Thank you for commemorating African Liberation Day 2022. You are part of an annual, global
demonstration of commitment to the liberation of the African continent from the clutches of
African puppet leaders, imperialist governments, large multinational corporations, and foreign
militaries. This is important because when Africa’s oil, valuable minerals and other natural
resources are no longer controlled by these exploiters, Africans born in Africa, and Africans born
elsewhere will be empowered to obtain justice and prosperity, as well as exercise true
independence and self-determination. This year, African Liberation Day takes dead aim at neo-
colonialism.
Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, explained that neo-colonialism is present in a country
when it is “in theory, independent and has all the outward trappings of international sovereignty
[but] in reality its economic system and thus its political policy is directed from outside.”Neo-colonialism took hold in Africa because in the wake of victories over European colonizers,
many African countries fell under the control of Africans and African regimes that were
committed to enriching themselves with their countries’ wealth while allowing foreign forces to
engage in wanton plunder. This year, the call by all who participate in African Liberation Day is
for Africans around the world to join in the effort to dismantle neo-colonialism.
The destructive impact of neo-colonialism is evident from its role in the militarization of the
African continent. Africa’s people have never been content with neo-colonialism and imperialist
exploitation. Africans’ resistance has taken many forms, but it has been constant in its intensity.
To suppress this resistance, imperialist forces have made special efforts to ensure that military
troops are ever on standby throughout Africa for the purpose of physically defeating Africans
who attempt to assert righteous control of Africa’s resources.
The United States created U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) for the purpose of having U.S.
troops train and direct the armies of African countries in missions designed to advance U.S.
exploitative aims. When AFRICOM was established in 2007, most African governments – even
neo-colonial ones – recognized immediately AFRICOM’s true neo-colonial purpose. To their
credit they refused to allow AFRICOM to establish its headquarters on African soil. Many also
declined to host AFRICOM operations. AFRICOM was forced to locate its headquarters in
Stuttgart, Germany.
However, with the passage of time, neo-colonial governments fell into line, and currently in
almost every corner of Africa, AFRICOM has established a presence. Although its headquarters
remains in Germany, in 2021, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari made the unconscionable
request that AFRICOM relocate its headquarters to Africa. Such conduct is intolerable and is
perhaps one of the best examples of why neo-colonialism must be dismantled.
Neo-colonialism poses special challenges for those who fight for African liberation. Unlike
apartheid and other forms of European settler-colonialism where the racial characteristics of the
oppressors make them easy to identify, neo-colonialism places local control of African countries
in the hands of Africans. Though they are mere puppets, they often participate in the deception of
their people by playing up their cultural orientation and using nationalist rhetoric. In various
ways they communicate a supposed commitment to Africa’s progress, with many even claiming
to be Pan-Africanists. However, these individuals frequently fail the litmus test when they are
challenged to adopt an agenda that will limit or eliminate their puppet-masters’ access to Africa’s
wealth.
As a first step toward dismantling neo-colonialism, Africans must learn to see through the
charade. If they understand that supposedly independent African countries may not be
independent at all, they are then able to take further steps toward changing Africa’s neo-colonial
reality. It is in this regard that African Liberation Day plays such a vital role. It provides an
opportunity to share information with Africa’s people everywhere about the ways in which
Africa continues to be bound and exploited by the same forces that dominated the continent
during the colonial era.
Thank you again for participating in African Liberation Day, but why not make every day
African Liberation Day? If you use this special day as an opportunity to join the All-African
People’s Revolutionary Party (A-APRP), you will have the opportunity to work with like-
minded Africans whose efforts to achieve Africa’s liberation are focused and systematic. The A-
APRP is committed to achieving Pan-Africanism, which is, as the Party defines it: “the total
liberation and unification of Africa under scientific socialism.” Be sure to read elsewhere in this
publication about why Pan-Africanism makes good sense for those who have a serious and
sincere interest in a truly liberated Africa
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