Members of the Pan-African Parliament are handpicked by the executive of their country – by the same heads of state who retain the ultimate power at the African Union. And as if that is not bad enough, PAP is only a consultative organ. Efforts to change this, so that the people of Africa can have meaningful representation, continue to be resisted. African people must work hard for the transformation of this important AU organ.

All evidence points to humanity’s common origin and one destiny. Instead of history being a theater of class struggle, it is a history of globalization and a quest for unity. Africa, the cradle of humanity, must take the lead in promoting unity, not fragmentation. That unity cannot be based only on transient systems like economics and politics, but has to include deeper values and norms rooted in ontology, anthropology and belief systems.

Isn’t the time ripe for the African Union to create the space for true Africanisation of its institutions and ownership of its processes by the people at home and in the diaspora? There should be enough resources and incentives for all people to participate in the Pan-African project in our villages, communities, constituencies, campuses, and workplaces.

Only an upsurge from the left and anti-imperialist forces can fulfill the visions of a true united Africa in line with the work of Nkrumah, Gaddafi and other revolutionary leaders. The worsening economic crisis due to the decline in commodity prices and western sponsored destabilization is reversing the advances made in regard to growth and development over the last decade.

Partition of Africa and delimitation of borders were arbitrary acts which Europeans imposed without regard to local conditions. Dismantling colonial borders is therefore a veritable pan-African project. Pan-Africanism should be seen as a people-to-people relationship rather than one among heads of state, intellectuals or western tutored elites.

On Sunday, 3 April 2016, the West Indies beat their old adversary, England, in the Final of the World T-20 Championship in Kolkata, India, to become the only country to clinch the title twice. If you only see cricket as a game – especially when it is played by blacks against nations that have practiced racial discrimination against blacks in the past – you will entirely miss the passion that drives it.