On May 30, 2025, Ghana’s Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) issued what it termed a “final caution” against individuals, especially politicians, entrepreneurs, and other public figures whose vanity drives them to flaunt honorary doctorates and professorships as though these titles had been academically earned.

“The Commission will henceforth take legal action against individuals found flouting these directives, alongside publicly naming and shaming them,” GTEC said in a statement signed by Professor Augustine Ocloo, the Commission’s Acting Deputy Director-General.

 Ghana’s commendable stance follows Malawi’s National Council for Higher Education, which, on March 27, 2025, categorically stated that honorary doctorates and professorships confer no entitlement to use the titles “Dr.” or “Prof.” in personal or professional contexts.

According to Malawi’s council, honorary degrees are ceremonial recognitions that are markedly distinct from academic qualifications, and recipients should refrain from using these titles as personal prefixes.

The concerns raised by Ghana and Malawi echo earlier decisions in Nigeria. At their 27th conference, held at Nasarawa State University, Keffi, in September 2012, the Association of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities adopted the “Keffi Declaration,” which significantly tightened guidelines for honorary awards.

 Central to this declaration was a prohibition on awarding honorary doctorates to serving elected or appointed government officials. They said such conferrals must recognize genuine contributions to scholarship and societal advancement rather than political influence or wealth.

The Keffi Declaration also placed stringent conditions on awarding honorary doctorates. Notably, institutions without established doctoral programs were barred from conferring honorary degrees, and even qualified institutions were restricted to awarding a maximum of three honorary doctorates annually.

Arguably, the declaration’s most contested provision, however, was its insistence that recipients of honorary degrees must not prefix their names with “Dr.” In a country with titular obsession like Nigeria, I knew that guideline would be observed in the breach because it has no force of authority.

But such collective measures represent significant progress toward remedying the degradation of academic culture across various African nations, where honorary degrees have increasingly become symbols of wealth and political clout rather than scholarly achievement.

It is widely recognized that honorary doctorates in many African contexts have frequently been dispensed indiscriminately, often in exchange for financial contributions or political favors rather than scholarly or societal merit.

Indeed with a few honorable exceptions, most of the people who receive honorary doctorates are the kinds of people Chinua Achebe, in his memoir There Was a Country, famously characterized as “politicians with plenty of money but very low IQs.”

His vivid characterization underscores the crux of the issue, which is the alarming and growing trend of conflating political power and financial prowess with academic excellence.

That higher education authorities in Ghana, Malawi, and Nigeria have taken deliberate steps to establish clear criteria and limitations for honorary awards is laudable. These guidelines directly confront practices where institutions with limited academic offerings, sometimes barely established, have historically granted honorary degrees without genuine justification.

Such indiscriminate practices have severely undermined the value and respect traditionally associated with doctoral titles.

Yet, while Africa’s rigorous approach to regulating honorary doctorates is justified by its unique cultural and political circumstances, it is useful to compare these developments with practices elsewhere.

In the United States, prestigious undergraduate-only institutions, such as Knox College in Illinois—known for conferring an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts to comedian Stephen Colbert—and Amherst College in Massachusetts, regularly grant honorary doctorates during their graduation ceremonies.

However, these institutions’ practices are typically symbolic gestures of recognition and respect, devoid of the vanity-driven excesses observed in many African contexts.

The crucial difference lies in how recipients use these honorary titles post-award. Internationally, accepted convention dictates that honorary titles be appended after the recipient’s name, using “h.c.” (honoris causa) to clearly distinguish honorary from earned academic credentials. For instance, one would write Muhammad Abdullah, LLD h.c., not “Dr. Muhammad Abdullah,” and certainly not “Dr. Muhammad Abdullah, LLD h.c.,” which I have seen a few times.

Yet, adherence to this convention varies considerably across cultures and individuals.

Even in the United States, exceptions to the convention exist. A notable example involved a community college president in California who insisted on being addressed as “Dr.” after being bestowed an honorary degree by an obscure institution.

His pretension triggered a humorous protest from his staff, who collectively adopted “Dr.” prefixes themselves, sarcastically citing equally obscure honors. Embarrassed, the president ultimately dropped his title.

Historical precedents further illustrate complexities surrounding honorary degrees and their usage. Benjamin Franklin, a foundational figure in American history whom many people outside America know through the 100-dollar bill, embraced the title “Dr.” purely on the strength of honorary degrees.

Similarly, Maya Angelou, the renowned African-American poet and activist who had no formal higher education qualifications, insisted on being addressed as “Dr. Angelou” based on the numerous honorary doctoral degrees that several institutions bestowed on her.

In Nigeria, iconic historical figures have also prominently used honorary doctoral titles as if they earned them. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nigeria’s first ceremonial president, widely known as “Dr. Azikiwe,” held no earned doctorate. He started his PhD at Columbia University in New York but didn’t complete it.

 Tai Solarin, a revered educational activist and social critic, similarly prefixed “Dr.” to his name based exclusively on honorary recognition. Unlike Azikiwe, he never even attempted earning a PhD.

These examples underscore the deep cultural and historical roots of the practice, which present significant challenges to the enforcement of new regulations. Indeed, the cultural acceptance of using honorary titles as legitimate prefixes is deeply entrenched, complicating efforts by African higher education regulators to enforce their prohibitions effectively.

Nevertheless, the new regulatory frameworks in Ghana, Malawi, and Nigeria represent critical efforts toward reestablishing the integrity and credibility of academic distinctions. The explicit threat of legal action by Ghana’s GTEC signals a strong commitment to combating egregious abuses of honorary titles, potentially serving as a deterrent against future misuse.

Whether these measures will succeed remains uncertain, especially given the cultural resistance to its reform and the fact that it’s an entrenched practice. However, the very act of publicly addressing and legislatively confronting these abuses represents significant progress. Such regulatory actions signal a praiseworthy commitment to restoring academic prestige and integrity within higher education institutions across the continent.

Ultimately, the effectiveness of these regulations will hinge not just on enforcement but also on widespread public education and the promotion of genuine academic achievements.

Universities must actively demonstrate the rigorous processes behind earned doctorates and highlight the scholarly dedication and intellectual rigor required. Only through a collective effort to valorize genuine academic accomplishments over superficial honors can the true prestige of doctoral titles be restored.

READ ALSO: FG urged to mobilise capital market funds for wealth creation

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By Shaddon Chanda

The Pan-African congresses
Every year African countries commemorate Africa Day or Africa Freedom Day which is broadly in honour of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) established on 25th May 1963 in the Ethiopian capital city Addis Ababa. In the year 2001, Zambia had the rare privilege to host the last OAU Summit held at Mulungushi International Conference Centre chaired by Second Republican President Frederick TJ Chiluba. It was also the last year of President Chiluba as head of state. His successor Levy Mwanswasa was to handover the instruments of chairmanship to South Africa’s Second Black President Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki. It was Mbeki, an intellectual urbane and strong proponent and advocate of Africa Renaissance who became the chairperson of the African Union (AU) which supplanted the aged OAU in 2002. The OAU founder leaders and their successors had done their very best to ensure that the last three countries to attain political freedom in Black Africa namely Zimbabwe (April 1980), Namibia (January 1990) and South Africa (May 1994) got their freedom under majority rule.

The OAU was a product of the ideals of Pan-Africanism championed by great black enthusiastic political warriors such as Edward Wilmot Blyden a preacher and scholar of Liberia, Henry Sylvester Williams, Edward W. Burgardt Dubois, William Marcus Garvey and many others of African descent domiciled in the West Indies and the United States of America. Sylvester Williams, a lawyer and historian from Trinidad was the first person to use the term ‘Pan-Africanism and the first to organize and convene a Pan-African congress in 1900 in London. Dr Williams had extended invitations the men of African descent living in Europe to discuss the evils of white colonialism and white dominance over black peoples, racial prejudice, and the brutal treatment of black people in South Africa (Amate, 1986:34). The conference had to discuss the future of Africa and the international standing of the only three black states existing in the world at that time Haiti, Ethiopia and Liberia. Off the agenda was the pressing question of independence and Burgardt Dubois as a participant took an opportunity to introduce it into the key areas of the discussions and to persuade the congress to to call Britain, the largest colonial power and others with colonies across Africa and the Caribbean. Dubois emphasized on freedom and the right to govern for black people in the colonies of Africa and the West Indies with a deep sense of urgency.

Sylvester Williams died shortly after the first congress he had convened but the work he had pioneered did not go to the grave with him. Dubois took over from where his colleague had left and convened a series of five Pan-African congresses. He meritoriously carried the name ‘Father of Pan-Africanism. He was a practical and competent journalist who used the pen mightily to drive points home that Africa had come of age and needed no white government on the continent. He built up and administered a chain of newspapers which incessantly called for the granting of human rights to all black people treated like lifeless objects by inhuman extremist white people in the Americas, the West Indies and Africa.

Dubois organised congresses in the years 1919 (Paris); 1921 (London); 1923 (two sessions in succession in London and Lisbon); 1927 (New York); and the last one at the end of the Second World War in October 1945 which took place in Manchester, England. Dubois was 73 in 1945 and his vibrancy, radiancy and steam were on the verge of extinction. He remained a mobile spirit behind the influence, effectiveness and unwavering determination to arouse the consciousness of Black Africa to fight racism and colonial rule. The African-Americans and West Indian leaders who had convened the earlier congresses had fallen into the background as aged, ailing and physically weak champions and pacesetters of Pan-Africanism. Time was opportune to hand over the batons to a new breed of young Pan-Africanists.
The Manchester Pan-African Congress had a new team of dynamic and strong young leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah from Ghana; Namdi Azikiwe, S.L. Akintola and Magnus Williams from Nigeria; Peter Abrahams from South Africa; Wallace Johnson from Sierra Leone; and Jomo Kenyatta (Johnston Kamau) from Kenya. Compared to the first batch of Pan-Africanists who had convened the first four congresses, the 1945 congress organisers were radical and militant in their pronouncements on how the pressing issues facing Africa were to be addressed and redressed (Amate, 1986:36). The Manchester Group resoundily declared that all the peoples of Africa and African descent everywhere should be emancipated forthwith from all diabolical and inhuman forms of inhibiting legislation and influences and be reunited with one another.

In Anglophone Africa emerged Pan-African leaders such as Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Obafemi Awolowo and Benjamin Namdi Azikiwe of Nigeria; Kwame Nkrumah, Joseph Boakye Danquah and Kofi Busia of Ghana; Julius K. Nyerere of Tanganyika (now part of Tanzania with Zanzibar); Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Thomas Joseph Mboya and Peter Mbiyu Koinange from Kenya; Apollo Milton Obote and Paulo Muwanga from Uganda; Joshua Nkomo, Robert Mugabe; Simon Mzenda, Josia Chinamano, Ndabaningi Sithole and Nathan Shamuyarira from Southern Rhodesia now Zimbabwe; Kenneth D. Kaunda, Harry M. Nkumbula, Simon M. Kapwepwe, Sikota Wina, Robinson Nabulyato, Munukayumbwa Sipalo, Nalumino Mundia and Hyden Dinguswayo Banda from Northern Rhodesia now Zambia; Kanyama Chiume, Orton Chirwa, Dunduza Chisiza, Henry Masauko Chipembere Chipembere and Yatuta Chisiza from Malawi; and Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Govan Archibald Mbeki, Anthony Lembede, Robert Sobukwe, and Andrew Mlangeni from South Africa.
Francophone Africa had more black leaders who pandered to the whims, caprices and manipulation of the French and Belgians. It had more of inveterate malleable opportunists and culturally colonised, aristocratic elite leaders such as Felix Houphuet-Boigny of Ivory Coast, Leopold Sedar Senghor (credited with the philosophy of negritude), Joseph Mobutu (who became a personality cult after the Belgians in collusion with him and Joseph Kasavubu brutally assassinated Patrice Lumumba who was a radical Pan-Africanist upon him being elected Prime Minister of Congo-Kinshasa) and Gnassimbe Eyadema who killed killed the radical Pan-Africanist Gilchrist Olympio in Togo. Benard Albert Bongo in Gabon who later discarded Christian names and named himself Omar Bongo after being converted to Islam was another great lackey of the French government in Paris in the late 1969s. So was his son-in-law Denis Sassou-Nguesso of Congo Brazzaville. The most radical Pan-Africanist in Francophone Africa with a fundamentalist disposition was Ahmed Sekou Tourre of Guinea in West Africa who refused to truckle to the dictates of the French when he told them: ” We prefer poverty in liberty to riches in slavery”. The French had succeeded in wooing a good number of presidents in Francophone Africa who became part of the French Community of nations but Sekou Tourre flatly and roundly rejected their overtures to submit his country to the enclave of puppet states of the French.

What was the common vision of the Pan-Africanists?

Pan-Africanists from the outset envisioned a united Africa hermetically sealed with people of African descent in the United States, the Caribbean and other parts of the world. They advocated a discovery for recovery of African black pride, sense of humanity and economic liberation from Western manipulation which bound millions of black people to both physical and mental servitude. The patriarchs of Pan-Africanism wanted an economically, politically, socially and ideologically free Africa with total dependence on its own resources and not perpetually bound to the Portuguese, British, French, Belgians, Germany, Spanish or Italian colonialists. A united Africa was their battle cry.
Rodney (1988:135) asserts that in the centuries before colonial rule, Europe had augmented its economic capacity in leaps and bounds while Africa was almost static. The Europeans had displaced and dispossessed Africa of her human resources and the slave labour dislocated from Africa and shipped in chains to America and the Caribbeans provided hard labour services to the slave owners and the European governments which paid them absolutely nothing. Economies in Europe and Americas prospered and the continent stagnated and fell below zero in the long run. The advent of both slave traders and colonial masters afterwards brutally decimated the peasantry and exploited the black people individually sold as slaves and forcefully taken to Europe. The great social evils perpetuated and perpetrated by the Europeans in collusion left so many vestiges of dehumanization, suppression, exploitation and oppression. The evils are still scars on the beautiful face of Africa which will always remind us of the unpardonable acts of slavery and colonial rule. The divide and rule machinations employed by the colonialists made Africa suffer brands of colonial rule as the continent bled to near extinction with hundreds of people barbarically killed for claiming their right to self-rule under a government of the majorities who were black people. The Conference of Berlin convene by Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck of Germany was a gathering of greedy European colonial powers desperate for turning Africa into a poor continent void of all minerals, timber, and intellectual prowess. The Conference decide which thief among the countries gathered should steal which part of Africa without permission from the indigenous owners of the land. The duality of implacable poles which pitied the colonised and the coloniser later influenced the genesis of a new force of radical Africans on the continent and in the diaspora. The colonialists were never ready to give up the countries they stole and the black people with the arousal of political and social consciousness through the vision of Pan-Africanists who emerged in the late 19th century. The visionary Pan-Africanists began an unstoppable revolt against colonial rule which started with the non-violence approach mistaken for weakness by the colonial powers. Round table discussions for political freedom worked in some African countries which were very poor. The mineral-rich as well as the oil-rich countries such as the Congo-Kinshasa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Nigeria, Ghana and many others experienced violence with alarming proportions and in the ultimate the colonialists had to vacate the continent against their will or wish. Victory was on the side of Pan-Africanists and puppets of the whites had to grind their teeth in stunning embarrassment as the forces of oppression always have a divinely-set expiry date.

Are ideals of the Pan-Africanists being honoured on Africa Day?

From 25th May 1963 Africa as a continent has been celebrating its Freedom Day with fanfare highly beautified by defence and security brass bands belting out freedom songs in instrumental lyrics to the temporary amusement and amazement of the people at various stadia and presidential palaces and state houses. The excitement is just ceremonial and for just some hours as political speeches are given in some countries and in countries like Zambia, some citizens and special guests from other countries are honoured for their distinguished services to their country or to Africa. This for over 63 years has been the case and it now looks like a very casual and cheap way of honouring our brave fallen heroes who strove sacrificially for the decolonisation of Africa and total ownership of the wealth of the continent by Africans themselves. Economic freedom which the forefathers and foremothers yearned for is still a pipedream after over a hundred years since Sylvester Williams convened the first Pan African Congress in London in 1900. The West still runs our economies and it is shameful that even the drugs Africans are supposed to manufacture themselves in their sovereign states are donated by the West and the advent of the neophyte extreme white president Donald J. Trump has seen African leaders subjected to agonizing embarrassment even where the art of diplomacy is supposed to be employed, Trump and his lackeys have used vulgarity and uncouth language to depreciate the dignity of the black African personality to the level of wild beasts or brainless apes. The scandals exposed by a foreign donor at the Ministry of Health is just unacceptable and agonizing as a crude embarrassment. We should not shield criminal cartels in any ministry but to be exposed by a benevolent cooperating partner in such a callous manner is disgusting and widely exasperating. Why should we condone such heights of high profile thefts in such key ministries like Health? Are there intensive and extensive audits of drugs supplied to the Ministry of Health? The buck stops at all of us! Pan Africanism must exhort us to be responsible and accountable in the way we discharge our duties and responsibilities. It must speak transparent honesty and integrity as bywords for all the occupants of state offices who must be there to serve the people of Africa and not to steal what belongs to them.

The African Union leaders seem not to be doing much to honour the vision of its founding fathers of its forerunner, the OAU. The unification of Africa into a great continental power to make every African proud and free is still a far-fetched dream darkened by the cloud of greed and treachery perpetrated by ourselves. We always give leverage to Western investors to take control of our economies and pay lip service to promotion of local investments into mining which has been monopolized by Transnational Corporations backed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). We have had great African geniuses running international institutions such as Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iwela, former managing director of the IMF and currently managing director of the World Trade Organization from Nigeria, Obiageli ‘Oby’ Ezekwesili former vice president of the World Bank – Africa Region who also stood as presidential candidate in the 2019 elections of Nigeria an outspoken, blunt-speaking advocate of women’s rights, Nkosana-Dlamimi Zuma former African Union Commissioner and first woman to lead the African Union Secretariat, Chief Emeka Anyouku former Secretary -General of the Commonwealth Group of Nations from Nigeria, Salim Ahmed Salim former Organisation of African Unity (OAU) from Tanzania, late Koffi Attah Annan first black African Secretary -General of the United Nations from Ghana and many more personages who have done wonders for the continent in the continental and regional organisations but our continent still wallows in the muddy waters of underdevelopment with millions barely able to make ends meet as poverty is generating rapidly and rubbing off the little gains nations-states recorded in respect with gross domestic product (GDP) though some countries like Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Uganda and Mauritius seem to be doing very well and shining economically akin to the attainment of Singapore which many countries are looking up to.

The tragedy of Africa is that, unlike the commitment of the founding fathers and pioneers of African unity like Kwame Nkrumah, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Julius Nyerere, Sekou Tourre, Leopold Sedar Senghor, Gilchrist Olympio, Kenneth Kaunda and Milton Obote among few others, the new breed of political party leaders is more of greed and admiration of long-stay in power to amass personal wealth and enrich their children, leaving a trail of grinding poverty in their paths beyond the solution of their successors. Corruption is more, less a formal and normal practice in government circles. They are devoid of good morals and are overshadowed by the egocentric ambition to rule their nations for life and suppress leaders of the opposition with brazen impunity. Misery is what they deliver to their citizens and forcibly turn themselves into personality cults which swallow the pride of political parties. Their names and political parties they lead become synonymous.

Time has come for the African government leaders to rise to the occasion and honour the ideals of the Pan-Africanists of yesteryear and emulate their great works and principles. The nation-states must enact laws which should ban from participating in national elections for life corrupt leaders found guilty by the courts.

Young Zambians in schools must be enlightened on the importance of Africa Freedom Day and what the founding fathers of the OAU had envisioned about a poverty-free Africa with learned people to protect the continent on the pride of Africa as our Motherland fashioned with and blessed by God’s mighty Hands and emphasise the importance of unity which goes counter to ethnic hostility which has left many African nations scarred beyond recognition. The problems besetting Africa are as wide as the whole world but with a great sense of fortitude, resilience and maximum commitment anchored on deep sense of patriotism and continental unity Africa will awaken into a giant it is supposed to be, like a shining city built on a great hill emitting beacons of hope to all people in squalor, poverty, hunger and ill-health.

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My last opinion piece stated the facts of daily current events, suggesting government chaos theory along with the murder of women. When I write my thoughts, it is acknowledging historical womanhood and the strength of communities internationally fighting for us as an endangered species. The thing is, the right women (not “pick me” women, who lack self-worth) should be celebrated and protected as an endangered species. If the human male species lived life like male seahorses, after courtship, the female seahorses incubate on their tails with embryos.

National Geographic states “Male seahorses develop complex placental structures within their pouch, similar to human pregnancy, to support the growth and development of their babies. Seahorse fathers seem to rely on elaborate behaviors and their unique body structure to facilitate labor, including contractions of large skeletal muscles near the pouch opening.” Basically, male seahorses have something similar to a uterus, the science of human biology term would be “intersex.” Maybe you might recognize the outdated derogatory word, hermaphrodite.

If the human male species lived life like male seahorses, then a partial human women species of 49.5% would rule Mother Gaia. I honor female seahorses that rule the ocean and the male species. They are not tamed or targeted for their existence by male seahorses. I’m pretty sure there is no domestic violence between them, but there is the matter of irresponsible parenthood, a common occurrence between parent seahorses (which I do not agree with) because the baby’s life expectancy is low.

If the human male species carried a womb and birth children experiencing the brutal abuse and murderous evil killings of women in all communities, and were hunted by the right women, their psyche would be altered drastically. The human male would be the endangered species, and the death toll would be high because they would endure the same violence. To the 4,176,490,368 male population, where is your strength to protect the endangered human female species?

Honoring historic women

I did not see a lot of press around International Women’s Day, especially in the United States. The honoring of women historically began with the first wave of the 1848-1920 suffrage movement, which started in New York. Because of this movement, women internationally led to the 19th Amendment, which allowed women to vote, being passed. This powerful journey suggests women were heard on a magnitude of greater significance. This path led other women, especially of color, to support countries during WWII, where all men were drafted. During the war, 350,000 served, including the African American women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. Some of their names were Charity Adams Early, Josephine Baker, and Jacqueline Cochran, among others. Factory workers worked building machinery, ships, and other items. Then there are the cryptographers, such as Winnie Breegle, who assisted in using languages she spoke to code messages.

During the second wave, from 1963 to 1980, women were liberated and had the freedom to demonstrate the difference between motherhood and wifehood. Gloria Steinem, Bella Abzug, and others founded the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971. Key points of the second wave included the passage of the Equal Pay Act and landmark Supreme Court decisions for reproductive freedom, such as Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) and Roe v. Wade (1973).

The third wave in the 1990s acted as a catch-all for all the social ills that still befall women, such as sexual harassment in the workplace and the glass ceiling that results in a shortage of women in positions of power. Some other women to honor in history are the first female Ngoni chief of the Dedza district in Malawi to stop child marriage. She annulled hundreds of child marriage. Her father built her with education and support to fulfill her destiny as chief of her tribe. She began her journey with protecting young girls and women from being targeted by the atrocities of a cruel world. I hope she continues this great work and builds integrity for the young women she has saved.

And the fourth wave puts us in the present day…

In conclusion, we do not know the actual truth of Adam and Eve, but the load of bull that is psycho dominance from the human male species is out of control.

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In 1969, 18-year-old Lupenga Mphande was arrested for the first time in Malawi. 

As an active protester against oppressive governments in Malawi and South Africa, Mphande would not find himself in a cell for the last time. In fact, he completed his bachelor’s program at the University of Malawi between protests and jail time.

“It was a commute between prison and the classroom, which is not a pleasant thing to do,” Mphande said.

Beyond active protesting, Mphande was generally vocal about his thoughts, often facing backlash for sharing his opinions in student magazines and newspapers at his university, speaking to a British journalist and founding the Malawi Writers’ group in 1969.

Mphande said the group was a forum for young writers to exchange their literary works and offer critiques.

“It inevitably strayed into political discussions, and when the police caught wind of that, that was another area that used to get me into trouble,” Mphande said. 

Despite pushback from the law, Mphande persisted and continued to speak up for what he believed in. As he continued his activism in England and the United States, he said he developed a passion for education and teaching people about the social and political issues in the world around them. 

In his 78 years, Mphande has lived and learned in Africa, Great Britain and the United States, all while fighting for social justice along the way through direct action and literary works, before becoming the director of the African Languages Program at Ohio State in 1989 — a position he held for 36 years.

Today, Mphande said he sees parallels between his past in South Africa and the United States’ current political administration, which is currently cutting diversity, equity and inclusion programs nationwide. In addition, he said he has concerns about the nation’s current relationship with South Africa.

Mphande was born in Malawi, a country in southeastern Africa, in 1947. From 1964-94, the country was under the rule of then-President Hastings Banda, who Mphande described as a dictator. 

Banda’s time as president was also during South Africa’s apartheid. It was around this time a young Mphande began protesting against both his country’s dictator and apartheid in the South. 

Banda became president in 1966, during which he ruled over a one-party system. In 1971, Banda declared himself “president for life,” according to the Associated Press. During the three decades he governed Malawi, Banda maintained “open and formal ties with apartheid-ruled South Africa and Israel,” while “thousands of political opponents were killed, tortured, jailed without trial or hounded into exile” under his rule.

This was also when Mphande’s arrests began, which continued through his time completing a bachelor’s program in English literature and history of international relations.

“I was viewed as an enemy, because [Banda] was one of the very few African leaders who agreed with the apartheid system,” Mphande said.

Mphande went on to study in England, where he got his master’s degree in applied linguistics at the University of Lancaster in 1979. However, Mphande still fought against apartheid from across the pond by connecting with exiled South African activists who had fled to Britain.

In 1983, Mphande returned to Malawi, where Banda was cracking down on protesters. Then, as Mphande tried to leave the country, he was involved in a car crash, which he personally suspects wasn’t an accident. 

The accident caused the death of one of his colleagues and left Mphande himself with broken knees and ribs.

“I had to leave the country on a stretcher,” Mphande said.

In 1985, he came to the United States, determined to earn a Ph.D. in applied linguistics at the University of Texas. There, he discovered the United States had its own share of racial disparities.

During that time, Mphande said he saw the way citizens in Africa and the United States alike can be controlled or misled by a lack of education.

“The oppressive, colonizing powers took advantage of people who were ignorant, so that they could easily sell their distorted philosophies to try and convince Africans that they are inherently inferior,” he said.

Mphande said he wanted to teach people more about global politics and culture, which is what led him to become an educator.

Mphande came to Ohio State in 1989, where he found a Black Studies Department with the potential to grow. 

Mphande helped to develop courses within the department that focused on Africa. He said he believes in the importance of teaching African history and languages, and when he first began, Swahili was the only African language available at Ohio State. Now, he’s helped add seven more, including Hausa, Shona, Somali, Swahili, Twi, Yoruba and Zulu.

“When I came here, the only course I could identify at Ohio State that directly related to Africa was a course in geography, so nothing about the people and culture,” Mphande said. “I was interested in having much more robust studies that would include African countries.”

Simone Drake, vice chair of the African American and African Studies Department and professor of English, said Mphande changed the way Black studies was taught, bringing together the history of Black people from African countries and the United States.

“Sometimes, there’s sort of a divide between African American studies and African studies,” Drake said. “[Mphande] seemed really invested in bridging that divide.”

Mphane has also worked to expand the university’s study abroad programs to include South Africa and Zuluand, now working as the director of the study abroad programs to Southern Africa.

Dawn Chisebe, a previous student of Mphande’s and professor of African studies at Ohio Wesleyan University, said Mphande’s work through study abroad programs empowers students’ education and gives them opportunities to expand their worldview — something she said she experienced when she met the first president of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda, with Mphande.

“When [students] are learning from him, they’re learning from someone who is a primary source,” Chisebe said. “He lives and breathes what he teaches.”

In the early 1990s, Mphande spoke out against the disproportionate number of Black soldiers being sent to Iraq, for which he suffered backlash — even being called racist himself. 

The Gulf War began in 1990, in which United States troops fought against Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command website. Mphande held panels with other professors at New Salem Baptist Church discussing their thoughts on the war and the role of Black soldiers. In 1991, a story about one of these panels was published in The Lantern. Additionally, a letter which called Mphande and two other professors, Professor Horace Newsum and Professor William Nelson, racists, was published in a subsequent edition.

In 1992, as one of the first Black families to move into a Hilliard, Ohio, neighborhood, Mphande’s home was set on fire by white supremacists. In 1996, his car was vandalized with racial slurs and references to hate groups. 

Throughout this time, Mphande wrote poetry. He said he started writing in high school, but eventually published four volumes of his work since 1998. 

Mphande has also won various literary and arts awards and been featured in multiple poetry collections, textbooks and journals, including The Kenyon Review.

“I write a lot about issues that have to do with the sanctity of life, preservation of the environment, social interactions [and] the fact that everything is interrelated,” Mphande said. 

His background in political activism, education, travel and art has given Mphande a unique perspective on modern politics, he said.

“In Zulu, Africa, we have a saying that says ‘I am because we are,’” Mphande said. “In other words, a human being is not an island. You exist because others exist. So, you have always got to be mindful of others, because you have a common destiny.”

Chisebe said Mphande is a true interdisciplinary scholar, and she encourages her own students to seek him out for guidance, which she said he still offers her to this day.

“He is a linguist, a poet, a literary scholar, a historian and someone who has always fought for what is good and just in the world,” Chisbe said. 

Drake said Mphande’s global political activism is part of what makes him a distinct and exemplary educator and activist. 

“He has been a professor who has been committed to community-engaged work, which is something that you don’t have to do as a professor,” Drake said. “It’s a choice.”

Reflecting on present-day activism on Ohio State’s campus, Mphande said he remembers the feeling of being a young protester. He said students and young people are idealistic and dream about the future in a way that makes protesting and activism particularly effective.

“That’s what is behind most of the young protesters — an expression of what they want tomorrow,” said Mphande. “A student means an idealist. They have their dreams, which is what the idealism is.”

When it comes to today’s political landscape, Mphande said he connects his past activism against the War in Iraq to current rollbacks on DEI. 

“The decision to send those people to war should be as broadly based as possible, which means it has to be inclusive,” Mphande said. “This team that is making decisions, should it not be diversified and include all faces of society?”

Mphande said he is also concerned about lasting political and race-relation issues within the United States and Africa. Mphande said the lingering effects of South African apartheid mean there are still wealth and land disparities between white and Black citizens in South Africa. 

President Donald Trump and South African-born Elon Musk oppose the South African government’s efforts to decrease this land disparity, calling it “racist” and “hateful” to the white “ethnic minority” in the Feb. 7 executive order “Addressing Egregious Actions of The Republic of South Africa.”

Mphande said he believes this attitude is a display of white supremacy, as it’s a way to keep Black South Africans oppressed and continue the apartheid that was supposed to have ended long ago.

“Apartheid ended on the books, but in practice, you still have this separation of white city and Black ghetto,” Mphande said. 

Though Mphande sees these glaring issues within the current political landscape, he doesn’t feel completely discouraged, as he said he recognizes the power of protest and revolution. 

“Dreams should be about improvement, about having a better tomorrow — that this ought to work tomorrow,” Mphande said. “[Students] are the ones at the height of it. You are making decisions now, but that’s what you want. So, what decisions are you going to make for us?”

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In a November 2024 Pan-African Parliament meeting in Midrand, a guest from the Afro-Caribbean diaspora asked a simple but profound question to the continental MPs: “Why is Pan-Africanism declining?”

The question should have elicited vigorous debate but, like so many vital critical issues, it barely got any attention from the delegates.

Pan-Africanism has a long history. The yearning for freedom and human dignity inspired abolitionism, nationalism and the creation of nation states. But postcolonial African states have not, by and large, succeeded in nurturing accountable and effective institutions as well as vibrant civic life in each territory, and among countries, to give substance to the spirit of Pan-Africanism.    

Pan-Africanism is in decline as that delegate noted, but the question is: Why? Before offering an analysis of how it came to this state, it is useful to provide its brief history.

The first rumblings of Pan-Africanism emerged in the Americas during the era of slavery when Africans from many regions on the continent were forcibly cast together under the most inhuman system of  oppression the world has ever known. Whether they were from west, central, south, north or east Africa, their common subjugation created a new identity which gradually evolved to African-American or Afro-Caribbean.

Struggling against slavery and its dehumanisation became the soul of the Black Abolitionist’s movement and their white allies. This collective identity formation has endured and inspired many other subjugated peoples in the Americas, such as the women’s movement.

Further, after the abolition of slavery, religious elements of the African American population saw colonialism as the continuation of slavery in another guise. Some came to preach in Africa as they thought the church could be a force for liberation.   

The second iteration of Pan-Africanism evolved with the struggle for liberation in Africa and the Caribbean. This involved mutual support among the liberation movements in various colonies and regions with the primary goal of gaining political independence. Nkrumah’s (Ghana) and Nasir’s (Egypt) advocacy for African liberation and unity were exemplar cases.

Third, once the majority of countries in the continent became independent, the stage was set for the formalisation of Pan-Africanism. This led to the creation of the Organisation of African Unity  (OAU) in 1963. The OAU was most successful in supporting the liberation movements in southern Africa. Nevertheless, internal division between post-colonial blocks in the OAU, such as Francophone and Anglophone, remained.

Fourth, the demise of apartheid South Africa in 1994 closed the curtain on the liberation agenda. The ambitious new Republic of South Africa, under the leadership of President Nelson Mandela and his deputy, Thabo Mbeki, tried to energise the OAU.

Mandela and Mbeki genuinely spoke for Africa and made attempts to rejuvenate the continental organisation with the support of others. Consequently, the OAU was renamed the African Union (AU) in a continental meeting in Durban, South Africa, in 2002. The aim was to advance African integration as well as give the continent a greater muscle in international affairs.

Over time, a number of AU institutions were established, such as the African Court of Human and People’s Rights (1998); the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (2001); the AU Commission (2002); the African Peace and Security Council (2002); and the Pan-African Parliament (2004).

A mismatch between the rhetoric and reality of the AU

The formal institutional structure of the OAU/AU has been in place for over 60 years. Despite such longevity, Pan-Africanism has not evolved significantly beyond formalities.

For Pan-Africanism to flourish, three things must be in place: 1) Common institutions that methodically and steadily gain legitimacy by effectively solving some of the strategic regional and continental problems; 2) A growing progressive and cohesive civic identity within each nation state; and 3) A rising continental civic identity anchored on the successful operations of the AU institutions.

But significant advances have not been made in these vital areas. Among the major problems on the continent has been the prevalence of unaccountable and corrupt regimes in most parts of the continent for decades. Such regimes fuel communal strife which undermines trust among populations and between them and states.

Moreover, corrupt practices in the public and private sectors in many countries have been so normalised such that ordinary people are relegated as subjects rather than citizens.  

These national political cultures impede the transformation of the spirit of liberation into civic bonds in each country. Examples of countries suffering from such maladies include Nigeria, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Kenya, DRC, Malawi, Congo, Angola, Ethiopia. Eritrea, Chad, Sudan, Gabon, South Sudan, Liberia, Libya, Somalia, etc. 

Without vibrant civic culture in most countries, it is inconceivable to develop substantive civic ties across national borders. The sentiments of the liberation days are still alive in many parts of the continent, although waning, but few shared political bonds have been created and nurtured across borders to facilitate shared regional or continental civic agendas.

Because of the dearth of substantive civic bonds across national boundaries, two factors have hobbled the AU’s capacity to give real substance to Pan-Africanism.

First, the AU has become the annual club of mostly unaccountable leaders where deliberations rarely ever positively advance the freedoms of ordinary people or their material wellbeing.

Second, the unfocused and unrealistically expansive bureaucratic agenda of the AU makes it dependent on the financial generosity of non-Africans. For instance, continentally generated resources cover only 32% of the AU budget while 65% originates from outside.  

The AU’s need for substantial budgetary support from outside to finance its agenda means that it does not have financial autonomy to chart an Afrocentric developmental agenda. A clear example of this weakness is the AU’s inability to silence the guns in countries such as Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, DRC, etc, and prevent the ill effects of foreign agendas as was the case in Libya, where Nato ignored the AU plea, deposed Gaddafi, and instigated a civil war.

The Pan-African spirit lives on, but…

A Somali proverb best captures the Pan-African conundrum: “Hal xaaraani nirig xalaala ma dhasho.” This literally means that an illegitimate she-camel cannot give birth to a legitimate offspring.

The implication of the proverb is that corrupt, authoritarian, incompetent and sectarian leaders cannot inspire the progressive revolution which Pan-Africanism requires. Political and economic mismanagement in the nation states, with a few exceptions, is not a good recipe for continental advancement.

Thus, the dearth of rich and vibrant civic political culture in most African countries, and national political leaders bereft of trust, cannot inspire and build continental institutions that can rejuvenate substantive Pan-Africanism. 

There is little doubt that the spirit of Pan-Africanism lives among our people, but it will require a new cohort of leaders as well as purposely organised civic movements to alter our Pan-Africanist fortunes. DM  

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