The Rwandan Chapter of the Pan-African Movement Political called upon political parties to challenge their members to embrace the Pan-African Movement. Although this call ultimately means each and everyone should respond to the spirit of ‘Africanness’, the efforts currently on the table seem inadequate to revive the true spirit of the Movement.

In colonial era and during the independence struggles, Pan-Africanism was such a force to reckon with. Virtually everyone knew what it was. From the kitchen to the garden and schools, through workplaces and trade unions, the African spirit had a heartbeat studded with diamonds.

Today, although the Rwandan Chapter has embraced a diverse membership, from civil society, youth and women representatives, to MPs and academia to ensure that Rwandans of all walks of life are represented, one cannot really say the Movement is what it ought to be.

Pan-Africanism, at a basic level, is a belief that African peoples, both on the African continent and in the Diaspora, share not merely a common history, but a common destiny. This sense of interconnected pasts and futures has taken many forms, especially in the creation of political institutions.

The ideology has been in dormancy in the post-independence Africa. Over the years, Africans have realised that they are not really as independent as they would have wished. With neocolonialism and socio-economic and political supremacy of the Western forces, Africans ought to know that their voices will continue being muffled by the powerful.

To be heard, only a united front stands a chance and that is where the ideals of Pan-Africanism would make sense today, especially in the face of cultural and political faces of neo-colonialism.

Africans need to get import-export balance even, they need to improve intra-Africa trade and they need to rely on each other more for settling political disputes. Currently, Western forces are always the pen holders in all these scenarios.

Whereas the Rwandan Chapter seems to be awake, one cannot say it is conscious enough to live up to the billing. But if pegged alongside the rich vein of the Rwandan spirit of unity, the Pan African Movement would be a driving force in echoing the voices of Rwandans in the continent and beyond.