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05 April 2022 | Story Cornelius Hagenmeier
One africa

One Africa – Together Forever

Theme: Celebrating African education as a conduit for African unity

On 25 May 2022, Africa will celebrate the 59th anniversary of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Since the establishment of the OAU and with the subsequent formation of the African Union (AU), member States undertook to coordinate and intensify their cooperation and efforts to achieve a better life for the people of Africa. They did so in awareness of the fact that – as the Cultural Charter for Africa states – "any people has the inalienable right to organize its cultural life in full harmony with its political, economic, social, philosophical and spiritual ideas".

The African (Banjul) Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, Article 17, recognises that every individual shall have the right to education, and associates the intended realisation of this right with enabling individuals to participate freely in the cultural life of their communities. Furthermore, Article 17 of the Charter on Human and People's Rights also links the quest for education for all with the promotion and protection of moral and traditional values as recognised by African communities and families.

Unsurprisingly, the AU – which is the successor to the OAU – is undertaking extensive work in education. Its initiatives include establishing the Pan African University and harmonising African higher education. In continuance of the UFS' long tradition of commemorating Africa Day and the ideas underpinning it, the UFS will once again celebrate Africa in 2022. The highlight of the celebrations will be the Africa Day memorial lecture, hosted by the university's Centre for Gender and Africa Studies on Wednesday 25 May 2022. The speaker is Prof Bagele Chilisa from the University of Botswana, a renowned post-colonial scholar, researcher, author, educator, and African thought leader. The title of her presentation is Research and Knowledge Production: Africa and the Call for a Fifth Research Paradigm. In this lecture, Prof Chilisa will make a clarion call for bringing in indigenous knowledges of the formerly colonised peoples of Africa and other knowledges from marginalised peoples of the world, to be recognised as knowledge systems fitting a unique paradigm on equal footing with Western paradigms, and not to be used as vignettes to decorate websites of global corporations.

Call for contributions

The 2022 UFS Africa Month commemorations will again take a hybrid format. Besides the Africa Day memorial lecture and various face-to-face functions on all three campuses, there will also be online content on a dedicated website. We are looking for contributions that engage with African education. Among others, UFS community members are invited to make contributions centred on

  • the potential of African educational systems to contribute towards the quest for African unity;
  • the different African educational systems;
  • indigenous knowledge and education in Africa;
  • initiatives and programmes advancing a harmonised African higher education system;
  • the importance of African education;
  • the national, regional, and global impact of African scholarship;
  • UFS collaborations/partnerships on the African continent; and
  • ·narratives of research and student excellence associated with African unity.

Contributions from the UFS community can include and are not limited to

  • recorded performing arts performances (e.g., solo music or poetry);
  • ·virtual visual art presentations;
  • written poetry;
  • songs;
  • short thought/opinion pieces, which can also be published in mainstream media;
  • topical academic writings;
  • face-to-face events; and
  • live-streamed events (with links to the Africa Month webpage).

Please share a brief written proposal explaining your planned contribution by 15 April 2022. The proposal should not exceed 300 words and should be emailed to Bulelwa Moikwatlhai at malob@ufs.ac.za / Africadaycommemoration@ufsacza.onmicrosoft.com.

News Archive

Prof Tim Murithi calls for Africa to design new global order
2016-06-02

Description: Prof Tim Murithi calls for Africa to design new global order Tags: Prof Tim Murithi doen ’n oproep op Afrika om ’n nuwe wêreldorde te skep

From left: Prof Heidi Hudson, Head of Centre for Africa
Studies (CAS); Prof Tim Murithi, Extraordinary Professor
at CAS; Prof Lucius Botes, Dean of the Faculty of
the Humanities; and Prof Prakash Naidoo, Principal of
Qwaqwa Campus.
Photo: Stephen Collet

“What do Africans have to say about the remaking of the global order?” was the opening question of Prof Tim Murithi’s lecture which was hosted by the Centre for Africa Studies (CAS) of the University of the Free State (UFS) to celebrate Africa Day on 25 May 2016.

The annual Africa Day Memorial Lecture, entitled: Africa and the Remaking of the Global Order, doubled as Prof Murithi’s inaugural lecture. He is CAS’s newly-appointed Extraordinary Professor, as well as the Head of the Justice and Reconciliation in Africa Programme at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation in Cape Town. He made a compelling argument for the need for Africa to exert an active influence on international narratives of peace, governance, justice, and reconciliation.

“If we are waiting for American leadership to get us out of the quagmire of a situation we are in, we will be waiting for a long time,” said Prof Murithi.

The Head of the Centre, Prof Heidi Hudson, concurred with Prof Murithi’s suggestion of devising African solutions for African problems. She quoted Audre Lorde’s well-known assertion that “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.”

Remembering 1963
Over five decades ago, on 25 May 1963, the Organisation of African Unity was formed, and was renamed the African Union in 2002. Africa Day marks this pivotal point in the continent’s history. On this day, we reflect on the continent’s journey into democracy, peace, stability and socio-economic development. It is also an opportunity to celebrate African identity and heritage.

Continent-building dialogues
The UFS Sasol Library celebrated Africa Day with a book launch. Facets of Power. Politics, Profits and People in the Making of Zimbabwe's Blood Diamonds by Tinashe Nyamunda is a reflection of some of the challenges that Zimbabwe continues to face. It details the disadvantaged position which the country finds itself in due to greed, maladministration, and corruption, despite possessing large deposits of minerals.

In celebration of Africa Month, CAS has held a series of lectures by esteemed scholars from across the globe.  Earlier in the month, Prof Henning Melber presented lectures on Namibia’s independence and the African middle class. Kevin Bloom and Richard Poplak unpacked the issues surrounding Africa’s continental shift, while Prof Joleen Steyn Kotze focused on the possible fall of the African National Congress.

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