“I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which Iam prepared to die”-Nelson Rohihlahla Mandela

These lion-coated but gracious words uttered from the dock in the defininig moment of the infamous Rivonia Trial will and shall forever define the public persona of a man, who before his death, had undoutedly assumed a saintly aura and cultic veneration across the four corners of the world. Nelson Mandela, without any shred of doubt, was a colossus; a man with a simple message for the world, and more so, a man who by all standards, was simply ahead of his time.

To Black Africa and South Africans, he represented liberation and its struggles; to white South Africans, he was an embodiment of reconciliation; to the world, Madiba was an epitome of moralism and perseverance; but for us in NPP REPUBLIC OF IRELAND BRANCH, what Mandela stood for, live by and died for, are only comparable to the great ideals for which Dr. D.B. Danquah, Emmanuel Obetsebi and others in our Great Party stoically paid the ultimate price, death. NPP REPUBLIC OF IRELAND BRANCH equally recalls with utmost pride that, at the time Ghana and continental Africa were clamouring for armed struggle, following the Sharpeville Massacre as the only solution to the Apartheid question, Dr. K. A. Busia became the lone voice in the wilderness calling for DIALOGUE, a move that drew popular resentments across Africa and even beyond. But, in sharp resonance with Fidel Castro’s popular defence speech, “History Will Absolve Me”, the ANC and Umkhonto We Sizwe will later resort to “The Busia Plan” and today, South Africa is free, forever. Dr. Busia, the visionary and peace maker has been vindicated. Then in equal measure, NPP REPUBLIC OF IRELAND BRANCH can, again, confidently draw a parallel between Great Mandela’s “Rainbow Nation”, where whites can peacefully co-exist with blacks and Dr. James Emma Kwegyir Aggrey’s messianic cry for racial integration, when he famously quipped, “You can play a tune of sorts on the black keys only, and you can play a tune of sorts on the white keys only, but for a perfect harmony, you must use both the black and white keys”.

And so today as the world mourns the death of this towering figure; a man who fought against all forms of injustices often at the peril of his life and that of his family, NPP REPUBLIC OF IRELAND BRANCH extends its deepest condolences to the entire Mandela family, the Leadership of the African National Congress as well as the good people of South Africa. Madiba: You fought a good fight, you won the race, and you perpetually kept the faith.

Ekow Agyeman Prempeh
Chairman
(ON BEHALF OF NPP REPUBLIC OF IRELAND BRANCH)