All African People Conference is held in Accra, Ghana

A year after Ghana gained Independence from Britain under the presidency of Kwame Nkrumah the All African People Conference was held in the capital city Accra in December 1958. Nkrumah felt that Ghana independence would be meaningless if other African states are still colonised by the European powers. In April 1958, Nkrumah as the pioneer of the ideology of Pan-Africanism convened the Conference of All Independent African States (Libya, Ethiopia, Liberia, Morocco, Tunisia, Sudan United Republic of Egypt and Ghana), which was followed by the historic A A P Conference. The A A P Conference was attended by all independent and non-independent African states, liberation movements and public organisations. One of African prominent political figure attended this conference was Patrice Lumumba. Lumumba was appointed a member of a permanent organisation established at the conference. The slogan for the conference was "Hands off Africa". The A. A. P Conference met to chart a way forward on how to achieve continental freedom. The agenda of the conference entailed anti-colonialism, anti-imperialism, anti-racialism, African Unity and non-alignment. Other issues discussed at the conference included colonial boundaries, the role of the traditional and religious leaders and regional groupings. The Conference emerged with some few resolutions. The Conference undertook to use no violence in all endeavours to achieve independence in African continent. This commitment was put into practice when the conference refused to support the Algerian armed struggle to achieve its independence from France. The African National Congress, which was South Africa leading liberation movements at the time, supported this Conference but failed to attend however had a representative present who was already in Ghana. In spite of the government refusal the ANC succeeded in sending memorandum to the conference. This Conference was followed by series of other conferences held in the continent to achieve independence and African Unity until Organisation of African Unity was born in May 1963 Click here to read Conference resolution on Racialism and Discriminatory laws and Practices Click here to read Conference resolution on Imperialism and Colonialism Click here to read about ANC notes to delegates at the Conference.