Boundaries and borders barricading African countries into sovereign states as in present day Africa is no doubt a legacy borne out of colonialism and neo-colonialism. Many Africans believe that unrestricted movement of people and goods is a catalyst for accelerated progress and development of the continent. Thus, free movement in Africa for Africans has become a burning desire in the heart of good thinking Africans, especially pan-Africanists, who have made this great issue their mission and vision.

In June this year, the famed editor Baffour Ankomah who is now editor at large of the London-based New African magazine wrote extensively on this important matter in both New African and the US-based Africawatch magazine. His article can be accessed at Humanitas Afrika’s African Information Centre website through the following link: http://centrum.humanitasafrika.cz/en/index

Humanitas Afrika is an African-Czech and pan-African organisation based in Prague, which works to advance and enhance the interest of the global African family.

The organisation has deemed it necessary and timely to recognise, appreciate, celebrate, and honour African leaders, institutions, and individuals whose policies and initiatives give greater freedom and progress to the African people and advance the course of African unity and development, by instituting an AFRICAN LEADERSHIP AND EXCELLENCE AWARD scheme that recognises, rewards, inspires, motivates and honours African leaders, individuals and institutions whose endeavours enhance greater freedom, development and unity of the African people and the mother continent.

In this regard, and specifically within the last two years, Presidents Paul Kagama of Rwanda and John Dramani Mahama of Ghana have instituted policies and enacted laws in their respective countries that enhance the African unity project. They have launched commendable visa-on-arrival policies in their respective countries that allow easy access and free movement of Africans into Rwanda and Ghana.

These noteworthy policies have attracted the attention of Humanitas Afrika, which has decided to honour the two presidents with the AFRICAN LEADERSHIP AND EXCELLENCE AWARD as a way of encouraging them to do more and also highlighting their example to the rest of Africa so that the banner they have raised will be emulated by other African presidents and countries.

It was in this context that the head of Humanitas Afrika, Afrikatu Kofi Nkrumah, travelled to Ghana recently to present the first ever AFRICAN LEADERSHIP AND EXCELLENCE AWARD to the President of Ghana, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, at the Flagstaff House in Accra, the seat of Ghana’s government.

Kofi Nkrumah presented the award in the company of Mr Baffour Ankomah and his wife Mrs Elizabeth Ankomah (a Zimbabwean national), and Mr Emmanuel Hayford, the coordinator of Humanitas Afrika in Ghana.

President Mahama’s chief of staff, Mr Julius Debrah, received the award on his behalf. Also at the ceremony was Mr Antwi Bosiako, a senior staff member at the presidency.

In addition to the award-citation, Kofi Nkrumah presented to the President a copy of one of Chancellor Williams’ greatest books, The Destruction of Black Civilization which he hoped the President would enjoy immensely. Chancellor Williams was an African American scholar and historian, one of Black America’s best authors and teachers, whose books, and particularly The Destruction of Black Civilization, have opened many eyes in global Africa.

In 2017, the second-ever AFRICAN LEADERSHIP AND EXCELLENCE AWARD would be presented to President Paul Kagama of Rwanda.


Note to editors: For more details, contact: Afrikatu Kofi Nkrumah, Humanitas Afrika, Je?ná 505/2 Praha 2. Czech Republic. Phone: +420-251-560-375. Email: afrika@humanitasafrika.cz