STATEMENT ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ALLIANCE OF SAHEL STATES
The Socialist Movement of Ghana salutes Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, on the adoption of the 16th of September 2023 Liptako-Gourma Charter, establishing l’Alliance des États du Sahel (“Alliance of Sahel States”).
The Alliance enables a qualitatively superior response to the security crises that have plagued our region since NATO first destabilised it with the destruction of Libya. We must not respond to security threats just as isolated Neo-colonies advancing the mineral and energy interests of the West. We can respond as a united, sovereign, and credible force protecting our homelands and people.
We can now demand that all foreign powers stop the proliferation of bases and withdraw from our territories.
We respectfully ask that those who mean us well express their intentions through providing training and combat logistics and through fair trade and investment relations. We expressly reject the proposed EU military and police initiative for West Africa to be considered in Brussels in October 2023.
In addition to its military and security significance, the Alliance is potentially a significant step forward for Pan-Africanism.
Since the agenda-setting 5th Pan-African Conference held in Manchester, UK, in 1945, Africans have struggled in many ways for continental unity – political institutions that allow collectively and scientifically planned economic development that optimally ties our human and natural resources with our needs and aspirations; and that enables Africans, through a single anti-imperialist continental foreign and defense policy, and an African High Command, to finally free ourselves from Western neo-colonialism and deal with the rest of the world on a fraternal, equitable, and secure basis.
Milestones in this struggle include the independence of Ghana in 1957, which Dr. Nkrumah dedicated to the total liberation and unity of Africans. They include the series of All Africa Peoples conferences held between 1958 and 1963 and the Pan African conference sessions over many years. More problematic milestones, but milestones, nevertheless, include the founding of the OAU (now AU) in Addis Ababa in 1963 and the later establishment of Regional Economic Commissions, like our own ECOWAS, in all five continental regions of Africa. In too many cases, however, these bodies have served more as tools of neo-colonialism than of African Unity – the most recent example of this is the shameful decision of ECOWAS to take military action to restore French interests and puppet rule in Niger last July.
Importantly, it includes the moves towards cross-national unity of progressively-led countries. We refer to the Union of African States (Ghana-Guinea-Mali) of 1958, which Prime Minister Lumumba had committed Congo to before the West overthrew him and the Sahel-Benin Union involving Burkina Faso), Niger, Dahomey (Benin), and la Côte d’Ivoire.
We rank the Liptako-Gourma Alliance amongst these initiatives of genuine unity. We note that the Liptako-Gourma Agreement was preceded by talks on full national mergers between the three countries representing 60% of the West African land mass. We hope that the merger
agenda is pushed to its full potential and that other countries join to help us address what is a common problem.
We regret that the neo-colonial leadership of our own Ghana lacks the vision and urgency to participate in this Alliance.
We call on the leaders of the Alliance to declare an explicit Pan-African agenda to consolidate political support.
We call on Alliance Leaders to steadily devolve initiative to the organised masses and their institutions and to facilitate the direct cross-border engagement of these institutions (all shades of opinion) if they trust the People Alliance leaders can president over a process that delivers a new United, truly Sovereign country in West Africa – a Mecca for the Pan-African agenda.
We repeat our call on ECOWAS to:
a. rescind all threats of military intervention in Niger;
b. lift all sanctions against Niger and increase solidarity with her poor and marginalised;
c. pressure the new Niger authorities to specify a transitional programme that includes critical social constituencies and movements representing workers, women, culturists, traditionalists, Faiths, entrepreneurs, and political tendencies – especially marginalised constituencies in a
reconsideration of Niger’s national constitutional arrangements.
We call on the West African Peoples Organisation and all its member organisations to express solidarity with the Alliance and to reach out to the Pan-African mass movement in Alliance countries to step up the articulation of Pan-Africanism in their national political processes.
Signed
Kwesi Pratt Jnr.,
General Secretary
