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Speech
by Ambassador Yacoob Abba Omar, South African Ambassador to the
Sultanate of Oman on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary
of Ghana’s independence
8
March 2007. Muscat, Oman Members
of the Ghanaian community; Honoured Guests; Fellow Africans. Dear
friends There
is a particular poignancy, the South African Ambassador addressing
the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of Ghana’s
Independence. Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African to gain its
independence from colonialism, South Africa the last. The
ultimate liberation of Africa can be traced to Ghana’s
independence. The story of our struggle to free ourselves from
colonial oppression and exploitation is incomplete without the story
of Dr Kwame Nkrumah and the people he led. Today
as we celebrate the milestone of having achieved 50 years of
Ghana’s independence we must toast the millions of people who have
worked to ensure that Africa is reclaimed from the rapacious
clutches of the invaders. Dr
Nkrumah’s contribution to the liberation of Ghana and Africa has
placed him amongst the pantheons of leaders such as Gandhi, Julius
Nyerere and Nelson Mandela. That is why I am going to use this
opportunity to remind ourselves of what he and the independence of
Ghana stood for in the light of contemporary events. There
are three themes of his thought which guided the freedom struggle of
Ghana and which continue to influence the outlook of Africa’s
leaders. The
first theme is captured in his comments to the first All African
People’s Organisation conference of 1958 hosted in – yes
you’ve guessed it – Accra, shortly after Ghana had attained its
independence. “We
are not racialists or chauvinists. We welcome into our midst peoples
of all other races, other nations, other communities, who desire to
live among us in peace and equality.” He
went to explain the slogan Africa for Africans saying, “This does
not mean that other races are excluded from it. No. It only means
that Africans, who naturally are in the majority in Africa, shall
and must govern themselves in their own countries”. To
see his abiding influence let us fast forward to 1996 when South
Africa adopted its Constitution. This is what then Deputy President
Mbeki said of the people who can claim to be African: “I
owe my being to the Khoi and San…I am formed of the migrants who
left Europe to find a new home on our native land. Whatever their
own actions, they remain still part of me. In my veins courses the
blood of the Malay slaves who came from the East. I am the
grandchild of the warrior men and women…I come of those who were
transported from India and China, whose being resided in the fact,
solely, that they were able to provide physical labour, who taught
me that we could be at home and foreign…Being part of these
people, and in the knowledge that none dare contest that assertion,
I shall claim that I am an African”. The
second theme, which Nkrumah spoke to at the conference on Positive
Action and Security in Accra in 1960, was that of non-violent
resistance: He said “By our concerted non-violent positive action,
we can help to ensure that this march forward is a swift and
peaceful one”. At
the 1958 conference Nkrumah set not only his commitment to the
freeing of the African continent but that of all Ghanaians when he
said: “The independence of Ghana will be meaningless unless it is
linked up with the total liberation of Africa”. This was a theme
he was preoccupied with for most of his life. To all the problems of
Africa – poverty, disunity, differences – he offered one
solution: ‘strong political unity’ and ‘the African race
united under federal government’. This
third theme was echoed by current President Kufor when he said:
“This is a celebration not only for Ghana but also for the whole
of Africa. March 6 1957 changed the outlook of Africa”. Today the
continent has made huge advances in that vision of African unity: .
– We had the Inaugural Summit of the African Union in Durban, in July 2002. The end of the OAU and the ushering in of this new body was testimony to the new trajectory African had moved into: having ended colonialism and apartheid we could now concentrate on issues of development, security and the deepening of democracy. Thus far the Commission of the AU has been set up, acting as a super cabinet for the continent. The Pan African Parliament has already had its second sitting. – The Peace and Security Council has been established. It is working on the establishment of an Africa Standby Force. The Panel of the Wise has been appointed to advise on a number of issues – especially conflicts between African nations. A Common African Defence and Security Policy – which aims to ensure the peaceful resolution of conflicts between African nations – is being finalized. – There is steady progress towards the establishment of the African Economic Community by 2028. The achievement of this will help us realize Nkrumah’s dream of a United State of Africa. This is going to go through the following stages: • Strengthening or creation of Regional Ecomonic Communities such as SADC and ECOWAS. • Stabilize tariff and other barriers • Sectoral integration • Establish FTAs/Customs Union for each REC • Harmonise tariffs amongst RECs • Africa-wide Customs Union • Elect Pan-African Parliament and establish African Economic and Monetary Union, Central Bank, single currency • African Monetary Cooperation Programme for implementation by 2021. – We cannot talk of advances in Africa without touching on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). This is a common African platform to eradicate poverty, achieve sustainable growth and development, and jointly participate in the global economy and politics. It aims at achieving 7% growth for whole of Africa. – The African Peer Review Mechanism is an essential part of Africa’s Renaissance. It is a voluntary self-monitoring mechanism. I am pleased to recall that Ghana was one of the very first countries to volunteer itself to be assessed by its peers. – As part of all this I hope we can work together to make the 2010 World Cup a truly African affair not only by ensuring its logistical success – in the face of the Afro-sceptics – but also ensuring that an African team wins. Success
on all these fronts is dependent on a number of factors: greater
assistance from the developed world, which has benefited from the
centuries of colonial plunder of Africa’s riches. It requires a
stronger backbone by our leaders in combating corruption and
deepening democracy. It also requires efforts by each one of us. As
President Kufor said at the 6 March celebrations: “There
is no doubt that Africa and many of its nations are making progress.
I urge our young people to resolve to stay at home, use their energy
and enthusiasm to serve Africa.” The
celebrations in Muscat occur on yet another auspicious date:
International Women’s day. When we toast the people of Ghana and
the people of Africa for the road we have traveled let us keep a
special place for our mothers, wives, sisters and daughters. The
African woman has had to bear an increased burden and we cannot say
we are a liberated people unless our women are liberated from the
chores, which prevent them from realizing their full potential. In conclusion I would like to cite once again Thabo Mbeki who has said that when we recall the saying ‘Something new always comes out of Africa’ “This must be so, because out of Africa reborn must come modern products of human economic activity, significant contributions to the world of knowledge, in the arts, science and technology, new images of an Africa of peace and prosperity.” I Thank You.
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