Algeria’s Independence Anniversary Marked In Accra

Ghana Broadcasting Corporation

A symposium to mark the 50th Anniversary of Algeria's independence has been held in Accra on the theme: “A Celebration of Frantz Fanon, First Algerian Ambassador to Ghana and Icon of Pan-Africanism."

It would look at key elements of the struggle for independence by African countries and discuss the significance of the fight for self-rule in modern times.

Frantz Fanon: Prophet of African liberation

by Cameron Duodu, Pambazuka

The late 1950s, the era in which Ghana achieved its independence and took its place as the first British territory south of the Sahara to attain the nationhood that the visionaries of Pan-Africanism had demanded for Africa decades earlier, were heady days. Signs of the impending surrender of power to the African populations of the British and French colonies were in the air, and the atmosphere in our part of Africa was quite intoxicating. Of course, few of us knew very much about what was happening elsewhere in Africa.

The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born

Reviewed by Joshua Masinde, African Book Club

In this deeply symbolic book published in 1968, Ayi Kwei Amar vividly captures the seemingly endless spiral of corruption, moral decadence and spiritual death in post-colonial Ghana.

The book tells the story of a nameless man who struggles to reconcile himself with the reality of post-independence Ghana. Referred to throughout the book, as simply, “The Man”, he refuses to take a bribe, something that angers his wife.

The Man keeps a humble job, and despite the constant naggings of his wife, he lives an honest life, even if that condemns him to a life of poverty. He represents the lot of the common man in Ghana – who has no choice but to reside in the poorest slums and live from hand to mouth.