THE PAN-AFRIKAN LIBERATOR

In a speech given at the opening of the wharf for the police launch at Old Road Bay, Montserrat's chief minister said that there are some individuals and intellectuals in the community who are saying that the british have a secret agenda for Montserrat.

He went on to say, "I don't know why they have to be so negative. I wish that they would be more objective and write about the positive things that are happening."

The british do have an agenda for Montserrat. The political, social and economic implications of that agenda will carry the majority of the people in this country back into the MASSA days of our great grand parents.

That agenda, may have been secret in the early 1980's, but it has become so blatantly obvious to those who can see, that no one who is aware could call it a secret agenda.

The Pan-Afrikan Liberator, over the past 2 years, has documented the systematic and calculated way the british have destroyed our economic base, reduced our construction industry to labourers and manipulated our politics and our politicians.

In reality, this could not have happened in the easy and complacent manner that it has, if there were not influential lackeys and puppets in all sectors of our society, who are more than willing to do the bidding of their masters in return for the material wealth and social prominence that it has gained them.

In addition to the influential few willing to sell their own for personal gain, we are strapped with an education system that has been self destructing for the past 25 years.

Our education administration continues to view its accomplishments on the basis of false statistics and glorifies the achievements of a minuscule minority as though it were the norm.

Meanwhile we are miseducating and sending functional illiterates into our society in far greater numbers than none but the brave are willing to admit.

The result is that our youths, who the future belongs to, have no idea how to analyze and assess the complexities of the world they live in.

We have an adult work-force who, through calculated and skillful manipulation of their material desires are now living way beyond their means, and are mortgaged up to their necks for the next 30 years.

The consequences of this trap, is not the result of a silent approving majority that two of our representatives used to justify their support of themselves in the most recent no-confidence motion.

Instead, it's a silent, fearful majority who know that if they voice an opinion it might cost them their jobs. No job? No income to service your debt. Can't pay that loan? Bank comes for what you have. No nice house or big car? Your social standing in the community disappears.

Montserrat is currently being sold to the outside world (tourists) and its citizens, as the Caribbean the way it used to be. Well, the way it used to be, was a system of slavery where a minority of english overlords had the right of life and death over thousands of kidnapped Afrikans.

The Afrikans, were beaten, starved, and worked to death in pursuit of profit for the "master."

When the system of slavery was no longer profitable, it was replaced by the colonial system.

This meant that in addition to the plantation "masters" already in place, the british government gave authority to its chosen representatives to rule in the name of some queen or king that bore absolutely no resemblance to the majority of the people they were supposed to govern.

At no time during the transition from slavery to colonialism, was there any attempt made, through any institution, to make Afrikans aware of their humanity.

The dehumanizing conditioning of the slavery era continued into the colonial era.

The acceptable response by the colonized Afrikan to the colonial rulers could only be one characterized by mendicant, docile, respectful people with friendly smiling faces.

That acceptable response by the Afrikan to the european, created through the harsh conditioning of slavery, and perpetuated in all the institutions of the society, still remain in the colony of Montserrat.

For Montserrat, the colonial era has not yet ended. The british have given us something that they don't have: a "constitution." In it, they reinforce the absolute authority that the governor, has over us.

From the mid 1970's to the present the british have done all that they needed to do to insure that the colonial era never ends in Montserrat.

Depending on the personality involved at the chief minister's position they have used their aid and "constitutional" authority to insure that their directives were followed.

Wherever they met resistance to their policies they consolidated what they had and took whatever means were necessary to remove that resistance.

For the british, it has now all come together. The governor does not hesitate to tell us that carrying out her majesty's government's policy is his main priority. For Montserratians it is all falling apart.

What is good for britain and the expat community that they are in the process of imposing on Montserrat cannot be good for, or in the best interest of, the majority of the descendants of kidnapped and still economically trapped and culturally confused Afrikans who live here.

Ever since the NPP came to power in 1991, the chief minister and the governor have put up a front on every occasion where the media or an audience was present.

No matter what the occasion, both have taken great pains to display to those who are gullible enough to pay them any attention, that there is a good partner relationship between Montserrat and england.

Fortunately, there are people in the community who are no longer so easily fooled by words.

While the words of both the chief minister and the governor sound good, the actions and the impact of the policies that we see implemented in our island send a completely different message. This, forces us to draw different conclusions.

On May 10th, Reuben T. Meade, Richard Kinchen and Frank J. Savage signed an agreement called the Country Policy Plan (CCP).

As forecasted in practically every issue of The Pan-Afrikan Liberator, the future of Montserrat, as seen by british consultants, is going to be determined primarily by Tourism and Off-shore Banking.

On May 12th, the chief minister went on the radio and television to make the public aware of the plan.

At no time during his presentation or afterwards during questioning did the chief minister indicate that he had already signed the agreement with british officials.

The chief minister indicated that the document would be available to the public, and input and response from the public would be a part of the process.

Interested parties searching for the document the next day, found that it was unavailable at some locations or put together in such a haphazard manner that no one could tell if it was complete.

Eventually it became common knowledge that the community was searching for or reading information that had already been agreed to by the chief minister and british officials.

No approval or disapproval from the public was required.

At a follow-up press conference, the chief minister was asked, `How is it that the country policy plan which was supposed to be signed in October was already a done act in May?'

The chief minister's response was that in order to tie off (a measly) £9,000,000 from england to put toward the airport project, the signing was brought forward by five months.

That five months should have been the period where public input into our future should have been made.

Once again, in his arrogant and high-handed manner the chief minister has decided that only he (and his british partners, of course) know what is best for us.

The british, for their part, are only too happy to have such a non-resistant puppet to deal with.

The british, you see, deal only with the chief minister.

While this approach to "good government" might do wonders for the CM's ego, it continues to destroy the political, economic and social fabric of the island.

All of the remaining colonies of england have had a country policy plan forced upon them.

In the cases of the Turks and Caicos Islands and Anguilla, the opposition members in the house objected loudly before and during the signing of their plans.

Fortunately for Anguilla, the opposition party won the election in March, 1994 and the new chief minister lost no time telling the british governor that if each did his job according to each one's priority, there could be nothing but conflict between them.

Anguilla will break the colonial hold because leadership is managing the way to independence from in front.

The Country Policy Plan for Montserrat was already formulated and tested in the Turks and Caicos and Anguilla when, in October 1993, a team of british consultants, hired by the overseas development arm of the british, came with their pre-determined solutions to draft a plan for Montserrat.

After spending three weeks in Montserrat, speaking to whom they and the government considered relevant, the consultants put out their preliminary draft for public consumption and response.

The draft was compiled by sector and people involved with the relevant sectors brought their observations and objections to the consultants.

The draft contained many errors and presumptuous assumptions.

Although an independent consultant was hired to do a report on the social impact of the implementation of the plan, there was no indication as to the effects of the plan on the society at large.

To date, the social impact study, which was done by a Jamaican, has not been released to the public.

Ignoring the expressed concerns of the Montserrat public to their aims, objectives and solutions to our problems, the consultants presented their final policy plan in February 1994.

This time there was no notice to the public. Most people are not even aware that the final draft is on the island.

One would have to search extremely hard to find differences between the preliminary draft and the final one. Even some of the more obvious errors remain in the final draft.

The plan calls for the restructuring of every sector of our society.

In agriculture, tourism, the private and public sectors, the consultants came up with the same formula which goes as follows.

Montserrat does not have the managerial skill nor technical expertise to make anyone of its sectors function efficiently.

Therefore, the solution in every case is to create external statutory bodies, managed by expatriates, and run by foreign technicians.

These boards will make every current management infrastructure redundant.

In essence, what we will have is a sizeable expatriate population entering Montserrat at the top of our social and economic structure.

Their position in our society, and the stigma that they bring with them, about the differences in our ethnicity, carries the majority of us right back to the 17th century.

The private sector will soon be controlled totally by expatriates. A few years ago when visionaries in the society were projecting these scenarios, the private sector, especially the real-estate agents, ignored and scoffed at the suggestions.

Today the local real estate business is being gobbled up by an expat. Of course, he too has a willing local lackey, but the other local agents cannot hold back the charge.

In the private service sector, the tourist business is being quietly cornered off by expatriates.

Slowly but surely, following a well-established blueprint, they enter and obtain licenses and work-permits to establish businesses catering to tourists.

According to the governor, we are wonderfully talented and gifted. How can we make this work for us?

Well, according to his design, the local arts and crafts are reserved for us to peddle on the street.

For every small local business in Montserrat that crashes, an expatriate rents or leases the space.

For those of you who can see, take a look at the road along the waterfront from Wapping across the bridge, to the Post Office. If that doesn't show you the trend, walk through town and see what is happening.

When it was suggested to the british consultants that the implementation of their plan in the private sector would overwhelm the existing local private sector and make it powerless, private-sector businessmen paid no attention.

On May 9th, coincidental with the signing of the country policy plan, the british agreed to assist Montserrat with £9 million in capital aid for the airport upgrade project.

This translates into approximately EC$36 million depending on the state of the pound at the time of dispensation.

The airport project has been on the books since the PDP administration of P. Austin Bramble.

At one point, when Venezuela was overflowing with oil dollars, the PDP government could have gotten an airport for Montserrat.

However, the foreign policy control that england has over Montserrat stopped that from happening.

Since then, there have been at least 4 feasibility studies on the need for and the type of airport that Montserrat should have.

Of course, those studies were done by british consultants who, over the years, have been paid far in excess of the £9 million that england has condescended to give finally.

The bottom line now is this. To have an airport of the length and design originally projected when Venezuela was involved, will today cost EC$100 million (approximately £25 million).

That airport, would have to have a foundation base that fits international standards for jet landings and at least 1800 metres of covered runaway.

The british, from the very beginning have insisted that they will not finance or assist Montserrat in acquiring international landing capabilities.

In their country policy plan, they have come up with a plan that for EC$86 million (£23 million), gives us an airport with regional standards and capabilities.

We already have an airport with regional capabilities.

If this was the only condition that the british were forcing upon us for their paltry £9 million, maybe we could accept it in the name of progress.

However, the british have also tied an airport design to their paltry money.

That design, does not allow us to put down an international foundation for future expansion, and the runaway is aligned in such a way that there will be no way of extending it when it is finished.

As with everything the british gives, strings and designs are attached.

Their logic goes like this. The possibility exists, that someday, even though our government does not want it to happen, and will do all it can to insure that we do not assist or encourage it, Montserrat will escape from our clutches and take its independence.

When that event takes place, and it will, our former colony should not be able to benefit from anything we have put in place.

They should be made to go out into the world and put themselves deep in debt to acquire anything they need for their national development.

For those of you doubting Thomasses and blinker wearers, take a look around you.

The water tank at Hopes, called a reservoir, is made from metal. Metal corrodes.

All the tanks put in place during the PDP era by the canadians are presently in need of repair.

There are in place in various parts of Montserrat, stone and concrete reservoirs that are still functioning 50 years after they were built.

The british consultants and british money dictated that the tank must be built from metal.

The road to Cork Hill, is a death trap for our pedestrians. The money paid to the consultant and the designer total more than the combined earnings of the entire labour force.

You won't find any of the expatriate community walking on that road, only our children and especially the people from the Weekes and Cork Hill communities.

The british logic, there were not enough road deaths to justify the cost of raised sidewalks.

The new government headquarters are oblong boxes that anyone with a pencil and ruler could draw. However, Montserrat did not have anyone capable of designing or constructing it.

Instead of a modern building with contingencies for upward expansion, british consultants, british designers and british construction contractors have given us oblong boxes with concrete A-frame roofs from the 1928 era.

The windows are designed to insure that the buildings are sealed. That means that we will inherit some buildings with no future in terms of expansion and an electricity bill for air conditioning that in good or bad times will be exorbitant.

Since 1989, the hospital roof designed and built with material specified by british consultants (including asbestos) was blown away by hurricane Hugo.

It is now 1994 and the hospital is still being repaired. Only a british construction company could design and replace the destroyed roof.

For that to happen the island had to wait 5 years because the company was too busy elsewhere sucking up british-aid funds.

The same company that put on the roof was then given the contract to put in place a landing site at Old Road Bay for the police launch. The contract was signed by the chief minister and the british without any consultation with the PWD.

When questioned about his high handed approach, the chief minister indicated that if he did not sign the agreement at that time the money would no longer be available, and the company, having completed the hospital roof project, would have had to take their equipment and go elsewhere.

Of course, the timing of the completion of the hospital roof, and the sudden non- availability of money for the docking site, if not done now, are in no way related?

Every time the chief minister makes a unilateral decision, he comes to the media and states that it was a decision made in consultation and agreement with the other three ministers of government.

This, he says, makes it a government decision and not as he likes to put it, a Reuben Meade decision.

None of the other ministers, for whatever reason, will publicly contradict any of the chief minister;s media monologues. They are therefore just as guilty and must suffer the consequences.

Not once, in the almost three years that they have been in office, has the chief minister or any other government minister made a case or took a position that was in the best interest of the people of this island.

No matter what takes place, they just keep going along complacently with the program and the local populace suffers.

In the almost three years that the NPP has been in office, millions of dollars have been spent in Montserrat.

Yet, with a work- force of about five thousand and a popula tion of about 10,000, we are dying. How can that be?

Now, the largest group of our work-force, the civil service, is being forced to reduce its earning capacity and still no defence is offered for us by our "leaders."

In 1992 over $20 million were spent building a new port for the island. The contractors, europeans operating out of Miami, wrote such an iron-tight contract that not even one half of a million dollars came into Montserrat.

The british went as far as to insist, that the money coming from the various lending agencies could only come into Montserrat through barclay's bank.

As soon as the money reached Montserrat, it was immediately transferred to Miami.

The government still bent over backwards to give every concession asked for by the contractors. Our money, our debt burden, and nothing for us.

Some 6 million dollars was spent repairing the hospital. Outside british contractors got the job, some of which they sub-contracted out to locals.

The job is not yet finished, and we still don't have a hospital. Again the bulk of the money went to outsiders and out of the country.

A road was repaired to the tune of 3 million dollars. The best kept secret is that the consultants underestimated the funds required.

The money ran out, long before the job was finished. Of course there was no scandal and more funds came to finish the job.

Once again, the bulk of the money went into outsiders pockets and as a result could not enter our economy.

In the middle of town, british contractors, bringing in their own equipment, at the expense of local heavy equipment operators, demolished a perfectly good building.

Some 12 million dollars and more will be spent here when the job is finished.

Now, the 12 million dollar estimate for erecting some new buildings did not include demolishing the good old building.

So, the money will run out before the project is done, and of course there will be no scandal and more money will be supplied.

By now the pattern is so familiar that even a baby can follow it.

Why then, can't our "leaders" see?

How is it that in the almost three years, not one of them has ever said to the public that they are aware of certain detrimental events taking place in Montserrat, but because british policy and directives take precedence over local policy, regardless of the outcome, their hands are tied?

Instead, all we get is this tired old song and dance routine from the chief minister and the governor about partnership.

Does our economist know that 10% share in a business makes one a partner?

Does our economist know, that who has controlling interest in the partnership makes the decisions?

Does our economist know, that power lies with the people?

Listen to the Mr. Savage, the governor's words. "The british would like to have a share in determining the future of Montserrat."

" If, however, a decision is made by her majesty's government that is not agreed to by the local government, then I, as the governor will implement that policy regardless of the consequences to Montserrat."

The british have made sure that we understand that the 5 million or more dollars that they are spending turning government house into a modern and luxurious living quarters fit only for royalty did not come from any capital aid funds.

Are the taxpayers in england aware that an ordinary brown-bagging civil servant had five million or more dollars of their money spent to build himself a swimming pool and a private office?

All this for the honour and glory of an empire that exists only in the minds of ???

Does it make sense that the british, who have proven to be so stingy and stringent with their aid, is spending in excess of five million dollars on a building and its surroundings to give it up in a year or two?

Listen to the governor. At the opening of the docking site for the police launch, he said that Montserratians may opt for independence in one year, in five years, in the 21st century, or some time in the far distant future. Which one do you think he really means?

On the signing of the CCP, the governor said that the british are committed to making Montserrat economically sound because unless Montserrat is economically independent then independence will be an unattainable dream for generations of Montserratians.

Since there is no country in the world that is economically independent, including the once great and now oh so tiny britain, you can take the governor at his word.

If we continue to allow england and its local lackey, our chief minister, to set our criteria on independence for us, then independence will be an unattainable dream.

On the 12th of May, in accordance with, once again, some unilateral agreements made between our chief minister and the governor, the civil servants were asked to choose any one of three doses of poison:-

(1) Take a 7% reduction in salary.

(2) Take off two work-days a month.

(3) Take a staff cut.

They were instructed to make their choice, and respond to government by Tuesday, May 17th. To their credit, the CSA rejected unanimously all three doses.

Playing his usual convoluted word games with the media, the chief minister insists that he is still awaiting the CSA's response, and that he will not discuss the situation with the media.

Once again, an opportunity has arisen, to remove in a civil manner, the inept government of the NPP.

The entire civil service needs to realize, that the only way in which it can halt its already signed-and- sealed death warrant is to call for the resignation of the chief minister, and the dissolution of the legislative council.

In 1952, with the coming of adult suffrage, Montserratians knew who they were. They had no problem standing as a united front to accomplish a mission.

Out of that stand came a united labour force that allowed their children, present-day Montserratians, to rise to positions of prominence and influence in our society.

Unfortunately, those same sons and daughters of labourers do not know who they are today.

Some believe that they now belong to a mythical middle class and many others are openly ashamed of their roots.

This has created a situation where an entire work-force with a common cultural, historical and social background cannot come together as a force for their mutual benefit.

The civil service is now filled with self- serving individuals looking out only for themselves. Leadership lacks the iron-will necessary to forge a united force.

Windows of opportunity have limited life spans. If the civil servants do not use this one, they condemn themselves and the rest of us to the continued rise of the expatriate community and the decline and eventual demise of the local populace.

A world-wide conference was held in Barbados (April 20-May 6, 1994) to allow small islands to air their views on a complete package for sustainable development.

Although the conference was designed to cover all aspects of development, both positive and negative, that small island states encounter in their pursuit of long-term sustainability, the over-riding emphasis, in terms of media propaganda, was placed on the sustainability of the physical environment.

There were 253 colonies represented at that conference, islands that are still controlled and dominated by the colonial countries of england, france, spain, america, denmark, etc.

The representatives who spoke at the Non- Government Organisations (NGO) forums made it abundantly clear that sustainability and colonialism do not go together.

It became quite apparent at that conference just how rampant colonialism still is, and how the media and the colonial overlords collude to insure that the struggles of these colonies for the right to determine their own destiny remain insular and isolated.

The european countries have made a conscious decision to hold on to their remaining colonies.

This allows them to reassert their false concept of superiority in the minds of their conditioned robots who come as tourists.

It also allows them a lucrative playground for their rich and famous to speculate in the moneylaundering system, given a thin veneer of legality by the off- shore financial systems that are owned and operated by them.

Sustainability of the physical environment, that is not tied to sustainable development in its entirety serves only the foreigners that visit our shores.

The Chief Minister of Anguilla, Hubert Hughes, has taken the case of the Anguillan people to britain.

Mr Hughes has stated that if he does not get the satisfaction he desires, "I will be asking the british government to do what is requisite.

If they don't, I will go to the United Nations. I have already contacted the United Nations Decolonisation Committee and I will have Anguilla declared a trusteeship."

There is, in the United Nations charter, contingencies for small colonies that are struggling for their release from their colonial overlords.

Because of the tight control that the security council has on the decision-making process in the U.N., england has been able to divert and water down the position that its remaining colonies have taken over the years in their quest for independence.

The british government refused to sign the original charter on decolonisation which stated that there were to be no colonies left on the planet by the year 2000.

The leadership of Hubert Hughes, and the resolve of the Anguillan people must be supported by all independence activists.

Fearing the growing popularity of the independence movement in Bermuda, and recognising that it would only be a matter of time before the majority of the people recognise and understand the need to be in control of the decision-making process that controls one's destiny, the puppet ruling party and the british government tricked the Bermudian opposition party and the Bermudian people, into holding a referendum on independence.

The british continue to put up their diplomatic front and play their media games as they continually say, if it's the will of the people, then england will set the colony free.

However, their internal policy says, we will not aid, assist or develop the people's will and covertly, we will do everything in our power to thwart it.

Having tested and succeeded with the referendum option in Bermuda, all the remaining colonies can rest assured that the ploy will be attempted in their territories.

There is absolutely nothing in the so-called "constitutions" that england has forced upon its remaining colonies that sets any criteria for independence.

Independence will come when the majority of the people go to the polls and elect a government that has independence as an integral part of its development manifesto.

According to all the standards set in the so- called democratic western hemisphere, a majority is more than half.

Many of the decisions made in the democratic parliaments of the world are decided by one vote.

The british cannot impose their double standards on the remaining colonies. They can say what they want.

They can say what they would like to see. They cannot change the accepted definition of majority. Bermuda People will overcome the set-back. The remaining colonies being aware of the trap must be vigilant and not fall in it.

The 7th Pan-Afrikan Congress was held in Kampala, Uganda from April 3-8 1994. The theme: DON'T AGONISE, ORGANISE; the declaration, Resist Recolonisation.

The Congress was convened to organise politics of mass resistance to the new conditions that are threatening Afrika and Afrikan peoples in more dangerous ways than ever before.

The Afrikan continent is facing a real threat of recolonisation while our people in the diaspora are confronting the rise of fascism and fascist violence in europe and north america.

Pan-Afrikanism has always been a global calling to advance the cause of liberation, freedom and unity of Afrikan peoples at home and abroad.

A viable Pan-Afrikanist movement for the 1990's entails new and creative methods of fostering solidarity among Afrikans and people of Afrikan descent worldwide.

In the age of information and communication explosion, Pan-Afrikanism must move with the times and be in a proactive position to propel the pace of Afrikan unity.

While there are still remnants of the colonial system in various parts of the world, independent Afrikan states have fallen victim to neo-colonialism.

Afrika has been deliberately marginalised from acquiring and utilising modern technology for the development of our people, to the extent that it has remained a producer of primary products and a dumping ground for foreign industrial goods.

The cold war has now been replaced by the unleashing of an intensified economic war against Afrika spearheaded by the IMF and the world bank.

This war will lead to a new scramble for the recolonisation of Afrika. The 7th PAC maintains that the IMF and the world bank are supervising an economic order which does not provide the means for Afrikan development and growth, but instead structurally adjusts Afrika into increasing poverty, the debt-burden and underdevelopment.

This applies equally to Afrikan peoples and governments in the diaspora.

We face the breakdown of our families, communities and societies. Our people cry out for food, housing, health care, education, jobs, justice and freedom from police terror, drugs, and germ genocide.

The control of Afrika remains in foreign hands. In most Afrikan countries, imperialism has the cooperation and compliance of the ruling elites.

The overall result is that Afrika is being forced into dangerous levels of economic impoverishment, social decay, and chemical genocide.

Mass uprisings are again manifesting themselves from Cairo to Chicago, from Somalia to Los Angeles and from Detroit to Durban.

We condemn the "new world order" created and maintained by united states imperialism.

We declare the following political program for the Pan-Afrikan movement as we enter into the 21st century.

In order to implement the program, it must be disseminated, discussed and debated at the grassroots level by all Afrikan people in all Afrikan languages.

The 7th PAC has been convened to formulate a general program of action for an overall political and economic strategy for the liberation of Afrika under one union government with full citizenship rights to Afrikans in the diaspora.

Science and technology are fundamental to human development and liberation.

Imperialism uses the power of science and technology to exploit, dominate and terrorise Afrikan peoples.

The 7th PAC calls upon Afrikans everywhere to make science and technology a principal link in our struggle for social and economic liberation.

Our strategy must include the removal of the stranglehold of imperialist debt by collectively fighting to renounce the debt on the basis of the "odious debt" principle as accepted in international law.

For every programme and project we see in Afrika funded by imperialists loans and "aid" there is correspondingly, a massive outflow of value in the form of debt servicing and looting, siphoning needed resources to the tune of 150 million dollars a day.

The 7th PAC endorses the fight for reparations for the Afrikan Holocaust precipitated by the imposition of the system of slavery by the europeans.

The realisation of our political unity must be through organised mass action through our women, students, youth, workers, trade unions, and revolutionary organisations.

We call upon Afrikan peoples to form a popular front for the liberation of Afrika from foreign exploitation, dispossession and domination.

A central component of this struggle is to oppose all forms of oppression and exploitation of women.

One of our major tasks is to expose how the enemies of Pan-Afrikanism are exploiting and promoting ethnic and religious divisions to divide and weaken us in order in order to continue our subjugation and domination.

Our goal is to promote tolerance, peace and understanding among all Afrikan peoples and to seek to convert religious and ethnic diversities into a source of strength.

We dare to dream the same dream that has always filled the villages, ghettos, townships and slavequarters with hope. That hope, has always animated the spirit of resistance, united the oppressed, the dispossessed, and the exploited masses of our people for genuine liberation.

However, we held the 7th Pan-Afrikan Congress to do more than dream. We have come together to make concrete plans for action to rid the world of a curse that has plagued humanity for over five centuries.

We the Afrikan people are our own liberators and thinkers whose task is to make a mighty stride towards genuine freedom by any means necessary.

Our salvation is in our own hands. We are our own liberators.

Excerpted from the Kampala Declaration

The first step in the final liberation of Afrika south of the Sahara took place in South Afrika (Azania) last month with the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as Azania's new President.

For about 3 weeks, the western media had a field day filling the minds of all who it touched with historical distortions, singing the praises of multi- racial democracy, and announcing the death of apartheid.

Now, having accomplished their mission of safely insulating the white minority in Azania, news from the region is no longer relevant.

The industries of South Afrika, Azania, are jointly owned and developed by the multi- national corporations of america, england france and the minority white people in South Afrika, Azania.

The apartheid system was fully condoned by the governments of england, france and america.

The huge profits made under the system took priority over any loss of moral or civil rights that the indigenous people suffered.

When the analysts realized that in the next 5 years the armed struggle waged by the Azanian people would have taken back from the western world all that it had plundered over time; they dangled a carrot; they offered us a bone.

Fortunately for them, the character and personality of Nelson Mandela, built up over 40 years of struggle and resistance, still existed in the flesh.

Mr Mandela was able to accommodate and facilitate the smooth transition of political leadership from the white minority to the black majority.

Changing faces, however, as has been well documented in our struggle to free ourselves from the colonial system does not in any way change the system that is inherited.

There can be no freedom or liberation if control of the agricultural and mineral resources and the means of production does not lie in the hands of the people's government.

Not only does the minority white population still hold and control all the agricultural, mineral and industrial resources of Azania, they also hold seven key ministerial positions on the executive council.

Already, Mr. Mandela, inheritor of the richest and most developed country in Afrika is begging for money to implement some of the promises he made to the masses.

Mr Mandela has chosen to follow the path of least resistance. He has accomplished much and deserves to be admired.

However, the true liberation of the people of Azania has not yet begun.

Having satisfied the western world, Mr Mandela must now begin to deal with Afrikans at home and abroad, and more importantly, the youths who sacrificed their childhood to make his dream a present reality.

If he cannot, he will have to move over and hand over leadership to those who have the drive, desire and will to make Afrika the place of solace and strength for Afrikans at home and abroad.