Forward to African unity!: Communist Party of Swaziland

Statement on Africa Day 2026

The Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS) joins progressive forces, workers, peasants, youth, women, students and revolutionary organisations across the African continent and the world in commemorating Africa Day 2026 – a day which symbolises the historic aspirations of African people for liberation, unity, dignity and total emancipation from colonialism, imperialism and capitalist exploitation.

Africa Day comes at a time when the world is undergoing profound geopolitical shifts. The unipolar domination by the US and Western imperialist powers is increasingly being challenged by the emergence of a multipolar world. The growing influence of countries and formations outside the direct control of Western imperialism has exposed the weakening grip of colonial powers that for centuries dictated the political and economic direction of Africa.

However, despite these global changes, Africa remains trapped under the heavy chains of neo-colonialism. Imperialist powers continue to weaken African nations through debt slavery, military interventions, economic sanctions, regime-change operations, puppet governments, control of resources, cultural domination and endless wars engineered for profit and strategic control.

From the destabilisation of Libya, the destruction of Sudan, the exploitation of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the recolonisation of the Sahel, to the continued suffering of Palestine and the aggression against progressive nations, imperialism continues to reveal its violent and parasitic character. Africa has continuously been turned into a battlefield for imperialist competition while its minerals, labour and land are looted to sustain capitalist economies abroad.

The CPS maintains that under capitalism and imperialism, Africa can never achieve genuine freedom. Political independence without economic liberation remains meaningless. Flags were changed, anthems rewritten and constitutions drafted, but the economic structure of colonialism remained intact. African economies continue to depend on exporting raw materials while importing expensive finished products abroad. This unequal relationship ensures the continued underdevelopment of the continent.

Africa Day itself emerges from the long and heroic struggles of African people against colonial domination. On 25 May 1963, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was formed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, bringing together newly independent African states under the banner of continental unity and anti-colonial solidarity. The OAU represented the aspirations of millions who fought against apartheid, settler colonialism and foreign occupation.

Revolutionary leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Thomas Sankara, Julius Nyerere, Amílcar Cabral and many others understood that the liberation of Africa could only be consolidated through continental unity, revolutionary consciousness and economic independence.

Kwame Nkrumah correctly warned that, “The independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of Africa.” Today, this remains true.

The CPS views Africa Day not merely as a ceremonial celebration, but as a day of political reflection, revolutionary commitment and militant organisation. It is a day to assess the unfinished tasks of African liberation. While colonial administrations formally collapsed, the structures of exploitation remain firmly intact through multinational corporations, international financial institutions such as the IMF and World Bank, military alliances and comprador elites that serve foreign interests.

The crisis facing Africa today is not accidental. Poverty amidst abundance, unemployment amidst vast resources, wars amidst promises of peace, and hunger amidst fertile land are all products of capitalist exploitation and imperialist domination.

In Swaziland, the tinkhundla autocratic regime remains one of the clearest instruments through which imperialist interests are protected. The continued suppression of democratic rights, attacks on workers and students, corruption, unemployment and poverty are directly linked to a system designed to preserve elite privilege while the masses suffer. The regime survives through repression and its continued integration into the global capitalist order.

The CPS therefore reiterates that the struggle for democracy in Swaziland is inseparable from the broader struggle for African liberation and socialism.

Africa’s future cannot be built through dependency on former colonial masters, begging from imperialist institutions or loyalty to foreign capital. The future of Africa lies in:

• The total political and economic liberation of African people.

• Genuine continental unity based on Pan-Africanism and socialism.

• Industrialisation under public ownership.

• Land redistribution and agrarian transformation.

• The control of natural resources by the people.

• Free, critical, scientific and decolonised education.

• The empowerment of workers, peasants, women and youth.

• Revolutionary international solidarity.

• The defeat of imperialism, Zionism and neo-colonialism.

The CPS further salutes the growing anti-imperialist struggles across the continent, including the resistance of progressive forces in the Sahel, the mobilisation of workers and youth against neoliberalism, and the solidarity shown by African masses with the people of Palestine against Zionist occupation and genocide. The CPS also supports the struggle of the people of Western Sahara against Moroccan colonialism.

Africa possesses enormous human and natural wealth. Yet this wealth continues to enrich foreign monopolies while African masses remain poor. This contradiction can only be resolved through revolutionary transformation led by the working class and progressive forces.

As we commemorate Africa Day, the CPS calls upon the youth, workers, students and progressive organisations of Africa to reject tribalism, xenophobia, ethnic divisions and reactionary politics that are often promoted to divide the masses. The enemies of African people are not fellow Africans, but the systems of imperialism, capitalism and exploitation.

The dream of a united Africa remains alive.

An Africa where minerals benefit the people.

An Africa where education and healthcare are free.

An Africa where borders do not divide the working class.

An Africa where women and youth fully participate in leadership and production.

An Africa free from foreign military bases, debt slavery and imperialist domination.

An Africa marching towards socialism.

The CPS remains fully committed to the revolutionary struggle for a democratic, socialist and united Africa.

Forward to African unity!

Forward to socialism!

Down with imperialism and neo-colonialism!

Long live Africa Day!

Long live international solidarity!