Freedom ! Hedsole ! Sawaba ! Uhuru! , Men, women and children throughout the lengh and breadth of Africa repeat the slogans of African nationalism, the greatest political phenomenon
of the latter part of the twentieth century. Never before in history has such a sweeping fervour of freedom expressed itself in great mass movements which are driving down the bastions of empire. This wind of change blowing througth Africa, as I have said before, is no ordinary wind. It is a raging hurricane against which the old order cannot stand » (K. Nkrumah “Africa must unite Introduction”)
Indeed, for some time now, at least since 2020, we have been witnessing in Africa, especially south of the Sahara, a second independence that sweeps away the trappings and deceptions of the 1960s. This new independence is deeper, more radical than the first one because it touches the roots of the African human being, particularly the black African being in its totality, subjected to political oppression,
imperialist economic exploitation, cultural contempt and racism. The independences of the 1960s were generally political; the current one goes further; it embraces the culture, the history, the traditions, the beliefs of the populations of this vast part of the continent, victim of the four great scourges of humanity: the slave trade, colonization, neo-colonization, ambient and continuous racism like the horrible declarations of the president of Tunisia on the Negro-Africans! In fact, the revolution currently underway is at the same time political, economic, social, cultural, anti-racist etc. That is why it is not only African, it is also Afro-descendant.
Everywhere on the barricades, in the streets, African youths are chanting “France Get Out!” “We don’t want any more foreign military bases on our Soil! …Barkhane, Minusco, Minusma” etc. outside our African territories; this can be heard all over Africa in Mali, Niger, Burkina, Democratic Congo, Central African Republic. Everywhere. The power of the protests is commensurate with the degree to which the colonial bonds of dependence are maintained. These movements are currently stronger in the former French colonies because of the particularly rapacious character of French colonialism and the wars it is waging (by interposed jihadists) in Africa and mainly in the Sahel.
We are the witnesses of the present history as our fathers, the heroes of the independence of 1960, such as Nkrumah, Sékou Touré, Modibo Kéita, Lumumba, Kenyatta, Nyerere were. To live such a time is a chance that not all generations live. To live intensely this period, by being involved in it through fighting, is the only contribution to the revolutionary fervor that is agitating the continent.
The West African Peoples Organization (WAPO), founded on the land of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah (Winneba, Ghana) is the organized expression of this generation’s recognition of the Patriotic Heritage left by this great Pan-Africanist, the greatest Theorist of Pan-Africanism.
The Journal that this is “Spark”, Organ of WAPO, wants to be the Tribune of all patriotic fighters, of all Pan-Africanists of the West African sub-region against imperialism and all its forms of exploitation. It was created with the main objective of maintaining a link of solidarity of struggle between all the members, to reflect and echo the different struggles of the popular sectors, of the Organizations constituting the WAPO, to centralize and provide information and alternative positions on the regional, African and international situation.
This information and liaison organ is called “SPARK” (Spark”) from the name “Spark” in memory of Nkrumah’s Ideology newspaper. It is planned in French and English and possibly in Portuguese. It is monthly and digital.
I call on all Pan-Africanist Fighters, especially in the West African sub-region, to make “Spark” their Organ, their Tribune that serves as a link of solidarity with all other African and world revlutionaries; that Spark constitutes the crucible of information on the struggles that are taking place in each of our countries; that it brings together all the popular movements for the true liberation and independence of Africa.
The President of the CC.
Long live OPAO! Long live Spark!
Philippe T. Noudjenoume
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)