We Condemn Outside Attempts To Dictate African Destiny

For centuries, Europeans dominated the African continent. The white man arrogated to himself the right to rule and to be obeyed by the non-white; his mission, he claimed, was to "civilize" Africa. Under this cloak, the Europeans robbed the continent of vast riches and inflicted unimaginable suffering on the African people. By Osagyfo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah-First President of the Republic of Ghana

Africans are confronted today with a mirage of crisis. The challenges we face as a continent, and as a unique race of people are not merely political skirmishes. These challenges bordered on lack of sense of unity, wholesale racism, harassment, intimidation, hatreds and dehumanization of the African continent. 

The attacks against black people is a continuous battle between those who seek to intimidate and blackmail any African leaders that stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine and those who seek to wipe-off the Arab population out of Palestinian territory; and between those who seek to plunder Africa’s rich and abundant mineral wealth and natural resources and those who champion the cause of black people for freedom, prosperity and dignity.

Having stated the above, members of the New African Charter International (NACI) and the Sahel Solidarity Campaign Network (SaS-CaN), through this statement hereby condemn in the strongest term possible, the ongoing arrests, abduction, arbitrary detention and degrading treatment of Africans living abroad, particularly those targeted for deportation in the US and other foreign lands. We condemn also the incessant harassment and attacks on the illuminating personality of African leaders, both living on the continent and abroad. 

The latest in this series of attacks and disrespect for Africa, include western governments demonization of unwilling African leaders; anti-African treacherous action of Rwanda and Uganda, who are currently bidding the destruction of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the merciless looting of the African nation’s mineral wealth and natural resources; the Rwandan and Ugandan led March 23 (M23) genocidal campaign in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo; western governments meddling mentality in the internal affairs of the African continent; the US government’s disrespect for South African leaders and attempts by US billionaire Elon Musk to criminalise the revolutionary brother-Julius Malema of South Africa, and, as well as western governments’ complicity in the recent killing of nine (9) South African peacekeeping forces in the DRC. The list is endless. 

It would be recalled that, only recently the United States billionaire Elon Musk used his X (Twitter) platform to throw insults and disrespectful statement on our South African revolutionary Brother, calling for the President of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Member of Parliament, Julius Malema, be declared an international criminal. He further call for sanctions to be imposed on Brother Malema. We consider this statement and a reminiscence of former obnoxious apartheid rhetoric. 

President Donald Trump’s attempt to corrupt the South African governance system should be seen also as a blatant meddling in the South African nation’s domestic matters. It is laughable and hypocritical that the US President wants to dictate to South Africa about Land Reforms, without looking himself first in the mirror before teaching others. Less than a month when he took over the White House in Washington, President Donald Trump decided to take over Greenland from the Scandinavian, annex Canada, annihilate the Palestinian Arab population and annex Gaza as part of US territory. 

Besides, added to the above, Mr. Trump has granted presidential pardons to those criminals who stormed the White House in Washington, on 6th January, 2021 in their futile attempt to abort democracy and constitutionality in the United States. In the process of implementing that overt action, many US citizens were wounded, while law makers were threatened to reverse election results, which Mr. Trump’s Republicans lost to the Democrats. 

To the New African Charter International (NACI) and the Sahel Solidarity Campaign Network (SaS-CaN), we totally disagree with the US meddling mentality in Africa, and particularly its attempts to dictate the policies of South Africa. The Trump administration in Washington may have forgotten that South Africa, like any other country in the world is an independent sovereign nation, which is equal to, and not a colony or trust territory of the US.
 
The plain truth is that, South Africa is a nation of peace and law, and does not operate US constitutional laws. It is no secret that the US has a long history of destabilization and assassination of leaders in Africa, and supported the crimes of apartheid against Africans. As the scandal over 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in May 2024 still fresh in the minds of US citizens, US President Trump, like a wounded beast, speaks and acts in desperation in an attempt to divert public attention. The Trump administration in Washington has done the unthinkable by dragging the International Criminal Court (ICC) into the fray, hurling accusations to justify US brazen intimidation against ICC officials investigating Israel’s war crimes and crime against humanity committed in Palestine. 

Look before you leap, so goes the wise saying. The truth is plain for all to see is that, while Israel faces grave accusations in the conduct of its military campaign against its Arab neighbours, the Trump administration seeks to vilify those who expose the heinous crimes and crime against humanity unleashed on the hapless Palestinian population. The US flouts with international rule of law, mortgages international instruments and violates human rights with impunity to prop and entrenched the Zionist entity. So where is the morality behind Musk’s deliberate attempt to criminalize our revolutionary brother in South Africa? That is America! When eyed, they attack to get you blind. When exposed, they vilify others. When caught, they change the strategy. Africans are no longer blind, and are not ignorant to the imperialists’ modus operandi of control, suppress, demonise, manipulate and loot the continent’s rich mineral wealth and abundant natural rtesources. 

When it comes to the issue of the Trump’s deportation regime, what we can say is that, we reject policies that lead to harassment and degrading treatment of Africans, especially those African immigrants that are currently facing deportation in the United States. We view the ongoing harassment and attacks on African immigrants in the US and Europe as violation of fundamental human rights, and as an attack on black people everywhere.  We agree that the US deportation regime is painful and disrespectful, but it stands also to be a wake-up call to our leaders to fix our Africa, while others are fixing theirs. Yet, this is another reason why we advocate for African governments never to rely on foreign leftovers or turn to beggars to manage the affairs of the African continent. 

Elon Musk has proven himself to be a loyal puppet to the oligarchy in Washington by taking the path of aggressive rhetoric against our leaders, and funding wars for ‘blood mineral wealth’ in Africa; and also, by threatening the peace, security, development and prosperity of Africa.  We stand in defence of Africans all over the world, and call on all African governments to shift their focus to addressing all those issues that militate against the development of our continent. 

As we accelerate our campaign for freedom and dignity of all African people, we call upon our governments and as well as our brothers and sisters across Africa to welcome our compatriots with love, who are waiting for deportation in the US. We call on all Africans to join us in solidarity to demand an end to Rwandan and Ugandan aggression and brutal occupation of the DRC, and to end the suffering of the Congolese people. On the whole, we call upon everyone who stand in support of Africa and the African people’s struggle for freedom, justice and dignity, to join us make the following natural acclaimed demands from the powers that be:

1. Repatriation of all stolen African artefacts, which are currently kept in foreign museums;
2. Repatriation of funds illegally stashed out of Africa and kept in foreign banks;
3. An end to all forms of state repression and suppression of Black people in the diaspora;
4. An apology form Elon Musk for insulting and throwing racist remarks on Julius Malema;
5. Demand and put pressure to bear on the Trump administration in Washington to treat with dignity all Africans currently in US prisons waiting for deportation;
6. Demand for the African Union to seriously and genuinely heed to the aspirations and demands of the African people, for an end to the Rwandan and Ugandan-led terror campaign in eastern DRC;
7. Closure and removal of all US military bases, their equipment and personnel out of Africa;
8. Renewal of mining licences issued to multinational companies operating in Africa; and,
9. Compensation for families of those leaders who have been assassinated in Africa since independence.

We, in the New African Charter International (NACI) and the Sahel Solidarity Campaign Network (SaS-CaN), who stand in support and solidarity with the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Guinea, the Sahel States of Mali, Burkina Faso and the Republic of Niger, the mass of the Libyan people, Haiti and Africans abroad, cannot be subdued to these attacks on Africa and Africans. We will:

1. Organise street marches and mobilization in our countries to reject foreign criminal adventurism in whatever form or manifestation in Africa;
2. Organise a worldwide coordinated people’s march (Date to be declared later) to register the international community’s support for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other war-torn areas of Africa, and Haiti;
3. Lobby African governments and parliaments to press for democratisation of the United Nations system to represent the people of the world and not just five powers;
4. Organise Brigade visits to the DRC, and other African countries, to garner support for the launching of the African cultural bridge that brings all cultures on the continent together, through inter-marriages, cottage industries, business and income generating activities, etc.

We say to Rwanda and Uganda that conspire and betray the conscience of the African people that their time in the DRC is running out. Africans have seen them for what they are, and no amount of tailored propaganda, no orchestrated attacks, and no manufactured distractions will kill the truth. We call upon every African, every patriotic African who loves Africa to stand firm. To refuse to be cowed by intimidation, distraction or fear. To reject all foreign manipulative mechanisms designed to mortgage the dignity of the African nation.

South Africa stands in the way of imperialist aggression in Africa and suppression of Arab Palestinian people, and so they seek to demonise President Cyril Ramaphosa and leader of the South African Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Member of Parliament, Julius Malema. We stand in solidarity with the government of South Africa under the leadership of President Ramaphosa, and with all who fight for justice, freedom and dignity, and for an African free of imperialism, neocolonialism and retrogressive rule. The battle for the New Africa we all aspired had just begun. We remain steadfast and resolute to our vision and mission.

Signed:
Alimamy Bakarr Sankoh
President and co-founder
The New African Charter International (NACI), and
Sahel Solidarity Campaign Network (SaS-CaN)

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