Prof Patrick Lumumba calls for economic freedom in Africa
Professor Patrick Lumumba has called for Africa to push for economic freedom to avoid being beholden to Western policies.
Lumumba said Bretton Woods institutions must not be allowed to dictate governance issues in Africa.
Before the lecture started there was a standoff at UCT between members of the LGBTQIA+ community and members of the EFF.
This was in protest against alleged homophobic remarks made by the Kenyan academic some time ago.
Lumumba said the EFF had made the right diagnosis in 2013 when it was formed that after political freedom there must be economic freedom.
The African Union (AU) had in the same year also adopted Agenda 2063 and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to increase trade relations on the continent.
Africans had been led by great leaders from Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana to Ahmed Ben Bella in Algeria, Patrice Lumumba in Congo-Kinshasa, Julius Nyerere in Tanzania, Samora Machel in Mozambique and Augostinho Neto in Angola.
Even in South Africa people like Steve Biko, Winnie Madkizela-Mandela and Chris Hani led the Struggle for freedom.
These leaders had fought against the brutal systems of colonialism and apartheid.
Lumumba was delivering a lecture at UCT on Monday evening to celebrate EFF’s 10th anniversary.
For years Africa had produced great leaders who called for the continent to stand on its own.
Lumumba said he felt saddened each time he saw a number of young people from Africa drowning in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe.
The continent of Africa must fight for economic freedom.
He said the AU was correct when it adopted Agenda 2063 and the African Continental Free Trade Area.
“Under those documents, we are promising ourselves that Africa shall be economically emancipated because we cannot allow ourselves to be under the tutelage of the International Monetary Fund. We cannot and we must not. We must not allow ourselves to be slaves of the World Bank. We must not. We must not allow ourselves to be told who our friends are, who our enemies are, what we should do, what we should not do. We cannot be the tail that is wagged by the dog all the time. The time has come that we must do things that are in our best interests. That can only happen when we are economically emancipated,” said Lumumba.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
IOL Politics