Wing against military dictatorships, fighting for trade union rights and for all other aspects of social justice. NT: The break with colonialism in Africa in the middle of the 20th century was ushered in by the struggle of the Ghanaian people under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah. By the end of the 20th century Africa had freed itself from the shackles of colonialism.
While this was a huge achievement, many of the hopes and aspirations of the African people in the postindependent period have not been realised. Why do you think this is the case? ENK: When I was talking about the type of movements and activities we support I referred to the forces that were marginalised in the anti-colonial struggle. This brings to mind your own organisation, the Attican Union People's Democratic of Southern Africa.
In the struggle for independence the imperialist forces were not lying back looking at the Africans freeing themselves. Through an alliance with right-wing Nkrumah (right) toasts US black civil rights activist WEB Dubois African forces they ensured that the post-colonial state was structured so that there was no real break in the colonial relationship.
The forces which acted as the tools of imperialism ran the state on behalf of these external torces. It was smoother way for colonialism to operate.
There was a unity in the forces involved in the anticolonial struggle between the working class, the peasantry and the petit bourgeois. But alter Independence tne majority of the petit bourgeois broke the relationship with the working class and the
and made all alliance with imperialism -leading to the crisis which Africa is facing now. NT: You had Moukoko Priso of the Cameroon Peoples' Union (UPC) the radical party of the Cameroon, address your organisation on the subject of Revolutionary Pan Africanism. While he praised Nkrumah as one of the pioneers of PanAfricanism, he contrasted the approach of the UPC to that of Nkrumah. Can you say something about these two approaches and where you see the place of Pan-Africanism today? ENK : The UPC participated In various lorums and seminars, which Nkrumah organised in Accra in 1963 before Lne formation Organisation of African Unity (OAU).
They held the view that bringing together reactionary pro-imperialist governments with more radical govern. ments in the OAU was not going to work in the interests of the African people, rather, progressive governments and organisations
Should come together in a separate body.
Nkrumah and his associates thought they had to compromise and bring all the governments of Africa together.
But in some of his later writings, particular "Revolutionary Path", after his overthrow by the CIA and MIS and in some of his other writings "Class Struggle in
and "Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare" Nkrumah took up similar positions to those of the UPC.
In discussing the place of Pan-Africanism today,
we have to bear in mind that the way was integrated into the world economv and its political boundaries and structures created were all externally determined.
People of African descent Inrougnoul the period of slaverv were brought to the North without their consent. The people of Africa and people of African descent living in the North have specInc places witnin tne rame• work of global capitalism today, which cannot he ignored.
Pan-Africanism is not in conflict with internationalism but is a facilitator of internationalism in that this section of the world's population is historically linked through its
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African people because it is a struggle of foreign powers for control of our resources. It is not a struggle to enable us. There is a real difference between what is happening now and the days of Mao when the Chinese did provide material support for the liberamon movements. NT: One consequence of the increase in proxy wars being fought all over the continent. Could you say something about these wars and how we could prevent these wars from raging? ENK: These wars assist the multinational corporations to olitics tries can nelp progressive forces in Atrica by fighting the war-mongers at home.
What we in ALISC have been doing in Britain is to work within the anti-war movement 1n Britain and show the commonality of the proxy wars and the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Because of the strength of the anti-war movement here it has played an important part in the mobilising of the Cairo Conference and the networking of anti-war groups.
The ALISC, networking African groups and working together with the anti-wal movement can make a contribution to making it harder for these proxy wars to continue. NT: You have outlined some of the ways in which Africans in the diaspora can help the African people in their ongoing struggles against their oppressors both internal and external. How they can fight against discrimination in the countries in which they are living and how they can link up with others who are oppressed there? ENK: Pan-Africanism facilitates internationalism. There is no way in which people of African descent in the diaswill be able to fight pora against oppression isolated from other forces especially in countries where they are a minority population. They must fight together with the oppressed section of the majority population.
ALISC makes it possible for progressive non Africans and oppressed Africans to work together creating common front of oppressed non Africans and the African minority in these countries on the basis of class.
and
Ihev arranged a meeting The socialist from Zimbabwe,
vameroon, Ghana, Kenya and also activists from the African American movement or une
The Panreverse the struggle. places in which we have found ourselves.
The unity 0I the PanAfricanists and the Latin American revolutionaries has to be linked with the unity of oppressed forces in Europe and the rest of the world.