A large group of Africans turned up at Folkets Hus in Rinkeby on Sunday October 21, to decide on the fate of the African diaspora in Sweden. The meeting was initially called to discuss the proceedings from the Regional Consultative Conference in Paris and a post-Paris strategy for the way forward but it was obvious from the start that most of the people present were more interested in how to reorganise the whole group of Africans in Sweden. After a lengthy discussion and a plethora of different suggestions, the gathering voted to dissolve the original planning committee and form a new one.
Margareta Garding and Remy Figon Beugré were selected to lead the day's meeting. At the extreme right is Mary Mubi who stood in for the South African ambassador.

The chairperson and secretary for the meeting, Margareta Garding and Remy Figon Beugré, were mandated to convene a new meeting in three month’s time at which a new committee would be approved. It was agreed that the renewed process would be extended to all peoples of African descent living in Sweden and not limited to only those residing in the Stockholm area.

A section of the audience at the meeting. Some came from outside Stockholm.		Another section of the participants

One thing was quite apparent at the meeting: amidst the chaotic discussions in a multitude of languages with everybody wanting to say something and be heard, people repeating what others had already said, some saying things that were not related to the particular issues at stake, and the usual litany of platitudes about the continent's lot, there was a genuine and strong desire on the part of all present to unite and do something about Africa’s plight.

Earlier, the gathering heard reports from the delegates who took part in the recently ended RCC meeting in Paris. A delegate from each of the seven commissions gave a brief report of the deliberations they took part in and the resolutions made. The reports of the various commissions can be read from the diaspora site at www.diaspora.se.

Some participants called on the gathering to remember the recently murdered South African reggae singer, Lucky Dube, and possibly hold a concert or service in his honour but in the heat of the discussions not even a minute of silence was held in his memory at the meeting. There was also a call by a group to join in the efforts to alleviate the plight of those worst hit by the recent floods in Africa. In attendance were people from different parts of Africa but there was a marked under-representation of our brothers and sisters from North Africa which is one of the regions designated by the African Union. The meeting ended with someone reciting a poem that nobody listened to.
		Victoria Kawesa presenting the report of the Commission on Women and Children

Reporters: Kofi Sapathy and Micah Kissi