How far have we gone along the road of
unity, in the 10 years of the O.A.U.'s
existence? What role has the O.A.U.
played in the struggle for the liberation
of Africa? To what extent has Africa
been able to contribute to the building
of a world of freedom, progress and peace,
the aspiration of us all? In short, how
deeply have the African states lived by
the principles and objectives laid down
for the O.A.U. in May, 1963?
Taken as a whole, the O.A.U.'s record
over the past 10 years has undoubtedly
been positive. The O.A.U. has played an
important role in solving border conflicts between African states; it has encouraged the creation of regional economic groupings; it has promoted inter-
African exchanges in different fields.
But it is in the contribution to the progress of the liberation struggle that the
O.A.U. has earned the greatest merit. Today the armed struggle is steadily sprea
ding to new areas of Mozambique, Angola and Guine, where vast regions have
been liberated. There the people are
building a new life and enjoying for the
first time the attributes of sovereignty,
under the leadership of their liberation
movements. In the other countries under
fascist regimes, the struggle is developing.
The O.A.U. has made an important contribution to this - promoting unity between liberation movements, providing
political support, funds and material,
channelling external aid. Even in the
cases where African countries have decided to give aid directly to a specific
liberation movement, they have done so in
the spirit of the O.A.U.
It is true that the O.A.U. support for the
liberation movements has been far from
sufficient, especially considering the possibilities of the African states and given the
fact that the O.A.U. Charter states that
Liberation is one of the prime objectives
of the Organisation.   It is also true that
The Mauritius Prime Minister and the Executive-Secretary of the OAU Liberation
Committee (in the photo) were among many who visited the FRELIMO stand in
Addis - Ababa.
the second main objective laid down in
the Charter - the political unity of the
African countries — has remained by and
large   a dead letter.
This, however, should not affect our
confidence in the O.A.U., but should instead demand of us that we seek the
causes of our shortcomings and draw up a
new strategy for the second decade. This
is the correct stand to take, and the only
one which will make it possible to defend the independence of the African
States and to win the freedom of dominated Africa. In the face of the alliance,
increased military strength and growing
aggressiveness of the colonialist and racist
regimes of Southern Africa, and the ever
greater involvement of the NATO powers
- only one Africa consciously united in
its support of the liberation struggle and
in its efforts to achieve economic development will be able to emerge victorious.
It is towards this aim that the O.A.U.
should direct its action, now with more
vigour, in the coming decade: firstly to
hasten the liberation of the African Continent from the last vestiges of colonial
oppression. Concretely, this means
stepping up the political, material and
financial support for the liberation movements; isolating Portugal, South Africa
and Rhodesia internationally; and making all of Africa share the sacrifices now
being made by countries adjacent to ours,
which are so selflessly committed to our
liberation war.
Secondly, to unite the forces of the
politically independent countries to win
economic independence.
These objectives do not differ, in essence, from those originally set by the
O.A.U. But they have fallen short of
fulfilment because the full participation
of the people has not been engaged. The
African people do not really know about
our liberation struggle. Support for our
struggle is dependent on the sympathies
of individual leaders and governments,
and tends to vary accordingly. This
explains why African support is so unequal, limited and unstable. It is necessary
to make them understand the inseparability of their destiny and ours. Only
thus will the O.A.U. fulfill its historic
mission.