The I LIS Pan-African Congress is in full swing in Nairobi, Kenya. With organizations and activists from more than 15 countries represented, the debates and deliberations are carried out between August 28 and 31. We share some first reflections of the participants in this important event
Ezra Otieno, Revolutionari Socialist League / Kenya
Hello, my name is Ezra Otieno from the Revolutionary Socialist League. I am very excited about the First Pan-African Congress on the first successful day of it. The main aim of this congress is to bring revolutionary organisations all over Africa together under the banner of the International Socialist League. We are very excited about this because we want to build a revolutionary Pan-Africanist organisation as well. So we are looking for you guys, join in and watch what will be happening. Viva!
Imran Kamyana – The Struggle / Pakistán
My name is Imran Kamyana, and I am from Pakistan. I’m part of a revolutionary organisation called The Struggle (Urdu: طبقاتی جدوجہد) which is active in the left movement and the youth in the last forty years as well. We are trying to build a revolutionary party, not only in Pakistan, all over the continent, in South Asia and other parts, and other countries. And now I’m here in Kenya to attend the Pan-African Socialist Congress, which is being organised by the International Socialist League. I am very proud to be part of this very important meeting. In my opinion, this is important for many reasons. Africa is a continent very rich in resources and manpower, but it is one of the poorest regions in the world, because of the plunder and exploitation. In this regard, it is the duty of the Marxists all over the world to help in the Revolutionary Pan-African Organisation on the continent so the over thought of capitalism and imperialism in Africa could be performed. Socialism and Marxism is nothing if it’s not internationalist. In this regard, we are struggling to build a revolutionary international consisting of revolutionary parties in all countries, in all continents and Africa is part of the struggle against capitalism internationally. So we hope for the best, and we hope this congress will turn out to be a wild storm in the struggle against capitalism, in the struggle against imperialism, and in the struggle for the socialist future of humanity.
Grace Tanaka – National Students Union – Zimbabwe
My name is Grace Tanaka from Innovation Dub Zimbabwe[1] . I am representing the voice of ZINASU that is the Zimbabwe National Students Union. ZINASU is a united union of Zimbabwe students, it fights for academic freedom for the Zimbabwe students, specially those in universities. So we have noticed that before, we are not only students, we are citizens of Zimbabwe, so we suffer oppression of being citizens. So ZINASU is a social economic group that aims to promote democracy and make sure that everyone has the imaginary linked groups they recognise in their heads and whatever they want to be heard. There is more of ZINASU, just that they took to promote democracy and protect the students’ rights.
This meeting was really insightful. Capitalism damages humanity more than we thought of. It leads to exploitation of resources, it leads to food crises and poverty, not only just in Africa, globally. People are suffering from imperialism and the oppression of capitalists. So, as a result, we need to have a united front, like a socialist united front revolution, that can overcome the capitalist movement. Because it is a movement that has been overstated for quite a long time, and because of that, now is causing more damage than it was supposed to because it was good. So I believe that the proposal that is being brought by the ISL of the United Revolutionary Socialist Front is actually the best solution that can be used to get over all these problems that we are facing through imperialism. If we are going to act early, you see that there are many countries that are starting to emerge as imperialists. I believe Africa is the one that will suffer the most. So I really think we need to act as soon as possible, we really need to stand up for ourselves. We have to do mass mobilisation and to promote the idea of socialist revolution.