On this day, a great son of the Pan-African world was born. As we celebrate his birth, life and works –  in this year of return –  I pray the good Lord keeps him in his bosom.

Osagyefo worked for the good of Africa under very hostile circumstances. These included political chicaneries, myopia and bounded will power from the very people he was working with at the beginning of the struggle. As a result, the Conventions People’s Party, the CPP, was birthed.

Osagyefo had a clear vision – to overcome the powerlessness of African states in order to entrench the right to self-determination and enhance fair trade through the unity of Africa.

His vision was partially accomplished thanks to his efforts, that of his CPP and the chiefs and people of Ghana.

But he had a noble goal to totally deconstruct the impediments that slavery and colonialism had visited not only Ghana but also Africa for the benefit of all Africans – this is well documented in the literature.

The late Kofi Awoonor aptly captures the plight of Africa in his allegory, “The Sea Eats the Land at Home.” In this poem, an apt picture of the anger of a personified sea (slavery and colonialism) is painted. This wicked sea came to the land at night like a thief and mercilessly swept through a town (Ghana including Africa) and left in its wake: sorrow; devastating destruction; and plunder of its belongings.

It is the effects of the anger of this personified sea imposed on Ghana and Africa which Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah dared to confront. But he was betrayed! …and ultimately overthrown from office as President in 1966 through a sponsored coup d’etat.

He’s dead and gone but his vision lives on – Nkrumah never dies! Indeed, his vision has found vent in the Africa Unions’ Agenda 2063 framework.

According to the AU, “Agenda 2063 is a shared framework for inclusive growth and sustainable development for Africa to be realized in the next fifty years. It is a continuation of the Pan-African drive over centuries, for unity, self-determination, freedom, progress and collective prosperity pursued under Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance.”

Relative to Agenda 2063, a cursory reading of the book, “Africa Must Unite” authored by Osagyefo not only demonstrates the extent of the depth and breadth of his vision but also points to a hopeful truth that, Africa is beginning to recalibrate its standing and fortunes in the global space albeit at a snail pace.

Any hope for Agenda 2063? I believe the answer rests with Africans and leaders of Africa. Shall we continue to leave the quest for Africa’s unity in the hands of our leaders who attend Africa Union meetings alone?

Or Africans will compel the AU to subject the unity of Africa to a referendum across Africa for all Africans to vote and decide on our collective fate? And if I may add, shall we continue to engage in annual condemnation of Africans-On-Africans xenophobic attacks?

Fellow Africans, until we are ready to ensure the total unification of our continent and insist on accountable leadership, Agenda 2063 may be a mirage or better still the progress which will be chalked may only be enough to scratch the surface of our problems.

On this day, as we celebrate Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s birth, let’s commit and rededicate ourselves to his vision for a united and prosperous Africa by taking giant steps to prosper and profit Africa and Africans.

Dr Edward Kofi Omane Boamah
Former Minister for Communications, Presidential Spokesperson
September 21, 2019