REPORT ON THE FIRST CIVIL SOCIETY SUMMIT FOR PANAFRICAN
RENAISSANCE
held in Dakar, Senegal, 21 to 25 August 2000
Gorée 2000 Report
SUMMARY
At the initiative of the Panafrican Federation of OAU Associations and
Clubs, in partnership with the African Futures Forum (AFF) association,
with the support of the Government of Senegal, the first Summit of the
Civil Society for Panafrican Renaissance, also called Goree 2000, held
in Dakar and the Goree island from August 21 through August 25, 2000.
The encounter brought together some 200 representatives of the African
civil society from the continent and the diaspora around a number of activities
to mark the beginning of a common life by the sons and daughters of Mother
Africa, as one and the same people, albeit scattered around the world.
After the solemn opening on August 21 at the Savana hotel, the proceedings
continued at the same venue with lectures and debates centered around
themes and projects such as: 100 years of Panafricanism, the role of the
African youth in the challenges of the 21st century, African citizenship
for the African diaspora, the panafrican solidarity visa, the role of
an African Civil Society Organization (ACSO) in the implementation of
the African Union, the OAU Volunteers Corps, the New Opportunities for
African Development (NEDA), etc. The climax of the week was the Reconciliation
ceremony, which took place on the Goree Island on Thursday, August 24.
This ceremony was marked by a presentation of the history of the slave
trade, an apology by Africans from the continent for the role played by
their ancestors in this sad matter, the acceptance of apology by the African
diaspora, and the adoption of the Panafrican Renaissance Declaration.
The washing of hands, sharing of the kola nuts and accolades also formed
highlights of this great ceremony which brought together more than 120
people.
Important resolutions and recommendations were adopted at the end of
this first Summit. Prominent among these was the resolution concerning
the rigorous follow up of Goree 2000 within the framework of the partnerships
without which the Summit could not hold. To this effect, a second Summit
was previewed to take place in Yaounde, Cameroon, in the course of the
year 2001.
Prominent among the recommendations was the one concerning the granting
by the OAU, of an African citizenship to the Africans living in the diaspora
to enable them participate more efficiently in the development of the
continent as a matter of their civic duty. It is important to recall also
the recommendation concerning the institution of a new right of entry
into the continent, called Panafrican Solidarity Visa, which should yield
at least 200 million US dollars a year. Efficient methods to follow up
these recommendations will be adopted during the second Summit of the
African civil society in Yaounde. The Summit will also be an occasion
for the formal creation of the ACSO and the adoption of a genuine draft
Protocol to institute the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the
African Union, a Council entrusted to the African civil society.
The remarkable success of the Goree 2000 Summit was a miracle in the
face of great difficulties encountered during its preparation. But it
also bears testimony that the rebirth of Africa is a responsibility that
Africans can and must assume, now.
REPORT ON THE FIRST CIVIL SOCIETY SUMMIT FOR PANAFRICAN
RENAISSANCE
held in Dakar, Senegal, 21 to 25 August 2000
I. Introduction
By the time of its effective opening, the Goree 2000 Summit had the following
major objectives:
- The celebration of 100 years of panafricanism;
- The adoption of the proposal of an African citizenship for the African
Diaspora;
- The promotion of African referendums as a higher dimension in the African
democratization process;
- The endorsement of a proposal for the Panafrican Solidarity Visa as
one of the financial resources for the continent.
- The promotion of the OAU Volunteers Corps and the New Opportunity for
African Development (NEDA).
- The promotion of the idea of creating an African Civil Society Organization
(ACSO).
The ultimate goal was however to reconcile all the sons and daughters
of Africa on the continent and in the Diaspora and to lay the foundation
for Panafrican Renaissance.
2. Participation
On the whole, participation at the Summit was high though not as had been
expected. Many African delegations were unable to make it to Dakar and
this because of the financial problems and the failure of the OAU general
Secretariat to honour its financial engagements toward the organization
of the Summit. However, some 200 people participated in the various activities.
3.The Summit program
The Summit began on Monday August 21, 2000, as scheduled, by a grand opening
ceremony. This ceremony was characterized by many speeches delivered by
personalities such as the Representative of the Senegalese Government,
the US Ambassador in Senegal, Mr. James WASHINGTON (Adviser of the AFF),
Prof. Maurice TADADJEU (Chairman of the panafrican Federation of OAU Associations
and Clubs), Mr. Charles HAMIDU (President of the AFF).
The daily program was finalized as follows, with enough flexibility to
allow for further adjustments:
21 August 2000:
9h-10h30: Opening Ceremony
10h30-11h: Coffee break
12h-14h: a) Health: Promotion of responsibility, Prevention of AIDS and
STD (AFF)
b) planning meeting of the Panafrican Federation of OAU Associations and
Clubs
14h-15h: Lunch
15h15-18h: African Union meeting (joint).
22 August 2000:
9h-12h: a) Information Technologies: bridging the technology gap (AFF)
b) Panafrican Renaissance and Economic Perspectives (OAU Associates)
12h-13h: Joint Session on the OAU Volunteers Corps
13h-14h: Lunch
14h-17h: a) Presentation of the Panafrican Referendum Project (OAU Associates)
b) Workshop on computer training (AFF)
17h-20h: Joint Session on roots, Arts and Culture and Reconciliation
23 August 2000
9h-12h: Joint Session on economic perspectives for the African Union
12h-13h: Plenary session on the survival of the African child
13h-14h: Lunch
14h-17h: The historic role of the Gorée Island (OAU Associates)
24 August 2000
9h-14h: Visit to the Goree Island
12h-13h: Reconciliation Ceremony in the Slave House at Goree Island
13h-14h: Lunch
15h-17h: Visit to the Center for Correspondence Training (AFF)
25 August 2000
9h-12h: Systematization of reports and recommendations (AFF & OAU
Associates)
13h-14h: a) AFF 2002 Vision
b) Meeting of the Organizations of the African Civil Society. (OAU Associates)
4. Panels
For the first three days, the Federation and its Associates and the AFF
were engaged in high spirited and useful deliberations on issues affecting
the whole of the continent. While AFF animated discussions on new technologies,
the Federation animated discussions on big themes or projects with continental
dimensions. Among the following projects presented for discussion by the
Federation, many had been under study for several years:
a) NEDA: New Opportunities for African Development
This project deals with road and river interconnections on the continent
and OAU villages. These interconnections would enable one to move from
one capital on the continent to another by road and or by water. Preliminary
studies on the project were presented and participants were called upon
to contribute on deepening reflections on it, its feasibility, and strategies
of implementation, etc.
b) The OAU Volunteers Corps
Appropriate documents were presented on this project. It dealt with the
putting in place of African volunteers that would be deployed on different
priority fields on the continent (health, environment, education, etc.)
The need was raised for African volunteers to also move towards the diaspora
to animate Panafrican Renaissance.
c) The panafrican Solidarity Visa
This is a new right of entry aiming at collecting ten US dollars from
every African and non-African entering the African Economic Community.
The funds raised would be used to finance continental institutions like
the Panafrican Parliament, the Panafrican Court of Justice, the African
Civil Society Organization, etc.
d)The Panafrican Referendums
This proposal aims at promoting Panafrican Referendums as a new dimension
of the democratization process in Africa. A report was presented on the
state of participation of Africans in the pre-referendum initiated by
the Federation and which is presently going on through the internet.
e) The African Civil Society Organization.
The idea of creating this continental organization was presented. It will
seek to bring together the African civil society in complementary actions
with the African Union in the quest to accelerate the development of the
Continent.
During these deliberations, major decisions geared towards paving the
way for the realization of the projects were made. Registration was opened
for membership into the NEDA Project. People and institutions would have
to pay a registration fee of one hundred US dollars ($100) to become promoters
of the project. To facilitate the endorsement of the Panafrican Visa by
Heads of State, an audience was booked to meet President Wade of Senegal
to request that he formally present it to his other African colleagues.
On departure, the audience was not yet granted and the OAU Club of Senegal
was mandated to follow up the issue. Copies of the request and the projects
were also sent to the Gambian President for eventual complementary action.
The necessity was recognized of the urgency to work toward the creation
and institutionalization of the African Civil Society Organization as
a major step toward accelerating the development of the continent.
5. The reconciliation
ceremony
On the 4th day, 25 August 2000, Summit participants moved over to the
Goree Island for the reconciliation ceremony. The ceremony took place
at the court of the Slave House. It consisted of four major parts: speeches,
washing of hands, sharing of kola nuts and embraces.
a) Speeches
. Presentation of the history of the Slave House
Mr. Joseph NDIAYE, the Conservator of the Slave House since 1962, in an
emotional speech, presented the history of the Slave House as well as
a summary of what the slave trade was all about.
Presentation of excuses by Prof. Maurice TADADJEU
The president of the panafrican Federation of OAU Associations and Clubs
presented the excuses of Africans on behalf of their ancestors to the
African diaspora. Here is the text he read on this deeply moving occasion.
Dear African brothers and sisters of the first Diaspora,
At the end of our exchanges and discussions within the framework of this
family reunion, we have understood much better the process of the slave
trade which separated us. We understand that it was a complex phenomenon
involving European, American and African actors. It is a process that
lasted a long time, a very long time, and which did not only separate
the sons and daughters of Mother Africa, but above all, weakened and impoverished
them both on the continent and in the diaspora, by bringing along with
it other ills such as exploitation, servitude, colonization and multifarious
domination.
It was indeed a crime against humanity whose ensuing consequences continue
to persist today.
As we all know, our ancestors who lived in Africa before this slave were
one and the same people. They were brothers and sisters, cousins, members
of the same clans, ethnic groups and other national communities. As a
result of instigation by western slave traders, complicities involving
different groups of our common ancestors brought many of those who remained
on the continent to participate, at different levels, in the capture and
sale of those who were taken to America.
We want to note the fact that more and more Africans on the continent
have been presenting, in private and in public, on behalf of their ancestors,
excuses to Africans in the diaspora, for the participation of their ancestors
in the slave trade. We want, by this act, not only to associate ourselves
to these requests for pardon, but above all to render it more generalizable
in all African communities, wherever the need shall be felt.
We, descendants of the sons and daughters of Mother Africa that remained
on the continent, present to you today, descendants of the sons and daughters
of Mother Africa sold out as slaves, our excuses and those of our ancestors
for their part of responsibility in this sad business. We pray that you
accept our sincere regrets in the name of the collective memory of our
ancestors.
In the form of symbolic reparations, we offer you here one Afri (whose
value is equivalent to one South African Rand.)
· Madam Dele Jane OSAWE, in her capacity as an African traditional
ruler, presented excuses to the diaspora on behalf of the African traditional
leaders for their specific role in the slave trade.
· Acceptance of excuses by Mr. James WASHINGTON
Following the presentation of excuses by Maurice Tadadjeu, James Washington
replied on behalf of the Africans in the diaspora. The initial part of
his reply actually expressed the first paragraphs of the Declaration of
Panafrican Renaissance presented here below. The second part focused on
the specific objectives of the African Futures Forum (AFF) as co-organizer
of the ceremony.
Mr. James Washington, promoter of the AFF, did indeed admit that the slave
trade was a real sad adventure for Africans and exhorted all African descendants
all over the world to forget the past and to collectively look forward
for a brighter future for Africa, where all African blood will be brought
together as one people. This, he said, was the justification of their
presence in Goree, to mark the beginning of a new collective contribution
to African development.
· Goree Declaration of Panafrican Renaissance
The Declaration of Panafrican Renaissance presented below was read by
Maurice Tadadjeu after the acceptance of excuses. This text had been in
preparation since November 1998. Several revised versions of it had circulated
and were even experimented in public meetings. Its proclamation actually
formally launched the process of Panafrican Renaissance
Declaration
of Panafrican Renaissance
(Goree 2000)
Mother Africa, you are reborn today out of long centuries of unjust
sufferings, to play your irreplaceable role in the world.
We, your sons and daughters, were disunited, dispersed, humiliated,
exploited and weakened by slavery, colonization and external dependence.
As a result, the entire process of your development was dramatically
disrupted and slowed down in the course of recent centuries.
Today, we have come together to reconcile ourselves and, in so doing,
to reconcile you with this regrettable stage of your history. We have
come together here to turn over this sad page of our history and to open
a new one, fundamentally more positive. We forgive those of our ancestors
who betrayed you and those of our contemporaries who continue to do so.
We call on the latter to repent and to change their behavior.
Mother Africa, your children participated, in a determining way, in
the construction of the world in general and the West in particular, at
the expense of their sweat and blood. We shall endeavor to preserve and
develop their legacy. We shall reap the dividends of this legacy to build
a united, strong and prosperous Africa. Indeed, Africa shall henceforth
help the world to revalue life and render it more just and more humane.
Mother Africa, you are not poor. Your resources are abundant. We shall
make them fruitful.
Henceforth, we, your people, shall live together and shall ever love and
cherish you.
May the God of our ancestors bless you, bless us, and lead our descendants
towards an ever-brighter future.
Goree, 24 August 2000
b) Washing of hands
This phase of the ceremony was presided over by Madam Dele Jane OSAWE
in her capacity as a traditional ruler. It was a symbolic gesture aimed
at getting rid of the evil committed in the capture and the sale of Africans
by Africans. Every participant came forth and washed his hands from water
poured by Chief OSAWE while she was saying an appropriate prayer for the
occasion.
c) Sharing of kola nuts
The washing of hands was followed by the symbolic sharing of kola nuts.
On a purely African manner, participants were called upon to share these
kola nuts as proof that they had forgotten the past and were ready to
forge ahead as one people. This was a symbolic communion to cement the
restored unity of sons and daughters of Mother Africa.
d) Embraces
After the sharing of kola nuts, participants were called upon to embrace
each other to further seal their union. This gesture marked a new era
of a common purpose and a common vision for Africa.
The OAU Club-Senegal was mandated to ensure that in future, any African
from the diaspora visiting the island return with a report of the reconciliation
ceremony so that we can, for once, turn over this sad page of our history
and look forward into a brighter future like one people with common ambitions
and vision.
A more elaborate document on Goree 2000 is being prepared by Prof. Maurice
Tadadjeu and will be published to serve this purpose.
6. General Recommendations
At the end of the Summit, a number of recommendations were made following
the discussions on the different panels. The following recommendations
were made in relation with specific panels:
1) African Citizenship for the African Diaspora
The participants recommend that the Organization of African Unity systematically
grant permanent citizenship to all Africans from the diaspora who request
it, so as to enable them participate actively and fully in the construction
of a United Africa as a matter of their civic duty.
2) Slavery, Colonization, Reconciliation and Reparations.
The participants recommend that the Organization of African Unity put
in place a committee to study the issue of reparations to be paid by slave
trading and colonizing nations to descendants of the victims.
3) Panafrican Renaissance
The participants recommend that the Panafrican Renaissance Declaration
made on Thursday 24 August 2000 at the Goree Island serve henceforth as
inspiration for the restoration of the Panafrican dimension in the lives
of Africans on the continent and in the Diaspora during the 21st century.
4) Process of African democratization
The participants recommend to African Heads of State to adopt the system
of referendums as a democratic process to involve the African people in
decision making on major issues durably affecting the entire continent.
5) Panafrican Solidarity Visa
The participants recommend that the Organization of African Unity formally
establish the Panafrican Solidarity Visa as a new financial resource for
the continent.
6) The Panafrican Union Project
The participants recommend to African Heads of State of the OAU, who have
not yet done so, to ratify the Constitutive Act of the African Union in
their various countries and to rapidly establish the Panafrican Court
of Justice and the Panafrican Parliament.
7. RESOLUTIONS
The following resolutions were adopted as commitments of the participants
to carry on a number of activities.
1) Organizing the African Civil Society
The participants resolve to work toward the creation of the African Civil
Society Organization(ACSO) and to promote the recognition of this Panafrican
structure at the level of the OAU and the United Nations.
2) Active Partnership:
The co-organizers of the Goree 2000 Summit and partner organizations resolve
to develop an active and concrete partnership among their organizations
to follow-up the recommendations of this Summit.
3) 2nd Summit of the African civil society in Yaounde:
The participants resolve to organize in the course of the year 2001 a
follow-up Summit of the African civil society in Yaounde, Cameroon.
8. Documents available on request.
Speeches, various Summit documents, and the list of participants, can
be obtained by writing to the Panafrican Federation of OAU Associations
and Clubs or to the African Futures Forum(AFF) at the following addresses:
P. O. Box 2905, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Tel./Fax: (237) 31 91 43
e-mail: panaref@camnet.cm
Washington D C 20036
Tel: (202)726 3353
Fax: (202)319 2260
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