“The independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of Africa’, were the famous words of Kwame

Nkrumah, a figure that captures the attention of all pan-African in the world. Ishowspeed for instance is receiving much attentionfor his highly anticipated documentary “Eyes of Ghana” on Kwame Nkrumah and the United States of Africa.This film will be released end of October and is co-produced by Barack Obama.

It is praiseworthy that the Black diaspora is honouring the Pan-African philosophies of Kwame Nkrumah. But it begs the question, why isn’t his philosophy more honoured here in Ghana itself? And why doesn’t Nkrumah’s vision of a united Africa inform our diplomatic stance towards our fellowbrothers on the continent?

Because of Nkrumah’s vision of a single united Africa, he supported liberation movements everywhere on the continent.
Nkrumah’s Ghana was a vigorous champion of the Congolese cause, when Patrice Lumumba was
under attack by the colonial powers. By contrast, today, Ghana is quite cautious in supporting
anticolonial movements on the continent.

We are fortunate to have a liberation movement right on our
border, in the form of the brave Ibrahim Traoré’s Burkina Faso and the pan-AfricanAlliance of Sahelian States formed with Niger and Mali.

They stand up for anticolonial liberation, for economic self-reliance, for African sovereignty - everythingthat Africa highly needs right now. It is no wonder that Ibrahim Traoré was loudlycheered for during his visit to Ghana and is perhaps the most popular Africanpresident in decades. Yet, Ghana could do so much more to support.

Burkina Faso is currently being attacked by allegedly foreign-sponsored
terrorists, undermining the freedom of the Burkinabe people. The country desperatelyneeds more allies. Yet, instead of partnering with Burkina Faso, we haverecently concluded a defence deal with the EU. Why don’t we stand up for Burkina’ssafety, in a similar way that Nkrumah provided diplomatic and military supportto DR Congo when the latter was targeted by imperial powers? A safe Burkina Fasomeans a safe Northern Ghana, protected from spillover violence.

Let us honour the founding philosophy of Ghana by returning to the Pan-African
spirit of our DNA. We can start in our backyard. There are numerous military,
economic, cultural and political opportunities in a collaboration with the AES.
Ghana is not free, as long as Burkina Faso is under attack.

Ghana is not free, as
long as Niger or Mali are haunted by the allegedly Western-backed jihadists. Militarily,we have the capacity to help make Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali withstand theattacks, by lending our support to our brave fellow brothers in the Sahel intheir pursuit for safety.

Culturally, we could organise cultural exchanges with
Burkina Faso. Economically, Ibrahim Traoré recently inaugurated the country’s
first gold refinery to help keep gold on African soil instead of sending it for
cheap to the West. But it lacks a sufficient gold supply and needs more gold
input to meet its 164-tonne annual capacity.

Imagine the wealth that is created,
if we start a regional partnership and refine our gold together? These are just
a few examples of how Pan-African cooperation can benefit us.

This is not just
about solidarity, but also about our own interests: having stable and thriving
neighbours around us will also lift us up economically, politically and otherwise.

Let us not merely watch his documentaries, but also make Nkrumah's vision into a realityhere on the continent. Long live Ghana, long live Africa.