African youth must be agents of Pan Africanism - Bernard Mornah

The National Chairman of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Mr Bernard Mornah, has implored Africa’s youth to lead the campaign and struggle for African unity.

Africa’s unity, according to Mr Mornah, will maximise its economic strength and yield to the advantage of the youth, hence the need for them to channel their energies into matters aimed at resolving Africa’s differences.

He made the call when he delivered the keynote address at the Second Meeting of the Pan African, Federalist Movement (PAFM)-West Africa, held at the Memorial Modibo Keita, Bamako, Mali, last Friday.

The movement is a pro African group existing to champion the formation of a United Africa State (UAS) within a generation.

Stumbling block

Mr Mornah, who is the West African Coordinator of the Movement, maintains that although the concept of unifying states owes its origin to Africa, the continent has over the years failed to dissolve its “artificial” boundaries – a stumbling block to its economic, social and political development.

He lamented the absence of a vibrant African youth to relive the unity-oriented ideologies of its past leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah, Modibo Keita and Patrice Lumumba.

Economic strength

“Europe has learnt something from Africa. In the days when states in Europe were fighting among themselves, Nkrumah and the likes were trumpeting the call for unity in Africa. When European states identified their differences and came together, they enjoyed efficient economic strength. It is ironical that Africans who started the campaign are wandering in disunity,” he stated.

“We are a common people with no differences whatsoever within us in terms of culture and heritage. We should, therefore, not allow artificial demarcations established by our colonial masters to suggest our differences. We must dismantle all those borders. …. As said by Dr Kwame Nkrumah; Africans are not poor. We have allowed ourselves to be divided at our own detriment,” he noted.

PAFM’s second meeting

Last Friday’s meeting, which marked the PAFM’s second meeting in West Africa, with the first held in Accra last year, was on the theme: “Unifying States of Africa in this generation: What are the actions of the Malian Youth?”

It was supported by the government of Mali.

The meeting summoned high-spirited Pan Africanists from Mali, Ghana, Togo, La Cote d’Ivoire and other West African countries to discuss the way forward in the campaign aimed at making Africa attain a unified status.

In a related development, Mr Mornah and Ghana’s Ambassador to Mali, H.E. Major General Francis Adu-Amanfoh, were present at a short ceremony held by the government of Mali at the African Tower in Bamako, Mali, to observe the African Union (AU) Day.