Go away you do not represent any one here. You do not even know what it is like to be a bad man, neither to be a sad man nor what is like to be fated to telling lies.
When you are gone will any one loose control? Hell no.
Go away you do not represent any one here. You do not even know what it is like to be a bad man, neither to be a sad man nor what is like to be fated to telling lies.
When you are gone will any one loose control? Hell no.
Kojo T 10 years ago
Mwalimu J Nyerere was an Nkrumaist and belonged to his camp. Stop lying about him. Are you aware that in 1960 & 61 all the Tanzanian A level students came to write it from Ghana, Just check from Motown records. I was in Dar a ... read full comment
Mwalimu J Nyerere was an Nkrumaist and belonged to his camp. Stop lying about him. Are you aware that in 1960 & 61 all the Tanzanian A level students came to write it from Ghana, Just check from Motown records. I was in Dar and the people loved Nkrumah
Born to Win 10 years ago
Thank you very much Mr. Kojo T, we need people like you to tell the truth about the great achievements of the late Dr. Nkrumah and also his weakness, and I bet my last cedi that, he did more for Ghana, Africa and the world.
Thank you very much Mr. Kojo T, we need people like you to tell the truth about the great achievements of the late Dr. Nkrumah and also his weakness, and I bet my last cedi that, he did more for Ghana, Africa and the world.
CS 10 years ago
History always validates the VISIONARY.
Despite all your histrionics, the venerable Internet, which is your source of "acclaim", is quite "near silent" on the achievements of your favourite IDOLS!
Who in "African corrid ... read full comment
History always validates the VISIONARY.
Despite all your histrionics, the venerable Internet, which is your source of "acclaim", is quite "near silent" on the achievements of your favourite IDOLS!
Who in "African corridors" mentions Nyerere in any discussion, except Mister Mental Myopia Dr Okoampa!
Nana Ansah 10 years ago
Ahootan, you are such a miserable son of a gun and it seems that you are the one Mrs. Donkor is mentioning. If the cap fits; wear it . Telling lies over and over again in an attempt that if the uninitiated Ghanaian hears you ... read full comment
Ahootan, you are such a miserable son of a gun and it seems that you are the one Mrs. Donkor is mentioning. If the cap fits; wear it . Telling lies over and over again in an attempt that if the uninitiated Ghanaian hears your crap many times over they take it to be the truth will not work. Your Mate Meho NLM-UP fore-fathers used this old hat but it didn't work. They lost elections after election under British rule only tor resort to violence. You are recycling that conveyor belt nonsense in the 21st century. What do you think will happen- Zilch
How do you make declaration with boycotters and knaves who claim the an election under the auspices of the British colonial rulers who God on which side they were have been rigged?
Fact is these NLM-UP sour losers boycotted our regained Independence and went extra length to thwart it.
What you RAT should know is, there are ethics of journalism and certain standars have to be met. A media outlet cannot choose to tresspass the code because of its target group. There are norms to be met at all imes. This is why individuals can sue a press house or media outlet for character assassination if they do not check their Information before going to print or circulation.
Shame on you bogus pupil teacher. How do you make declaration with lawless people who are hatcting plans to eliminate you? And such a RAT like you is a teacher at a back alley community School?! Nothing good will come out your poor students who are at your mercy and pray for the end of each abyss lessons they have to endure.
GET BACK INTO RAT HOLRE BEFORE I....
Nana Ansah 10 years ago
How do you make declaration with boycotters and knaves who claim that the an election under the auspices of the British colonial rulers, who God knows on which side they were, have been rigged?
How do you make declaration with boycotters and knaves who claim that the an election under the auspices of the British colonial rulers, who God knows on which side they were, have been rigged?
NAKED 10 years ago
ewe man with an Akan name, i always read your comment under Okoampa's article,you always try to insult him why? if you hate him as you claim then stop reading his write ups, leave the man alone, is not by force to read his ar ... read full comment
ewe man with an Akan name, i always read your comment under Okoampa's article,you always try to insult him why? if you hate him as you claim then stop reading his write ups, leave the man alone, is not by force to read his article, even a mad man will tell you that you are a ..... A word to a fool is always repeated.
Nana Ansah 10 years ago
I will always confront and prevent this HE-GOAT with huge mental problems and his ilk from poisoning the minds of young and uninitiated Ghanaians. I will not remain silent in the face of evil. Damn it! You better shut your go ... read full comment
I will always confront and prevent this HE-GOAT with huge mental problems and his ilk from poisoning the minds of young and uninitiated Ghanaians. I will not remain silent in the face of evil. Damn it! You better shut your gob. Don't you primitive ape ever dare tell me when, where and how to speak up. You can do that in your tribalist dead end village. What is your real name you NAKED FOOL?
Now you uncultured NAKED BUSH RAT better stay clear from my Radar before I set my precision drones on you. Get lost! Bo1
NAKED 10 years ago
Nana Ansan i can infer from your comment that you don't have manners right from your childhood so you have grown with. "I will always confront and prevent this HE-GOAT with huge mental problem ilk from poisoning the minds of ... read full comment
Nana Ansan i can infer from your comment that you don't have manners right from your childhood so you have grown with. "I will always confront and prevent this HE-GOAT with huge mental problem ilk from poisoning the minds of young and uninitiated Ghanaians" my question for you, is insult the only way to confront a person? Can't you use any other means to confront him rather than the insult you are hurling on him? As sensible as you are i was expecting you to confront him with sense of decorum but not an insult as you always do. Opinion they say is like noses it differs from each other, the fact that you didn't agree with Okoampa does not necessarily mean that you should insult him, we can agree to disagree but in our disagreement we shouldn't insult ourselves but not you Nana Ansah the fact that you didn't agree with him means you should insult him but you claimed to be wise, cultured and civilized, don't let jealousy and envy beclouded your sense of judgment
Now to say that Okoampa have a mental problem so you won't allow him to poisoning the minds of young and uninitiated Ghanaians means that you are a patriotic, i have a few questions for you mr.patriotic man. A woman was bathing the time she realized a mad man has taken her clothe, should the woman chase the mad man or she should let the mad man go and she to continue her bathing? This is the situation where Okoampa you claimed he is a mad man write articles on here.
Ghanaweb for people to read to free their mind from captivity but Nana Ansah will read and started insulting Okoampa, why are you chasing the mad man? You and the person that you claimed he is mad, who is mad? To tell me that you are preventing him in other not to poisoning the minds of young and uninitiated Ghanaians is bogus and bias. Where were you when Rawlings poisoned the minds of young and initiated Ghanaians with tribalism etc, all the atrocities he perpetrated have you ever write any article against it or lambasting him for what he did? But you are here attacking Okoampa with an insult this alone tells me how hypocrite you are. Nana Ansah you can paint the town red, Okoampa careless, after all he has his own mind so you can go to hell if what you think is right, he is writing what he suppose to write but not what you Nana Ansah think.
You can call me any name you like but I careless, primitive is a national anthem in Ghana, am proud to be primitive and bush rat as you claimed I am. I will never insult you because I had good parents who brought me up and nurtured me with sense of decorum, insult is the last thing I will do, first of all, I never know you, why should sit behind cyber and insult a person I know him not? I thought you live in Heaven not knowing that you are living on the same earth with me, living in America doesn’t make you a civilized or cultured only black Afrikan like you will always spew such ignorant, you have stepped on a lion tail watch out what is coming, you have open cyber war between us this is just the beginning of our cyber war. For your information I will always defend any article posted by Okoampa, Akadu Mensema, Sarpong and others if you don’t understand go and burn the sea.
Follow me if you can but put all the burdens behind.
Nana Ansah 10 years ago
I will not remain silent in the face of evil.
I will not remain silent in the face of evil.
mensah abrampa 10 years ago
In Ghana, since most top appointments is the prerogative of the president and the firing of such appointees on radio has become the norm and sub-culture, it is not surprising to hear Dr Wilhemina Donkor speak out so loud and ... read full comment
In Ghana, since most top appointments is the prerogative of the president and the firing of such appointees on radio has become the norm and sub-culture, it is not surprising to hear Dr Wilhemina Donkor speak out so loud and cautious the way she did. She knows who butters her bread in an environment where jobs are as scarce as finding a gold nugget on a busy Kumasi street or looking for a needle in a haystack as they say elsewhere and she did what most ghanaians would do in a situation like this, beating the wooden sides of the talking drum instead of the leathered top. Talk smart and save a job rather than say the truth to lose a prestigious job.
Obviously everyone knows the political leadership regard the vitrol and trash talking on the airwaves as an essential part of political discourse and political capital. Not only are there numerous serial callers who get paid from the national purse with fringe benefits but there're ministerial appointees who spend many of their paid hours far away from their office desks trash talking their political opponentst on the various radio/fm talk shows . Why would the president not show maturity and leadership by calling such idlers and leeches to order? The answer is simple. These men are on the president's errand and he and his party are the intended beneficiaries of such misdemeanor. Eventually, just as Dr Donkor has predicted, this could trigger a civil war if not nipped in the bud. The president and his appointees must set the right tone for healthy political discourse in the country else they cannot escape blame when the inevitable happens. It's a duty and responsibility they owe the nation and its taxpayers. Whenever and wherever the head moves the rest of the body follows. It's incumbent on Mahama and his appointees who are paid from the public purse to set the right tone and the opposition will have no choice but to follow . A stich in time saves nine.
Aluta 10 years ago
quote: " It's incumbent on Mahama and his appointees who are paid from the public purse to set the right tone and the opposition will have no choice but to follow . A stich in time saves nine."
Do you sincerely believe the ... read full comment
quote: " It's incumbent on Mahama and his appointees who are paid from the public purse to set the right tone and the opposition will have no choice but to follow . A stich in time saves nine."
Do you sincerely believe the CRAP that any "opposition" in Ghana has the decency to show DECENCY?
mensah abrampa 10 years ago
Government of the day must lead and set the tone of political discourse in the country. Where much is given much is required. That's the way to go. If the opposition won't play ball then we shall all know where to lay the bla ... read full comment
Government of the day must lead and set the tone of political discourse in the country. Where much is given much is required. That's the way to go. If the opposition won't play ball then we shall all know where to lay the blame. Right now it doesn't make sense to live by conspiracy theories. Won't do us any good . All the ugly noises have got to stop right now.
Nana Yaw 10 years ago
okoampa-ahoofee just wont attention,that's all.You son of mate-mehu homo-fagget like you.
okoampa-ahoofee just wont attention,that's all.You son of mate-mehu homo-fagget like you.
NAKED 10 years ago
for your information is Asantes who started matemeho and their king Agyeman prempe the second donated 20 pounds at that time. Am writing a book entitled THE KINGDOM OF POLITICS. If you want copy kindly contact me but stop spe ... read full comment
for your information is Asantes who started matemeho and their king Agyeman prempe the second donated 20 pounds at that time. Am writing a book entitled THE KINGDOM OF POLITICS. If you want copy kindly contact me but stop spewing ignorance here.
Nana Yaw 10 years ago
okoampa-ahoofee just wont attention,that's all.You son of mate-mehu homo-fagget like you.tweaaa
okoampa-ahoofee just wont attention,that's all.You son of mate-mehu homo-fagget like you.tweaaa
YAW 10 years ago
Okoampa, a byword for bellicose patriotism for J B Danquah.
Okoampa, a byword for bellicose patriotism for J B Danquah.
Fred Minnah Donkoh 10 years ago
First off, professor, our name is Donkoh, and not Donkor. And the esteemed lady you write about pushed out of our mother’s womb some two years after I did. And if as far removed from Dr J. B. Danquah’s mother’s womb as ... read full comment
First off, professor, our name is Donkoh, and not Donkor. And the esteemed lady you write about pushed out of our mother’s womb some two years after I did. And if as far removed from Dr J. B. Danquah’s mother’s womb as you, are but still feel the need to champion his cause by reason of consanguinity, then, I will be derelict in the discharge of my duty of a big brother if I do not rise to the defense of my sister. But especially when you subtly seek to cast aspersions on her, and when your arguments are no more than shrill partisan diatribes, then my responsibilities in this regard become magnified.
It’s true some of your putative Big Six folks might have been left out of that historic Declaration. Was that unfortunate? Hell yes, it was! But was there blame to be assigned those refusing to play ball a certain way? Absolutely yes! Time and tide wait for no man. So when the architects of “mate me ho” decide after every turn to obstruct any ideas proposed by their perceived enemy, regardless of the merits of those ideas, then prudence will advice that they be left out of the forward movement. The Akans have a proverb: “wo tan okwadu a, na wo ayi ni mirika”, better translated as differences in philosophy should not make for automatic rejection of ideas. Your Big Whatever Number (Big 4 out of the Big 6) obviously did not heed to this time-honored counsel. Rev Dr Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” also speaks to your “Neglected 4” that those who most feel the boot prints of oppression must not wait for it to become comfortable to appeasers before they initiate direct action. I suspect you self –dubbed “African show-boy” must have been mindful of this edict in moving ahead with his declaration. That this declaration was an idea “whose time has come”, nor is the night on which it came blighted, is evidenced by the fact that no ruling entity after independence has called for the colonial masters to return to their once position of racial superiority.
Nor should President Nyerere’s sneer be an imperative for universal acceptance of his perception of reality. Again, during Dr King’s campaign, there were some, including black folks, who thought King’s agitation was unnecessary and or untimely. Black folks were used by the FBI to infiltrate such progressive organizations as the SCLC and serve as informants. I don’t know whose Nyerere’s paymaster was, but I do know that the call for the unification of Africa still continues to this day. Yes, there are, and will be challenges, but those do not constitute a death warrant to the idea. Yet still, I’m hesitant to call Nyerere, Quixote, and you, his Sancho Panza . I’m optimistic that this dream will one day become a reality and surpass the model for the European Union.
My sister may have a “decidedly one-sided concern” but that concern is for the peaceful co-existence and common weal of all Ghanaians. Unlike your many diatribes in this forum and elsewhere that seeks to foment hatred, divisiveness, and social upheaval. My expectation is that media folks like you will seek to generate a catharsis of discussion as opposed to being s… throwers; wherein lie respectability for yelling “fire” in a crowded theatre as it’s your penchant. My sister is an accomplished academic in her own right, probably more respected than you, and the description of her as being “Acting President of the Garden City University College” is an apt one and should not be an issue for derision.
I purposely omit my academic titles from this rejoinder unlike what you unfailingly do. The “habit doesn’t make a monk”!
MARK A. 10 years ago
EVERY SISTER SHOULD A BROTHER LIKE YOU!!
EVERY SISTER SHOULD A BROTHER LIKE YOU!!
Nana Ansah 10 years ago
This idoitic Ahootan binge dirnks and sits behind his computer to spew nonsense. He is a storyteller and top a bloody liar.
Somehow, this village Boy Okoamboni reminds of the soldier who marches out of step and complains ... read full comment
This idoitic Ahootan binge dirnks and sits behind his computer to spew nonsense. He is a storyteller and top a bloody liar.
Somehow, this village Boy Okoamboni reminds of the soldier who marches out of step and complains that the rest of troop are marching out of order. He is an inveterate drunkard and besides a barefaced and conscious liar.
Freddy, if it is of any comfort to you, possibly avoid or ignore this notorious liar, who even God cannot help. Do not waste your time on him. This paperweight Akyem zealot can not last a round in face off with me.
Kojo T 10 years ago
Okaompa likes to distort facts and this is one of them. Nyerere and Ali Mazrui who I met in peson were all for United Africa
Okaompa likes to distort facts and this is one of them. Nyerere and Ali Mazrui who I met in peson were all for United Africa
Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D. 10 years ago
By all means, you can defend your sister but you cannot either twist or ignore the historical truths about the real heroes of Ghana's independence.
I am sorry, but I cannot help you with your morbid diffidence is displayin ... read full comment
By all means, you can defend your sister but you cannot either twist or ignore the historical truths about the real heroes of Ghana's independence.
I am sorry, but I cannot help you with your morbid diffidence is displaying your academic and/or professional credentials; and neither do I give a hoot what they are or where you earned them. I earned my degrees (all five of them) the hard, traditional way and intend to use them as long as life permits. That is precisely why I earned them.
You may want to check the spelling of your sister's last name from the referenced source of my article. I did not interview your sister for my article, but did the perfect thing as a news commentator or news feature columnist.
Now, zip your self-importance nonsense about you or your sister's societal worth and/or significance. I care not a whit! I have gone far past such crap.
MARK A. 10 years ago
WE'RE GONE PAST THE BIG 6. WE WILL NOT CONTINUE FIGHTING OVER A 57 YEAR OLD DISPUTE OF THE BIG 6. THEY'RE ALL DEAD.. LET THEM DIE WITH THEIR DISPUTE. THOSE WHO TRY TO KEEP THIS OLD AND DEAD DISPUTE ALIVE SHOULD STOP AND BEGIN ... read full comment
WE'RE GONE PAST THE BIG 6. WE WILL NOT CONTINUE FIGHTING OVER A 57 YEAR OLD DISPUTE OF THE BIG 6. THEY'RE ALL DEAD.. LET THEM DIE WITH THEIR DISPUTE. THOSE WHO TRY TO KEEP THIS OLD AND DEAD DISPUTE ALIVE SHOULD STOP AND BEGIN TO LIVE IN THE PRESENT. THE WAY IS FORWARD. CIVIL RIGHTS, GENDER EQUALITY, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE FOR ALL. THIS WHAT WE SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT, NOT THE BIG 6!!
Nana Ansah 10 years ago
Source: New African | Thursday, 26 July 2012 17:12
Julius Nyerere: 'Without Unity, There Is No Future For Africa'
An extract from a speech given by Tanzania’s founding president, Julius Nyerere (pictured right), in ... read full comment
Source: New African | Thursday, 26 July 2012 17:12
Julius Nyerere: 'Without Unity, There Is No Future For Africa'
An extract from a speech given by Tanzania’s founding president, Julius Nyerere (pictured right), in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, on 6 March 1997 on how he saw African unity in the 21st century.
For centuries, we had been oppressed and humiliated as Africans. We were hunted and enslaved as Africans, and we were colonised as Africans. The humiliation of Africans became the glorification of others. So we felt our Africanness. We knew that we were one people, and that we had one destiny regardless of the artificial boundaries which colonialists had invented.
Since we were humiliated as Africans, we had to be liberated as Africans. So 40 years ago, we recognised [Ghana’s] independence as the first triumph in Africa’s struggle for freedom and dignity. It was the first success of our demand to be accorded the international respect which is accorded free peoples. Thirty-seven years later – in 1994 – we celebrated our final triumph when apartheid was crushed and Nelson Mandela was installed as the president of South Africa. Africa’s long struggle for freedom was over.
I was a student at Edinburgh University when Kwame Nkrumah was released from prison to be the Leader of Government Business in his first elected government [in 1951]. The deportment of the Gold Coast students changed. The way they carried themselves, the way they talked to us and others, the way they looked at the world at large, changed overnight. They even looked different. They were not arrogant, they were not overbearing, they were not aloof, but they were proud, already they felt and they exuded that quiet pride of self-confidence of freedom without which humanity is incomplete.
And so six years later, when the Gold Coast became independent, Kwame Nkrumah invited us – the leaders of the various liberation movements in Africa – to come and celebrate with Ghana. I was among the many invitees. Then Nkrumah made the famous declaration that Ghana’s independence was meaningless unless the whole of Africa was liberated from colonial rule.
Kwame Nkrumah went into action almost immediately. In the following year, he called the liberation movements to Ghana to discuss the common strategy for the liberation of the continent from colonialism. In preparation for the African People’s Conference, those of us in East and Central Africa met in Mwanza in Tanganyika to discuss our possible contribution to the forthcoming conference. That conference lit the liberation torch throughout colonial Africa.
Attempts at unity
Another five years later, in May 1963, 32 independent African states met in Addis Ababa, founded the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), and established the Liberation Committee of the new organisation, charging it with the duty of coordinating the liberation struggle in those parts of Africa still under colonial rule. The following year, 1964, the OAU met in Cairo [Egypt]. The Cairo Summit is remembered mainly for the declaration of the heads of state of independent Africa to respect the borders inherited from colonialism. The principle of non-interference in internal affairs of member states of the OAU had been enshrined in the Charter itself. Respect for the borders inherited from colonialism comes from the Cairo Declaration of 1964.
In 1965, the OAU met in Accra [Ghana]. That summit is not well remembered as the founding summit in 1963 or the Cairo Summit of 1964. The fact that Nkrumah did not last long as head of state of Ghana after that summit may have contributed to the comparative obscurity of that important summit. But I want to suggest that the reason why we do not talk much about [the 1965] summit is probably psychological: it was a failure. That failure still haunts us today. The founding fathers of the OAU had set themselves two major objectives: the total liberation of our continent from colonialism and settler minorities, and the unity of Africa. The first objective was expressed through immediate establishment of the Liberation Committee by the founding summit [of 1963]. The second objective was expressed in the name of the organisation – the Organisation of African Unity.
Critics could say that the [OAU] Charter itself, with its great emphasis on the sovereign independence of each member state, combined with the Cairo Declaration on the sanctity of the inherited borders, make it look like the “Organisation of African Disunity”. But that would be carrying criticism too far and ignoring the objective reasons which led to the principles of non-interference in the Cairo Declaration.
What the founding fathers – certainly a hardcore of them – had in mind was a genuine desire to move Africa towards greater unity. We loathed balkanisation of the continent into small unviable states, most of which had borders which did not make ethnic or geographical sense.
The Cairo Declaration was promoted by a profound realisation of the absurdity of those borders. It was quite clear that some adventurers would try to change those borders by force of arms. Indeed, it was already happening. Ethiopia and Somalia were at war over inherited borders.
Nkrumah was opposed to balkanisation as much as he was opposed to colonialism in Africa. To him and to a number of us, the two – balkanisation and colonialism – were twins. Genuine liberation of Africa had to attack both twins. A struggle against colonialism must go hand in hand with a struggle against the balkanisation of Africa.
Kwame Nkrumah was the great crusader of African unity. He wanted the Accra Summit of 1965 to establish a union government for the whole of independent Africa. But we failed. The one minor reason is that Kwame, like all great believers, underestimated the degree of suspicion and animosity which his crusading passion had created among a substantial number of his fellow heads of state. The major reason was linked to the first: already too many of us had a vested interest in keeping Africa divided.
Prior to the independence of Tanganyika, I had been advocating that East African countries should federate and then achieve independence as a single political unit. I had said publicly that I was willing to delay Tanganyika’s independence in order to enable all the three mainland countries to achieve their independence together as a single federated state. I made the suggestion because of my fear – proved correct by later events - that it would be very difficult to unite our countries if we let them achieve independence separately.
Once you multiply national anthems, national flags and national passports, seats of the United Nations, and individuals entitled to a 21-gun salute, not to speak of a host of ministers, prime ministers and envoys, you would have a whole army of powerful people with vested interests in keeping Africa balkanised. That was what Nkrumah encountered in 1965.
After the failure to establish the union government at the Accra Summit, I heard one head of state express with relief that he was happy to be returning home to his country still head of state. To this day, I cannot tell whether he was serious or joking. But he may well have been serious, because Kwame Nkrumah was very serious and the fear of a number of us to lose our precious status was quite palpable. But I never believed that the 1965 Accra Summit would have established a union government for Africa. When I say that we failed, that is not what I mean; for that clearly was an unrealistic objective for a single summit.
What I mean is that we did not even discuss a mechanism for pursuing the objective of a politically united Africa. We had a Liberation Committee already. We should have at least had a Unity Committee or undertaken to establish one. We did not. And after Kwame Nkrumah was removed from the African scene, nobody took up the challenge again.
Confession and plea
So my remaining remarks have a confession and a plea. The confession is that we of the first generation leaders of independent Africa have not pursued the objective of African unity with the vigour, commitment and sincerity that it deserved. Yet that does not mean that unity is now irrelevant. Does the experience of the last three or four decades of Africa’s independence dispel the need for African unity?
With our success in the liberation struggle, Africa today has 53 independent states, 21 more than those which met in Addis Ababa in May 1963. [Editor: With South Sudan’s independence in 2011, Africa now has 54 independent states]. If numbers were horses, Africa today would be riding high! Africa would be the strongest continent in the world, for it occupies more seats in the UN General Assembly than any other continent. Yet the reality is that ours is the poorest and weakest continent in the world. And our weakness is pathetic. Unity will not end our weakness, but until we unite, we cannot even begin to end that weakness. So this is my plea to the new generation of African leaders and African peoples: work for unity with the firm conviction that without unity, there is no future for Africa. That is, of course, assuming that we still want to have a place under the sun.
I reject the glorification of the nation-state [that] we inherited from colonialism, and the artificial nations we are trying to forge from that inheritance. We are all Africans trying very hard to be Ghanaians or Tanzanians. Fortunately for Africa, we have not been completely successful. The outside world hardly recognises our Ghanaian-ness or Tanzanian-ness. What the outside world recognises about us is our African-ness.
Hitler was a German, Mussolini was an Italian, Franco was a Spaniard, Salazar was Portuguese, Stalin was a Russian or a Georgian. Nobody expected Churchill to be ashamed of Hitler. He was probably ashamed of Chamberlain. Nobody expected Charles de Gaulle to be ashamed of Hitler, he was probably ashamed of the complicity of Vichy. It is the Germans and Italians and Spaniards and Portuguese who feel uneasy about those dictators in their respective countries.
Not so in Africa. Idi Amin was in Uganda but of Africa. Jean Bokassa was in Central Africa but of Africa. Some of the dictators are still alive in their respective countries, but they are all of Africa. They are all Africans, and all perceived by the outside world as Africans. When I travel outside Africa, the description of me as a former president of Tanzania is a fleeting affair. It does not stick. Apart from the ignorant who sometimes asked me whether Tanzania was in Johannesburg, even to those who knew better, what stuck in the minds of my hosts was the fact of my African-ness.
So I had to answer questions about the atrocities of the Amins and Bokassas of Africa. Mrs [Indira] Ghandi [the former Indian prime minister] did not have to answer questions about the atrocities of the Marcosses of Asia. Nor does Fidel Castro have to answer questions about the atrocities of the Somozas of Latin America. But when I travel or meet foreigners, I have to answer questions about Somalia, Liberia, Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire, as in the past I used to answer questions about Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia or South Africa.
And the way I was perceived is the way most of my fellow heads of state were perceived. And that is the way you [the people of Africa] are all being perceived. So accepting the fact that we are Africans, gives you a much more worthwhile challenge than the current desperate attempts to fossilise Africa into the wounds inflicted upon it by the vultures of imperialism. Do not be proud of your shame. Reject the return to the tribe, there is richness of culture out there which we must do everything we can to preserve and share.
But it is utter madness to think that if these artificial, unviable states which we are trying to create are broken up into tribal components and we turn those into nation-states, we might save ourselves. That kind of political and social atavism spells catastrophe for Africa. It would be the end of any kind of genuine development for Africa. It would fossilise Africa into a worse state than the one in which we are.
The future of Africa, the modernisation of Africa that has a place in the 21st century is linked with its decolonisation and detribalisation. Tribal atavism would be giving up any hope for Africa. And of all the sins that Africa can commit, the sin of despair would be the most unforgivable. Reject the nonsense of dividing the African peoples into Anglophones, Francophones, and Lusophones. This attempt to divide our peoples according to the language of their former colonial masters must be rejected with the firmness and utter contempt that it richly deserves.
The natural owners of those wonderful languages are busy building a united Europe. But Europe is strong even without unity. Europe has less need of unity and the strength that comes from unity in Africa. A new generation of self-respecting Africans should spit in the face of anybody who suggests that our continent should remain divided and fossilised in the shame of colonialism, in order to satisfy the national pride of our former colonial masters.
Africa must unite! That was the title of one of Kwame Nkrumah’s books. That call is more urgent today than ever before. Together, we, the peoples of Africa will be incomparably stronger internationally than we are now with our multiplicity of unviable states. The needs of our separate countries can be, and are being, ignored by the rich and powerful. The result is that Africa is marginalised when international decisions affecting our vital interests are made.
Unity will not make us rich, but it can make it difficult for Africa and the African peoples to be disregarded and humiliated. And it will, therefore, increase the effectiveness of the decisions we make and try to implement for our development. My generation led Africa to political freedom. The current generation of leaders and peoples of Africa must pick up the flickering torch of African freedom, refuel it with their enthusiasm and determination, and carry it forward.
So in the end Julius Nyerere vindicated Kwame Nkrumah before he passed away.
GOLD COAST 10 years ago
Nyerere was one of the leading Pan- Africanists of his generation.And his wisdom and vision as displayed above, should make the ethnocentric and fraudulent Mate Meho intellectuals bow their heads in shame.
PEACE
Nyerere was one of the leading Pan- Africanists of his generation.And his wisdom and vision as displayed above, should make the ethnocentric and fraudulent Mate Meho intellectuals bow their heads in shame.
PEACE
Born to Win 10 years ago
I earned my five degrees an African mentality, anyway, in America, one can earn more degrees even working at a fast food joint.Congratulation on your five degrees, my question is, what have you invented or discovered for Ghan ... read full comment
I earned my five degrees an African mentality, anyway, in America, one can earn more degrees even working at a fast food joint.Congratulation on your five degrees, my question is, what have you invented or discovered for Ghana l-a-t-e-l-y? Mr. Kwame Okoampa Jr.
Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D. 10 years ago
Cut this crap: Pan-Africanism and Nkrumaism are not synonymous. Nkrumaism is borne out of megalomania.
Cut this crap: Pan-Africanism and Nkrumaism are not synonymous. Nkrumaism is borne out of megalomania.
GOLD COAST 10 years ago
Ahoofe should be eternally grateful to Ghanaweb for offering a platform to vent out and save what's left of his rational mind.Other than that,he would probably be in a mental institution - if not running naked on the streets ... read full comment
Ahoofe should be eternally grateful to Ghanaweb for offering a platform to vent out and save what's left of his rational mind.Other than that,he would probably be in a mental institution - if not running naked on the streets of the Big Apple.
PEACE
Sam Donkoh 10 years ago
Kwame Okoampa the Pretty,
I cannot but join my brother, Fred, in heaping disdain on your ignorance and haughtiness. You, with your 5 degrees, chose to launch an attack on someone for a comment she is reported to have made ... read full comment
Kwame Okoampa the Pretty,
I cannot but join my brother, Fred, in heaping disdain on your ignorance and haughtiness. You, with your 5 degrees, chose to launch an attack on someone for a comment she is reported to have made without so much as look beyond your so-called source. Had you but checked, you would have discovered that there was a whole lot more in my sister's comment in the discussion that your source information was based on.
One last point, professor, to attack somebody's credentials without bothering to do a check, but rather focus on your own accomplishments, is self-serving, narrow-minded and the height of puffery. The wise Akan proverb says, "Nkyene nkanfo ne ho." But do you know any better?
Go away you do not represent any one here. You do not even know what it is like to be a bad man, neither to be a sad man nor what is like to be fated to telling lies.
When you are gone will any one loose control? Hell no.
Mwalimu J Nyerere was an Nkrumaist and belonged to his camp. Stop lying about him. Are you aware that in 1960 & 61 all the Tanzanian A level students came to write it from Ghana, Just check from Motown records. I was in Dar a ...
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Thank you very much Mr. Kojo T, we need people like you to tell the truth about the great achievements of the late Dr. Nkrumah and also his weakness, and I bet my last cedi that, he did more for Ghana, Africa and the world.
History always validates the VISIONARY.
Despite all your histrionics, the venerable Internet, which is your source of "acclaim", is quite "near silent" on the achievements of your favourite IDOLS!
Who in "African corrid ...
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Ahootan, you are such a miserable son of a gun and it seems that you are the one Mrs. Donkor is mentioning. If the cap fits; wear it . Telling lies over and over again in an attempt that if the uninitiated Ghanaian hears you ...
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How do you make declaration with boycotters and knaves who claim that the an election under the auspices of the British colonial rulers, who God knows on which side they were, have been rigged?
ewe man with an Akan name, i always read your comment under Okoampa's article,you always try to insult him why? if you hate him as you claim then stop reading his write ups, leave the man alone, is not by force to read his ar ...
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I will always confront and prevent this HE-GOAT with huge mental problems and his ilk from poisoning the minds of young and uninitiated Ghanaians. I will not remain silent in the face of evil. Damn it! You better shut your go ...
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Nana Ansan i can infer from your comment that you don't have manners right from your childhood so you have grown with. "I will always confront and prevent this HE-GOAT with huge mental problem ilk from poisoning the minds of ...
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I will not remain silent in the face of evil.
In Ghana, since most top appointments is the prerogative of the president and the firing of such appointees on radio has become the norm and sub-culture, it is not surprising to hear Dr Wilhemina Donkor speak out so loud and ...
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quote: " It's incumbent on Mahama and his appointees who are paid from the public purse to set the right tone and the opposition will have no choice but to follow . A stich in time saves nine."
Do you sincerely believe the ...
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Government of the day must lead and set the tone of political discourse in the country. Where much is given much is required. That's the way to go. If the opposition won't play ball then we shall all know where to lay the bla ...
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okoampa-ahoofee just wont attention,that's all.You son of mate-mehu homo-fagget like you.
for your information is Asantes who started matemeho and their king Agyeman prempe the second donated 20 pounds at that time. Am writing a book entitled THE KINGDOM OF POLITICS. If you want copy kindly contact me but stop spe ...
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okoampa-ahoofee just wont attention,that's all.You son of mate-mehu homo-fagget like you.tweaaa
Okoampa, a byword for bellicose patriotism for J B Danquah.
First off, professor, our name is Donkoh, and not Donkor. And the esteemed lady you write about pushed out of our mother’s womb some two years after I did. And if as far removed from Dr J. B. Danquah’s mother’s womb as ...
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EVERY SISTER SHOULD A BROTHER LIKE YOU!!
This idoitic Ahootan binge dirnks and sits behind his computer to spew nonsense. He is a storyteller and top a bloody liar.
Somehow, this village Boy Okoamboni reminds of the soldier who marches out of step and complains ...
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Okaompa likes to distort facts and this is one of them. Nyerere and Ali Mazrui who I met in peson were all for United Africa
By all means, you can defend your sister but you cannot either twist or ignore the historical truths about the real heroes of Ghana's independence.
I am sorry, but I cannot help you with your morbid diffidence is displayin ...
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WE'RE GONE PAST THE BIG 6. WE WILL NOT CONTINUE FIGHTING OVER A 57 YEAR OLD DISPUTE OF THE BIG 6. THEY'RE ALL DEAD.. LET THEM DIE WITH THEIR DISPUTE. THOSE WHO TRY TO KEEP THIS OLD AND DEAD DISPUTE ALIVE SHOULD STOP AND BEGIN ...
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Source: New African | Thursday, 26 July 2012 17:12
Julius Nyerere: 'Without Unity, There Is No Future For Africa'
An extract from a speech given by Tanzania’s founding president, Julius Nyerere (pictured right), in ...
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Nyerere was one of the leading Pan- Africanists of his generation.And his wisdom and vision as displayed above, should make the ethnocentric and fraudulent Mate Meho intellectuals bow their heads in shame.
PEACE
I earned my five degrees an African mentality, anyway, in America, one can earn more degrees even working at a fast food joint.Congratulation on your five degrees, my question is, what have you invented or discovered for Ghan ...
read full comment
Cut this crap: Pan-Africanism and Nkrumaism are not synonymous. Nkrumaism is borne out of megalomania.
Ahoofe should be eternally grateful to Ghanaweb for offering a platform to vent out and save what's left of his rational mind.Other than that,he would probably be in a mental institution - if not running naked on the streets ...
read full comment
Kwame Okoampa the Pretty,
I cannot but join my brother, Fred, in heaping disdain on your ignorance and haughtiness. You, with your 5 degrees, chose to launch an attack on someone for a comment she is reported to have made ...
read full comment