By Eric Elezuo
It was a gathering of likeminds. It was a gathering of Africans, who seek the best for the continent. It was a gathering that took four beautiful days of conversation, distinct dialogue, and a communique that exposes the desire to integrate all Africans for economic prosperity, common currency and a unity that transcends borders. It was the International Annual Conference of the HARAKATI ZA MUUNGANO group, a union-movement saddled with the responsibility of seeking a common ground for all Africans.
Held at the Ghana National Association of Teachers Complex (GNAT) in Greater Accra Region, the heart of Ghana, the Conference proved to be a conglomeration of delegates from at least 17 African countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Niger, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Cote d’ Ivoire, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea (Conakry), Benin Republic, Togo, Mali and Central African Republic. The Conference was held under the theme “Economic Re-structing, political Reforms and integration for sustainable development in Africa”.
Beyond the conversations and the petitions submitted to governments and institutions, the conference provided a meeting point for networking and individual integration for Africa’s good.
Spread into four days of distinct activities including Pre-conference gathering, where all delegates and members gathered to review activities of various home-countries; the main Conference proper that gathered government agencies represented by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, private institutions including the internationally recognized Ovation Media Group led by Aare (Dr) Dele Momodu and various institutions of higher learning across the continent, especially the West African sub-region.
In his speech, the Visioner, Founder and President of Harakati ZA Muungano, Mr. Kwame Danquah, reminded the gathering that the unity of Africa is possible if Africans carefully select the integration process through accommodation of member countries and institutionalization of single currency and unification of borders.
He noted among others in the petitions that “We the African people want our progressive countries to form the nucleus of a sub-regional union and workto pragmatically collapse physical colonial borders and eliminate trade barriers through bold constitutional amendments and deep policy reforms.”
Speaker after speaker, everyone agreed that it’s about time that African countries unite for their common good, and that Harakati ZA Muungano has come on board to make the vision a reality.
Harakati also believe that there’s the need to reintegrate the Alliance of Sahel States of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, who had gone their separate ways into the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) without prohibitive conditions.
The Conference also undertook an excursion to the Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Training Centre, where delegates were educated on peace keeping, and the availability of opportunities to acquire more knowledge on peace and security-related operations.
The Annual conference was concluded with a Walk and submission of petitions to institutions, chiefly among them the Ghana Parliament, where a senior official received the petition on behalf of the Parliament’s top hierarchy.
Speaking with The Boss, the Nigeria Coordinator of the Movement, James Ajibola Bamgbade, noted that the Conference, which is in its third edition, is held every year. The first was held in 2024.
While admitting that the 2026 Conference is the biggest so far in terms of participation and achievements, the Conference agreed that a follow-up team will be put in place to ensure that the requests presented in the petitions are secured by the institutions.
“Our major interest is to promote the integration of Africa as a country through constitutional amendment, and that will include advancing agenda 63” he said.
“The goal is to push Agenda 63 to remove physical barriers and borders, create jobs, and celebrate policies that promote unity,” he added.
Harakati ZA Muungano, Swahili word interpreted to mean Union Movement, is a non-government organisation, and an association of Sub-Saharan Africans all over the world, who have committed to work on all fronts to unite and develop the present and succeeding generations of Sub-Sahara Africans through integration, collapsing of physical colonial borders, elimination of trade barriers and the formation of a consolidation Union in Sub-Sahara Africa.