Africa Must Unite!
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POLITICS AFRICA MUST UNITE! © Narendra Gajjar, Camera Press An imperative of our Time Oliver Tambo chatting with President Kaunda of Zambia and Presient Nyerere of Tanzania as the leaders depart from the Dar Es Salaam Summit I believe that the fundamental question we must consider, critically, as we celebrate the OAU@50, is - what have we done over half-a-century to advance towards the achievement of the objective of African unity? By Thabo Mbeki 12 THE THINKER POLITICS his year, 2013, Africa celebrates therefore a common African identity. in 1888: 50 years of the existence of It is because of this common African “We as well as you are of the Kush Tthe very first Organisation in identity that we find that the various tribe. We are African brothers. In the entirety of the existence of our languages, such as Hausa in Nigeria, addition we are close neighbours, as a Continent, the Organisation of African the indigenous languages in Southern result of which we ought to be united Unity (OAU), established to assert Africa, and kiSwahili in East Africa, and fight back and stand together and pursue the unity of Africa among to some extent, share some common against the European colonialists…” and despite its immensely diverse words, proverbs and idiomatic Abu Anja rejected this proposal on nationalities, cultures, languages and expressions. grounds that continue to play a role in religious beliefs, and imposed national Indeed, in antiquity, some Africans, Africa’s efforts to unite. He wrote to the boundaries. part of the very first members of the Emperor: Thus must we understand that the species homo sapiens, the global “As for your request for peace historic effort to achieve practically modern humanity, migrated out of while you remain (a Christian) infidel the unity of Africa, expressed through Africa, not bound by any physical this is impossible. There is nothing the establishment of the OAU, is only or political boundaries, to constitute between you and us, the Italians and 50 years old, and is therefore in its the founding base of today’s diverse the Europeans. Your safety is in Islam infancy. world community of peoples, in all and your destruction in your disbelief.” In this context we must take into Continents. However, early in the 1890s account the first historic task the OAU In effect, by the time of the Mahdist Sudan came into conflict with correctly set itself at its foundation. This Berlin Conference, the Africans had the Italian forces that had occupied was to unite in the ultimately successful established the fact in practice, through Eritrea. Among others this resulted in but otherwise complex and protracted the millennia, that they were bound the defeat of the Sudanese forces by struggle to ensure the total liberation the Italians in a battle in eastern Sudan, of Africa from colonialism and white Even today large at Kassala, in 1894. minority rule. This objective was only The following year, as Ethiopia achieved in 1994, 31 years after the swathes of our prepared to confront the Italian establishment of the OAU, with the Continent, across colonial forces, Ethiopian Emperor liberation of South Africa. Menelik II wrote to the ruler of Sudan, and without regard to Khalifa Abdullahi, suggesting the same African historical reality the many colonially cooperation between Ethiopia and During the millennia before the Sudan against European colonialism colonisation of our Continent, we imposed boundaries, which Emperor Yohannes IV had did indeed have a few Kingdoms as share the same proposed. established state formations, many of In his letter sent in April 1895, them with ill-defined jurisdictions in languages and Menelik wrote: terms of territory and sovereignty over cultures, and therefore “When you were at war against distinct ethnic groups. Emperor Yohannes, I was also fighting The fact is that largely, as Africans, a common African against him; there has never been a war we did not have the hard borders of identity. between us, (Sudan and the Ethiopian individual “nation states”, even in the regional Shoa Kingdom)…Now, we Sudan, Egyptian and Carthaginian together by a common identity, not are confronted by an enemy worse antiquity. These were imposed on the defined by any borders or boundaries. than ever. The (European) enemy has Continent as a result of the infamous The periods of slavery and come to enslave both of us. We are of 1885 Berlin Conference, which carved colonialism obliged the then African the same colour. Therefore, we must up Africa into geographically defined leadership, certainly during the 19th co-operate to get rid of our common territories owned by the various Century, to recall and evoke the fact of enemy.” European colonial powers. These this historical common African identity. This time, eight days before, and boundaries largely serve as Africa’s Accordingly it called for the unity of all subsequently, during the historic Battle current State borders. Africans to defend themselves against of Adwa, at which the Ethiopians Over the millennia the Africans the predations of the foreign colonising defeated the Italians, ensuring the migrated freely and widely across our powers. independence of Ethiopia, the Continent, effectively treating our Sudanese forces engaged the Italians in Continent as a common patrimony and Early African resistance to a number of battles in eastern Sudan, matrimony. Colonialism but were defeated. This is the reason that even today For instance, when the Sudan However, despite their temporary large swathes of our Continent, across Mahdist forces were about to invade victories, the Italians were obliged to and without regard to the many Ethiopia, Emperor Yohannes IV of maintain significant forces at Kassala colonially imposed boundaries, share Ethiopia sent this prescient message to during the period of the Battle of Adwa, the same languages and cultures, and the Mahdist leader, Hamdan Abu Anja, to ensure that Khalifa Abdullahi’s Volume 51 / 2013 13 POLITICS Sudan forces did not attack the Italians just as, in the First Scramble for Africa, development, to achieve the socio- from the rear. Thus, by reducing the one tribe was divided against another economic transformation of our size of the forces the Italians could to make the division of Africa easier, Continent in favour of the ordinary commit at Adwa, Sudan contributed to in the Second Scramble for Africa one African masses; and the Ethiopian victory at Adwa. nation is going to be divided against • the building of a system of politics These interactions between the another nation to make it easier to and governance on our Continent then two independent African States of control Africa by making her weak and not dominated by domestic and Ethiopia and Sudan, towards the end divided against herself… international private capital, which of the 19th Century, especially in the “African Nationalism is meaningless, capital would produce politicians context of the colonisation of Africa, is anachronistic, and is dangerous, if it interested in self-enrichment, rather tell an important story which I believe is not at the same time Pan Africanism.” than the eradication of poverty and still holds important lessons for Africa as In the same speech Mwalimu underdevelopment for the benefit we continue to address the challenge Nyerere reflected on capitalism. This of the working people. of achieving the unity of Africa. was to discuss the development path With regard to our own country, which independent and united Africa What Emperor Haile Selassie said South Africa, many of us who were would have to pursue, in Mwalimu’s Two years after Mwalimu Nyerere brought up politically by the ANC view, taking care to refuse to be delivered the speech we have have always known that the goal of dominated by either the Western or cited, on May 23, 1963, Ethiopian African unity has stood out as one of the then Socialist countries. Emperor Haile Selassie I delivered the central objectives of our national Mwalimu said: his historic Opening Address to begin liberation movement. This is because “To my mind, capitalism went the proceedings of the Conference of what we learnt from our history, wrong when it divorced Wealth from of Independent African States which from the period of the establishment of its true purpose. The true purpose of established the Organisation of African the ‘Ethiopian Church’ in our country - Wealth is to satisfy very simple needs: Unity – the OAU. a Church independent of the colonial the need for food, the need for shelter, This seminal speech was fully European Church towards the end of the need for education and so on. In consistent with what Mwalimu Nyerere the 19th Century - and even earlier, to other words, the end of Wealth is the had said. In fact it defined in greater the moment of the establishment of the banishment of Poverty; and Wealth is detail what should be done to give ANC. to Poverty what Light is to Darkness… content to the shared aspiration for the What emphasised this for us was “There is enough Wealth in every unity of Africa. that the ANC was established with one state for every individual to satisfy It might be that some readers of this of its specifically expressed objectives these basic needs. But the moment any article may be surprised and amazed being “to bury the demon of tribalism” individuals in a single state begin to use that I will refer so insistently to what – the tribalism which had created the Wealth, not for the satisfaction of those was said by a feudal African monarch, African disunity that resulted in the needs, not for the abolition of poverty, Emperor Haile Selassie I. victory of the European project (which but for the purpose of acquiring power In this regard I would humbly advise was disastrous for us as Africans), to and prestige, then there is not enough these to bear in mind that this feudal colonise our Continent! (Wealth).