Egypt’s Nasser and the vision of a united Africa

This last part of the story of one of the giants of pan-Africanism Gamal Abdiel Nasser; we look at his activities in his last years as a Leader of the Arab world as well as a pan-African leader.

In 1964 while Nasser was busy helping the Liberation Movements in Africa South of the Sahara; the Arab-Israel conflict continued to deepen and Nasser had to call for an Arab League Summit in Cairo to establish a unified Arab response against Israel.

Nasser then developed amiable relations with Jordan; Saudi Arabia, Syria, Morocco and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Movement and was set to counter Israel.

In June 1967 once again Israel invaded Egypt for the third time and occupied Sinai and the Gaza Strip of Egypt, the West Bank of Jordan, and the Golan Heights of Syria. In 1968, Nasser then launched the retaliation war against Israel to regain the lost territories; the war that took three years until 1970 when it ended after the ceasefire was reached.

Although the ceasefire was in place the war frontiers remained the same and Nasser had to call once again for the Arab League of Nations Summit on the 27th September 1970 to seek for a united position against Zionist Israel. At the conclusion of the Arab League Summit, on the 28th September 1970 Nasser suffered a heart attack and died. He was buried in Cairo on the 1st October 1970 and his funeral procession attended by over five million mourners.

After the death of Gamal Abdiel Nasser his legacy continued to resounds in many occasions as a great pan-African and the guardian of the pan-African movement as on the 28th September 1970, Sam Nujoma the First President of Namibia and former freedom fighter in tribute to Nasser, whom he called “a brother in the struggle”, he said: “…Nasser was a dedicated supporter of African liberation, no wonder that when Nasser passed away on 28th September 1970, many Africans felt the loss… The world has lost a great man and all those who fight for freedom and human dignity have lost a brother in the struggle…”

The former Namibian President, Sam Nujoma in his autobiography “Where Others Wavered” continued to recall about the pan-African Nasser when he said: “…When in 1963, the first group of Namibian freedom fighters went for military training in Cairo, this was possible because President Gamal Abd el-Nasser of Egypt had offered me training and tickets... Nasser was a dedicated supporter of African liberation…”

On the 30th June 2013, when Egypt came together to remember 43 years after Gamal Abdiel Nasser; Margaret Litivin a writer described him as follows: “...Ruling Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970, Nasser remains a symbol of dignity, pan-Arabism, pan-Africanism and above all social justice for many… Nasser taught us what it meant to belong to our land; he taught us about belonging and Unity...”

As we conclude the chronicles of Gamal Abdiel Nasser we must acknowledge that although Nasser is no more his influence he left in Egypt continues to influence Egypt’s foreign policy choices and actions.

Even though the militant involvement in African affairs that were vivid under Nasser’s rule has dwindled but Egypt continued to play an important role in the pan-African activities including its financial contribution to the African Union.

For Nasser and his fellow African leaders like Nyerere, Nkrumah, Senghor, Touré, Lumumba, Ben Bella, Kenyatta, Haile Selassie and the likes; African liberation and unity of the African Continent was a moral duty.

They lived and died for the cause of national liberation. It was this dedication to the cause of African liberation and unity makes Nasser join the ranks of the Forefathers and Founders of pan-Africanism.

The African unification noble course is not yet finished, Nasser will always remain our beacon of light towards the unification of Africa.

Dr Kafumu is the Member of Parliament for Igunga Constituency