A French-Beninese activist, Kemi Seba, has made a bold statement on Saturday, March 16th, by burning his French passport in public during a press conference near Paris, France.
The 42-year-old Pan-Africanist took this action in response to the French government’s initiation of proceedings to revoke his French citizenship. Seba’s act of defiance came with a declaration claiming his freedom and identity as a black African man.
“Your passport is not a bone that you give us as if blacks were dogs. I am a free black man. I am a free African. I am a free Beninese,” Seba said.
Despite the prohibition of Seba’s conference by the Essonne authorities, the activist filed an appeal to the Paris Administrative Court, which ruled in his favour, suspending the ban.
This move reflects Seba’s history of provocative actions, including his previous symbolic burning of a CFA franc banknote, the currency used in several African countries, which he sees as a vestige of colonialism.
French authorities have yet to officially respond to Seba’s gesture, exacerbating the already strained relations between Paris and the Franco-Beninese activist.
Kemi Seba has been a prominent figure in the Pan-Africanist movement, known for his outspoken criticism of French neocolonialism and advocacy for African sovereignty. As a geopolitical journalist and writer, Seba has actively campaigned against the CFA franc, highlighting its detrimental effects on monetary autonomy in African nations.
Since 2013, Seba has served as a geopolitical analyst on various West African television channels and has lectured extensively on pan-Africanism at universities across the continent. In 2015, he founded the NGO Urgences Panafricanistes, through which he has organised protests against French neocolonialism and the CFA franc in French-speaking African countries.
Seba’s relentless activism earned him recognition in 2018, when he was named the African Personality of the Year by Africanews for his tireless efforts in challenging French influence in Africa and advocating for economic liberation.
