Ghana has done it. Who said Pan-Africanism was dead in practice, alive only as an abstract concept?

Ghana is the home of Pan-Africanism, and surely one of the vision’s founding fathers, Kwame Nkruma, must be smiling from his grave. 

Ghana held an election many have commended as having been free and fair. Shattering myths, of Africa’s apparent ineptitude, in governance matters especially on matters to do with the conduct of credible elections.

Or that even if the opposition wins an election the incumbent will need a whole armed battalion to remove them.  They cling on in the name of a sterile concept popularised as ‘African democracy.’ Democracy either delivers or it does not. In Ghana it has delivered!

The announcement of National Democratic Congress’s, John Atta Mills as the winner of the just ended election, is something for any Pan-Africanist to savour.

Especially when the principles underpinning the concept of Pan-Africanism, had literary gone to the dogs. It has over the years been subjected to many interpretations if not abuse in some circles; where power is abused in an apparent false bid to spite the West.

Africa is littered with dead bodies, victims of selfish leaders who cherish blood-shedding more than peace for their suffering citizens.

It is in this regard that Ghana’s election should be viewed and cherished in the context of the values to do with our ‘Ubuntuness’, what it means to be an African leader and the political consciousness that comes with it.

Our history of electoral violence, genocide or military coups is rooted in the colonial history of subjugation whose success was based on the policy of divide and rule.

In this regard our liberation was not just about the taking over of borders, it is an all encompassing concept which entails many other freedoms, including the right to freely vote for our leaders, something colonialists denied us.

That is why Africa’s liberation wave was based on a key demand that of – one man, one vote. It meant a politically conscious African who has respect for self, whose mind is liberated from the negative stereo-types often associated with being an African.

We did not see any western intervention to deal with the electoral process in Ghana, neither will the west be needed in the implementation of a smooth transition.

In his short and to the point acceptance speech Mills correctly commended, outgoing President John Agyekum Kufuor, for agreeing to officially hand over power on January 7.

Kudos go to Kufuor and may he join the growing list of honourable African leaders who have understood when to let go.

Congratulations to Ghanaians for keeping Africa’s dream of peace and smooth transitions alive.

Ends