Marcus Garvey Pan Afrikan Institute


NEWS
Current News Inauguration Speeches and Statements Messages of Support and Congratulations Press Release - 7th July 2005 Press Release - 10th July 2005 Press Release - 7th July 2005 The Board of Trustees of the Afrika Study Centre at Upper Mooni, Wanale Division, Mbale Municipality, Mbale District in the Republic of Uganda, announces that the Marcus Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute will be inaugurated on the 9 th July 2005 at its present Site at Upper Mooni by the Minister of State for Higher Education, Simon Mayende. Present will be government ministers, Justices of the Supreme Court and High Court of Uganda, LC5 Chairpersons of Mbale/Siroko, Members of Parliament, Religious Leaders. Traditional Leaders, invited foreign guests, vice-chancellors from universities, Researchers, representatives of the Community Sites of Knowledge and Wisdom, Elders and other outstanding personalities. The Institute is named after Marcus Garvey- the outstanding Pan-Africanist, whose father was kidnapped, enslaved and transported over the Middle Passage to the “New World” where, along with other Africans, were sold off as slaves to work on the plantation in Jamaica . He worked all his active life trying to defend the rights of enslaved African workers on estates and industrial factories. He immigrated to Britain and United States where he continued to mobilise the African masses wherever they were and called for a “Return to Africa” with the slogan: “ Africa for Africans here and abroad.” Marcus-Garvey formed the famous Universal Negro Improvement Association-UNIA -at a convention held in New York on 1 st to 31 st August 1920, where the convention protested against the wrongs and injustices the Black people were receiving at the hands of their white brethren, and to state what they deem their fair and just rights were as human beings, as well as the treatment they proposed to demand of all men in the future. Marcus Garvey was elected “Provisional President” of Africa, from which position he tried to develop shipping companies to promote trade between Africa and the rest of the world. Two renowned Professors will deliver keynote addresses at the inauguration. The first speech will be delivered by the famous Ghanaian Pan-Africanist scholar, Professor Kwesi kaa Prah of the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society-CASAS, which is located in Cape Town South Africa . Professor Jassy Kwesiga, the Secretary General of DENIVA-an indigenous NGO Forum based in Kampala , will deliver the second speech. There will also be speeches by Mr Paulo Sebalu, a senior advocate of the High and Supreme Court of Uganda, who is also the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Afrika Study Centre; and Professor Dani Wadada Nabudere, the founder and Executive Director of the Afrika Study Centre who has also been appointed by the Board of Trustees to head the new Institute. By SAMUEL B. TINDIFA Board Secretary ASC [Back To Top] The Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute Launched - 10th July 2005 The Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute was officially inaugurated by the district LC 5 Chairman of Mbale, Bernard Mujjasi, on behalf of the Minister of Higher Education, on the 9 th July 2005. Altogether about 80 people attended by the occasion, which was marked by speeches from the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Paulo Sebalu, the Executive Director/Principal of the institute, Professor Dani Wadada Nabudere, a representative of the researchers, Mr. Luutu Mukasa, and the District Chairperson, Bernard Mujjasi. In his speech, the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees expressed pride in the fact that the board had decided to recognise the contribution of Marcus-Garvey as one of African great ancestors who had left behind him a record that gave the African people pride in their ancestry. As a great son of Africa , he had fought hard for the dignity of Africans in the Diaspora as well as on the mother continent. As such he deserved to be honoured by naming the institute in his name. The Executive Director of the institute made a declaration and commitment to the cradle of humankind in which he assured the audience that the science of Afrikology that the institute will develop with the communities will resurrect what the Africans had achieved throughout history and demonstrate that the knowledge and wisdom from that cradle had had a universal impact. He added that this knowledge has continued up to now to inform the African world-view from which the rest of humanity had benefited. He pointed out that the science of Afrikology will produce knowledge, which is both inspiring and also usable. The researchers expressed their commitment to the institute and emphasised that their overriding objective was to further the quest of defining and reclaiming the past, present and future of our African identity, in the context of researching on solving the fundamental challenges and problems of the physical, economic, spiritual and moral wellbeing of our communities. These speeches were followed by two keynote speakers. Prof. Kwesi Prah of Centre for Advanced African Studies-Casas, Capetown, in a speech entitled: “Knowledge Production, Language and Identity” made a most memorable contribution of the occasion, which was applauded by all. He emphasised the importance of the work Marcus-Garvey had rendered to Africa and the Diaspora. He argued that Garvey was able at the time to say things, which others had found difficult to say. He emphasised that knowledge produced in Africa had nevertheless to take certain universal realities, adding there was no African mathematics and African physics as there could be no European physics. Nevertheless there was knowledge which was produced under conditions that made it identified with particular cultures as a contribution to general humanity and this must be acknowledge but in conditions that clearly defines who is an African, emphasising the need for African languages to be the basis for scientific development. Professor Jassy Kwesiga of DENIVA, Kampala , a Ugandan indigenous forum in a speech entitled: “Education, Knowledge Creation and Community” praised Marcus-Garvey as an adult educator who mobilised African masses for action. He praised the occasion as a day that had brought intellectual freshness into our minds in search of the Africa that Marcus Garvey had dreamt about, adding “We owe all those great ancestors accountability – together with those who will take over from us, born and unborn.” During the speeches a number of messages of congratulations were read. The first was from Prof. Verena Sphered from Jamaica but who at the time was on the African continent, who praised the institute as an expression of solidarity with the Diaspora. The second message was from Prof. Shadracck Gutto of the Centre for African Renaissance Studies of the University of South Africa-UNISA who promised collaboration with the institute. The third was from Lewis Lester writing on behalf of the Marcus-Garvey Movement of Jamaica. He praised the creation of the institute as offering an opportunity of advancing Pan-Afrikanism. The fourth was a message received by phone while the inauguration was proceeding from Prof. Amuwo, Executive Secretary, of The African Association of Political Science-AAPS in Pretoria . He wished the institute a good future and offered to collaborate with it in research. The last message was from Bankie Foster Bankie of Pan African Center of Namibia, who indicated that the paper by Prof. Nabudere on Afrikology had already had an impact and that the parliamentary committee on Foreign Affairs and Security of the Namibian Assembly was going to meet the following week to debate it. The Chairman of the District in inaugurating of the institute congratulated the board, and especially Professor Dani Wadada Nabudere, for the great effort they had made in putting up the institute. He added that the research in Afrikan knowledge and wisdom will go a long way to address the issue of immorality and corruption in our society. He believed that these evils were rampant in Africa , because the Africans had abandoned their traditional religions, which incorporated moral values. The chairman then declared the institute open and cut the ribbon leading to the offices. The invited guests were then shown the administration offices and the library dedicated to Sam Kanyoro, one of the founders of the Afrika Study Centre, the forbearer of the Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute. After the chairman's speech, invited guests from the ‘Sites of Knowledge and Wisdom' made speeches welcoming the creation of the institute with which they pledged to cooperate in the production of knowledge for an African regeneration. These included Rev. Moses Olum from Aduk, Apac and a representative of the Rwot of Acholi, David Onen Acana II. A senior lecturer from the University of Nairobi , Godfrey Mutisya, also welcomed the launching of the institute and promised to collaborate in research. After inspecting the offices, the District Chairpersons of Mbale and Siroko and the wife of the Chairperson of Kabarole Districts planted three trees to mark the inauguration of the institute. Thereafter the invited guests were entertained by a cultural group of orphans from Siroko District and proceeded to a luncheon to mark the inauguration of the institute. The Minister for Higher Education arrived late, but was able to speak to the invited guests. He thanked the promoters and the Board of Trustees for their foresight and innovativeness, which has given birth to Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute. He pledge government support to the effort and argued the institute to work closely with the national council for higher education. he launch ceremony ended at around 3.00pm having begun at 9.00 am. [Back To Top] Statement of the Chairman Declaration and Commitment Declaration of Commitment from the Researchers Speech By The Minister of State for Higher Education (Hon. Simon Mayende) Statement of the Chairman, Board of Trustees of ASC The District Chairpersons, Mbale, Kabarole and Sironko Districts; Traditional and religious leaders; and, All invited guests On behalf of the Board of Trustees of the Afrika Study Centre, which is host to the institute, I wish to welcome you all to this memorable occasion of inaugurating the Marcus Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute. We are proud to be part of the Pan-Afrikan tradition of honouring our ancestors, and in this case, Marcus Garvey . In naming this institute after him, we recognise that Marcus Garvey was a great son of Afrika, a great fighter for the African emancipation in the Diaspora and the liberation of mother Africa . Throughout his active life in Jamaica and in the Americas , Marcus Garvey fought hard against all forms of racial discrimination, especially that against the descendants of Africa ; He fought for the rights of exploited workers in the fields and factories through different organisations, especially the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA ) , through which he mobilised the African masses to open their eyes and unite to attain their own dignity through political and economic struggles. He promoted the idea of education of the Afrikan masses and worked as a leader to develop their economic, social and cultural emancipation. Our guest of honour sir, and all invited guests, that is why we are happy on this occasion to honour him by naming our institute after him. We as the board of trustees take great pride in having established this institute whose objective is to embark on deep research in Afrikan knowledge and wisdom, which still remains buried in Afrikan communities and different kinds of archives. In this way, we believe, we shall have fulfilled what Marcus Garvey and other Pan-Afrikan leaders wanted us to do, for without education for all there can be no real emancipation for the masses of the Afrikan people. Africa is the cradle of humankind and it was here, and nowhere else in the world, that the original knowledge and wisdom of the world was produced and then spread to the rest of humankind in the form of archetypes. It is also here that this knowledge still exists in the living memories and languages of the African people despite the destruction and plunder that external invaders have subjected them to. It is a great challenge to all Africans that the continued destruction and plundering of African resources and knowledge-products should stop and efforts should be made to recover them through scholarly research of what still remains of that heritage and bring them out so that Afrika can renew itself through the production of sound knowledge based on African wisdom. Here we still have, as the UNESCO project on the general history of Africa discovered, a great memorial and living heritage through our languages. The linguistic traditions of the African people are still vibrant and it is in these languages and oral traditions that our new institute will seek to explore these archives of knowledge and wisdom, and bring this knowledge out for all to see and utilise. Our purpose is to link the institute to sites of knowledge and wisdom, which still exist in the communities so that both the researchers and custodians of this knowledge can work together in a joint venture in, which they will share in enquiring into these heritages as learners and teachers. The last three centuries have been concerned with the enhancement of eurocentred ‘scientific' knowledge epistemology. By the end of the last century, a few years ago, it was becoming clear that modern information technology and communication generated through these developments had led to the need for a knowledge society. This same development has also set in motion a desire of many communities for identity and a return to roots. Thus, while the rest of the world is moving in the direction of a knowledge society, Afrika cannot afford to remain in the museums of knowledge in the western world. It must come out full blast to join these modern developments on the basis of its heritage so that Africa can transform itself on the basis of a knowledge system that carries its own values, virtues and norms, but to which all mankind has access. Therefore, as we launch this Marcus-Garvey Institute, we can see a revolutionary task ahead of us, especially for the researchers and the staff of our new institute, and the communities they will work with. We are confident that they will carry out this task. he Marcus Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute would not have been launched today without a mentor. In this regard, I would like to pay tribute to the promoter of this idea of the institute, Professor Dani Wadada Nabudere, who has been appointed by my board to be the principal of the institute. Since returning from exile in 1993, he has dedicated the last years of his active life to animating our communities in the field of adult learning and participatory research. As a result of his work, Afrika Study Centre has built a network of organisations in the marginalised parts and communities of North-eastern Uganda , Kenya , Tanzania , and the new Sudan . Recently his endeavours have been extended to Southern Afrika . These networks are engaged in this task of community outreach in adult learning. This tremendous work has been achieved with careful use of personal and family resources from which this institute will begin namely this building and land on which it is built. These resources, in addition to other utilities, include a personal library which he donated to the Afrika Study Centre and which Afrika Study Centre in turn will also donate to the Marcus-Garvey Institute. It is no wonder that, with his solid scholarly and practical work he has done, the African Association of Political Science based in Pretoria , South Africa , has decided to honour him for his contributions to scholarly and institutional development. He has been informed that his academic achievements will be publicly recognised and debated at the association's bi-annual conference in Cairo , Egypt in September this year. It should be noted that the other African scholar, whose work has been recognised in this way, was that of Professor Ali Mazrui, two years ago in Durban , South Africa . We are therefore fortunate that our institute is embarking on its journey with such an outstanding scholar and political activist. Finally, I would like to recognise and thank the board members of the Afrika Study Centre, for their commitment and contributions in making the idea of establishing the Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute to become a reality. I beg to introduce as follows: -Justice Patrick Tabaro of the High Court of Uganda ; -Associate Professor Fredrick Jjuuko, Faculty of Law, Makerere University ; -Mr. Paulo Wangoola, Nabyama, Mpambo Multiversity, Iganga; -Mr. Augustine Bafaki Kayonga, Chairman, LC 5, Kabarole District; -Reverend Sam Ebukalin, Coordinator of P'ikwi Farm and Yiga Ng'Okola Folk Institute, Mbale; -Samuel B. Tindifa, Senior Lecturer Faculty of Law, Makerere University and is the Board Secretary of Afrika Study Centre trust, and finally myself, as their Chairman. I wish to add that Prof. Frederick Ssempebwa is still a member of the Board of Trustees, although we decided that due to the demanding pressures of the constitutional review commission, which he chaired, it was necessary to give him time to carry out his duties. I feel honoured to associate and work with this team and look forward to working with all of you here present to promote the vision of Marcus Garvey who stood for the unity of all Africans. Let us unite and build on what the Afrikan people have achieved, Afrika will come to life. Thank you our guest of honour and all the invited guests. [Back To Top] A Declaration of Commitment to the Cradle of Humankind In inaugurating the Marcus Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute today, we are taking a bold step in reasserting and restating our Africanness. To be African is to be human and to be human requires that we re-assert our historical identity that has deep roots in an Afrikan civilisation. Therefore to strive to reassert our Africanity is a struggle to reassert the primacy of our joint humanity over modern barbarism. This can only be done in the spirit of the African philosophy of Ubuntu that is to be found in all African languages. In doing this, we are expressing our commitment to all humanity because the Africanness that springs from the cradle of humankind is a general humanity that is shared by all of us. We are embarking on a journey of self-rediscovery through knowledge production based on Afrikan intellectual heritages, which Africans have achieved throughout the centuries. Such an achievement goes back to the time of the emergence of the cradle of humanity in the Great Rift Valleys of East Africa up to the present time. Here we shall be dealing with the problem of how Africans were able to develop a knowledge system that encompasses all life and the implications of this knowledge system for Africans and humanity in general in today's world. The African society has been described as a pristine society because it was the first society that managed to establish a political ‘nation-state' in Nubia-Ethiopia followed by Egypt . These kingdoms were able create a religious system, which was modelled on the idea of man-god. In that pristine society man and god moved together in creating the spiritual and temporal society that was ruled over by the pharaohs who were linked to the gods. The question can now be asked: how then can an African regeneration be brought about in such a manner that the knowledge that is inspired from that human cradle is of relevance to African transformation today? This is because an Afrikan-produced knowledge must by necessity serve current African needs and those of others who need it. The challenge is how we can generate a knowledge that is both historical inspired while at the same time being useful to the African people in transforming their lives from the depraved condition in which most Africans find themselves. This means we have to first deal with the issue of how knowledge can be developed in such a manner that it both reflects a people's identity and their world-view as well as their current needs. In the present situation, such knowledge must be rediscovered and developed in a scientifically satisfactory manner so that it can be disseminated and made available to all to be debated, critiqued and validated or invalidated by the wider public through its use. Therefore an epistemology to carry out this task is required. Such an epistemology (or system of knowledge production) must start by recognising and asserting the African world-view through which the Africans see and interprete their world. It is that world-view which enables Africans to deal with the philosophical question: “what is the purpose of life?” That question can only partially be answered by modern religions and the rest of the answers can only be found in the African peoples' historical world-views and cosmologies. Without such a cosmological anchoring, Africans can never ‘develop,' especially on models that were and continue to be imposed carrying other peoples' world-views while down-grading theirs. Such a world-view and epistemology based on it must be at the base of any scientific methodology through which we can carry out our research together with the communities. That is essential if African historical and civilisational achievements are to be given proper recognition. Without such recognition, Africans cannot have the necessary self-confidence to carry out the task of social transformation and at the same time “claim the 21s century.” This proposed epistemology must not necessarily be African-centred or ‘afrocentric.' it must be a universal scientific epistemology that goes beyond eurocentricism, or other ethnocentrisms on which the present human and social sciences epistemologies and paradigms have been based. Such a new epistemology must recognise all sources of knowledge as valid within their historical, cultural, and social contexts and seek to engage them into a dialogue that can lead to the creation of a better pool of knowledge that is accessible to all humanity. The scientific methodologies we intend to develop must in recognising African civilisational achievements begin with the recognition of African languages and living oral traditions as one of the fundamental pillars of the knowledge system we wish to highlight. This is recognition of the knowledge and wisdom, which is still buried in those languages and living traditions in the rural communities as well as new ideas which help sustain their lives, hopes and aspirations. They enable them to tell their own story of having been, of being and of ever more becoming to be. It is this recognition that can enable the African people to correctly claim to be the fore-bearers of much of what is called Greek or European heritage. Therefore this primary recognition is necessary for the correct identity of the European heritage, most of which is based on the plunder of the African heritage. It is for this reason that Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute has provisionally embarked on the articulation of the science of Afrikology that will help Afrikaans to redefine their world, which can enable them to advance their self-understanding by making explicit their world-views or cosmologies, which have for long been suppressed. Afrikology must be a rebuttal to those attempts made by foreigners to degrade Africans and their world-views. The objective of imperialism was to capture the upper ground of knowing the natives everywhere in order to control their thinking and self-understanding. The objective of imperialism was to reduce the Afrikan to something “other” than them “selves,” in order to become the masters. Africans were turned into animal-like individuals to be enslaved at will by the masters. Many of the Eurocentric academic disciplines, which were created at this time, were especially for the purpose of understanding the natives so they could be ‘known' in order to be controlled and ruled. Although the science of Afrikology reflects the African world-view, it also reflects the universality of African understanding of the world and its communication with it through the word as originally conceived and developed in the cradle. It is “ A fri- ” not because it is African but because it is inspired by the knowledge and wisdom originally conceived and produced in the cradle of humankind located in Africa - the source of the universal system of knowledge. It is also scientific because it is – ( co)logy in that it is based on logos -the word from which the universe arose and as it was uttered by the first Afrikan to speak. From the word emerged consciousness and from consciousness emerged humanity who produced language and the script from the original word. Afrikology therefore draws its scientificity and uniqueness from the fact that it is based on an all-embracing philosophy of humankind originating in Nubia and Egypt and updated by the lived experiences of all humanity, who still continue to draw on its deep-rooted wisdom. It is based on a philosophy that is conscious of itself, conscious of its own existence as thought, and which although originally based in myth was able to separate itself from it to become concept within its own development and originality. Cheick Anta Diop reminded us that the African philosophical universe had achieved these two requirements, before any human group of people were able to do so. According to him, vis-à-vis black Africa, Egypt played the same role that Greco Latin civilisation played vis-à-vis the rest of Europe . He emphasises that: “We can build a body of disciplines in the humanities only by legitimising and systematising the return to Egypt : in the course of this account, we will see that only the Egyptian facts allow us to find, here and there, the common denominator of the remnants of thought, a connection between the African cosmogonies in the process of fossilization.” In this direction, Diop gives what he regards as a fundamental beginning point drawn from “the cradle” of classical philosophy in Egypt in building the new human sciences. He argues that: “this manner of presenting the facts, by respecting the chronology of their genesis and their true historical connections, is the most scientific way of retracing the evolution of philosophic thought and of characterising its African variant. This is what we wish to achieve with the science of Afrikology under the Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute together with the African communities who will be active participants in this joint effort. Professor Dani Wadada Nabudere Executive Director/Principal Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute [Back To Top] Declaration of Commitment from the Researchers *“Let us perform the sacrifice and leave the blame on the doorstep of the spirits.”* Iqbo Proverb Inspired by the Garveyist principle of ‘Knowledge for Self-Consciousness'. 15 of us have come together to form a core group of MPAI researchers. We come from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds such as Law, Finance, Economics, Linguistics, Theatre and Cinematography, Information Technology, Geological Science, Public Administration and Human Rights, Peace and Conflict. Our overriding objective is to further the quest of defining and reclaiming the past, present and future of our African identity, in a context of researching on solving the fundamental challenges and problems of the physical, economic, spiritual and moral wellbeing of our communities. The Iqbo proverb above underlines our admission as intellectual producers that we are major culprits in the distortion of the reciprocal relationship between the dead, the living and the unborn which is a major sustainability principle of African peoples' selfhood and livelihood. By joining MPAI we are not only declaring a commitment to redeem our selfhood, we are also affirming that henceforth we shall be guided by the epistemological and environmental signals emanating from our indigenous knowledge bases, belief and value systems. Out of the most instructive of such signals that we have come across is from the Dogon people of Mali . They characterize the cultivation of knowledge as a life long undertaking, which unfolds through four stages, or levels of attainment, depending on the inspiration, role, commitment and humanity of the knowledge pursuer. The first level of attainment is acquisition of knowledge not accompanied by understanding. This is Giri So or the ‘word at face value'. At the second level knowledge extends to understanding if one begins to discern dimensions and relationships and develops a point of view about them. This is Benne So or ‘the word from the side'. The next level entails acquiring the capacity to intuitively integrate oneself with and interprete ancestral and lived experiences and knowledge. This is Bolo So or ‘the word from behind'. Finally after sustained application one gains the ability and state of being able to visualize and plan the future with wisdom, creativity and confidence. This is Dayi So or ‘the clear word'. Being products of a hegemonic north oriented knowledge production system that continually and spontaneously alienates us even from our Africanness; it is no overstatement to say that hitherto much of our research output has tended to hover between the first and second levels. We hope and declare that in our new endeavour no effort will be spared to strive for embeddedness within the various sites of knowledge in our communities. Working thus together with the communities, we hope that out of the specific knowledges, experiences, insights and beliefs, we shall establish some common practices and principles as a basis for a vision of supporting and enhancing local initiatives within Afrika and between Afrikan and other communities the world over. [Back To Top] Speech By The Minister of State for Higher Education (Hon. Simon Mayende) The Chairperson and Board of Trustees, The Executive Director, Invited Guests in your various capacities, Ladies and Gentlemen; It is indeed a great honour for me to officiate at this occasion marking the launching of the Collaborative Research Programme and the Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute (MPAI). Today's function is a great milestone in the realm of our Higher Education as we launch the first ever institution in the country, that emphasise research based on indigenous knowledge and wisdom. The tertiary Education curriculum in Uganda has been often criticised as being outmoded and irrelevant to the needs of the current economy, with much of it being centrally determined, specialized, and often theoretical. In 1990, the Government begun a process of innovation and reform of the Tertiary sector. This has so far manifested in opening up of new Universities, expansion and diversification of teaching programmes, but little has been done in the area of research based education. I am happy that MPAI has taken a firm step in this important but hitherto less prioritised area. I thank the promoters, the Board of Trustees for your foresight and innovativeness, which has given birth to Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute. I welcome all of you distinguished Guests who are present here to witness its inauguration. Historically, research is the citadel of innovation and development. Countries like Japan and China which we now refer to as ‘success stories' owe their development to research into their indigenous knowledge and skills. There are no foreign skills that were used to develop these countries, but their own ‘home-grown' innovation and inventions arising out of research. It is for this reason that MPAI should be applauded for spearheading research in African indigenous knowledge and wisdom. The solution to the problems plaguing us lies in our midst. We do not have to look elsewhere. Many of our scholars have been blamed for being detached from the societies they purport to represent and work for. They are full of head and textbook knowledge but unable to master and domain our economic and physical environment. I am happy to note that, it is MPAI's main objective to link the researcher/scholar with the community through what you have called ‘sites of knowledge and wisdom'. It is indeed a great innovation that will go a long way in linking the scholar with the local community. You have read and heard in the media the quarrels between upcoming tertiary institutions and the National Council for Higher Education about conformity to the set rules and regulations. Some institutions have tried to come up and operate outside these rules and regulations. I am glad to note that MPAI has regularised its existence with the NCHE, I will call upon those institutions, which have not done so, to emulate this example. My presence here today, is a sign of the fact that the Ministry of Education and Sports approves and appreciates what is done by this institute. The National Resistance Movement Government initiated liberalisation of Education. As a result many tertiary institutions have come up offering diverse programs of study. Nonetheless, Government is not ready to compromise quality and standard at any one given time. That is what the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) has been set up to ensure. You should not look at NCHE as an antagonistic body bent on frustrating upcoming institutions, but as a regulatory arm of Government to ensure standard in the tertiary education sector. The Government is prepared to support private providers in the Education Sector as long as they are prepared to operate within the set guidelines and maintain acceptable standards. I thank my comrade Prof. Dani W. Nabudere for his outstanding contribution to leadership and the creation of knowledge in Africa and Uganda in particular. I thank you personally for inviting me to officiate at this grand inaugural function. I thank the team of great men on the board of trustees. I have trust in their abilities, which have been tested over time, and I have the confidence they will steer MPAI to greater heights. This institution is named after a great man Marcus-Garvey, who died in 1940, but his legacy still lives and influences world events up to now. It is my wish and prayer that this institution named after him will grow to influence and touch the lives of people like Marcus-Garvey. It is now my honour and privilege to officially launch MPAI and the Collaborative Research Programme. FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY [Back To Top] Prof. Shadrack B. O. Gutto ( Director, Centre for African Renaissance Studies-UNISA) Prof. Rupert Lewis (Chairman, Friends of Liberty Hall-Jamaica) *Prof. Verene Shepherd (Academic Advisor, Marcus Garvey Movement, UWI-Mona)* Allan Bernard (Senior Advisor, Marcus Garvey Movement, UWI-Mona) Foster Bankie (Pan African Center of Namibia) Prof. Shadrack B. O. Gutto ( Director, Centre for African Renaissance Studies-UNISA) CONGRATULATIONS Dear Prof Nabudere, On behalf of the Centre for African Renaissance Studies at the University of South Africa and on my own behalf, I wish to congratulate you and all African patriots who have invested energy and resources to establish the Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute on African soil. Prior engagements have made it impossible for the Centre to send a representative but be assured that we look forward to strengthening our personal and institutional collaboration in the pursuit of a new and better Africa . Once more, congratulations! Prof. Shadrack B. O. Gutto Director, Centre for African Renaissance Studies (The Graduate School of African Renaissance Studies) University of South Africa Pretoria Tshwane Metro City Republic of South Africa . [Back To Top] *Prof. Rupert Lewis (Chairman, Friends of Liberty Hall-Jamaica)* CONGRATULATIONS On behalf of the Friends of Liberty Hall and all those associated with the project “Liberty Hall: The Legacy of Marcus Garvey” we would like to extend greetings and congratulations to you on launching the Marcus Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute in Mbale , Uganda . We are very pleased that your Institute takes the name of Marcus Garvey who pioneered the Pan-African mass movement in the early twentieth century and who is also Jamaica 's First National Hero. We look forward to sharing information on our mutual work and in collaborating in the rebuilding of the African continent and the Diaspora so that our people can realize the goals set for us by our ancestors and by ourselves. Professor Rupert Lewis Chairman, Friends of Liberty Hall Jamaica [Back To Top] *Prof. Verene Shepherd (Academic Advisor, Marcus Garvey Movement, UWI-Mona)* On the occasion of the inauguration of the Marcus Garvey Pan-Afrikan Insitute, Uganda “I wish to congratulate Prof. Dani Nabudere and his collaborators for their initiative and foresight in conceiving of the idea of the MGPAI. Marcus Garvey, that quintessential pan-Africanist from Jamaica, would have been pleased; for his diasporic commitment, which saw him establishing the UNIA, the Black Starline, a newspaper and a political party to spread the idea of pan-Africanism and Black solidarity with continental Africans, is well-known. He would no doubt have also been supportive of the African Renaissance and NEPAD because he believed in African nationalism and self-determination. His philosophies and ideology; his belief that “it must be the mission of all Black people to have pride in the race” if embraced, will provide guidance for all African descended people in these difficult times. I hope that in the near future, the MGM at UWI, the recently reopened Liberty Hall (Jamaica) and the MGPAI will forge collaborative links that will advance the pan-African struggle”. Verene A. Shepherd July 7, 2005. [Back To Top] Allan Bernard (Senior Advisor, Marcus Garvey Movement, UWI-Mona) Message from the Marcus Garvey Movement (MGM) On behalf of the Marcus Garvey Movement at the University of the West Indies , Mona campus, we would like extend our deepest appreciation for the opportunity to be a part of this great occasion. We see the launch of this Pan-Afrikan Institute in Africa, and its commemoration of Marcus Garvey as vanguard and inspiration, as an important watershed in consolidating the linkages between Africa and its Diaspora. As a student organization grounded in the teachings of Garvey and Pan-Afrikanism we look forward to working with the Institute to ensure that peoples of African descent will chart their own course and reposition Africa among the constellations of Nations. Allan Bernard Senior Advisor, Marcus Garvey Movement, UWI, Mona [Back To Top] Foster Bankie (Pan African Center of Namibia) CONGRATULATIONS Prof Dani W. Nabudere Once again please accept congratulations on the Formal Launch of the Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute on Saturday the 9th July. The Institute will go from strength to strength and will serve as a beacon, on the way forward in Pan Afrikan Studies. Already your paper 'Towards an Afrikology..' is doing just that and will be discussed in the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security Committee of the National Assembly here next week, which Committee I hope you will meet with on your visit to Namibia in early October. Maybe then you could address them on a Pan Afrikan approach to human relations. Yesterday I meet with the publishers of the Pan African proceedings of the 17th All Africa Students Conference (AASC), Gamsberg Macmillan, along with the Co-Editor of the book, Prof Kingo Mchombu, your former student from Tanzania . The upshot was that I am to request from you, belatedly, a paper " based on Pan Afrikan insights drawn from cross-cultural learning and understanding across the board, providing the 21st century approach to human relations, countering the anti-humanistic tendencies that emerged towards the end of the 20t century arising from the objectivistic and scientistic approach to knowledge production and use, thus providing scope in this process, amongst others, for bridging the gap between the elite and the people at large, especially amongst the Africans " . Nahas Angula's contribution to the proceedings is two pages on indigenous knowledge systems. Kindly let me have your input to the publication by the end of July latest. The book will be launched in October. Prof Prah has kindly agreed to write the Forward. I believe this book will represent one of the few, if any, publications devoted to Pan Africanism in Southern Africa . Best regards Bankie [Back To Top]

Current News
Inauguration Speeches and Statements
Messages of Support and Congratulations

Press Release - 7th July 2005
Press Release - 10th July 2005

Press Release - 7th July 2005

The Board of Trustees of the Afrika Study Centre at Upper Mooni, Wanale Division, Mbale Municipality, Mbale District in the Republic of Uganda, announces that the Marcus Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute will be inaugurated on the 9 th July 2005 at its present Site at Upper Mooni by the Minister of State for Higher Education, Simon Mayende. Present will be government ministers, Justices of the Supreme Court and High Court of Uganda, LC5 Chairpersons of Mbale/Siroko, Members of Parliament, Religious Leaders. Traditional Leaders, invited foreign guests, vice-chancellors from universities, Researchers, representatives of the Community Sites of Knowledge and Wisdom, Elders and other outstanding personalities.

The Institute is named after Marcus Garvey- the outstanding Pan-Africanist, whose father was kidnapped, enslaved and transported over the Middle Passage to the “New World” where, along with other Africans, were sold off as slaves to work on the plantation in Jamaica . He worked all his active life trying to defend the rights of enslaved African workers on estates and industrial factories. He immigrated to Britain and United States where he continued to mobilise the African masses wherever they were and called for a “Return to Africa” with the slogan: “ Africa for Africans here and abroad.”

Marcus-Garvey formed the famous Universal Negro Improvement Association-UNIA -at a convention held in New York on 1 st to 31 st August 1920, where the convention protested against the wrongs and injustices the Black people were receiving at the hands of their white brethren, and to state what they deem their fair and just rights were as human beings, as well as the treatment they proposed to demand of all men in the future. Marcus Garvey was elected “Provisional President” of Africa, from which position he tried to develop shipping companies to promote trade between Africa and the rest of the world.

Two renowned Professors will deliver keynote addresses at the inauguration. The first speech will be delivered by the famous Ghanaian Pan-Africanist scholar, Professor Kwesi kaa Prah of the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society-CASAS, which is located in Cape Town South Africa . Professor Jassy Kwesiga, the Secretary General of DENIVA-an indigenous NGO Forum based in Kampala , will deliver the second speech.

There will also be speeches by Mr Paulo Sebalu, a senior advocate of the High and Supreme Court of Uganda, who is also the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Afrika Study Centre; and Professor Dani Wadada Nabudere, the founder and Executive Director of the Afrika Study Centre who has also been appointed by the Board of Trustees to head the new Institute.

By SAMUEL B. TINDIFA
Board Secretary ASC

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The Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute Launched - 10th July 2005

The Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute was officially inaugurated by the district LC 5 Chairman of Mbale, Bernard Mujjasi, on behalf of the Minister of Higher Education, on the 9 th July 2005. Altogether about 80 people attended by the occasion, which was marked by speeches from the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Paulo Sebalu, the Executive Director/Principal of the institute, Professor Dani Wadada Nabudere, a representative of the researchers, Mr. Luutu Mukasa, and the District Chairperson, Bernard Mujjasi.

In his speech, the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees expressed pride in the fact that the board had decided to recognise the contribution of Marcus-Garvey as one of African great ancestors who had left behind him a record that gave the African people pride in their ancestry. As a great son of Africa , he had fought hard for the dignity of Africans in the Diaspora as well as on the mother continent. As such he deserved to be honoured by naming the institute in his name.

The Executive Director of the institute made a declaration and commitment to the cradle of humankind in which he assured the audience that the science of Afrikology that the institute will develop with the communities will resurrect what the Africans had achieved throughout history and demonstrate that the knowledge and wisdom from that cradle had had a universal impact. He added that this knowledge has continued up to now to inform the African world-view from which the rest of humanity had benefited. He pointed out that the science of Afrikology will produce knowledge, which is both inspiring and also usable.

The researchers expressed their commitment to the institute and emphasised that their overriding objective was to further the quest of defining and reclaiming the past, present and future of our African identity, in the context of researching on solving the fundamental challenges and problems of the physical, economic, spiritual and moral wellbeing of our communities.

These speeches were followed by two keynote speakers. Prof. Kwesi Prah of Centre for Advanced African Studies-Casas, Capetown, in a speech entitled: “Knowledge Production, Language and Identity” made a most memorable contribution of the occasion, which was applauded by all. He emphasised the importance of the work Marcus-Garvey had rendered to Africa and the Diaspora. He argued that Garvey was able at the time to say things, which others had found difficult to say.

He emphasised that knowledge produced in Africa had nevertheless to take certain universal realities, adding there was no African mathematics and African physics as there could be no European physics. Nevertheless there was knowledge which was produced under conditions that made it identified with particular cultures as a contribution to general humanity and this must be acknowledge but in conditions that clearly defines who is an African, emphasising the need for African languages to be the basis for scientific development.

Professor Jassy Kwesiga of DENIVA, Kampala , a Ugandan indigenous forum in a speech entitled: “Education, Knowledge Creation and Community” praised Marcus-Garvey as an adult educator who mobilised African masses for action. He praised the occasion as a day that had brought intellectual freshness into our minds in search of the Africa that Marcus Garvey had dreamt about, adding “We owe all those great ancestors accountability – together with those who will take over from us, born and unborn.”

During the speeches a number of messages of congratulations were read. The first was from Prof. Verena Sphered from Jamaica but who at the time was on the African continent, who praised the institute as an expression of solidarity with the Diaspora. The second message was from Prof. Shadracck Gutto of the Centre for African Renaissance Studies of the University of South Africa-UNISA who promised collaboration with the institute. The third was from Lewis Lester writing on behalf of the Marcus-Garvey Movement of Jamaica. He praised the creation of the institute as offering an opportunity of advancing Pan-Afrikanism.

The fourth was a message received by phone while the inauguration was proceeding from Prof. Amuwo, Executive Secretary, of The African Association of Political Science-AAPS in Pretoria . He wished the institute a good future and offered to collaborate with it in research. The last message was from Bankie Foster Bankie of Pan African Center of Namibia, who indicated that the paper by Prof. Nabudere on Afrikology had already had an impact and that the parliamentary committee on Foreign Affairs and Security of the Namibian Assembly was going to meet the following week to debate it.

The Chairman of the District in inaugurating of the institute congratulated the board, and especially Professor Dani Wadada Nabudere, for the great effort they had made in putting up the institute. He added that the research in Afrikan knowledge and wisdom will go a long way to address the issue of immorality and corruption in our society. He believed that these evils were rampant in Africa , because the Africans had abandoned their traditional religions, which incorporated moral values.

The chairman then declared the institute open and cut the ribbon leading to the offices. The invited guests were then shown the administration offices and the library dedicated to Sam Kanyoro, one of the founders of the Afrika Study Centre, the forbearer of the Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute.

After the chairman's speech, invited guests from the ‘Sites of Knowledge and Wisdom' made speeches welcoming the creation of the institute with which they pledged to cooperate in the production of knowledge for an African regeneration. These included Rev. Moses Olum from Aduk, Apac and a representative of the Rwot of Acholi, David Onen Acana II. A senior lecturer from the University of Nairobi , Godfrey Mutisya, also welcomed the launching of the institute and promised to collaborate in research.

After inspecting the offices, the District Chairpersons of Mbale and Siroko and the wife of the Chairperson of Kabarole Districts planted three trees to mark the inauguration of the institute. Thereafter the invited guests were entertained by a cultural group of orphans from Siroko District and proceeded to a luncheon to mark the inauguration of the institute.

The Minister for Higher Education arrived late, but was able to speak to the invited guests. He thanked the promoters and the Board of Trustees for their foresight and innovativeness, which has given birth to Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute. He pledge government support to the effort and argued the institute to work closely with the national council for higher education.

he launch ceremony ended at around 3.00pm having begun at 9.00 am.

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Statement of the Chairman
Declaration and Commitment
Declaration of Commitment from the Researchers
Speech By The Minister of State for Higher Education (Hon. Simon Mayende)

Statement of the Chairman, Board of Trustees of ASC

The District Chairpersons, Mbale, Kabarole and Sironko Districts; Traditional and religious leaders; and, All invited guests
On behalf of the Board of Trustees of the Afrika Study Centre, which is host to the institute, I wish to welcome you all to this memorable occasion of inaugurating the Marcus Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute.

We are proud to be part of the Pan-Afrikan tradition of honouring our ancestors, and in this case, Marcus Garvey . In naming this institute after him, we recognise that Marcus Garvey was a great son of Afrika, a great fighter for the African emancipation in the Diaspora and the liberation of mother Africa . Throughout his active life in Jamaica and in the Americas , Marcus Garvey fought hard against all forms of racial discrimination, especially that against the descendants of Africa ;

He fought for the rights of exploited workers in the fields and factories through different organisations, especially the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA ) , through which he mobilised the African masses to open their eyes and unite to attain their own dignity through political and economic struggles. He promoted the idea of education of the Afrikan masses and worked as a leader to develop their economic, social and cultural emancipation.

Our guest of honour sir, and all invited guests, that is why we are happy on this occasion to honour him by naming our institute after him. We as the board of trustees take great pride in having established this institute whose objective is to embark on deep research in Afrikan knowledge and wisdom, which still remains buried in Afrikan communities and different kinds of archives. In this way, we believe, we shall have fulfilled what Marcus Garvey and other Pan-Afrikan leaders wanted us to do, for without education for all there can be no real emancipation for the masses of the Afrikan people.

Africa is the cradle of humankind and it was here, and nowhere else in the world, that the original knowledge and wisdom of the world was produced and then spread to the rest of humankind in the form of archetypes. It is also here that this knowledge still exists in the living memories and languages of the African people despite the destruction and plunder that external invaders have subjected them to.

It is a great challenge to all Africans that the continued destruction and plundering of African resources and knowledge-products should stop and efforts should be made to recover them through scholarly research of what still remains of that heritage and bring them out so that Afrika can renew itself through the production of sound knowledge based on African wisdom.

Here we still have, as the UNESCO project on the general history of Africa discovered, a great memorial and living heritage through our languages. The linguistic traditions of the African people are still vibrant and it is in these languages and oral traditions that our new institute will seek to explore these archives of knowledge and wisdom, and bring this knowledge out for all to see and utilise. Our purpose is to link the institute to sites of knowledge and wisdom, which still exist in the communities so that both the researchers and custodians of this knowledge can work together in a joint venture in, which they will share in enquiring into these heritages as learners and teachers.

The last three centuries have been concerned with the enhancement of eurocentred ‘scientific' knowledge epistemology. By the end of the last century, a few years ago, it was becoming clear that modern information technology and communication generated through these developments had led to the need for a knowledge society. This same development has also set in motion a desire of many communities for identity and a return to roots. Thus, while the rest of the world is moving in the direction of a knowledge society, Afrika cannot afford to remain in the museums of knowledge in the western world. It must come out full blast to join these modern developments on the basis of its heritage so that Africa can transform itself on the basis of a knowledge system that carries its own values, virtues and norms, but to which all mankind has access.

Therefore, as we launch this Marcus-Garvey Institute, we can see a revolutionary task ahead of us, especially for the researchers and the staff of our new institute, and the communities they will work with. We are confident that they will carry out this task.

he Marcus Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute would not have been launched today without a mentor. In this regard, I would like to pay tribute to the promoter of this idea of the institute, Professor Dani Wadada Nabudere, who has been appointed by my board to be the principal of the institute. Since returning from exile in 1993, he has dedicated the last years of his active life to animating our communities in the field of adult learning and participatory research. As a result of his work, Afrika Study Centre has built a network of organisations in the marginalised parts and communities of North-eastern Uganda , Kenya , Tanzania , and the new Sudan . Recently his endeavours have been extended to Southern Afrika . These networks are engaged in this task of community outreach in adult learning.

This tremendous work has been achieved with careful use of personal and family resources from which this institute will begin namely this building and land on which it is built. These resources, in addition to other utilities, include a personal library which he donated to the Afrika Study Centre and which Afrika Study Centre in turn will also donate to the Marcus-Garvey Institute. It is no wonder that, with his solid scholarly and practical work he has done, the African Association of Political Science based in Pretoria , South Africa , has decided to honour him for his contributions to scholarly and institutional development. He has been informed that his academic achievements will be publicly recognised and debated at the association's bi-annual conference in Cairo , Egypt in September this year.

It should be noted that the other African scholar, whose work has been recognised in this way, was that of Professor Ali Mazrui, two years ago in Durban , South Africa . We are therefore fortunate that our institute is embarking on its journey with such an outstanding scholar and political activist.

Finally, I would like to recognise and thank the board members of the Afrika Study Centre, for their commitment and contributions in making the idea of establishing the Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute to become a reality. I beg to introduce as follows:

-Justice Patrick Tabaro of the High Court of Uganda ;
-Associate Professor Fredrick Jjuuko, Faculty of Law, Makerere University ;
-Mr. Paulo Wangoola, Nabyama, Mpambo Multiversity, Iganga;
-Mr. Augustine Bafaki Kayonga, Chairman, LC 5, Kabarole District;
-Reverend Sam Ebukalin, Coordinator of P'ikwi Farm and Yiga Ng'Okola Folk Institute, Mbale;
-Samuel B. Tindifa, Senior Lecturer Faculty of Law, Makerere University and is the Board Secretary of Afrika Study Centre trust,
and finally myself, as their Chairman.

I wish to add that Prof. Frederick Ssempebwa is still a member of the Board of Trustees, although we decided that due to the demanding pressures of the constitutional review commission, which he chaired, it was necessary to give him time to carry out his duties.

I feel honoured to associate and work with this team and look forward to working with all of you here present to promote the vision of Marcus Garvey who stood for the unity of all Africans. Let us unite and build on what the Afrikan people have achieved, Afrika will come to life.

Thank you our guest of honour and all the invited guests.

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A Declaration of Commitment to the Cradle of Humankind

In inaugurating the Marcus Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute today, we are taking a bold step in reasserting and restating our Africanness. To be African is to be human and to be human requires that we re-assert our historical identity that has deep roots in an Afrikan civilisation. Therefore to strive to reassert our Africanity is a struggle to reassert the primacy of our joint humanity over modern barbarism. This can only be done in the spirit of the African philosophy of Ubuntu that is to be found in all African languages. In doing this, we are expressing our commitment to all humanity because the Africanness that springs from the cradle of humankind is a general humanity that is shared by all of us.

We are embarking on a journey of self-rediscovery through knowledge production based on Afrikan intellectual heritages, which Africans have achieved throughout the centuries. Such an achievement goes back to the time of the emergence of the cradle of humanity in the Great Rift Valleys of East Africa up to the present time. Here we shall be dealing with the problem of how Africans were able to develop a knowledge system that encompasses all life and the implications of this knowledge system for Africans and humanity in general in today's world.

The African society has been described as a pristine society because it was the first society that managed to establish a political ‘nation-state' in Nubia-Ethiopia followed by Egypt . These kingdoms were able create a religious system, which was modelled on the idea of man-god. In that pristine society man and god moved together in creating the spiritual and temporal society that was ruled over by the pharaohs who were linked to the gods.

The question can now be asked: how then can an African regeneration be brought about in such a manner that the knowledge that is inspired from that human cradle is of relevance to African transformation today? This is because an Afrikan-produced knowledge must by necessity serve current African needs and those of others who need it. The challenge is how we can generate a knowledge that is both historical inspired while at the same time being useful to the African people in transforming their lives from the depraved condition in which most Africans find themselves.

This means we have to first deal with the issue of how knowledge can be developed in such a manner that it both reflects a people's identity and their world-view as well as their current needs. In the present situation, such knowledge must be rediscovered and developed in a scientifically satisfactory manner so that it can be disseminated and made available to all to be debated, critiqued and validated or invalidated by the wider public through its use.

Therefore an epistemology to carry out this task is required. Such an epistemology (or system of knowledge production) must start by recognising and asserting the African world-view through which the Africans see and interprete their world. It is that world-view which enables Africans to deal with the philosophical question: “what is the purpose of life?” That question can only partially be answered by modern religions and the rest of the answers can only be found in the African peoples' historical world-views and cosmologies. Without such a cosmological anchoring, Africans can never ‘develop,' especially on models that were and continue to be imposed carrying other peoples' world-views while down-grading theirs.

Such a world-view and epistemology based on it must be at the base of any scientific methodology through which we can carry out our research together with the communities. That is essential if African historical and civilisational achievements are to be given proper recognition. Without such recognition, Africans cannot have the necessary self-confidence to carry out the task of social transformation and at the same time “claim the 21s century.”

This proposed epistemology must not necessarily be African-centred or ‘afrocentric.' it must be a universal scientific epistemology that goes beyond eurocentricism, or other ethnocentrisms on which the present human and social sciences epistemologies and paradigms have been based. Such a new epistemology must recognise all sources of knowledge as valid within their historical, cultural, and social contexts and seek to engage them into a dialogue that can lead to the creation of a better pool of knowledge that is accessible to all humanity.

The scientific methodologies we intend to develop must in recognising African civilisational achievements begin with the recognition of African languages and living oral traditions as one of the fundamental pillars of the knowledge system we wish to highlight. This is recognition of the knowledge and wisdom, which is still buried in those languages and living traditions in the rural communities as well as new ideas which help sustain their lives, hopes and aspirations. They enable them to tell their own story of having been, of being and of ever more becoming to be. It is this recognition that can enable the African people to correctly claim to be the fore-bearers of much of what is called Greek or European heritage. Therefore this primary recognition is necessary for the correct identity of the European heritage, most of which is based on the plunder of the African heritage.

It is for this reason that Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute has provisionally embarked on the articulation of the science of Afrikology that will help Afrikaans to redefine their world, which can enable them to advance their self-understanding by making explicit their world-views or cosmologies, which have for long been suppressed. Afrikology must be a rebuttal to those attempts made by foreigners to degrade Africans and their world-views.

The objective of imperialism was to capture the upper ground of knowing the natives everywhere in order to control their thinking and self-understanding. The objective of imperialism was to reduce the Afrikan to something “other” than them “selves,” in order to become the masters. Africans were turned into animal-like individuals to be enslaved at will by the masters. Many of the Eurocentric academic disciplines, which were created at this time, were especially for the purpose of understanding the natives so they could be ‘known' in order to be controlled and ruled.

Although the science of Afrikology reflects the African world-view, it also reflects the universality of African understanding of the world and its communication with it through the word as originally conceived and developed in the cradle. It is “ A fri- ” not because it is African but because it is inspired by the knowledge and wisdom originally conceived and produced in the cradle of humankind located in Africa - the source of the universal system of knowledge. It is also scientific because it is – ( co)logy in that it is based on logos -the word from which the universe arose and as it was uttered by the first Afrikan to speak. From the word emerged consciousness and from consciousness emerged humanity who produced language and the script from the original word.

Afrikology therefore draws its scientificity and uniqueness from the fact that it is based on an all-embracing philosophy of humankind originating in Nubia and Egypt and updated by the lived experiences of all humanity, who still continue to draw on its deep-rooted wisdom. It is based on a philosophy that is conscious of itself, conscious of its own existence as thought, and which although originally based in myth was able to separate itself from it to become concept within its own development and originality.

Cheick Anta Diop reminded us that the African philosophical universe had achieved these two requirements, before any human group of people were able to do so. According to him, vis-à-vis black Africa, Egypt played the same role that Greco Latin civilisation played vis-à-vis the rest of Europe . He emphasises that:

“We can build a body of disciplines in the humanities only by legitimising and systematising the return to Egypt : in the course of this account, we will see that only the Egyptian facts allow us to find, here and there, the common denominator of the remnants of thought, a connection between the African cosmogonies in the process of fossilization.”

In this direction, Diop gives what he regards as a fundamental beginning point drawn from “the cradle” of classical philosophy in Egypt in building the new human sciences. He argues that: “this manner of presenting the facts, by respecting the chronology of their genesis and their true historical connections, is the most scientific way of retracing the evolution of philosophic thought and of characterising its African variant. This is what we wish to achieve with the science of Afrikology under the Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute together with the African communities who will be active participants in this joint effort.

Professor Dani Wadada Nabudere
Executive Director/Principal
Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute

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Declaration of Commitment from the Researchers

“Let us perform the sacrifice and leave the blame on the doorstep of the spirits.” Iqbo Proverb

Inspired by the Garveyist principle of ‘Knowledge for Self-Consciousness'. 15 of us have come together to form a core group of MPAI researchers. We come from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds such as Law, Finance, Economics, Linguistics, Theatre and Cinematography, Information Technology, Geological Science, Public Administration and Human Rights, Peace and Conflict.

Our overriding objective is to further the quest of defining and reclaiming the past, present and future of our African identity, in a context of researching on solving the fundamental challenges and problems of the physical, economic, spiritual and moral wellbeing of our communities.

The Iqbo proverb above underlines our admission as intellectual producers that we are major culprits in the distortion of the reciprocal relationship between the dead, the living and the unborn which is a major sustainability principle of African peoples' selfhood and livelihood. By joining MPAI we are not only declaring a commitment to redeem our selfhood, we are also affirming that henceforth we shall be guided by the epistemological and environmental signals emanating from our indigenous knowledge bases, belief and value systems.

Out of the most instructive of such signals that we have come across is from the Dogon people of Mali . They characterize the cultivation of knowledge as a life long undertaking, which unfolds through four stages, or levels of attainment, depending on the inspiration, role, commitment and humanity of the knowledge pursuer.

The first level of attainment is acquisition of knowledge not accompanied by understanding. This is Giri So or the ‘word at face value'. At the second level knowledge extends to understanding if one begins to discern dimensions and relationships and develops a point of view about them. This is Benne So or ‘the word from the side'. The next level entails acquiring the capacity to intuitively integrate oneself with and interprete ancestral and lived experiences and knowledge. This is Bolo So or ‘the word from behind'. Finally after sustained application one gains the ability and state of being able to visualize and plan the future with wisdom, creativity and confidence. This is Dayi So or ‘the clear word'.

Being products of a hegemonic north oriented knowledge production system that continually and spontaneously alienates us even from our Africanness; it is no overstatement to say that hitherto much of our research output has tended to hover between the first and second levels. We hope and declare that in our new endeavour no effort will be spared to strive for embeddedness within the various sites of knowledge in our communities. Working thus together with the communities, we hope that out of the specific knowledges, experiences, insights and beliefs, we shall establish some common practices and principles as a basis for a vision of supporting and enhancing local initiatives within Afrika and between Afrikan and other communities the world over.

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Speech By The Minister of State for Higher Education (Hon. Simon Mayende)

The Chairperson and Board of Trustees, The Executive Director, Invited Guests in your various capacities, Ladies and Gentlemen;

It is indeed a great honour for me to officiate at this occasion marking the launching of the Collaborative Research Programme and the Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute (MPAI). Today's function is a great milestone in the realm of our Higher Education as we launch the first ever institution in the country, that emphasise research based on indigenous knowledge and wisdom.

The tertiary Education curriculum in Uganda has been often criticised as being outmoded and irrelevant to the needs of the current economy, with much of it being centrally determined, specialized, and often theoretical. In 1990, the Government begun a process of innovation and reform of the Tertiary sector. This has so far manifested in opening up of new Universities, expansion and diversification of teaching programmes, but little has been done in the area of research based education. I am happy that MPAI has taken a firm step in this important but hitherto less prioritised area.

I thank the promoters, the Board of Trustees for your foresight and innovativeness, which has given birth to Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute. I welcome all of you distinguished Guests who are present here to witness its inauguration.

Historically, research is the citadel of innovation and development. Countries like Japan and China which we now refer to as ‘success stories' owe their development to research into their indigenous knowledge and skills. There are no foreign skills that were used to develop these countries, but their own ‘home-grown' innovation and inventions arising out of research. It is for this reason that MPAI should be applauded for spearheading research in African indigenous knowledge and wisdom. The solution to the problems plaguing us lies in our midst. We do not have to look elsewhere.

Many of our scholars have been blamed for being detached from the societies they purport to represent and work for. They are full of head and textbook knowledge but unable to master and domain our economic and physical environment. I am happy to note that, it is MPAI's main objective to link the researcher/scholar with the community through what you have called ‘sites of knowledge and wisdom'. It is indeed a great innovation that will go a long way in linking the scholar with the local community.

You have read and heard in the media the quarrels between upcoming tertiary institutions and the National Council for Higher Education about conformity to the set rules and regulations. Some institutions have tried to come up and operate outside these rules and regulations. I am glad to note that MPAI has regularised its existence with the NCHE, I will call upon those institutions, which have not done so, to emulate this example. My presence here today, is a sign of the fact that the Ministry of Education and Sports approves and appreciates what is done by this institute.

The National Resistance Movement Government initiated liberalisation of Education. As a result many tertiary institutions have come up offering diverse programs of study. Nonetheless, Government is not ready to compromise quality and standard at any one given time. That is what the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) has been set up to ensure. You should not look at NCHE as an antagonistic body bent on frustrating upcoming institutions, but as a regulatory arm of Government to ensure standard in the tertiary education sector.

The Government is prepared to support private providers in the Education Sector as long as they are prepared to operate within the set guidelines and maintain acceptable standards.

I thank my comrade Prof. Dani W. Nabudere for his outstanding contribution to leadership and the creation of knowledge in Africa and Uganda in particular. I thank you personally for inviting me to officiate at this grand inaugural function. I thank the team of great men on the board of trustees. I have trust in their abilities, which have been tested over time, and I have the confidence they will steer MPAI to greater heights.

This institution is named after a great man Marcus-Garvey, who died in 1940, but his legacy still lives and influences world events up to now. It is my wish and prayer that this institution named after him will grow to influence and touch the lives of people like Marcus-Garvey.

It is now my honour and privilege to officially launch MPAI and the Collaborative Research Programme.

FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY

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Prof. Shadrack B. O. Gutto ( Director, Centre for African Renaissance Studies-UNISA)
Prof. Rupert Lewis (Chairman, Friends of Liberty Hall-Jamaica)
Prof. Verene Shepherd (Academic Advisor, Marcus Garvey Movement, UWI-Mona)
Allan Bernard (Senior Advisor, Marcus Garvey Movement, UWI-Mona)
Foster Bankie (Pan African Center of Namibia)

Prof. Shadrack B. O. Gutto ( Director, Centre for African Renaissance Studies-UNISA)

CONGRATULATIONS

Dear Prof Nabudere,

On behalf of the Centre for African Renaissance Studies at the University of South Africa and on my own behalf, I wish to congratulate you and all African patriots who have invested energy and resources to establish the Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute on African soil.

Prior engagements have made it impossible for the Centre to send a representative but be assured that we look forward to strengthening our personal and institutional collaboration in the pursuit of a new and better Africa .

Once more, congratulations!

Prof. Shadrack B. O. Gutto
Director, Centre for African Renaissance Studies
(The Graduate School of African Renaissance Studies)
University of South Africa
Pretoria
Tshwane Metro City
Republic of South Africa .

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**Prof. Rupert Lewis (Chairman, Friends of Liberty Hall-Jamaica)**

CONGRATULATIONS

On behalf of the Friends of Liberty Hall and all those associated with the project “Liberty Hall: The Legacy of Marcus Garvey” we would like to extend greetings and congratulations to you on launching the Marcus Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute in Mbale , Uganda . We are very pleased that your Institute takes the name of Marcus Garvey who pioneered the Pan-African mass movement in the early twentieth century and who is also Jamaica 's First National Hero. We look forward to sharing information on our mutual work and in collaborating in the rebuilding of the African continent and the Diaspora so that our people can realize the goals set for us by our ancestors and by ourselves.

Professor Rupert Lewis
Chairman, Friends of Liberty Hall
Jamaica

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**Prof. Verene Shepherd (Academic Advisor, Marcus Garvey Movement, UWI-Mona)**

On the occasion of the inauguration of the Marcus Garvey Pan-Afrikan Insitute, Uganda

“I wish to congratulate Prof. Dani Nabudere and his collaborators for their initiative and foresight in conceiving of the idea of the MGPAI. Marcus Garvey, that quintessential pan-Africanist from Jamaica, would have been pleased; for his diasporic commitment, which saw him establishing the UNIA, the Black Starline, a newspaper and a political party to spread the idea of pan-Africanism and Black solidarity with continental Africans, is well-known. He would no doubt have also been supportive of the African Renaissance and NEPAD because he believed in African nationalism and self-determination. His philosophies and ideology; his belief that “it must be the mission of all Black people to have pride in the race” if embraced, will provide guidance for all African descended people in these difficult times. I hope that in the near future, the MGM at UWI, the recently reopened Liberty Hall (Jamaica) and the MGPAI will forge collaborative links that will advance the pan-African struggle”.

Verene A. Shepherd
July 7, 2005.

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Allan Bernard (Senior Advisor, Marcus Garvey Movement, UWI-Mona)

Message from the Marcus Garvey Movement (MGM)

On behalf of the Marcus Garvey Movement at the University of the West Indies , Mona campus, we would like extend our deepest appreciation for the opportunity to be a part of this great occasion. We see the launch of this Pan-Afrikan Institute in Africa, and its commemoration of Marcus Garvey as vanguard and inspiration, as an important watershed in consolidating the linkages between Africa and its Diaspora. As a student organization grounded in the teachings of Garvey and Pan-Afrikanism we look forward to working with the Institute to ensure that peoples of African descent will chart their own course and reposition Africa among the constellations of Nations.

Allan Bernard
Senior Advisor, Marcus Garvey Movement, UWI, Mona

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Foster Bankie (Pan African Center of Namibia)

CONGRATULATIONS

Prof Dani W. Nabudere

Once again please accept congratulations on the Formal Launch of the Marcus-Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute on Saturday the 9th July. The Institute will go from strength to strength and will serve as a beacon, on the way forward in Pan Afrikan Studies.

Already your paper 'Towards an Afrikology..' is doing just that and will be discussed in the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security Committee of the National Assembly here next week, which Committee I hope you will meet with on your visit to Namibia in early October. Maybe then you could address them on a Pan Afrikan approach to human relations.

Yesterday I meet with the publishers of the Pan African proceedings of the 17th All Africa Students Conference (AASC), Gamsberg Macmillan, along with the Co-Editor of the book, Prof Kingo Mchombu, your former student from Tanzania . The upshot was that I am to request from you, belatedly, a paper " based on Pan Afrikan insights drawn from cross-cultural learning and understanding across the board, providing the 21st century approach to human relations, countering the anti-humanistic tendencies that emerged towards the end of the 20t century arising from the objectivistic and scientistic approach to knowledge production and use, thus providing scope in this process, amongst others, for bridging the gap between the elite and the people at large, especially amongst the Africans " .

Nahas Angula's contribution to the proceedings is two pages on indigenous knowledge systems. Kindly let me have your input to the publication by the end of July latest. The book will be launched in October. Prof Prah has kindly agreed to write the Forward.

I believe this book will represent one of the few, if any, publications devoted to Pan Africanism in Southern Africa .

Best regards
Bankie

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