'Africa Day may be a chapter lost in theory'

Sandra Obote

It wasn’t until just the other day when I was sitting in the radio studio, watching one of the news channel that my attention was caught by an announcement about Africa day, that I become aware that there is such a day.

Some may say for as an aspiring journalist who is deeply passionate about African affairs, such a day should have already been known to me and I am simply ignorant, but I do apologise for this slight overlook and lack of knowledge. Believe me, I know that I am not the only one who does not or did not know about this day. And who do we blame: our teachers, history writers, our politicians or us the public?

I have never heard of any major celebrations regarding this day. I’ve only seen search engine Google dedicating its page to Africa Day through its graphics and ofcouse the lecture - speeches made by former Presidents Thabo Mbeki at the UNISA. Beyond that it remains a theory in a seemingly lost chapter.

I learned about in the few years that I did history at school, and that where it stayed. Maybe it’s because the practicality of the days remains somehow an intellectual myth. Politicians of various African states rarely made a big public announcement about it or even polling all stops on going out of their way to educate the public about it.

Africa day is celebrated on the 25^th of May every year.  This year marks the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the organisation of the African union (OAU), presently known as the African union (AU) which was founded in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1963. This day is also widely referred to as Africa day all across the continent and the world.

Strangely though, it is recognised as an official public holiday in 5 out of the 54 countries of the continent

 


\(Ghana, Mali, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) part of the AU. In theory they say the day its suppose to acknowledge the achievements of the people and governments of Africa, and also provides a platform for people to get involved and celebrate the diversity of Africa, but how can they do so if many nations don’t even participate or even recognise the day in their calendars??

While Africa is a diverse continent with a wealth of minerals and resources and pleasing to the eye natural beauty, poverty, violence and gross human’s rights violation still persist in the continent. But it’s no doubt that in the last 50 years Africa had seen a lot of achievements in term of freedom and regime transformation.

These include election of the female presidents - Joyce Banda of Malawi and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia; An overall drop in AIDS  related deaths  by a third and the instigation of the great green wall initiative where a 6000km tract of land  running east to west through the Sahara has been allocated  for tree planting  to curb  the scourge of desertification and land degration,  which threatens  the livelihoods and food  security of Africa’s most vulnerable communities .

Speaking at this year’s world economic forum on Africa in Cape Town, South African President Mr. Jacob zuma said that “we have an opportunity to define our own future as Africans and create an Africa we desire.’ As it stands Africa is the second fastest growing region in the in the world after Asia.  As Africa continues to develop, let us cherish all that we have achieved and look forward to what is yet to come.