“The Father of Africa”, by Kwasi Osei Bonsu, Esq.

On May 25th 2013, the African Union (AU) celebrated 50 years since the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). It was May 25, 1963, that 32 independent African nations came together against tremendous odds in the mountain city of Addis Ababa (7546 feet above sea level) to establish the OAU. Given the history of colonialism and the divide and rule policies that infected modern Africa, it was a feat of biblical proportions. Accordingly, the architect behind this historic meeting was His Imperial Majesty (H.I.M.) Emperor Haile Selassie I, acknowledged by the world as the 225th descendant of King Solomon, through his union with Empress Makeda of Ethiopia (this assertion was reflected in Ethiopia’s Revised Constitution of 1955).

 
Some critics and academics say that His Imperial Majesty was late to the concept of African Unity and Pan-Africanism, and that…