voices for a Pan-Africa . . . two talks in ONE! Dec. 17, early here on Substack!
Dec 03, 2025
“My greatest regret is to have spent so much time preaching how people should Escape to heaven…instead of how they should Live on earth.” — JM
Dec. 17, KYAQ.org, 91.7 FM Oregon. Listen here
Joshua Maponga is a Zimbabwean born public speaker, author, philosopher, leader, musician, and social entrepreneur. He relocated to Zimbabwe from South Africa where he had spent over 20 years saying he had bowed to pressure to leave the country.
Background
He is the firstborn and the oldest of five children. Maponga moved to South Africa and Swaziland and then flew into London, United Kingdom at the end of 1998.
Maponga lived in Birmingham, Norfolk and then South Essex with his ex-wife. He moved back to South Africa and started a new job in Marketing, Consulting and Construction.
“Stop looking for the angel! Look for your neighbor! The miracle is not being pushed; the miracle is not in the water, the miracle is walking together! The healing begins when the collective ‘Human Desire’ of the farmer, korokozs, the teacher, the diaspora accountant, the mshikashika and the market vendor becomes stronger than the ‘Divine Hand’ of the entrenched elite!”
Joshua Maponga explains the impacts on Africans of the USA withdrawing USAID.
“Corrupt money, which was which was woking the streets , mopping children, taking them away from their mothers, fathers and uncles and calling them orphans. We don’t have orphans in Africa.” – Maponga Joshua
Do you think Africans gained or lost after the withdrawal of USAID?
H.E. Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao is the African Union Ambassador to the United States of America since December 1, 2016. She was nominated by HE Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, to lead the African Union Mission to the USA, the first bilateral diplomatic Mission opened by the AU in 2007.
As the African Union Ambassador to the U.S., Dr. Chihombori-Quao is fully committed to reinforcing the longstanding and deep historic, cultural and economic relations between Africa and the U.S. She plays a key role in reinforcing the African Union strategic partnerships with the United States, grounded on shared values and mutual interests. Ambassador Chihombori-Quao is a strong believer in the promise that the African Union-U.S. partnership holds and that a prosperous, peaceful and integrated Africa is a shared strategic interest.
Prior to her appointment, Ambassador Arikana Chihombori-Quao was a renowned family medicine doctor in Murfreesboro, Tennessee where she has been practicing medicine for the last 25 years. Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao is known internationally for her diligent efforts to improve healthcare systems, particularly in countries in Africa, and to promote women’s rights around the globe. Nearly 20 years ago, at a conference organized by then-Africa Resources, Presidents Nelson Mandela and Robert Muugabe presented the noted philanthropist with an Achievement Award. This was her first major distinction which she highly appreciates and cherishes.
In September 2013, Dr. Chihombori-Quao was one of four women who represented Africa at the International Conference on Women’s Rights, hosted by the Government of Argentina in Mar Del Plata, Argentina. She delivered a moving speech on the topic, “Violence against Women and its Worldwide Effect.” At this conference, Dr. Chihombori shared the stage with two Nobel Peace Prize winners: Rigoberto Menchu of Guatemala and Alfonso Perez Esquivel of Argentina.
Ambassador Chihombori-Quao has also been actively involved in various programs and projects of the African Union. Since 2012, she was the Chair of the African Union-African Diaspora Health Initiative (AU-ADHI) where she was involved in mobilizing the African Diaspora health professionals to assist in addressing the healthcare crisis on the continent of Africa.
In 2015 at the 25th AU Summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa, Dr. Chihombori-Quao was one of the fifteen women who received the “Women of Excellence Award” alongside President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Mrs. Joyce Banda, former President of Malawi, and Mrs. Winnie Mandela, the former first lady of South Africa, as well as several other prominent and remarkable African women.
It is worth indicating that upon graduating from medical school in 1986, Ambassador Dr. Chihombori-Quao did three years General Surgery at State University of New York in Brooklyn, NY, USA, and another residency in Family Medicine at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. She is a member of the American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians and Tennessee Academy of Family Physicians.
The African Union must adhere to the principles of Competitiveness within the Union. Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao must be allowed to contest in the AU leadership election as long as she is willing and qualified to do so. Africans will no longer be on the sideline while the most qualified individuals are barred from positive contribution to uplifting the continent by those that are least capable, least qualified, and least visionary.
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“The 55 African heads of states understand very clearly that in order for Africa to take its rightful place on the world stage; in order of sustainable development to come to Africa, the African Diaspora must be front and center of that conversation, “ affirmed then African Union President Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao in an African Union investment brochure. In a recent Farewell & Appreciation Town Hall Meeting, the newly ousted Chihombori-Quao affirmed her vision for Africa and the African Diaspora.
“I did not come here for a job,” proclaimed the admirer of Pan-Africanist Kwame Nkrumah about her move from her medical practice in Murfreesboro, Tennessee to Washington, DC to serve as the African Union’s ambassador to the United States. “It’s a calling.” However, with almost three years on the job, the African Union abruptly dismissed her.
“I’m a very impatient Black woman,” said the Historically Black Fisk University and Meharry College graduate during her farewell talk at Montgomery County’s Blair High School that centered on making Africa a powerhouse. She also talked about current polices of the former European colonizers and how they are a continuation of the 1865 Berlin conference, a more moderate view of LGBQT+ rights, the inclusion of the Diaspora in Africa’s struggles, and the power of women.
Even at Europeans carved up Africa at a table during the Berlin Conference instead of warring amongst themselves and later declaring them independent, the mother of five believes that Europeans are still colonizing Africa through many arrangements. She remains outspoken about a colonial tax on Africa that nets France about $500 billion each year. “It goes back to the Berlin Conference,” she said, “our continent is still under siege.” “How long are we going to say ouch, before I punch you in the goddamn face?” she asked.
She went on to acknowledge that same gender loving people are nothing new to Africa as she recalled growing up with “spinsters” who never got married, but lived with other women. “It wasn’t an issue,” she proclaimed. While she opposes outsiders defining African culture, behavior, and norms on sexuality, she said of same gender loving people, “let them be, let them be.”
Her plea for a more independent and progressive Africa calls for the inclusion of the African Diaspora. “We must go home,” she said as she told the story of a traditional African woman who marries and moves to her husband’s village where she is expected to wait on others. Then, the newlywed runs through the village naked to draw attention to her plight. Chihombori-Quao then turned to her UN fight with France and said, “Do you want to arrest 500 naked Black women?” to much laughter and a thunderous applause.
Many have suspected that it was her outspokenness that led to the African Union to dismiss her. However, the African Union refutes that. “This is normal diplomatic practice for political appointees everywhere,” said Ebba Kalondo, spokesperson to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission.
Chihombori-Quao then turned to her UN fight with France and said, “Do you want to arrest 500 naked Black women?” to much laughter and a thunderous applause.
As Benin President Patrice Talon announced that foreign reserves of the West African CFA – currency used by eight countries in the region – were to be withdrawn from France, Chihombori-Quao admonished, “Let’s keep our eyes on France.” She continued to rally, “France, keep your hands off Benin! Colonizers must get out of Africa!”
AfricaNews reports that some experts stressed that current foreign reserves arrangements with France keep African countries dependent on the European monetary policy, a situation others routinely labeled “neo-colonialism. ”In interviews with French broadcasters RFI and France 24, Talon reportedly said the current model was more of a “psychological problem” than “technical.”
Whether the breaking of this or other unbiblical cords are technical or not, Chihombori-Quao is not planning to go anywhere. She says her next move it to take France to the United Nations.
Paul Haeder, Author 