Special Conferences

Meeting in July 1959 at Sanniquellie, Liberia, President Tubman of Liberia, President Touré of Ginea, and Prime Minister Nkrumah of Ghana pledged themselves to work together for the formation of a “Community of Independent African States.†To this end, they decided that a special conference should be held in 1960 after Nigeria, Togoland, and the Cameroons had attained independence. They agreed on the following principles to be presented to the projected conference as the basis for discussion: 1) Africans, like all other peoples, had an inherent right to independence and self-determination; 2) the name of the proposed organization should be the “Community of Independent African States;†3) each state or federation which became a member of the Community should maintain its own national identity and constitutional structure; 4) each member should accept the principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of any other-member; 5) the acts of states or federations members of the Community should be determined in relation to the essential objectives of freedom, independence, and unity of the African personality; 6) the policy of the Community should be to build up a prosperous African unity for the benefit of the peoples of Africa and of the world, and in the interests of international peace and security; 7) a main objective should be to help accelerate the independence of African territories subjected to domination; 8) the Community should set up an economic council, a cultural council, and a scientific and research council; 9) membership should be open to all independent African states and federations and to nonindependent countries upon their attainment of independence; 10) the Community should have a flag and an anthem, to be decided upon at a later date; and 11) the motto of the Community should be “Independence and Unity.â€