The Pan-African Freedom Movement of East and Central Africa (PAFMECA), later renamed the ''Pan-African Freedom Movement of East, Central and Southern Africa'' (PAFMECSA) was a

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

and

Pan-Africanist Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement ext ...

organisation that was formed to campaign for the independence of the countries of

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

and

Central Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo ...

(and later

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...

) from

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

and white minority rule. The organisation was formed at a conference held in

Mwanza Mwanza City, also known as Rock City to the residents, is a port city and capital of Mwanza Region on the southern shore of Lake Victoria in north-western Tanzania. With an urban population of 1,182,000 in 2021, it is Tanzania's second largest c ...

, Tanganyika, from 16 to 18 September 1958.''Pan-African Freedom Movement of East and Central Africa'' (PAFMECA)
International Organization, Vol. 16, No. 2, Africa and International Organization (Spring, 1962), pp. 446–448,

University of Wisconsin Press The University of Wisconsin Press (sometimes abbreviated as UW Press) is a non-profit university press publishing peer-reviewed books and journals. It publishes work by scholars from the global academic community; works of fiction, memoir and p ...

in JSTOR (retrieved 6 December 2018).

Julius Nyerere Julius Kambarage Nyerere (; 13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian anti-colonial activist, politician, and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as president from 1962 to 1964, af ...

(later

President of Tanzania The President of the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Rais wa Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania) is the head of state and head of government of the United Republic of Tanzania. The President leads the executive branch of the Government of Tanza ...

) and

Tom Mboya Thomas Joseph Odhiambo Mboya (15August 19305July 1969) was a Kenyan trade unionist, educator, Pan-Africanist, author, independence activist, and statesman. He was one of the founding fathers of the Republic of Kenya.Kenya Human Rights Commissio ...

the Kenyan Pan-Africanist and trade unionist were among the founders. Nyerere came up with idea for the conference.Boyce Davies, Carole
''Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture''
Volume 2, ABC-CLIO (2008), p. 408, (retrieved 6 December 2018).

History

PAFMECA was formed in the town of Mwanza on the shores of Lake Victoria in northern Tanganyika under the leadership of

. Nyerere was the leader of the

Tanganyika African National Union The Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) was the principal political party in the struggle for sovereignty in the East African state of Tanganyika (now Tanzania). The party was formed from the Tanganyika African Association by Julius Nyerere ...

(TANU), the party that campaigned for the independence of Tanganyika. He called a meeting of the representatives of the nationalist parties in the region which was held in Mwanza from 16 – 18 September 1958. It was attended by representatives of political parties from Kenya, Uganda, Zanzibar, Nyasaland and Tanganyika to mobilise forces and coordinate their efforts in pursuit of independence and PAFMECA was born.Biswaro, Joram Mukama
''The Quest for Regional Integration in the Twenty First Century: Rhetoric Versus Reality: a Comparative Study''
African Books Collective (2012), p. 302, (retrieved 6 December 2018). One of the main subjects discussed was the existence of the colonial Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation (composed of Nyasaland, Northern Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia), in the context of the African liberation struggle. The leaders feared that the continued existence of the white-dominated federation would perpetuate imperial domination of the region and lead to the creation of another South Africa which during that time and until the early nineties was under absolute white control. PAFMECA was

in outlook and played a major role in the formation of the

Organisation of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; french: Organisation de l'unité africaine, OUA) was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's ...

(OAU) in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

, Ethiopia, in May 1963. Mwakikagile, Godfrey
''The Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar: Formation of Tanzania and its Challenges''
Intercontinental Books (2016), p. 23, (retrieved 6 December 2018).

References

{{Authority control Organizations established in 1958 Former international organizations Politics of Tanzania Political organisations based in Tanzania 1958 establishments in Tanganyika Pan-African organizations