DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND AFRICAN STUDIES

FOURAH BAY COLLEGE

UNIVERSITY OF SIERRA LEONE

Module: History of Pan-Africanism (HIST 417)

First Semester, 2008

Instructor (Lecturer): Dr. (Professor) Alusine Jalloh

Name: Josephus J. Ellie

Final Year, History and Politics

Research Paper (Term Paper) Topic: “The Role of Kwame Nkrumah in Pan-Africanism”

Table of Contents
1. Introduction 3

2. Key Factors that Influenced Nkrumahs’ Pan – African Motives 6

3. Nkrumah’s Roles in Organizing Key Pan-African Events 8

3.1 Nkrumah’ Contributions to the 5th Pan-African Conference 8

3.2 Nkrumah in promoting African Unity 10

4. Nkrumah’s Writings and Pan-Africanism 15

5. Conclusion 16

6. References 17

Introduction

There is no one way to define Pan-Africanism. What constitutes Pan-Africanism, what one might include in a Pan-African movement often changes according to whether the focus is on politics, ideology, organizations, or culture? Pan-Africanism actually reflects a range of political views. At a basic level, it is a belief that African peoples, both on the African continent and in the Diaspora, share not merely a common history, but a common destiny. This sense of interconnected pasts and futures has taken many forms, especially in the creation of political institutions.

One of the earliest manifestations of Pan-Africanism came in the names that African peoples gave to their religious institutions. From the late-1780s onward, free blacks in the United States established their own churches in response to racial segregation in white churches. They were tired, for example, of being confined to church galleries and submitting to church rules that prohibited them from being buried in church cemeteries. In 1787 a young black Methodist minister, Richard Allen, along with another black clergyman, Absalom Jones, established the Free African Society, a benevolent organization that held religious services and mutual aid for “free Africans and their descendants” in Philadelphia[1].

One of the most notable Africans who contributed to Pan-Africanism was Kwame Nkrumah, former president of Ghana and founder of the independence of Ghana. In 1930, at Achimota College in Accra, the capital of the Gold Coast Nkrumah earned a teacher's certificate and taught at several Catholic elementary schools. In 1939 he graduated from Lincoln University with B. A. degrees in economics and sociology, earned a theology degree from the Lincoln Theological Seminary in 1942, and received M. A. degrees in education and philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania in 1942 and 1943. While studying in the United States, Nkrumah was influenced by the socialist writings of German political philosopher Karl Marx, German political economist Friedrich Engels, and Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin. He formed an African student’s organization and became a popular speaker, advocating the liberation of Africa from European colonialism.

He also promoted Pan-Africanism, a movement for cooperation between all people of African descent and for the political union of an independent Africa. In 1945 he went to London, to study economics and law. That year he helped organize the fifth Pan-African Congress, in Manchester; with black American sociologist and writer W. E. B. Du Bois, future president of Kenya Jomo Kenyatta, and American actor and civil rights activist Paul Robeson. In 1946 Nkrumah left his academic studies to become secretary general of the West African National Secretariat. That same year, Nkrumah became vice president of the West African Students Union, a pro-independence organization of younger, more politically aggressive African students studying in Britain. Nkrumah returned to the Gold Coast in 1947 when the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), a nationalist party, invited him to serve as its secretary general. He gave speeches all over the colony to rally support for the UGCC and for independence. In 1948, Nkrumah and several other UGCC leaders were arrested by British colonial authorities and briefly imprisoned. After setting up a series of colony-wide strikes in favor of independence that nearly brought the colony’s economy to a standstill, Nkrumah was again imprisoned for subversion in 1950.
However, the strikes had convinced the British authorities to move the colony toward independence. In 1951 Nkrumah, while still in prison, won the central Accra seat by a landslide. The British governor of the Gold Coast released Nkrumah from prison and appointed him leader of government business. The following year he named him Prime Minister. Reelected in 1954 and 1956, Nkrumah guided the Gold Coast to independence in 1957 under the name Ghana, after an ancient West African empire. Nkrumah built a strong central government and attempted to unify the country politically and to muster all its resources for rapid economic development.
As a proponent of Pan-Africanism, he sought the liberation of the entire continent from colonial rule, offered generous assistance to other African nationalists, and initially pursued a policy of nonalignment with the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). His goal was never realized, but his efforts helped bring about the Organization of African Unity, which promotes peace and cooperation between African nations. In 1960 Ghana became a republic and Nkrumah was elected president. Amongst the many things which make Nkrumah stand out as an extraordinary personality was his realization that Africans everywhere ought to unite in common effort to assert their dignity and use their resources for meeting their needs and realizing their aspirations. His ideas for the unity of all Africans has come to be known as Pan-Africanism and they have their roots in his experiences as a colonial subject, his sojourn in the United States of America and the racist experience he suffered there and his association with Pan-Africanist thinkers of the time including W. E. B. Dubious, Marcus Garvey, George Padmore and Makonnen.
His contributions to Pan-Africanism are herein looked at from his perspectives of an activist, a writer and a politician.

Key Factors that Influenced Nkrumahs’ Pan – African Motives

The factors which motivated Kwame Nkrumah’s Pan-African initiatives could be as many as one would imagine. But for the purpose of this research, I will limit them to two main one: his first hand experience with racism against blacks and the writings of eminent Black intellectuals.
Given the fact that Nkrumah came from a poor background, he had to work to pay for his education. He worked as a waiter and sometimes as a dish washer. He did anything which would put a few dollars in his pocket and help him fend for himself in a land which was obviously strange to a village boy from Nkroful. Nkrumah experienced racism at first hand. He saw that Africans were all victims of racism no matter where they came from. In searching for to questions about racism Nkrumah joined black students’ organizations and became acquainted with the ideas of such activists as Marcus Garvey. He read widely and was transformed into an activist. When Nkrumah moved to London in 1945, he joined other Africans and persons of African descent in implementing the ideas he had formed. They worked in the West African students Union and the West African National Secretarial for the sole purpose of accelerating the independence process in West Africa as part of the general struggle of emancipating the African wherever he may be[2].

Apart from his experienced with racism and his moves to counter them, he was also inspired by the writings of black intellectuals such as Marcus Garvey, W. E. B. Du Bois, and George Padmore, and his relationships with them. Much of his understanding and relationship to these men was created during his years in America as a student. Some would argue that his greatest inspiration was Marcus Garvey. Although he also had a meaningful relationship with C.L.R. James, Nkrumah looked to these men in order to craft a general solution to the ills of Africa. To follow in these intellectual footsteps Nkrumah had intended to continue his education in London, but ultimately found himself involved in direct activism. Then, motivated by advice from Du Bois, Nkrumah decided to focus on creating peace in Africa. Nkrumah's dedications to pan-africanism in action attracted these intellectuals to his Ghanian projects. Many Americans, such as Du Bois and Kwame Ture, moved to Ghana to join him in his efforts.

Nkrumah’s Roles in Organizing Key Pan-African Events

Nkrumah’s contributions in this regard are further divided into two forms. First, his contributions in organizing the 5th Pan-African Conference, and second, his passions towards promoting African Unity.

3.1 Nkrumah’ Contributions to the 5th Pan-African Conference

As mentioned earlier, the idea of Pan-Africansim was hatched in the 19th Century, but the most enduring representation of early-twentieth-century Pan-Africanism came in the Pan-African congresses. Through the efforts of W.E.B. Du Bois and others, five Pan- African congresses were held (The first in 1919 –France, the second in 1921- London, the third in 1923 – London & Lisbon, the fourth in 1927 – New York and the fifth in 1945 –London. The 5th Pan African Congress was a departure from earlier ones to the extent that there was a strong participation from the youth and students of Africa. Earlier Pan African Congresses were dominated professionals and members of the intellectual class.

It is widely held that Nkrumah's own involvement with the West African students Union and Associations of African students in the United States of America contributed largely to this departure. The strong participation of youth and students in this congress was also a clear manifestation of Nkrumah's organizational ability.

The 5th Pan African Congress was particularly important because it defined and clarified the ideology of Pan-Africanism. It defined Pan Africanism as an anti-imperialist concept and saw its prime movers as workers and the underprivileged. Pan Africanism was also seen as an enterprise at building socialism.

A resolution which was drafted by Nkrumah and adopted by the Congress read as follows;

“We believe in the rights of all peoples to govern themselves. We affirm the rights of all colonial peoples to control their own destiny. All colonies must be free from foreign imperialist control, whether political or economic. The peoples of the colonies must have the right to elect their own government; a government without restrictions from a foreign power. We say to the peoples of the colonies that they must strive for these goals by all means at their disposal. The object of imperialist powers is to exploit. By granting the right to the colonial peoples to govern themselves, they are defeating that objective. Therefore, the struggle for political power by the colonial and subject peoples is a first step towards, and the necessary pre-requisite to complete social, economic and political emancipation. The fifth Pan-African Congress, therefore, calls on the workers and farmers of the colonies to organize effectively, Colonial workers must be in the frontlines of the battle against imperialism……”[3]

Nkrumah's success in helping to organize the 5th Pan African Congress and his activities in the West African Union spread way beyond England to all corners of the African world. The leadership of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) heard of the exploits of this man at a time when their own organization needed rejuvenation. They quickly invited Nkrumah to take up the full time position of General Secretary of the Convention. This period became the entry of Nkrumah into political prominence. Even when he became president of Ghana, his quest for Pan- African in fact increased. For example, on the eve of the independence of Ghana, Nkrumah declared the “the independence of Ghana is meaningless until it is linked to the total liberation of the African continent.”[4]

3.2 Nkrumah in promoting African Unity

A lasting positive legacy left by Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana for African development is his vision for a Continental Union Government for Africa or a United States of Africa. Biney (2008: 131 in Botwe-Asamoah: 2005: 88) rightly submits that Nkrumah passionately advocated Pan-Africanism as the solution to Africa’s myriad economic, social and political problems and unequivocally reiterated his belief that no single African nation could progress without unifying politically and economically with other African countries in order to harness the economic potential and resources of the continent for the betterment of its people.

In 1947, drawing great inspiration from his deep involvement in the Pan- African movement between 1945 and 1947 as Organizing Secretary to the International Conference of the Pan-African Congress, Nkrumah published his most insightful book titled “Towards Political Freedom” (Agbi, 1986: 115 in Botwe-Asamoah 2005: 86). In the book, he canvassed for the coordination of African efforts in fighting racism, colonialism, minority governments and European exploitation in Africa. In order to achieve this goal, Nkrumah established a Pan-African Secretariat in Ghana which pursued the twin goals of total African independence and continental unity (Microsoft Encarta Library, 2004). Other giant steps taken by Nkrumah for the promotion of African unity between then and 1960 included the followings:

Organization of the first conference of independent African States in April 1958: On 15 April 1958, all the eight independent states of Africa (Ghana, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Liberia, Morocco, Ethiopia and Egypt) met at Accra, Ghana. The aims of the Conference, which was convened by Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, were: to exchange views on matters of common interest; to explore ways and means of consolidating and safeguarding the independence of African states; to strengthen the economic and cultural ties between African countries; to decide on workable arrangements for helping fellow Africans still subject to colonial rule and to examine the central world problems of security and peace According to Nkrumah, the conference was a historic occasion as free Africans met together on the African soil to examine and consider African affairs. The Accra Conference no doubt resulted in a great upsurge of interest in the cause of African freedom and unity.

In December 1958, also at the instance of Nkrumah, about sixty-two African nationalist organizations were represented at the All- African People’s Conference which discussed at length plans to harmonize and coordinate strategies for nationalist agitations in Africa with the aim of achieving political independence for African states within the shortest period.
November 1959, the Conference of All- African Trade Union Federation was held. This meeting was held in November 1959 at Accra, Ghana. It was well attended by representatives of trade unions all over Africa. Matters relating to the welfare of workers across Africa were deliberated upon.
The Conference on Positive Action and Security in Africa was again convened. This conference took place in April 1960 at Accra, Ghana. It was called by the government of Ghana in consultation with other independent African States to discuss issues relating to the total liberation of Africa with the basic goal of guarding against neo-colonialism and balkanization of Africa (Nkrumah, 1963: 137-38).
The Second Conference of Independent African States was organized at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 1960. In mid- 1960, twelve African states met as indicated above. The meeting was a follow- up of an earlier conference held at Accra, Ghana in April 1958.Members reiterated their political will and commitment to the total eradiation of colonialism from Africa. On the 18 July, 1960, the Conference of African Women was also organized. This conference was held at Accra, Ghana on 18 July, 1960. For the first time, African women made up of wives of African political and nationalist leaders, women activists and professionals met to give a gender backing to the concept of African unity and independence. The major agenda of the conference centered on freedom, unity, social and economic progress and the welfare of women. It was indeed a major step at enhancing the status of women and prepared them ahead for the task of nation building (Nkrumah, 1963: 138 in Botwe-Asamoah, 2005: 90). It needs to be observed that despite all the above mentioned conferences conveyed by Kwame Nkrumah, efforts at African unity were more of rhetoric’s. Cogent actions at actualizing African unity started to emerge in November 1958 largely due to the influence and commitment of Kwame Nkrumah.The first giant step taken by Kwame Nkrumah towards African political union took place on 23 November, 1958 when Ghana and Guinea agreed to form the Ghana-Guinea Union with a draft Charter of a “Union of African States”. In May 1959 the two countries formally announced the Union of their countries and christened it the “Nucleus of the Union of Independent African States” (Uwechue, 1996: 14; Onwubiko, 1985: 397 in Botwe-Asamoah, 2005:98). The Union was later joined by Mali in December 1960 to form the Ghana – Guinea- Mali Union. Later in April 1961, the Union produced a draft Charter of the United States of Africa. The basic aims and objectives of the organization as proposed in Article three (3) of the draft charter are:(i) To strengthen and develop ties of friendship and fraternal cooperation between the member states politically diplomatically, economically and culturally. (ii) To pool their resources in order to consolidate their independence and safeguard their territorial integrity. (iii) To work jointly to achieve the complete liquidation of imperialism, colonialism and neo- colonialism in Africa and the building up of African unity. (iv) To harmonize the domestic and foreign policies of its members so that their activities may prove more effective and contribute more worthily to safeguarding the peace of the world. At the end of the meeting, a communiqué titled ‘Declaration of Principles’ was issued which proposed the establishment of a Community of Independent African States with membership open to all Independent African States and federations. Its proposed motto was Independence and Unity (Nkrumah, 1963:141 in Botwe-Asamoah, 2005: 110). Having examined some of the initial efforts made by Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana to achieve African unity, it is pertinent at this juncture to identify in clear terms the major components and objectives of his proposed African Common Government.

There is no gainsaying the fact that Kwame Nkrumah was one of Africa’s greatest sons of all times (Mazrui, 2002, cited in Mensah, 2007 in Botwe-Asamoah, 2005:115). This conforms to Lenrie Peters’ assertion that Kwame Nkrumah was miles ahead of his time in his postulation of a Common Government for Africa. (Peters, 1999: 8 in Botwe-Asamoah, 2005:116) Upon his personal observation that Africa was a very vast continent, blessed with diverse human and material resources but poverty ridden, grossly under- developed and notoriously exploited by advanced nations of the world, Nkrumah submitted that the only way out of Africa’s social, political and economic predicaments was unity. The major components of his proposed Union Government included:
(i) The immediate creation of a grandiose continental superstructure.
(ii) Total surrender of sovereignty of individual independent African state to a supranational body.
(iii) The establishment of the Federal Union Government of Africa.
(iv) Establishment of an African High Command as the defence unit of the continental government. According to Nkrumah, the organization of a system of joint defence will enable the union government to mobilize all the means of defence at the disposal of the states in favour of any state in the union which may become a victim of aggression (Quist-Adade, 2010 in Botwe-Asamoah, 2005:120). In his view, local forces of individual independent states of Africa were ineffective in combating any major attack upon any one of them. He argued that no single state in Africa was capable of protecting its sovereignty against imperialist aggressions. Hence, he cautioned that if Africans do not unite and combine their military resources for their common defence, individual states, may out of fear of insecurity, be drawn into making defence pacts with foreign powers which may endanger the security of the African continent (Nkrumah, 1963: 220 in Botwe-Asamoah, 2005:123). Apart from this, Nkrumah also warned that the maintenance of large military forces imposes a heavy financial burden on the then young African states that were in great need of capital for internal development. It would therefore be suicidal economically for each state to separately assume such a heavy burden of self-defense where the weight of the burden could be easily lightened by sharing it among them.

Nkrumah’s Writings and Pan-Africanism

Kwame Nkrumah wrote several books, articles and journals on different topics, and in different capacities and circumstances. Many of the books he authored advocated the unity of Africans from all over the world. Some of these books were “Africa Must Unite” (1963), “African Personality” (1963), “Neo-Colonialism, the last Stage of Imperialism” (1965) and “Class Struggle in Africa” (1970).

In “Neo – Colonialism, the last Stage of Imperialism”, Nkrumah coined the term "neo-colonialism" – "The essence of neo-colonialism is that the State which is subject to it is, in theory, independent and has all the outward trappings of international sovereignty. In reality its economic system and thus its political policy is directed from outside.”[5]

Nkrumah's strongest arguments for African Unity are made in his book “Africa Must Unite”. He writes “we in Africa who are pressing now for unity are deeply conscious of the validity of our purpose. We need the strength of our combined numbers and resources to protect ourselves from the very positive dangers of returning to colonialism in disguised forms. We need it to combat the entrenched forces dividing our continent and still holding back millions of our brothers. We need it to secure total African liberation. We need it to carry forward our construction of a socio-economic system that will support the great mass of our steadily rising population at levels of life which will compare with those in the most advanced countries”

For Nkrumah the situation in which Africa remains the richest continent on the globe whiles its people are counted amongst the poorest is untenable. He saw Pan-Africanism defined loosely as the ideology and activism of Africans everywhere united in the battle against their under development as a redeeming force. Pan-Africanism was not just an intellectual exercise, for Nkrumah it was the ideology for the liberation of the African from the clutches of oppression and exploitation.

Conclusion

It is very evident that not all the ideas on the unity of Africa were successful. For example, the idea of a United States of Africa was met with a lot of reservations from several other African leaders, who thought that such unity would be counterproductive for the sovereignty of their states. However, Kwame Nkrumah’s contributions to Pan-Africanism were very much germane to the success of the liberation of the African continent from the clutches of the colonial masters. In contemporary times now, most, if not all African states are grappling with the last stage of imperialism. That is, the independence of these states is being limited by economical, political and social ties with the west through bi-lateral and multi-lateral co-operations. This is what Nkrumah had visioned in the quest for a united Africa.

References

Kwame Nkrumah (1965) “Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of Imperialism” (Thomas Nelson & Sons, Ltd., London)

D. Zizwe Poe (2003) “Kwame Nkrumah’s Contribution to Pan-Africanism: An Afrocentric Analysis” ( Routledge, New York)

Kwame Botwe-Asamoah (2005) “Kwame Nkrumah’s Politico-Cultural Thought And Policies - An African-Centered Paradigm For The Second Phase Of The African Revolution” ( Routledge, New York)

Aremu Johnson Olaosebikan (2011) “Kwame Nkrumah And The Proposed African Common Government” (African Journal of Political Science and International Relations Vol. 5(4), pp. 218-228, April 2011)

The Encyclopedia Britannica I (1996) – 15th Edition ( Online)

Other Internet Sources

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[1] The Encyclopedia Britannica I (1996) – 15th Edition ( Online)

[2] Kwesi Pratt Jnr(2011) Socialist Forum of Ghana

[3] The Encyclopaedia Britinica I (1996) – 15th Edition ( Online)

[4] The Encyclopaedia Britinica I (1996) – 15th Edition ( Online)

[5] Kwame Nkrumah – “Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of Imperialism” (Introduction)