ACADEMIA Letters

Same dream, different ambitions: Pan African Parliament

(PAP) and African Philosophy
Phemelo Marumo, Northwest University, South Africa
Thabang Motswaledi, Northwest University, South Africa

The erstwhile leaders of Africa like Nyerere, Nkurumah, Kaunda, Gadaffi dreamt of one
Africa. In dreaming further, Thabo Mbeki fashioned the African Renaissance as a vehicle
that will unite Africa. In the interim, The African Union (AU) developed strategies that could
assist Africa to be united with the vision of consolidating the unity and strength among the
member states. Thus, the Pan African Parliament (PAP) was formed to ensure the full par-
ticipation of African peoples in the economic development and integration of the continent.
PAP was an intended platform for all African states to discuss and resolve the problems and
challenges facing the continent. This was a plausible move, but differences in language are an
impediment, and the post-colonial affiliations like the Anglophone, Francophone, Lusophone
continue to be huge obstacles. This can be associated with the PAP gathering of June 2021
wherein the elections of the president could not be resolved by members of the Parliament,
bearing in mind the Parliament has existed since April 2004. This background justifies the
focus of this paper on the feasibility of PAP. It uses sources on PAP from relevant journals,
books, and media reports to establish the efficacy and functions of PAP in respect of its con-
stituted objectives. From that understanding, the paper assesses the prospects related to PAP
as an Africa-centred institution.

Introduction
The intellectual disunity within the African continent has always been a decisive factor in
most cases particularly when it comes to discussing the future of the continent. The echoing

Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Phemelo Marumo, marumo.phemelo@gmail.com

Citation: Marumo, P., Motswaledi, T. (2021). Same dream, different ambitions: Pan African Parliament (PAP)
and African Philosophy. Academia Letters, Article 3280. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3280.

1
element is always based on leadership and amongst many questions, the following according
to the paper have played a pivotal role; who has the best leadership quality; who has a bright
leadership mind, and who is strategically placed to lead Africa. According to Ramutsindela
(2009), the African politicians have not yet made peace with the fact that they would have
to give their sovereignty and allow a foreign individual to dictate in the home states. Ra-
mutsindela (2009) further asserted that Gaddafi was one of the contemporary African leaders
to speak openly and advocate for the United States of Africa, he even went further to use the
resources of his own country to try and salvage most African states from the rheostat of some
of the European nations.
Häussler (2017) noted Gadaffi as a leader following in the footsteps of Nyerere and Nkrumah.
Inter alia, Marumo, and Chakale (2018) argued that Thabo Mbeki’s African Renaissance cou-
pled with ubuntu was the ideology that arrived at the precise moment for African and was
the appropriate drive for unity in Africa. The key goals of the African Renaissance were to
unify Africa and the resuscitation of ubuntu within Africa to ensure that self-determination
and self-consciousness are revived. Hence the formation of the Pan African Parliament was
imperative.

The goal of the Pan African Parliament

As an entity of the African Union, the Pan African Parliament goal was set out “to ensure
the full participation of African peoples in the economic development and integration of the
continent” (Parliament and PANAFRICAIN, 2004). Frimpong Oppong (2010) outlined as
follows how AU figured out how PAP was going to be represented. To reach the width and
breadth of Africa, the African Union had regional development structures such as the South-
ern African Developmental Community (SADC) and Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS). Furthermore, initiatives such as the African free trade deal to acceler-
ate African intra-trade development, and the Pan African Union, would also ensure that all
African states are involved in the growth, particularly the economic development of the con-
tinent and their specific states (Parliament and PANAFRICAIN, 2004).
However, the events of the 31st May 2021 in Midrand, South Africa during the presi-
dency of Roger Nkodo Dang, who has been a president since 2015 brought disrepute to the
honourable Pan African Parliament. The scuffle that ensued was on leadership and voting
procedure. This incident confirmed what the paper earlier mentioned as a leadership crisis in
Africa. The recent events of the Pan African Parliament have depicted just how much Africans
and the African continent are divided and their ambitions seem to differ. It further illustrated
that unity in Africa cannot be realised soon and that thwarted away the concept of African

Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Phemelo Marumo, marumo.phemelo@gmail.com

Citation: Marumo, P., Motswaledi, T. (2021). Same dream, different ambitions: Pan African Parliament (PAP)
and African Philosophy. Academia Letters, Article 3280. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3280.

2
Renaissance and ubuntu. The dream was the same but the ambitions were different.
The differences in the retrospect affiliation of the African states makes this very difficult,
having most of the West African states as Francophone states are still trapped to pledge their
allegiances towards the French state makes driving African ideas/ambitions very difficult.
Their ability to gain economic independence will make them deviate from their affiliations
and responsibility towards the French state. In essence, the more they still depend on the
French and they are economically and politically weak they can be micro-managed from afar
(Staniland, 1987; De Sardan, 2008; and Lock, 2021), it is on that note that this paper further
notes that their sovereignty is challenged.
In perfecting the above, Sylla (2021) alluded that the independence of these francophone
states is what causes a huge barrier for success and unity in the continent, that fostered and
concretise dependency syndrome of Africa to foreign countries. The paper at hand further
uses the independence and world system theory to represent how the world is crafted to better
suit the needs of the west instead of the African states. In addition, the concept of delinking
the African states from the claws of the European states would not only help bring unity but
also foster economic and infrastructural development which will be very important for the
future of the African states. The delinking will also go further in ensuring that the measures
that arise from the African Union such as the Pan African Parliament and regional economic
development communities get to thrive.

Dependency theory vs World systems theory

Mawire (2013) highlighted that dependency theory was penned in the 1960s due to the failure
of the modernization theory and its focus is on the underdeveloped and third world nations.
It argued that third world countries continue to be poor because they are being exploited by
the core countries by taking their raw materials and shipping them into their countries and
this exploitation evolved from the colonial regime. The economic growth of the metropo-
lis countries was at an expense of the satellite countries. So, because of colonialism, these
core countries used their power and influence over the small countries particularly African
countries to exploit them and inherit their resources as a sign of allegiance.
Dos Santos et al (1971) has earlier referred to dependency theory as a level of interde-
pendency in between economies either by two or more, the world of trades assumes a level of
dependence when some countries can expand and self-sustain, while other countries can only
reflect on that growth of which that can result in a positive or negative impact on their level
of development.
Frank (1996) under the dependency theory argued that modernization theory failed to

Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Phemelo Marumo, marumo.phemelo@gmail.com

Citation: Marumo, P., Motswaledi, T. (2021). Same dream, different ambitions: Pan African Parliament (PAP)
and African Philosophy. Academia Letters, Article 3280. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3280.

3
take into account the challenges of the periphery nations such as capitalism as to how it im-
pacted their growth and development. The periphery nations provide raw materials to the
core countries then they refine them then come back and sell them to the African countries
at high prices as they are the ones that control currency prices then their economies flourish
at the expense of the periphery. Frank (1996), argues that the trade terms between the more
economically developed countries and less developed countries are unequal. He further re-
iterated that poor countries continue to be poor because of the exploitation they experience
from the core countries, these core countries are the rich and powerful countries that use their
military force and resources to bully the peripheries to provide them with their resources.
Furthermore, these underdeveloped countries receive exploitation from developed countries
which were their former colonies.
Frank further goes on to argue that for countries to overthrow capitalism, just as Karl Marx
had previously predicted, need to delink and become independent, which is what francophone
states should do to regain their full independence and sovereignty. According to Frank (1996)
by delinking they should break the chains of the western culture and be independent such that
they create their own culture of growth and development. Which was the vision of the founding
leaders of the African Union that by delinking Africa from the exploitation of the western
countries and creating its own culture in terms of trading and sharing resources amongst itself
as a continent there would be development.
Hence the call for free trade, one state of Africa, one currency, and one president. There-
fore, the challenges of contemporary Africa cannot be viewed from what is occurring in the
continent right now but rather the historical background and the events that led to this also have
an impact, being that of capitalism and colonialism. The recent events of the Pan African Par-
liament are also a reflection that the unity of Africa is still an ideology, but this time is shielded
by language and culture, the affiliation of the francophone nations, Anglophone countries, and
commonwealth states. The crisis of unity has not yet reached its breaking point and the PAP
is a clear indication that Europeans are still using divide and conquer in African to this day.
According to Cosma (2010), the world system theory was developed from the dependency
theory by Immanuel Wallerstein. (2010) further explains that the world system theory draws
much of its work from the dependency theory and it gives emphasis to the development and
unequal opportunities across different states. The core countries would then receive more op-
portunities than the peripheral countries to exploit them and harness what these marginalized
countries have to further their development. This world system Wallerstein deemed to be a so-
cial system that is enriched with boundaries and structures or member groups that are guided
by rules of legitimization.
Thomson (2000) adds that the system is an organism that has a life that is made up of

Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Phemelo Marumo, marumo.phemelo@gmail.com

Citation: Marumo, P., Motswaledi, T. (2021). Same dream, different ambitions: Pan African Parliament (PAP)
and African Philosophy. Academia Letters, Article 3280. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3280.

4
conflicting forces that bind it together, in some instances, it often changes while in others it
is stable (Cosma, 2010). Now the quest for Europe’s development in the sixteenth century
was capitalist in nature and it was the one that had the most influence on the system of how
the world contemporary world is made up. As this capitalist system sprung out of Europe the
African continent becomes the centre of attention through the Berlin conference from 1884 to
1885 with European countries scrambling and dividing Africa among themselves to rule over
those territories.
Therefore, the challenges of Africa did not just start from the modern-day world, the his-
tory of Africa as a whole had and still has an impact on what is occurring in the continent es-
pecially when it comes to economic development. The system has created a system in which
African states have to depend on the western states, currently, the francophone nations, are
protecting their afflictions and interests with their European states hence the refusal to have a
rotational system of presidency.

African philosophy
Underpinned on the African philosophy is the concept of ubuntu which when styled by many
scholars as “no one is an island”. In essence, the notion of ubuntu brings forth that everyone is
equal and everyone must be treated equally. It further highlights that for a community to live in
harmony, communalism should be the mainstay of that structure. This means that all be treated
equally with respect and their dignity be revered at all times. That is what brought Mbeki’s
Renaissance which propagated self-determination which was to be instilled and revisited by
Africans questioning where we lost the compass? Has colonialism and dependence theory
robbed us of ourselves, We need to assess what went wrong and why are we always fighting
amongst ourselves. Are there no ways that we can communicate and unite as One?
The other principle that Mbeki brought out was self-consciousness, are we aware as Africans
that we live and we will die in Africa. We do not have any other place than Africa. This prin-
ciple calls Africans to be aware and be jealous of their heritage and they must in all that they
are doing reflect the spirit of oneness and consciousness that every African is my neighbour
and my friend. We as Africans detest being divided into racial lines and allow ourselves to be
divided by our colonisers who inherited our wealth.
Therefore for PAP to progress as a developmental tool for One Africa, One Nation, there
must be the eradication of superiority complex which is common in most countries. PAP must
seek to follow its mandate of development and let the best leader lead not let the best country
lead.

Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Phemelo Marumo, marumo.phemelo@gmail.com

Citation: Marumo, P., Motswaledi, T. (2021). Same dream, different ambitions: Pan African Parliament (PAP)
and African Philosophy. Academia Letters, Article 3280. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3280.

5
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Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Phemelo Marumo, marumo.phemelo@gmail.com

Citation: Marumo, P., Motswaledi, T. (2021). Same dream, different ambitions: Pan African Parliament (PAP)
and African Philosophy. Academia Letters, Article 3280. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3280.