Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Today’s CPP & The African Political Mission

The mission is being derailed, the vision is being destroyed, and the exploitation of the masses continues unabated. Inimical ideologies are derailing and destroying “The Mission and the Vision”. The decimation is unchallenged because the party is impotent and because the party has abandoned the ideology of the founder. The result is a party in demise and a people in agony. The masses are suffering because the party does not understand the founder.

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah

In the 1940s, Dr Kwame Nkrumah founded the Convention People Party – CPP and defined the African Political Mission. He was the quintessential great African leader and he represented a New Generation of Leadership because he understood the appropriate political mission for Africa. The exemplary leadership qualities he exhibited were instrumental in the successful mass political mobilization mounted to challenge ideologies detrimental to the wellbeing of Ghana and Africa.

His Leadership Attributes

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was a visionary. He saw the future of Ghana and Africa in the 1940s and immediately created plans to mobilize the African People to deal with the perils and challenges of global systems. He saw the dangers of disunity and the benefit of unification quite early. As a leader, he was a guiding star and a beacon of hope to all people of African descent. He lifted high the lamp that showed the way to liberty, security and prosperity and provided guidance to the liberation of Ghana and Africa from colonialism.

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah had the ability to inspire because of his personal credibility and integrity. His words and deeds were enough to motivate the people to greater goals. The masses were willing to listen to him due to this essential personal attributes. His leadership qualities motivated many Africans to devote their lives to African Liberation. History has proved that he was an African of impeccable credibility and integrity.

His indefatigable effort to lead Africa away from ethnic polarization is exemplary. He pleaded to all Africans to focus on the greater interest of Africa not on their respective ethnic interest because ethnocentrism is wholly inadequate against global hegemonies. He became the epicenter of the African unifying force against all foreign domination by building on the affinity of Africans.

His vision enabled him to quickly recognize the dynamics of African economies and global politics. He saw that the structure of the world economy was such that geopolitics and multinational companies will determine how nations develop. Accordingly, he stressed that the only way Africans can ever make progress and become masters of their own economies is to unite. He saw in unity the very survival of the African People.

He understood the world and Africa and developed an ideology and founded a political party to fulfill his vision of Africa. The ideology was a fervent belief in rapid African economic advancement through empowerment of a “unified African masses”. The party was the Convention Peoples Party – CPP.

The Convention People’s Party – CPP

The visionary power of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah enabled him to see that the ideology of the United Gold Coast Convention - UGCC was antithetical to “The Mission and the Vision” of Ghana and Africa. He renounced UGCC and founded the CPP, assembling a cadre of politicians across ethnic divide. The CPP quickly became a national party.

Dr. Nkrumah’s CPP

The need for rapid economic advancement for Africa was the reason for the formation of the CPP in 1949 as a vehicle of emancipation. It was a mass party that embraced farmers, fishermen, the rural folks, the rich and the poor alike. The party was committed to the freedom and dignity of the African everywhere, and committed to total independence of Africa. Dr. Nkrumah’s CPP was also committed to social justice and economic equality. The party believed that the state must ensure that all people are given equal opportunity to develop irrespective of ethnic affiliations. The most important driving force of the CPP was its political mission which was clearly reiterated by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in 1965:

"It was on the 12th of June, 1949, that the masses of our people witnessed the coming into being of the Convention People's Party. It was a time of great political awakening, and our Party was destined to lead the people to victory. This revolutionary Party of ours was to rekindle the torch of African nationalism and blaze the way to the total emancipation and unity of our continent."

Kwame Nkrumah, speaking for the CPP and the Government of Ghana, Address to the National Assembly. 12 June 1965

As reemphasized in the above speech, the Political Mission of Africa then was total African Liberation and African Unification, which were imperative to realizing the vision of mass economic empowerment and advancement of the African People. That was “The Mission and the Vision” of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s CPP. As a result of the intense commitment to the mission and the vision, modern day Ghana had a greater impact on the African Continent. The mission established a legacy - the legacy of the mass movements and organizations, which brought together Ghanaians from all ethnic backgrounds and Africans from all African States under the Pan-Africanist banner of the CPP.

In the quest of the African Political Mission, the CPP became the inspirational source of the overall anti-colonial struggle and earned great respect from so many African movements and individuals. This high political recognition created ideological and organizational tension with the UGCC. The pursuit of the mission won for the CPP continental and international respect. To get a better idea of the essence of the CPP ideology and why it was so universally respected by the people of Ghana and Africa we need only look at a couple of quotes from Dr. Kwame Nkrumah:

"I must once again emphasize that the masses of the people form the backbone of our Party and their living conditions and their welfare must be paramount in everything we do. It is for them in particular and Africa in general that our Party exists."

Speech at the 14th Anniversary of the Convention Peoples Party. 12 June 1963 "Our aim is to make this country a worthy place for all its citizens, a country that, will be a shining light throughout the whole continent of Africa, giving inspiration far beyond its frontiers. And this we can do by dedicating ourselves to unselfish service to humanity. "

Motion of Destiny speech. 10 July 1953

"We shall measure our progress by the improvement in the health of our people; by the number of children in school, and by the quality of their education; by the availability of water and electricity in our towns and villages, and by the happiness which our people take in being able to manage their own affairs. The welfare of our people is our chief pride, and it is by this that my Government will ask to be judged. "

Broadcast to the Nation. 24 December 1957

Dr. Nkrumah’s actions and sayings such as “their welfare must be paramount”, unselfish service to humanity, and, the welfare of our people is our chief pride underscore the ideology of the CPP. Clearly, the party was created as a political party of the African masses, by the African masses for the benefit of the African masses. That was the only way to realize the vision of mass economic empowerment and advancement. The improvement of the welfare of the African masses was central to the CPP and this can be achieved only by unselfish service.

The 1957 speech quoted above underscores the ideological distinction between the Nkrumahist tradition and the UP tradition, the offspring of the UGCC. Dr. Nkrumah’s speech clearly emphasized that the welfare of the people is not measured by meaningless and deceptive macro economic indicators but by the improvement in the health of the people, by the number of children in good schools, by the quality of their education, and by the availability of social amenities in our towns and villages. It was therefore not surprising that the party easily won elections in Ghana and its message resonated all across Africa.

The reason for the popularity of Dr. Nkrumah’s CPP was that no leader since his overthrow has had the capacity and the courage to be the visionary and unselfish leader that he was. Even though this vision was indubitably towering, it was in essence quite simple. All he wanted was for the party to build a better world for Africans everywhere.

Dr. Nkrumah’s CPP gave millions of Ghanaians and other Africans the opportunity to go to school. Many boys and girls became the first members of their families to be educated. The education in Ghana opened up opportunities for all people of all ethnic groups. Many leading members of Ghana’s political parties today benefited from Dr Nkrumah’s educational policies, so too were many Africans from various parts of Africa. African freedom fighters from countries still under colonial rule studied in Ghana.

The purity of the Nkrumahist ideology and the immense credibility and integrity of Dr. Nkrumah enabled the CPP to grow exponentially. As a result of the great accomplishment, no one can change the course of history and belittle the role of Dr Nkrumah and his CPP in the advancement of Africa. Although he was branded a dangerous communist after his overthrow, it has since been recorded in the annals of world history that Dr Nkrumah was perhaps the greatest African statesman that ever lived and his CPP one of the most successful political parties in Africa. The political triumph was due to fervent devotion to “The Mission & the Vision”. In view of the immense contribution to the people of Ghana and Africa, the title - The Osagyefo befits Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and the name Peoples Party befits Dr. Nkrumah’s CPP.

Now, let us look at Today’s CPP.

Today’s CPP – Pseudo-Nkrumahist?

Today’s CPP is quite unlike Dr. Nkrumah’s CPP. The founder’s leadership, ideology, mission and vision cannot be found in the party today. The party has lost its compass either because it does not understand the founder’s ideology or because it has abandoned his mission.

Today’s CPP has, since 1992, displayed a treacherous political characteristic and therefore cannot claim to be Dr. Nkrumah’s CPP. Because of this political trait, the people do not see in the party “The Mission and the Vision” so clearly propounded by Dr. Nkrumah. Neither do the people see it in the other self-professed Nkrumahist Groups of today. This has prompted the question – are all these groups “Pseudo Nkrumahist”? seeking to capture political power by just professing ideological unanimity with The Osagyefo. What is “The Mission and the Vision”? The electorate wants to know.

Today’s Nkrumahist Groups consisting primarily of CPP and PNC (Peoples National Convention), unlike Dr. Nkrumah’s CPP, do not reflect a national party and as a result are plagued by internal crises reflecting the classical African ethnocentric politics that has decimated many an African State. That the party today does not reflect a true national political party is evidenced by the ethnocentric political intrigues to control the Nkrumahist Tradition. For example, the failure of the CPP and the PNC to agree on party structure is a case of classic political scheming to acquire ethnic control of a political party, which is not unlike the other political parties in Ghana today. There have been accusations of ethnocentrism that have exacerbated the schism and affected the party’s image as a national party.

Recent events have given ample evidence to indicate that the problem of Today’s CPP is inability to galvanize the people, especially the youth to form a formidable party to compete with rival parties. The party is not grassroots because it is not acceptable to the masses. It is not seen as a Peoples Party. The party has not framed today’s political debate in conformity with “The Mission & the Vision” of The Osagyefo and have not been able to inspire people to join the party to enable it win elections again. Since the party is unattractive to voters, it has not been able to move Nkrumahism forward. The party has not allowed the people to elect a dynamic selfless leadership group that can create a political vehicle of mobilized masses.

The current leaders of the party are unwilling to give way to new leadership. There have been calls for elections to elect new leaders but this has degenerated into a lot of controversy in the party. There has also been a frequent call for the leadership to resign because they have failed the party. It has become obvious to many that the leadership have no clue of the problems confronting the party. They do not understand the political dynamics of Ghana today. They have difficulties but are reluctant give way to a new leadership team, democratically. The reluctance of the leadership has resulted in myriads of political failures. In addition, the elitism of the leadership has disconnected the party from the grassroots and has affected the national growth of the party. Evidently, Osagyefo’s leadership is totally absent in Today’s CPP.

The party is disorganized, confused and disjointed, visionless and without a clear message. Loyalty of the leadership to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s ideology is questionable thus lending credence to the perception of “Pseudo-Nkrumaist”. Many of its leading members have been co-opted and are looking out for their own selfish interests instead of working diligently to rebuild the party in line with “The Mission & the Vision”. Some of the leaders have revealed that they have their own hidden agenda that conflict with the agenda of Dr. Nkrumah’s CPP. There is evidence to posit that they have been co-opted by other party to permanently incapacitate Dr. Nkrumah’s CPP. Some have demonstrated that they have vested interest in the continual stay in office of the NPP than they have for the CPP. Are these people “Pseudo-Nkrumaists?” - virtual appendages of the NPP? The question persists because these individuals have shown no interest in the party and have shown that they have more to gain from the sordid state of the party.

For example, CPP members of Parliament consistently refuse to speak for the Nkrumahists but have rather chosen to join the bandwagon of the NPP. The CPP would have been acceptable to the masses if its members in Parliament speak about Nkrumahist position on issues on the floor of the House. But, they have discarded Dr. Nkrumah’s advice of selfless service for the welfare of the people and have chosen personal gain as their political ideology. Their treacherous political positioning has rendered the Nkrumahist Tradition ineffective and voiceless in Ghanaian politics. Their duplicity have prompted voters to ask the question - are they Nkrumahist or they are not?

Leadership selfishness is crippling the party’s growth. Ever since Ghana returned to constitutional rule in 1992, all manner of real and purported Nkrumaists have devised selfish strategies to clinch the leadership of a professed Nkrumahist party and then seek to make the idea of a “United Nkrumaist Political Party” a reality under their political party so as to eventually clinch the leadership of the Nkrumahist masses. The result of this is irreconcilable division. The integrity of these people is suspect because of the unabashed commitment to treachery by some of them. For example, a good number of people professing to be Nkrumaist have found it expedient to organize Nkrumahist followers for the benefit of other parties. This has consistently happened as far back as 1992 when the followers of the National Convention Party - NCP found out in the 11th hour that their leaders had been organizing them all along ostensibly to enable NDC party to become the first government of the 4th Republic. A variation on this theme is being played out in the relationship between some leading professed Nkrumahists and the ruling NPP government. Voters are asking - are they Nkrumaist or they are not?

The politically selfish desire to be the leader of “a political party” has splintered the Nkrumahist Group and without the articulation of “The Mission and the Vision” of The Osagyefo, voters do not know who the leaders are and what their parties stand for. There are too many people who want to be the supreme leader of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s masses. It does not make sense for every leader of every tiny Nkrumaist group to assume that he ought to be the over-all leader. In some cases, some of these leaders are so comfortable in their tiny fiefdoms that they are not even genuinely keen on the idea of a larger united Nkrumahist party. The possibility that they might lose the recognition that they currently enjoy, should there be a “United Nkrumahist Party”, may be too frightening for them, hence the reluctance to unite. How can these people unite Africa if their selfish interest is paramount? Do they accept The Osagyefo’s advice of selfless service to Ghana, Africa, and Humanity? Voters are asking - are they Nkrumahist or they are not?

It is totally contrary to Nkrumah’s teachings for anyone who professes to be Nkrumahist to embrace any ideological group that is the antithesis of Dr. Nkrumah’s ideals and form a coalition just to be elected to parliament. That is the height of selfishness, political disloyalty, and ideological hollowness. Instead of embracing such parties, Today’s CPP members must reformulate Nkrumah's ideas to suit the struggles of the twenty first century to enable the party win power appropriately enough to improve the well being of all Africans everywhere. Today’s CPP can become Dr. Nkrumah’s CPP, a truly national party, can win elections consistently and can improve the well being of the African masses if they adhere fervently to the ideology underpinning “The Mission and the Vision” of The Osagyefo.

In addition to leadership selfishness, there is the ideological hollowness of Today’s CPP, which is quite unlike Dr. Nkrumah’s CPP. The disunity of Today’s Nkrumaist Groups is a reflection of ideological vacuum. There is no ideological guidance and as a result all the so-called Nkrumaist parties are in disarray, weak and purposeless. The ideological void and lack of clear articulation of vision have caused the Nkrumaist Groups to perform abysmally poor in elections. Although the dwindling support of Nkrumaist Groups may be blamed on the fragmentation of the group, the decline is primarily due to the virtual rejection of “The Mission and the Vision” of The Osagyefo by Today’s CPP and the other Nkrumahist Groups. Osagyefo’s message has proven to be attractive to voters but it has been discarded by the party today.

Multiple professed Nkrumahist parties presented to voters are clearly indicative of a divided political front. This may have confused voters who might otherwise have voted for a Nkrumahist party. However, it is primarily the absence of selfless leadership and ideological purity that have caused voters to consistently jettison what they perceive to be “Pseudo-Nkrumahist” Although voters in Ghana today are looking to vote for the continuation of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s development agenda of mass economic empowerment and shared prosperity, they are reluctant to vote for any of these groups. This is because voters perceive these disunited groups as “Pseudo-Nkrumaist” who are so acutely selfish and visionless that they do not identify with these parties, hence the difficulty of the Nkrumaist to win elections. The voters believe that these groups do not represent the aspiration of The Osagyefo. Many of these groups thought that because of previous successes in Ghana politics they can merely present themselves to voters with Nkrumaist labels and that will be enough to guarantee electoral victory. They failed to recognize that the voters can discern who is genuine and who is not.

Winning elections in Ghana today requires more than just running as an Nkrumahist. It requires providing and selling the vision of the party to the electorates, and identifying with the problems of the people as well as providing very viable alternatives to the status quo. For example, Nkrumahist parties have not told the people that the severe hardship of life in Ghana today is the direct consequence of a potent concoction of foreign and ethnocentric ideologies, a blend of inhumane capitalist economics guided by ethnocentrism practiced and propagated by the regimes that have ruled Ghana since 1966. The masses have not been told to re-embrace Dr. Nkrumah’s ideology and his mission in order to be empowered to salve the nation from the hard life, poverty and diseases, which are the natural consequences of unbridled capitalism, the ideology of the Dr. Nkrumah’s political opponents who now rule Ghana.

The abysmal failure of Today’s CPP and the other Nkrumaist Groups is also due to disagreements about party labels. When leadership of closely associated political groups fights over such minor political branding issues as names, motto, and slogans, the groups are doomed to fail. Recent elections have confirmed this. Instead of adhering to the advice of The Osagyefo about focusing on “The Mission and the Vision”, Today’s Nkrumaist Groups have been fighting over these branding issues for over a decade.

Due to disunity and the lack of mission and vision of the groups, the voters believe that the Nkrumahist groups are not serious political entities and therefore are not fit to govern the country. Voters have dismissed them as trivial and inconsequential. The results of recent elections clearly indicate that what Ghanaians are looking for is not name, symbol and motto, but solutions to their problems. These minor political identifications have never been the panacea to the problems of any geopolitical entity. It is “The Mission & the Vision” that is imperative to political success.

There has been Unity Talks but it has moved at a tortoise’s pace for the past 10 years, yielding no concrete results. The talks have failed because of selfish parochial divergent political interest, entrenched positions and the lack of ideological commitment to The Osagyefo’s vision. With none of the leaders having the politically required visionary attribute, none has been able to form a dynamic, vibrant, political vehicle that would appeal to the masses and reactivate the party. Political reality supports the premise that it is only the dissemination of the true Nkrumahist ideology that can resurrect Dr. Nkrumah’s CPP, not the brandishing of logos.

The fight over symbols and motto belies political logic. Political movements do not become successful merely because of party identifications. The most important determinant is “The Mission & the Vision” – where do you want to lead the people to and how. Symbols and motto are just to facilitate the achievement of goals. Without a powerful and appropriate message acceptable to the people no symbol or motto can facilitate the achievement of political goals and objectives. Today’s Nkrumaist should know this very well because Dr Hilla Liman won an election when Dr. Nkrumah’s emblem were banned but through meticulous propagation of the popular Nkrumahist message by Alhaji Imoru Egala the Nkrumaist won. The NPP have won recent elections but they did not cling to UGCC, UP, or PP names and logos. They articulated their basic ideology and won. It’s the ideology that matters to voters not logos.

The party will be acceptable to the masses if the leadership is selfless and transparent. An Nkrumaist party today needs a virile and presentable core of people chosen by the people in a transparently competitive American style political process but devoid of the influence of money. Such a process will convince the masses of the devout adherence of the party and its leadership to the canons of democracy. This is the way to win national elections today. The people know that in a democratic dispensation it easier to realize economic objectives and are therefore looking for leaders who are unconditional adherents to the tenets of democracy. The leadership of Today’s Nkrumaist Groups exhibit undemocratic tendencies and are therefore unelectable.

The undemocratic proclivity of the party have compelled Ghanaians to reluctantly reject all Nkrumahist parties and chose other parties whose ideology professes to have the solution to Ghana’s developmental problems and these are parties using deceptive macro-economic sloganeering such low inflation, high GNP rate, small size of government and balancing budgets. As Osagyefo’s 1965 speech above clearly explains, the well being of the masses cannot be measured by these deceptive economic indices but by the quality, the affordability and the accessibility of good healthcare, education, and social amenities by every Ghanaian. It is disheartening to see that the ideological void of Today’s CPP has enabled reactionary parties to feed Ghanaians with reactionary ideologies unchallenged.

There are deceptive reactionary ideologies selling reactionary economic prescriptions of the World Bank such as the Structural Adjustment Program whereby Ghana’s economy was reoriented for the benefit of foreign private interests. There is also a new ideology - “indigenous capitalism” being propagated unchallenged as if capitalism has ever been a solution to the deplorable plight of the African masses. Because of Today’s CPP ideological void, Nkrumaist ideology is not well articulated in the public forum and as a result there is no ideological comparison by the masses between Nkrumahism, as propounded by The Osagyefo, and foreign-indigenous capitalism being peddled in Ghana today.

Dutiful adherence to the script of foreign institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF can never create sustainable self reliant Ghanaian economy. As Osagyefo has said, the economic advancement of Ghana and Africa is indubitably dependent on the total unification of the African continent. One Africa is the means to neutralize foreign stranglehold of Africa’s economy and to eliminate excessive dependence on foreign economic prescriptions that are not in the interest of Africa. Underpinning Osagyefo’s philosophy is the empowerment of the masses of a unified Africa, which was opposed by the UGCC. The successor party of UGCC is now propagating the ideology of foreign dependency in Ghana unchallenged because the CPP is incapacitated.

A more effective approach to winning back Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s masses is to tell Ghanaians more specifically what Nkrumaism would look like in every policy area especially in such important areas as healthcare, education and economic empowerment rather than sloganeering Nkrumahism everywhere. Symbols and mottos don’t win political power; ideology, mission, and vision do. So instead of dwelling on the recitation and display of yesterday’s motto and symbols, dissemination of the ideology for the welfare of the masses is required to win political power again. Dr. Nkrumah’s ideology, mission and vision are a perfect medium to provide a platform on which all believers can congregate. Without an inspiring genuinely Nkrumahist political agenda, Today’s CPP will continue to lose its traditional supporters and maintain the bad public image.

At the last National Congress of Today’s CPP at Legon in 2004, it was "unanimously resolved that no more unity talks should be held but that the doors of the party should remain open to those who will want to join the CPP, since the name CPP and Red Cockerel symbol are not negotiable." This resolution essentially means that all Nkrumahists must succumb to the leadership of Today’s CPP. The question that comes to mind is this: Who want to join a train when it is clear that the driver does not know the destination but just want to drive? Leaders must first know the political destination before they can devise a strategy of how to get there. The leadership of Today’s CPP has demonstrated that they do not know the political destination of Ghana and Africa and as such do not know how to get there. It is therefore not surprising that the party is in decline.

While Dr. Nkrumah’s CPP knew their political destination and had capable leadership, potent ideology, clearly articulated mission and vision, and was therefore attractive to the masses, Today’s CPP has none of these political essentials and as a result the party is virtually in demise. The leadership of Today’s CPP is unable to grow the party because they lack understanding of the African Political Mission as advocated by the founder - Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

Let’s find out about the African Political Mission.

The African Political Mission

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah defined the African Political Mission as African Liberation, African Unification and then African Democracy. His vision of mass prosperity in peace and security for all Africans enabled him to devise the appropriate political mission for Africa which, history and recent events indicate are as pertinent today as it was yesterday.

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah saw Africa as a global geopolitical entity that must have appropriate political mission at all times to achieve her goals. The destiny of the African People is linked and is threatened by inimical global systems. The objectives of global systems vis-vis Africa, whether the objective is achieved through slavery, colonialism, neocolonialism or globalism is total political and economic subjugation of Africa. The international relationship between Africa and the world is a relationship of subordination irrespective of the ethnic or religious affiliation of the African. Therefore, Africa as a global geopolitical entity must clearly and succinctly define her mission and develop appropriate ideology to guide her in order to realize the vision, the aim of the mission. The aim of the African Political Mission, then and now, is Dignity, Peace and Prosperity for all Africans everywhere.

The African Political Mission, Then

The African Political Mission, between 1940 and 1970, was African Liberation first to be immediately followed by African Unification. Without liberation, there can be no unification and without unification, there can be no free and prosperous Africa. Liberation as a political mission was necessary to end foreign subjugation of the continent in order to protect the human dignity of all Africans. Unification as a political mission was necessary to garner the maximum political and economic strength to generate economic advancement for all Africans. As contemporary African history has vividly revealed, the consequences of abandoning the African Political Mission has been instability, wars, and poverty.

African Unification was abandoned. The cold war and neo-colonialism made it impossible to unite Africa because they incited antagonism amongst African Leaders. While there was unanimity in the imperative of African Liberation as a political mission by all Africans, there was no unanimity in African Unification. The cold war and neocolonialism compelled foreign ideological alignment on Africans Leaders thus neutralizing the fervor that led to the success of African Liberation from continuing on to African Unification. Neocolonialism threatened to derail and even reverse African Liberation. For this reason, democracy in post independent Africa could not survive under the ferocious global political pressures on liberation and unification since it was being used to reverse the gains of African Liberation.

Democracy could not be a critical political mission at that time as it was a threat to the most critical political mission of the time - African Liberation and African Unification. Democracy could not be a political mission then especially because some powerful nations of the world embraced colonialism, neocolonialism and even apartheid and were prepared to use democracy to subvert Africa. Without the cold war, neocolonialism and apartheid, the African Political Mission then would have been Liberation, Unification & Democracy.

Dr. Nkrumah subscribes to democracy. In his book “Towards Colonial Freedom” published in 1945, he made this very clear and explained that political democracy, economic democracy and social reconstruction were all necessary if Africa is to transform her economy to generate wealth for all Africans. Undoubtedly, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah defined the African Political Mission as African Liberation, Unification & Democracy.

The African Political Mission, Now

The cold war is over, apartheid has been defeated, but African Unification has not materialized. Consequently, a rejuvenation of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's mission for Africa is absolutely necessary. The urgency of resuscitation of the mission, given the sad African political realities, requires Africans to dedicate to today's mission in order to continue to the next phase of the African Political Mission, which is now Unification & Democracy. Without African Unification today, there can be no African Democracy. But democracy is imperative to the attainment of the underlying aim of the African Political Mission.

African Unification is as pertinent now as it was then and it is probably the most critical of the African Political Mission. African Unification will solidify the gains of African Liberation and will make the independence of African States meaningful and irreversible. It will provide political and economic strength to enable Africa to overcome threats of powerful global systems. Without African Unification, the re-emergence of colonialism in Africa can never be ruled out as wars, poverty and diseases will continue to weaken Africa. Under these inhospitable political and economic conditions of today, it is impossible to cultivate democracy and nourished it to thrive in Africa. African Unification, therefore, will provide maximum political and economic strength, not only to enable Africa attain the status of a respected and powerful global socio-political entity, but more importantly, it will enable democracy to survive in Africa.

African Democracy, as proposed, is an imperative political mission today since it enables equitable distribution of the political power and the economic wealth of Africa amongst the Social Groups of Africa. This mission enables Africa to prevent wars and instability and to create a solid foundation for rapid economic advancement. African Democracy will provide maximum peace and stability, the essential requirements for a sustainable prosperity. Without democracy, peace, prosperity, and security cannot be achieved in Africa since without a meaningful sharing of the political power and economic wealth of Africa amongst Africa's Social Groups, war and instability will continue to decimate the Land of Africa and prevent the continent from achieving the aims of the African Political Mission.

Unquestionably, Unification & Democracy constitute the African Political Mission today since they are critical to realizing the vision of mass prosperity in peace and security. It is a continental vision so it requires a continental political party to carry it out in order to make the vision beneficial to all Africans. To this end, party names and emblems only Ghanaians understand and identify with will not be appropriate to carry out the mission. For this reason, I propose to all Nkrumahist of Ghana and Africa to embrace the name The United Africa Peoples Party – The UAPP.

The Need for Nkrumaist-Africanist Continental Political Party - The UAPP There is an urgent need for a continental African political party to enable Africa realize her vision quickly. Since there is a need, genuine Nkrumahist Groups in Ghana can greatly accelerate the formation of such a party if they are well organized. A political party that transcends African State boundaries will enable massive mobilization of the African People towards total African unification, emancipation and development. Just as Dr. Nkrumah’s CPP, a trans-ethnic political party in Ghana, was able to mobilize Ghanaians towards achieving rapid independence, a trans-African political party will be able to bring the African People together to achieve rapid and meaningful political and economic independence for all Africans everywhere. To this end, The United Africa Peoples Party – The UAPP is proposed. Any African political party that believes in the imperative of African Unification and Democracy is called upon to embrace UAPP. The aim of the party is to unite all Africans committed to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s ideals of a continental African government.

To mobilize the African People today, it is important for the name and all political emblems of the party to constantly evoke the cardinal objective of the party; hence the name UAPP. It is important because more and more Africans in every region of Africa are accepting African Unification as indispensable to African development. The growing acceptance indicates that the name UAPP will resonate with the African masses. The name UAPP, therefore, will facilitate rapid mobilization of the masses towards unification and democracy.

The proposed UAPP is a Pan African movement committed to total African Unification since a continental African government will be better able to develop Africa for all Africans. The party insists on African control of the African economy in order to emancipate Africa from the clutches of inimical global systems. It is committed to meaningful African sovereignty in order to place the destiny of Africa in the hands of Africans. The party advocates Peace & Prosperity for all Africans irrespective of ethnic, religious, political or racial affiliation and it is committed to the freedom and dignity of all Africans in Homeland Africa and in Diaspora Africa.

It has become quite obvious that African development is immensely contingent on the existence of one African continental government which intend is contingent on the existence of seriously functioning African continental political parties. In view of this fact, all Africans who believe in the imperative of African Unification & Democracy are encouraged to join UAPP and all Africanist and Nkrumahist Political Parties are requested to become UAPP, the continental African political party committed to revitalizing and completing the unfinished agenda of The Osagyefo. The UAPP will emulate the leadership example, adhere to the ideology, and commit to “The Mission and the Vision” of The Osagyefo. Indisputably, there is a great need for the formation of UAPP in order to fulfill the vision of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

UAPP – The Political Strategy

The formation of UAPP, the grand united continental Nkrumahist-Africanist political party of Ghana and Africa, is necessary and this can be achieved only by propagating and articulating the African Political Mission not by waving political emblems. Dissemination of the ideology will attract people who are committed to the mission to join the party by the sheer power of their conscience. Symbols and names are not terribly important to fulfilling “The Vision”. Accordingly, UAPP will concentrate on the big picture created by The Osagyefo because his vision is not about names and symbols but about creating the political consciousness among the masses and fortifying them ideologically in order to garner the capability to liberate them politically and economically from exploitative systems.

To win elections, UAPP will offer a credible alternative national development agenda to the policies of ruling parties in every African State, including Ghana. UAPP will present the Nkrumahist agenda, cogently and concisely, to the masses, sharpened the ideological contrast to the ideology of rival political parties, and focus on creating mass prosperity as intended by The Osagyefo. This is necessary to lift the masses out of the dungeons of poverty and onto the bright road to economic advancement. A clear articulation of the sharp ideological differences will assure the masses that economic growth will be equitable and will lead to improvements in the lives of every person. UAPP will tell the people that Nkrumahism, as postulated by The Osagyefo, is all about shared prosperity in Ghana and Africa and that this goal cannot be realized without embracing the African Political Mission. The nationalist platform The Osagyefo built to fulfill the vision has collapsed and needs to be rebuilt. UAPP will rebuild it by assuring the masses of the imperative of Africa’s mission to their political and economic well being.

Nkrumaist ideology, in contrast to rival ideologies, will emphasize the economic well-being and security of the masses and the importance of national self-reliance as opposed to globalize dependency. The people reject dependent ideologies but there is no alternative offered to them. The people are calling for substantive progressive transformation of the nation in line with the Nkrumahist philosophy of shared prosperity but political parties in Ghana, including Today’s CPP, are sloganeering as if slogans are solutions to problems. UAPP will re-install Nkrumahist progressive economics as stipulated in the 1957 speech quoted above because it is the best means by which the people of Ghana and Africa can build a just society in which the increasing standard of life of the masses will be the pride of the nation, not meaningless economic indicators.

UAPP – The Leadership Development

To assure the masses of the democratic propensities of the party so as to cultivate and maintain their loyalty, UAPP will install a system of democratic development of leaders involving the masses. Through this leadership development the right caliber leader will emerge during the mobilization process, because the masses will see a true leader and will call him or her to duty. This will eliminate struggle for leadership with a sense of entitlement. UAPP will be a mass-based political movement whose leadership will be conferred by the masses to those who genuinely earn the trust of the people and are willing to work tirelessly towards accomplishing the African Political Mission. Leadership by the masses will compel leadership honesty and this will allow the party’s system and process to work diligently to accomplish the mission.

The Land of Africa today needs a New Generation African Leader, a visionary leader, a leader of the masses. Ghana and Africa need such a leader now. There are such leaders but undemocratic propensities of political parties and governments, political trickery, and inordinate influence of money in the political process have prevented the emergence of a leader of the masses. UAPP will actively involve the masses in choosing the leaders of the party so as to make African Democracy beneficial to the masses.

With the current distressed state of Africa, it has become abundantly clear to many Africans including Ghanaians that it is only a genuinely avowed Nkrumahist - Africanist continental political party, headed by a selfless visionary leader that can mobilize the people of Ghana and Africa to build a strong, united and democratic egalitarian one African nation. The leadership vacuum in Africa today and the abandonment of the African Political Mission have rendered Ghana and Africa globally insignificant, politically and economically. Political sovereignty and economic security of the masses is virtually non-existent.

To recap, the masses are suffering and there is constant economic crisis in Ghana and Africa because the ideological turn against Nkrumahism has replaced Nkrumahist development paradigm with IMF and World Bank development programs. Since 1966 African economic progress has been quite limited. In order to reinstate the appropriate agenda, it will be necessary to re-establish a truly continental Nkrumahist party with the potential to fulfill the vision of The Osagyefo.

Today in Ghana and Africa, the people are yearning for deliverance from the clutches of the global economic systems that have been embraced by African governments. These strangleholds can be neutralized only by the ideas and policies of Nkrumahism, an ideology virulent today as it was yesterday, an ideology highly capable of neutralizing imperialism and all its subsequent transformations - colonialism, neo-colonialism and now globalism. Without the African Political Mission firmly embraced in Africa, the people of Africa cannot neutralize global systems detrimental to general welfare of the African People.

The people of Ghana and Africa must emulate the leadership and embrace the ideology of The Osagyefo. The ideology is Nkrumahism. It is a powerful Africanist ideology. In view of this incontrovertible political fact, UAPP appeals to genuine Nkrumahist to focus on the dissemination of his ideology instead of his emblems because the inherent superiority of the ideology indicates that The Osagyefo can never be vanquished in a democratic political forum in Africa. Nkrumahism is appropriate for Ghana and Africa and therefore will be re-accepted if all believers propagate his vision and emulate his leadership instead of waving his logos.

Although, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah is not going to resurrect to unite the Nkrumahist-Africanist Political Groups to victory, his vision and his mission will if all people who genuinely believe in his ideology will discard their respective personal and parochial interest for the greater interest of the masses of Ghana and Africa. For this reason, I call on all committed Nkrumaists-Africanist to join the continental Nkrumahist-Africanist United Africa Peoples Party – The UAPP.

Join The United Africa People’s Party – The UAPP

To make:

African Liberation irreversible

African Unification possible

African Democracy attainable

The United Africa a reality

Join UAPP for a Better Ghana

Join UAPP for a Better Africa