8 - One Central Government in Africa: Draft Article by Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, March 1960

Summary

Nobody disputes our contention that Africa will be free from foreign rule. What is disputed by many, particularly the white ruling minority, is that she will be free either ‘within our lifetime’ or by 1963, or even 1973 or 1984. However, the African nationalist movements which met at the All-African People's Conference in Accra in 1958 put down 1963 as the target date for African freedom.

If, however, by this date there are still parts of Africa that are under foreign rule, then certainly, they said, by 1973, every part of Africa must be free. Even though I live in South Africa, I have no doubt that this prophecy will be fulfilled. But the question is: AFTER FREEDOM THEN WHAT?

The ready answer of white ruling minorities is: chaos and a reversion to barbarism and savagery. The ready answer of all Pan-Africanists, and this includes all genuine African nationalist organisations on the continent, is: the creation of a United States of Africa and the advent of a new era – an era of freedom, creative production and abundance.

To many Africans the United States of Africa symbolises the fulfilment of an emotional urge for formal African unity. What its nature and structure will be – and its role and tasks – have not been determined. But before I give an outline of the United States of Africa we envisage, I will list some of the obstacles we are bound to come across. Let us assume that by 1973, every part of the continent will be free from foreign domination. In some parts the change-over will have been comparatively peacefully achieved. In others, there will have been bitter fighting, which will leave in its wake a legacy of destruction and hate. In such countries the first ten or fifteen years will be years of re-adjustment and feverish reconstructions. There will be plenty of work to do, and the capital for that work will be forth-coming from both East and West – because there can be no greater guarantee against both political and economic instability than the final recognition of the supremacy of African interests in Africa.