No, Pan-Africanism doesn't need government

Windhoek, Namibia
9 October 2015

Dear Zaya

Greetings

I downloaded your paper dated 1 October 2015 from Pambazuka News (issue 744) and have been reflecting since on a response. I have some four pages of handwritten notes, reactions to yours. I hope you do not mind me sharing some of these.

Does Pan-Africanism need revival? In answering this question I refer to the title of the book I co-edited, entitled ‘Pan-Africanism African nationalism – strengthening the unity of Africa and its Diasporas’, which is dedicated to the Late John Garang De Mabior, which is on sale, in 3rd edition. African nationalism informed the armed struggle in Africa. So did Pan-Africanism. Garvey’s UNIA had two offices in South West Africa around the first decade of the 20th century. Pan-Africanism cannot ‘die’. It is part of the political patrimony of Africans and their descendants.

Kimani Nehusi, the Guyanese-born scholar, sent me last week a draft curriculum for teaching Pan-Africanism. For a clearer, deeper understanding and articulation of Pan-Africanism the subject should be taught. It should not be left to individuals to push forward. It is part of the heritage of Africans in general. Governments to date have proven unwilling to implement this responsibility. This is why Pan-Africanism is the primary responsibility of Pan-Africanists, not governments. If it is to retain its integrity, Pan-Africanism should be wary of governments. People we respect never cease to say this and they are right, in my view. If Pan-Africanism is co-opted and controlled by governments, then we are finished. But this can never happen, because Pan-Africanism, like African nationalism, is part and parcel of our being. There will always be sell-outs and there will always be Pan-Africanists.

In this context, due care and attention should be given to dealings with the African Union Commission (AUC). It is a matter of record that the OAU was a compromise from its inception. Since then bureaucratic Pan-Africanism has not represented the aspirations of the People, rather than their governments. All this is known to us. The United Nations remains the primary vehicle of its ‘Security Council’. We also know the Pan-Africanists, at the turn of the 20th century, were primarily concerned about the humanity and dignity of Africans. This ethical direction has been lost.

You would not know, the late Tajudeen and Napoleon would, but I met Col Otafiire around 1992-3 in Windhoek. He had just been appointed head of Ugandan External Intelligence. In the group meeting in London in the late 1990s, in order to convene the 7th PAC, I approached the Ugandan authorities through their High Commission in London, requesting their assistance. When I moved to Windhoek in 1991, through correspondence Col Otafiire came to Windhoek in connection with the 7th PAC. He was followed by President Museveni. I was the only one amongst those invited to the First Prep Comm for the 7th PAC in Kampala, who pitched up. There I found Col Otafiire. You are inaccurate when you say ‘..any African can organize a Pan African Congress’. Such language is calculated to debase the movement. Surely the Congresses should add value, not detract. For instance the 8th PAC (Jhb) was not intended to be a footnote in history. It took place deliberately to address structural issues. In the end it is a matter of trust.

In my view your article seeks to define who a ‘Pan-African’ is, based on your recent experience. Yes, anybody can call themselves anything. But persons such as DuBois, Garvey, Padmore and Nkrumah were Pan-Africans who set the bar. Since, there are many pretenders. That is the nature of the Movement. It means different things to different persons. In my view your comments are too personalized. Who gave you the mandate? I would prefer to say it is the People who determine the sheep from the wolves in Pan-Africanism . Many are called, but few are chosen. Ours is a Movement where all speak, but few are listened to. This applies particularly to state actors, who have, in my view, consistently sold us short when it comes to Pan-Africanism.

Tajudeen taught us to ‘speak truth to power’, to be fearless. Direction cannot be left to the bureaucracy, because Pan-Africanism is on the frontline of the African People’s struggle. It is a People’s Movement. It is an interconnected, unstructured, progressive and democratic element in African political mobilization, in which respect is earned, not given. That is the hierarchy it has. The world we are in has changed 180 degrees from the times of Garvey and Nkrumah. Do we continue to apply uncritically their prescriptions ? Who does the fundamental research ? For instance AFRICOM is making fast and major in roads in Africa these days, on the basis of fighting terror, to the point where people don’t want to talk about it for fear of upsetting the US. Where is the African response ? These are the issues.

On the 31 August this year I left the services of the National Youth Council (NYC) of Namibia, after five years. I worked with its Executive Chairperson (EC), who for some three years was Vice-President for Southern Africa of the Pan-African Youth Union (PYU), Youth wing of the AUC. I note your references to the clamor of young Pan-Africanists for leadership. I thought amongst Pan-Africanists leadership was earned, not demanded. I gave books to the EC to assist his learning about Pan- Africanism. The Congo DRC current President of the PYU acquired her early exposure to Pan-Africanism here in Namibia, as a student at the University of Namibia. Are these the youth ‘clamoring’ for ‘generational’ leadership change in Pan-Africanism ? I know that such youth have much more study to do before qualifying for leadership, especially as regards ethics and the humanities. As far as I know leadership within Pan-Africanism requires much application and a deep understanding of the African nation in general. Many may claim leadership , but on what basis ? Youthfulness has not in the past been a qualification for leadership within Pan-Africanism. Rather the pitching of youth vs elders is a sure scenario for conflict, confusion and disunity.

Is it about building ‘the Africa we want’? In my understanding there are two elements for unity within the Pan-African agenda. These are the Diasporas in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Asia, etc and Africa. Both are of the same significance. Neither is more important than the other. In a sense you are right – the AUC was unable to implement the integration of the African Diaspora as the 6th Region, due to the nature of its composition. As far as the AUC is concerned there is only the continent of Africa. No effective involvement of the Diaspora in the decision making of the AUC. In recent weeks I have heard mention of developing a strong African state, able to ‘pull up’ Africans in general. Strategically and tactically that might be so, but even in such an eventuality, in my view, it would lose sight of historical background, to make Africa more significant than its Diasporas.
The process of convening the 8th PAC began with the meeting on 22 October 2005 held at Sapes Trust in Harare, Zimbabwe, convened by Dr Ibbo Mandaza. Seven persons were in attendance, Glenroy Watson, Sabelo Sibanda, Ibbo Mandaza, Chen Chimutengwende, Pakiso Tondi, Joyce Kazembe and B.F. Bankie. It was called a Preliminary Preparatory Meeting. I have the minutes of this meeting.

For the 8th PAC (Jhb) two preparatory meetings were held, that of 7 – 8 January 2010 was attended by 13 persons and that of 31 August – 2 September 2012 by 11 persons. Both meetings were held in Johannesburg and both drew participants carefully selected to represent the global African constituency. The Congress was convened, like the preparatory meetings, by Prof Kwesi Kwaa Prah, at the University of Witswatersrand, in Johannesburg, 14-16 January 2014. There was no consultation by others seeking to join the 8th PAC initiative in Johannesburg. Is it not more inclusive and in the spirit of unity that we all work together, than convening a succession of 8th PACs ? PAC is not a brand. It’s a concept of unity. The absence of consultation by those convening the 8th PAC (Accra), which was held 4-7 March 2015, with those who met in South Africa, has set a precedent.

The first I heard of a planned 8th PAC in Accra was in the AUC program dated 4 December 2013, for the celebrations of its 50th anniversary. I was later informed that the Chairperson of the AUC had assigned her assistant to Accra, to work towards the convening of the Accra 8th PAC. Where are the published outcomes/papers of the Accra Congress?

In Johannesburg we resolved, amongst others, that continental unity is not an option. Rather we opted for the unity of Africa South of the Sahara with its Diasporas as the primary objective of Pan-Africanism, which was articulated by the words ‘Africanism or Continentalism’. The papers from the Witswatersrand Congress are available from The Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS) in Cape Town.

Best regards
Bankie

* Bankie Forster Bankie

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