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| President John Mahama |
By
Paul Ejime
Any
initiatives that seek to rekindle the dreams of Africa’s founding fathers and
mothers must be welcomed by all. But it is a strong indictment of the
continent’s post-independent leadership that almost 60 years after many of the
countries gained political freedom, Africans are more divided than ever.
President
John Dramani Mahama in a State of the Nation address to mark Ghana’s 59th
independence anniversary on 6th March 2016 made two important pronouncements
with foreign relations implications. The first was his government’s plan to
improve the knowledge and usage of the French language in Anglophone Ghana,
which is surrounded by French speaking nations. The advantages of this
strategic initiative if effectively implemented are many.
The
second policy statement of international import, but which almost escaped media
attention is that, starting next July citizens of the other 53 Member States of
the African Union (AU) can “obtain visas on arrival (in Ghana) with the option
of staying for up to 30 days.” President Mahama expects this measure to
stimulate air travel, trade, investment and tourism in Ghana, which like many
other African countries, is going through a difficult economic patch.
Historically,
this should not be a big deal in Africa that prides itself as the Land of
Hospitality, where the people are their brother’s and sister’s keeper. In fact,
Ghana’s independence President Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah had boasted on 6th March
1957 when the then Gold Coast became independent Ghana that “…our independence
is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of the African
continent.”
To
his credit, under Nkrumah and until his overthrow in the coup of 24 February
1966, Ghana granted visa exemptions to "persons of African descent"
born in the neighbouring West African countries, and members of the Casablanca
Group - Guinea, Tunisia, Mali, United Arab Republic, Morocco and Algeria -
which along with the Liberia Group, formed the Organization of African Unity
(OAU) in 1963, with the Pan-Africanist Ghanaian leader playing a leading role.
In his 1961 book, ‘I Speak of Freedom’, Nkrumah had also expressed the hope
that: “…the African race, united under one federal government, will
emerge not as just another world bloc to flaunt its wealth and strength, but as
a Great Power whose greatness is indestructible because it is built not on
fear, envy and suspicion, nor won at the expense of others, but founded on
hope, trust, friendship and directed to the good of all mankind.”
But
so much has happened with the concept of a United States of Africa, which took
its origin from the 1924 poem “Hail, United States of Africa” by Marcus Garvey,
American civil rights activist and great Pan-Africanist. The late Libyan leader
Muoamar Gaddafi had romanced with the same idea in his relentless push for the
formation of the AU, which succeeded the OAU in 2002, and many still talk with
passion about the African Renaissance.
As
expected the AU Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has lauded
Ghana’s visa-on-arrival plan, expressing the hope that “many other African
countries will follow suit, in the interest of achieving an integrated,
prosperous and peaceful Africa.”
Modern
Africa owes a debt of eternal gratitude to Pan-Africanists and independent
leaders such as Nkrumah, for their sacrificial struggles, so any initiative
that seeks to rekindle the dreams of those founding fathers must be welcomed by
all true Africans and friends of Africa. But it is a strong indictment on the
continent’s post-independent leadership that almost 60 years after many of the
countries gained political freedom, Africans are more divided than ever. Africa
is not zero-poor, but with the mismanagement of its rich human and natural
resources, bad governance, corruption and the vicious circle of social strife,
poverty and unemployment, there are today more skilled Africans in Europe and
the Americas than are in their home countries. And almost on a daily
basis thousands of disillusioned, hopeless and desperate African youths risk
their lives on perilous journeys to Europe.
It
is no longer news that Africa and Africans are fast losing their unique
identity, if they have not already done so, with Pan-Africanism now at best a
slogan to the inattentive ears of the present generation of Africans. Not a few
African leaders have proclaimed or still proclaim Africa as the centre-piece of
their national foreign policy. But the reality today is that while they
continue to pay lip service to African unity, most of these leaders, under the
guise of solving domestic problems, many of which are self-inflicted any way,
steal their countries dry to build personal castles at home and abroad.
Ghana’s
visa-on-arrival plan for AU citizens may also be viewed against the deafening
complaints by African citizens about the difficulties and humiliations they
suffer to obtain visas for Europe and the US. But the truth is that the process
for obtaining visas to African countries is no less laborious and frustrating.
For many Africans, travelling in the continent whether by road or by air is a
nightmarish experience. In some cases air fares cost more than elsewhere while
immigration and check points punctuate the transnational roads, some of which
are in terrible conditions, with the attendant extortion of travellers by the
border security personnel. The travel delays and the lack of deliberate
pan-African national policies have ensured that intra-African trade hovers
between 10% and 12% compared to 40% in North America and 60% in Western Europe.
The
15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) founded in 1975
deserves commendation for its 1979 flagship Protocol on Free Movement of
persons, goods and services, rights to Establishment and Residence, which
guarantees community citizens a free visa entry and stay in countries other
than their own for 90 days at first instance. In spite of its imperfections,
the implementation of this protocol is a major stride towards regional
integration and makes ECOWAS the only Regional Economic Community (REC) with a
free-visa regime. In fact, in the whole of Africa, it is only the Seychelles,
an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean off East Africa, with a
population of less than 90,000 people, which grants visa free access to all
foreign nationals.
Time
was when Africans took refuge and were even provided the national passports of
their host African countries during the independence struggles. Hundreds even
received free education in their host countries during the anti-Apartheid era.
But with globalization and world economic crisis African migrants who once
constituted the bulwark of economic development on the continent, have become
targets of violent xenophobic attacks by fellow Africans who accuse them of
stealing their jobs.
If
Europe is accused of erecting walls/fences to stop immigrants, African
countries are no less guilty of the erection of invisible walls against fellow
Africans even in their times of need.
With their ill-gotten wealth and multiple foreign visas, many African leaders and members of their families flaunt their ostentatious lifestyles abroad, while the majority of Africans are stranded and condemned to abject poverty at home. The same leaders bemoan capital flight and brain-drain from Africa but do very little or nothing to incentivise or create the enabling environment to retain local capital or manpower. Instead, they encourage the mass exodus of Africa’s best brains; discourage foreign investment and incite social crisis that cause death, destruction and render citizens, refugees in their own countries. With their dual/multiple nationalities, these unpatriotic leaders easily disappear with their families to enjoy their ill-gotten wealth abroad. And unsatisfied with presiding over comatose or non-existent local health systems, these selfish leaders are now promoting medical tourism at the expense of their own countries.
As
things stand, every African must undertake a serious realty check to determine
their Africanness and how they have derailed the lofty dreams of African
founding fathers, for the purpose of damage control/limitation. Symbolic
as Ghana’s visa-on-arrival initiative may seem, it is a reminder to Africans in
general about where they are coming from. The AU and various Pan-Africanist
groups/institutions and policy think-tanks must wake up from their slumber. It
is bad enough that through slavery, colonial and neo-colonial exploitations and
plundering, Africa’s sweat, blood and wealth were used to lay the foundations
for the industrialisation and transformation of many countries in Europe and
the Americas. For Africans themselves to now become champions of Africa’s
disunity/disintegration, and the continued siphoning of the continent’s resources,
is an unpardonable crime against humanity.
According
to Marcus Garvey: “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin
and culture is like a tree without roots.” It is not enough for Africans to
know their history and culture; or to continue to blame others for their woes,
they must use that knowledge strategically to work for the good of present and
future generations.
* Paul Ejime is a Media/Communications Consultant. This
article previously appeared in Sahara Reporters.
Editorial
Vietzman’s Controversy
Claims by Orli Veitzman Deputy Ambassador of Israel to
Ghana that Jesus the Christ is not the messiah who had been prophesied to save
the world has generated a huge controversy in religious circles.
It has been particularly shocking for those in the
Christian community who have supported Israeli atrocities in Palestine because
they believed that the conflict was between Muslims and Christians.
Now the cat is out and all of us know what the truth is.
At the very least we know that the conflict is between
colonial occupation and resistance to it,
While thanking Vietman for speaking the truth about Zionism,
we wish to implore all those engaged in this debate to resist the temptation to
apply bigotry.
Ghana’s constitution insists on respect for all religious
beliefs and that should be our guide in this disclosure.
