The New Africa Foundation Convention to be held at Independence Square has been cancelled after tension between organisers and the military.
Earlier, supporters of the New Force had thronged the Independence Square chanting patriotic songs as they demanded access to the venue for The Convention programme.
The Convention was to bring together thought leaders in Africa including Professor PLO Lumumba, Peter Obi, Julius Malema, and others to speak on key challenges confronting Africa’s development.
Read more: Tension mounts at Independence Square as supporters of New Force are denied access to facility
Hours after the cancellation, the leaders of the Convention organised a press conference at Cantonments.
Professor PLO Lumumba said, “We came to Ghana to share a message of hope that Africa needs at this time and there is no better place to begin that message than Accra Ghana.
“It is in Accra that Osageyefo Kwame Nkrumah almost 67 years ago, spoke to the world and said the ‘Independence of Ghana is meaningless until it is linked with the independence of the African continent’”.
He said 67 years later, they were congregating in Accra in the very same place where the founding fathers of Ghana stood to make that statement but they were stopped bizarrely.
Professor PLO Lumumba, however, said, “The message will be served” as the journey of hope “continues with the youth.”
He said he believes elements are conspiring to distract them from achieving their goal but it is not “an occasion of lamentation but for redoubling our efforts.”
Professor PLO Lumumba describing the event in Accra as “Serependity” added that “it heralds a great future for Africa.”
“Looking forward, a meeting such as this will happen not only here in Accra, but I am looking forward to it happening in Ouagadougou, Dakar, Nairobi and Johannesburg because this is about the African continent.
“We are saying this at a time when we have promised ourselves that Africa is going to be more intimate in our interaction. This is why the African Continental Free Trade Area is headquartered in Accra.”
Professor PLO Lumumba said Africans pay homage to Ghana because of what Nkrumah did and stood for.
On his part, Nigerian politician Peter Obi said, “Africa is suffering due to lack of leadership. It is failed leadership over the years that has brought Africa where it is.”
“No continent in the world has the potential of Africa…it is home to lots of talents and natural resources. We have 65% of the world’s uncultivated arable land. Just imagine what we can do.
“We can feed the world and do everything. But ironically, because of failed leadership over the years, Africa is also home to the highest number of problems.”
He spoke about people living in abject poverty in the face of lots of natural resources, which he stressed cannot continue.
“All Africa wants is purposeful leadership” but is only having shameless leaders pocketing all the money for their own selfish needs. Africa should not be a continent where beg for aid, we should be contributing with all the resources we have.”
Source: JoyOnline