and solidarity of the United States of America is
> there for all to see.
>
> The resources of Africa can be used to the best advantage and the maximum
> benefit to all only if they are set within an overall framework of a
> continentally planned development. An overall economic plan, covering an
> Africa united on a continental basis, would increase our total industrial
> and economic power.
>
> We should therefore be thinking seriously now of ways and means of
> building
> up a Common Market of a United Africa and not allow ourselves to be lured
> by
> the dubious advantages of association with the so-called European Common
> Market.
>
> We in Africa have looked outward too long for the development of our
> economy
> and transportation. Let us begin to look inwards in to the African
> Continent
> for all aspects of its development. Our communications were devised under
> colonial rule to stretch outwards towards Europe and elsewhere, instead of
> developing internally between our cities and states. Political unity
> should
> give us the power and will to change all this.
>
> We in Africa have untold agricultural, mineral and water-power resources.
> These almost fabulous resources can be fully exploited and utilised in the
> interest of Africa and the African people, only if we develop them within
> a
> Union Government of African States.
>
> Such a Government will need to maintain a common currency, a monetary zone
> and a central bank of issue. The advantages of these financial and
> monetary
> arrangements would be inestimable, since monetary transactions between our
> several States would be facilitated and the pace of financial activity
> generally quickened.
>
> A central bank of issue is an inescapable necessity, in view of the need
> to
> re-orientate the economy of Africa and place it beyond the reach of
> foreign
> control.
>
> Secondly, we should aim at the establishment of a unified military and
> defence strategy. I do not see much virtue or wisdom in our separate
> efforts
> to build up or maintain vast military forces for self-defence which, in
> any
> case, would be ineffective in any major attack upon our separate States.
>
> If we examine this problem realistically, we should be able to ask
> ourselves
> this pertinent question: which single States in Africa today can protect
> its
> sovereignty against an imperialist aggressor? In this connection, it
> should
> be mentioned that anti-apartheid leaders have alleged that South Africa is
> building a great military force with all the latest weapons of
> destruction,
> in order to crush nationalism in Africa. Nor is this all.
>
> There are grave indications that certain settler governments in Africa
> have
> already been caught in the dangerous arms race and are now arming
> themselves
> to the teeth. Their military activities constitute a serous threat not
> only
> to the security of Africa, but also to the peace of the World.
>
> If these reports are true, only the unity of Africa can prevent South
> Africa
> and these other governments from achieving their diabolical aims.
>
> If we do not unite and combine our military resources for common defence,
> the individual States, out of a sense of insecurity, may be drawn into
> making defence pacts with the foreign powers which may endanger the
> security
> of us all.
>
> There is also the expenditure aspect of this problem. The maintenance of
> large military forces imposes a heavy financial burden on even the most
> wealthy States.
>
> For young African States, who are in great need of capital for internal
> development, it is ridiculous – indeed suicidal – for each State
> separately
> and individually to assume such a heavy burden of self-defence, when the
> weight of this burden could be easily lightened by sharing it among
> themselves.
>
> Some attempt has already been made by the Casablanca Powers and
> Afro-Malagasy Union in the matter of common defence, but how much better
> and
> stronger it would be if, instead of two such ventures, there was one
> over-all (land, sea and air) Defence Command for Africa.
>
> The third objective which we should have in Africa stems from the first
> two
> which I have just described. If we in Africa set up a unified economic
> planning organisation and a unified military and defence strategy, it will
> be necessary for us to adopt a unified foreign policy and diplomacy to
> give
> political direction to our joint efforts for the protection and economic
> development of our continent.
>
> Moreover, there are some sixty odd States in Africa, about thirty-two of
> which are at present independent. The burden of separate diplomatic
> representation by each State on the Continent of Africa alone would be
> crushing, not to mention representation outside Africa.
>
> The desirability of a common foreign policy which will enable us to speak
> with one voice in the councils of the world, is so obvious, vital and
> imperative that comment is hardly necessary.
>
> I am confident that it should be possible to devise a constitutional
> structure applicable to our special conditions in Africa and not
> necessarily
> framed in terms of the existing constitutions of Europe, America or
> elsewhere, which will enable us to secure the objectives I have defined
> and
> yet preserve to some extent the sovereignty of each State within a Union
> of
> African States.
>
> We might erect for the time being a constitutional form that could start
> with those states willing to create a nucleus, and leave the door open for
> the attachment of others as they desire to join or reach the freedom which
> would allow them to do so.
>
> The form could be made amenable to adjustment and amendment at any time
> the
> consensus of opinion is for it. It may be that concrete expression can be
> given to our present ideas within a continental parliament that would
> provide a lower and an upper house, the one to permit the discussion of
> the
> many problems facing Africa by a representation based on population; the
> other, ensuring the equality of the associated States, regardless of size
> and population, by a similar, limited representation from each of them, to
> formulate a common policy in all matters affecting the security, defence
> and
> development of Africa.
>
> It might, through a committee selected for the purpose, examine likely
> solutions to the problems of union and draft a more conclusive form of
> constitution that will be acceptable to all the independent States.
>
> The survival of free Africa, the extending independence of this continent,
> and the development towards that bright future on which our hopes and
> endeavours are pinned, depend upon political unity.
>
> Under a major political union of Africa there could emerge a United
> Africa,
> great and powerful, in which the territorial boundaries which are the
> relics
> of colonialism will become obsolete and superfluous, working for the
> complete and total mobilisation of the economic planning organisation
> under
> a unified political direction.
>
> The forces that unite us are far greater than the difficulties that divide
> us at present, and our goal must be the establishment of Africa's dignity,
> progress and prosperity.
>
> Proof is therefore positive that the continental union of Africa is an
> inescapable desideratum if we are determined to move forward to a
> realisation of our hopes and plans for creating a modern society which
> will
> give our peoples the opportunity to enjoy a full and satisfying life. The
> forces that unite us are intrinsic and greater than the superimposed
> influences that keep us apart.
>
> These are the forces that we must enlist and cement for the sake of the
> trusting millions who look to us, their leaders, to take them out of the
> poverty, ignorance and disorder left by colonialism into an ordered unity
> in
> which freedom and amity can flourish amidst plenty.
>
> Here is a challenge which destiny has thrown out to the leaders of Africa.
> It is for us to grasp what is a golden opportunity to prove that the
> genius
> of the African people can surmount the separatist tendencies in sovereign
> nationhood by coming together speedily, for the sake of Africa"s greater
> glory and infinite well-being, into a Union of African States.
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
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