21/09/2015 is the 106^th anniversary of the birth of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President, Pan-Afrikanist and “Afrika’s Man of the Millennium” (BBC Focus on Africa),  With his enthusiasm for liberation “fired” by the Most Eminent Prophet and King His Excellency Marcus Mosiah Garvey in the 1930s, through his co-organising of the pivotal 5^th Pan-African Congress in 1945, he lead Ghana to independence in 1957 with this famous exhortation:

‘”We are going to see that we create our own Afrikan personality and identity. We again rededicate ourselves in the struggle to emancipate other countries in Afrika; for our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of the Afrikan continent.”

Thus, Nkrumah sought to fuse elements of Marxist ideology with his nascent philosophy of Consciencism to diagnose the challenges facing Ghana and Afrika as a whole.  On the basis of this he set about advancing solutions.  A central theme was to make Ghana and Afrika self-reliant and he envisioned infrastructure development and industrialisation as the means.  This was necessary as the colonial state pursued under-development to consolidate domination. 

As a foundation for developing the infrastructure, Kwame Nkrumah’s Convention People’s Party (CPP) government prioritised the cultivation of the intellectual and skills capital by revolutionising the old colonial education system by introducing free basic education for all children and building teacher training colleges, technical colleges, secondary schools and three universities (University of Ghana, Cape Coast University, and the University of Science & Technology).  They additionally fortified the foundation of the fledgling state by establishing free medical care and building new hospitals.  They also built pipe-borne water systems, new roads and expanded the Civil Service.

The government also actively pursued the industrial development of the state, centred around the pioneering Akosombo Dam project to provide cheap electricity for not just Ghana but the entire region. They built factories and industries such as the Tema City Harbor and broke the monopoly of the multinational corporations in the Ghanaian economy, through nationalization policies. They created more jobs in the economy and increased wages and also set up the main Ghana Shipping Line – the Black Star Line.

Continentally, he advocated: common market for Afrika, an Afrikan currency, monetary zone and central bank as well as proposals for a common defence system and common Afrikan citizenship.

Had all these initiatives been instituted Ghana would within a short time been firmly on the road to self-determination and the Afrikan world would’ve had a concrete example to emulate.  Alas, the (now) well documented interference, intervention and sabotage by European interests not only put paid to Ghana’s salvation but any subsequent visionary who sought to traverse this route (e.g. Lumumba, Cabral, Sankara).

The European response has evidently been successful as few contemporary states or leaders, with the arguable exception Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and the indiginization programme (within the context of a decades old and ongoing European onslaught) have demonstrated the inclination follow this example.

However, as was the case with Papa Garvey before Kwame Nkrumah and the Makandal, Fatiman, Boukman, Dessalines axis in Haiti before Papa Garvey, the present challenge is to identify aspects of Nkrumah’s programme that can be adapted and applied to our current requirements.

So we ask the question,

What aspects of Kwame Nkrumah’s nation building programme can we apply today?

1. Where would Ghana and Afrika be now had Nkrumah’s programme been fully implemented?
2. Do we consider ourselves as a nation in the UK?
3. What infrastructural elements do we need to apply to be a nation?
4. What would we need to implement to be one?
5. What can about dealing with those who oppose our nation building aspirations from Kwame Nkrumah’s legacy?
6. What role does the interim National Afrikan People’s Parliament play in our nation building strategy?

Our special guests are:

Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and UNIA-ACL Ambassador for the UK.  A veteran activist of over 30 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An Africentric Guide To Excellence.

Dr. Kwame Osei: is a well-travelled Afrikan Historian, Writer, Political Commentator and Entreprenuer that has been on study tours to Kemet, Australia and India.  He has written over 100 articles that have appeared in a range of international publications and outlets including BBC, Black Britain, New African Magazine, as well Ghanaian journals The Daily Graphic, The Catalyst and Public Agenda. Bro. Kwame also presenter on Insite Radio (www.insiteradio.info), where he hosts a weekly magazine show on Saturday afternoons called Inside Afrika.

Tafadzwa ShakaRa Mbandaka: Tafadzwa ShakaRa Mbandaka is the son of renowned community activist Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka and is an experienced multi-faceted performer, writer & workshop facilitator and a member of the formidable Spoken Word collective Best Kept Secret. ShakaRa is now applying those skills as a freelance journalist. He has been a regular contributor to The Whirlwind Newspaper, providing commentary & reportage on youth culture, current events, artistic reviews and world affairs. He has written for various publications including The Final Call andThe British Blacklist.  For more information on ShakaRa go to: http://shakaraspeaks.com/.

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