The All African Peoples' Conference (AAPC) stands as a pivotal moment in the history of Africa's liberation from colonial rule and white supremacy. The first All African Peoples' Conference (AAPC) was held on this date in 1958.
1958 map of Africa, showing the distribution of European colonial rule. Source: United States Central Intelligence Agency.
Conception and Objectives
The All-Africa Peoples Conference was conceived by Ghana's Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah, his advisor George Padmore, and others to continue the tradition of the Pan-African Congress, which had last met in 1945 in Manchester. The All Africa Peoples Conference was conceived to include social groups, ethnic communities, anti-colonial political parties, and African organizations such as Labor Unions and other significant associations in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Africa and the Diaspora such as Europe, North America, and South America.
The All-Africa Peoples Conference was conceived to represent the position that Africa should be returned to the peoples and groups, such as ethnic communities, from whom it was grabbed by colonialism. It had a permanent secretariat with headquarters in Accra. Its primary objectives were independence for the colonies, strengthening the independent states, and resisting neocolonialism.
The First Conference in Accra, Ghana
December 2018 marked the 60th anniversary of the All African People’s Conference (AAPC), which was held in Accra, Ghana, between 5 and 13 December 1958. Under the slogan ‘Hands off Africa!!’, the AAPC was a watershed moment in the history of Africa’s liberation from colonial rule and white supremacy. More than 300 political and trade union leaders responded to the call, representing some 65 organisations from 28 African territories. The AAPC chairman was Tom Mboya, a prominent Kenyan trade unionist.
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The first conference was preceded by a Preparatory Committee composed of representatives from the eight independent African states-other than South Africa. The conference itself was attended by delegates from 28 African countries and colonies. Over 300 delegates representing African political parties and trade unions attended, as well as delegates from Canada, China, Denmark, India, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The First All-Africa Peoples' Conference was attended by delegates from independence movements in areas still under European colonial rule and by delegates from the independent African countries, including representatives of the governing parties of some of those countries. Also in attendance were observer delegations from the United States, the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, and a number of other countries.
Some of the key figures present at the AAPC included:
- Patrice Lumumba (representing the people of the Belgian Congo)
- Frantz Fanon (Algeria)
- Sekou Touré (Guinea)
- Kenneth Kaunda (Northern Rhodesia)
- Joshua Nkomo (Southern Rhodesia)
- Holden Roberto (Angola)
- Ezekiel Mphahlele and Alfred Hutchinson (South Africa)
- Michael Scott (South West Africa)
Key Discussions and Resolutions
One important discussion was over the legitimacy and desirability of using violence against the colonial powers. It was agreed that violence would be necessary in some cases. Concerning the struggle in Algeria, full support was given to the recently proclaimed Provisional Republican Government (Gouvernement Provisoire de la République Algérienne-GPRA). On the Cameroon, the Conference supported the fight of the UPC maquis, demanding full amnesty and UN-sponsored elections.
The Conference considered unity and solidarity to be key strategies in the fight against colonialism and economic domination after colonialism; it called for the establishment of Africa-wide organisations, including trade unions youth groups, and a Bureau of Liberatory Movements. It was at this meeting that the decision was made to establish a permanent secretariat at Accra. The first secretary-general was George Padmore, then living in Ghana.
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Kwame Nkrumah in his closing speech emphasised the importance of an independent African community, and that Africa's economic and social reconstruction should be based on socialism. The conference had a massive impact on various independence movements, notably that of Patrice Lubumba, and imbued confidence.
The Conference voiced considerable concern over neocolonialism-the tendency of the nominally freed states to actually remain subjugated to the imperialist powers because of economic dependency and other factors.
Kwame Nkrumah & Revolutionary Pan-Africanism - Cecil Gutzmore @Nkrumah Convention UK
Tensions and Challenges
One feature of the AAPC was tension between conservative and avant-garde elements. The conference adopted a proposal by the Algerians and Moroccans for an "international corps of volunteers" to go to fight in Algeria in the manner of the International Brigade that had gone to Spain in the 1930s.
Internal contradictions within the AAPC led to its eventual demise. The difference between the two groups was to prove fatal to the AAPC, as radical pronouncements by the Conference began to pose difficulties for its governmental members in their diplomatic relations with the more conservative African states.
Subsequent Conferences
The Conference met three times: December 1958, January 1960, and March 1961. It had a permanent secretariat with headquarters in Accra. Its primary objectives were independence for the colonies, strengthening the independent states, and resisting neocolonialism.
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The mood at this conference was more militant than at the second conference, partly because some conservative groups had withdrawn, and partly because the conference occurred during the crisis in the Congo. In another clause Kasavubu, Mobutu, Tshombe and Kalonji were denounced for their role.
Legacy and Impact
As the first political gathering of ordinary people from various parts of the continent on the continent, the AAPC exposed the delegates to the commonality of the challenges facing Africa and provided an opportunity for networking in the anti-colonial struggle. The conference and its follow-up played an instrumental role generating the needed momentum for independence, as is evidenced by the fact that soon thereafter, particularly in 1960, most African countries were liberated from colonial rule.
Following the conferences, Kwame Nkrumah and the forces committed to unity worked hard for the establishment of a permanent organization to support liberation and work for continental unification. This led to the formation of the Organization of African Unity in May 1963.
In 2002, the OAU was transformed into the African Union, with a specific timetable for the full unification of Africa, with a common currency from one common bank of issue, a continental communication system, a common foreign policy and diplomacy, as well as a common defence system featuring the African High Command.
The AAPC served as the springboard for the second and third All-African Peoples' Conferences held in Tunis (1960) and Cairo (1961), respectively, as well as similar meetings held in later years to push forward the liberation and continental unity agenda.
