Renowned Kenyan legal scholar and orator, Prof. P.L.O. Lumumba, is calling for a fundamental reorganisation of Africa to enable the continent to reduce its dependence on the West and chart its own development path.
Speaking at the Padmore-Du Bois-Nkrumah Memorial in Accra ahead of the Memorial Day celebration of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah on September 21, Prof. Lumumba said Africa continues to depend heavily on Western countries for critical aspects of its development, which is worrying.
“ The European Union summons you to Brussels and tells you we can do business, and they don’t stop there. They even divide themselves. The British call you. The Italians call you. The Spaniards call you. The Russians call you in Sochi.
Everybody is calling you, including Brazil. So, Africans are busy moving from place to place like the proverbial yo-yo. We cannot gain economic independence until the day that we retreat and begin to go to the fundamentals.”
Touching on the need for African leaders to draw inspiration from Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Prof. Lumumba said the Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s vision of a united and self-reliant Africa remains relevant considering the continent’s development challenges.
“There are times when I say to myself, African heads of state, most of whom I respect, and ministers of finance should be put in a room for one week to read all the books of Kwame Nkrumah. That they may understand what he understood.”
Suggesting remedies, Prof. P.L.O. Lumumba called on Africans to reorganise themselves, arguing that the continent’s transformation requires a renewed commitment to unity, self-reliance and an African-led development agenda.
“We can be organised. The time for us to be organised is now to ensure we generate electricity, we have our working airline, to add value to our products, so that our animal skins and cotton are processed into clothes and shoes, to undertake research in our own universities.”
The remarks form part of activities commemorating the legacy of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, whose Pan-African vision continues to feature prominently in discussions about Africa’s political and economic future.
By Samuel Yeboah Adams
