The Institute of African Studies of the University of Ghana is set to hold the All African People’s Conference (A.A.P.C) as apart of its 60th Anniversary, on Wednesday December 5 to Saturday December 8. The venue of the celebration is the Bank of Ghana Conference Facility at the University of Ghana-Legon.
This year is marks 60 years since the historic 1958 All African People’s Conference held in Accra. The theme for this year’s conference is, “Revisiting the 1958 All African People’s Conference- The Unfinished Business of Liberation and Transformation.”
The 1958 All African People’s Conference was the fist major Pan-African gathering on the African soil, hosted by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President with the theme “Hands Off Africa.”
The organisers of the Conference issued a call to all Nationalist Organisations, Trade union groups, women groups and youth groups all over Africa to come to Ghana in every December to discuss the final overthrow of colonialism and imperialism.
Speaking on GBC’s Uniiq FM Breakfast show, research fellow of the Institute of the African Studies, University of Ghana, Dr. Mjiba Frehiwot said the conference will be centered on the youth in Africa, Global Africa and the way forward.
The Conference will be touching on the areas of How the youth are coping in Africa, the challenges they are facing in the diaspora and the role the youth play in the Pan African movement. The conference will also be looking at the Pan Africanism academy.
There will be Scholars and activists will be present to talk about the way forward for Pan Africanism.
She added that the Conference is expected to bring all African Nations together to collectively address issues and problems the continent is facing and come up with solutions and road maps for Africa for the next 60 years.
“My final point about Pan Africanism and the way forward is that we need to reevaluate our analysis of leadership. We will move forward as a people when we all recognize that we are the leader that we seek. While you are looking for the Kwame Nkrumah or Patrice Lumumba, you are the leader that you seek,” she concluded.
Also, Professor of African Studies of the university of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Professor George Nzongola- Ntalaja hinted that the main achievement of the All African People Conference in the past 60 years is being able to bring total liberation of African countries from colonialism with the exception of western Sahara which is currently occupied by Morocco.
He also added that the way forward to Pan Africanism is to destroy colonial states and economy. He further explained that the colonial states were not established for the Africans but established for the Europeans, the colonial Empires and white settlers in the African colonies. The colonial States were Authoritarian states which oppressed the people of Africa. African People were subjected to hard labor. Therefore, to be able to push forward Pan Africanism, the colonial States but be destroyed.
“We have to start teaching the children the African history. The history written North and South of Sahara of the African People but not history written by the Europeans,” he advised.
Story by: Mavis Arthur
