Page 84 - Afrika Must Unite

PROBLEMS OF GOVERNMENT 69
that of the Conservative Party. Ideologically they are widely
removed. There are clashes over such concepts as nationaliza­
tion. There remain, however, broad areas of internal and foreign
affairs where there is a community of view. The opposition will
make helpful suggestions but will not irresponsibly oppose.
Therein lies the strength of that democracy.
The opposition in G hana cannot boast this same sense of
responsibility and m aturity. So far it has been mostly destruc­
tive. We have seen the historic reasons for this in the revulsion of
the United Gold Coast Convention leaders from the mass move­
ment I had achieved as their secretary, and the subsequent
formation of the Convention People’s Party to embrace that
mass movement as the instrument for the achievement of
freedom. The U.G.C.C. leaders never forgave me and my asso­
ciates for proving the rightness of our policy of ‘Self-Govern­
m ent Now’ in the results of the 1951 election. Thereafter their
opposition amounted to a virtual denial of independence and a
reluctance for the British to leave. They were prepared to
sacrifice our national liberation if that would keep me and my
colleagues out of government.
In colonial countries endeavouring to throw off the yoke of
imperialism, the upsurge of nationalism finds expression in a
major movement embracing the popular aspirations for freedom
and a better way of life. Even where there is some disagreement
among different local groups over the means to be employed in
the attainm ent of freedom, the force which is brought into
operation by the presiding power frequently secures their union
on a broad national front. Thus the nationalist movement
represents the majority of the population. Those dissident groups
pursuing individual or particularist aims opposed to the nationa­
list objectives are doomed to frustration. It is inevitable, there­
fore, that on a free franchise of universal adult suffrage, the
nationalist party gets elected with a majority that makes it
appear to those accustomed to the more evenly balanced bi­
partisan politics of, for instance, Britain and America, that
intimidation has been used.
I am reminded of the words of Julius Nyerere when he spoke
of the overwhelming support of the nationalist movement by the
people of Tanganyika: ‘The Nationalist movement which fights