|
Sunday the 21st September will mark the birthday of the first president of Ghana Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. In some quarters the image and legacy of the great man has been rubbished to the extent that now, there are many Ghanaians who know next to nothing about what Nkrumah stood for.
On the 99th anniversary of his birth it would be appropriate to take a critical look at the man who BBC Africa listeners voted the African of the 20th century.
There can be no doubt Kwame Nkrumah left an indelible mark on the landscape of Ghana that still remains more than 40 years after the American CIA and British MI5 orchestrated his emoval from power and 36 years after his death. If course Nkrumah had his faults as every person and leader has! His declaration of a one-party state and sweeping use of the Prevention Detention Act (PDA) in Ghana were gross errors.
On hindsight one could perhaps find some mitigating circumstances for these actions as the “psychological warfare” waged against him by the Americans and their friends (their own admission from their declassified documents), which included five assassination attempts on his life via bombs and bullets, made him lose focus and part of his democratic credentials. However, this should not detract from the overwhelming fact that Kwame Nkrumah’s achievements in Ghana and Africa were colossal – this is in spite of the forces that were aligned against him, from within Ghana, Africa and beyond. Ironically, Nkrumah had set up Ghana as a model for the continent and at the same time demonstrating in his own words “that the Black man is capable of managing his own affairs”.
He was well aware that political independence without economic liberation was futile. Apart from being a brilliant thinker, Nkrumah was also a visionary, stirring orator but more importantly a doer. He understood that Afrika’s destiny lay with rapid industrialization in order to create the goods, services and jobs that would economically empower Ghana and the rest of the continent.
As such he set out to industrialize Ghana in one generation as a model for the continent. By the time his administration was overthrown in that shameful episode of 1966, he had established over 68 sprawling profitable state owned factories producing every need of the Ghanaian populace – and this in the space of nine years! As he wrote in Africa must Unite: “In the industrial sphere, our aim has been to encourage the establishment of factories where we have a natural advantage in local resources and labour or where we can produce essential commodities required for development or for domestic consumption.”
During 1961, more than 60 factories were opened in the country. These included a coconut oil factory, Kumasi and Accra breweries, the Takoradi flour mill, a milk processing plant and a bicycle and lorry plant. In addition agreements were signed for a large modern oil refinery (The Tema Oil Refinery), an iron and steel works, sugar, textile and cement factories. “For unless we attain economic freedom our struggle for independence would have been in vain and our plans for social and cultural advancement frustrated”.
This was in addition to the construction of the enormous hydro-electric plant at Akosombo, the nation’s major source of electricity supply, a motorway from Accra to Tema, free educational and medical services that mad Ghana a showcase in Afrika.
Also under Nkrumah Ghana even had a pan-Afrikan radio station, (the external service of Radio Ghana) that could be accessed throughout the continent and beyond, that immensely helped in the cause of pan-Afrikanism in the fight against European domination. Aside from this Nkrumah had grand plans to deal with Ghana’s and by extension West Afrika’s energy problem. Being the visionary that he was Nkrumah knew that rapid industrialization coupled with a growing population needed extra sources of power.
And so in his future plans were the building of another dam to supplement the Akosombo Dam – this dam was to be called the Bui Dam and also Nkrumah had plans to take Ghana into the nuclear age by designing plans for a viable nuclear power station in the country.
Nkrumah also began to open up Ghana with new roads, housing and telephone network. Sadly after his removal from power, his plans fro a “Golden Triangle “ of road network linking all the major cities and towns of Ghana were abolished the military regime, on the ‘advice’ of an IMF delegation that visited Ghana soon after the coup d’etat.
It is important to appreciate at this juncture just how Ghana has retrogressed since the overthrow of Nkrumah – three examples:
The first being that at the time of Nkrumah’s removal from power, the destiny of the economy of Ghana was in the hands of Ghanaians themselves, very important to the survival of the nation – now the economy is totally controlled by an unholy alliance of Europeans, Indians, Arabs and Chinese – in other words economic genocide/slavery.
To further compound this economic slavery, Ghana’s economic and fiscal policies are determined by the IMF and the World Bank who have very carefully and systematically made Ghana a dependent state whereby it needs the assistance of “donor” nations just to balance its budget.
Secondly under Nkrumah Ghanaians were able to feed themselves – an important factor for any race of people – and exported some of the surplus. Now Ghanaians can’t feed themselves and rely on imported food for their survival, again genocide.
Thirdly since the construction of the Accra – Tema motorway built by Ghanaians, not even a single mile of new motorway has been built and any roads that have been rehabilitated have been done by Chinese and European contractors. nother notable achievement of Nkrumah was to make the Afrikan proud. When Nkrumah spoke at the United Nations or generally on Afrikan and world affairs the world stood up and took notice because here was a man who spoke with authority and had a clear vision and worldview.
These utterances from Nkrumah made many Afrikans proud to be Afrikans. It is said that in the UK during the 1960’s many Afrikans from the Caribbean Islands referred to themselves as Ghanaian such was the pride that Nkrumah had cultivated. Perhaps one of Nkrumah’s greatest achievements is that he supported other Afrikan liberation movements financially and crucially psychologically leading to the independence of over 30 Afrikan states during his tenure as president – thus giving true credence to his statement that “the independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of the African continent”.
It is also important to appreciate the monumental role Kwame Nkrumah played in the formation of the African Union’s (AU) predecessor, The Organisation for African Unity (OAU). This was further underlined by the historic speech he gave on May 24 1963 at the inaugural conference of the OAU in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – signifying the need for Afrika to unite now or perish.
Ironically had Afrikan leaders at the time heeded Nkrumah’s call for unity, Afrika today would be a dynamic political and economic super power able to compete on the global stage with the West, India and China. Nkrumah was not only a Ghanaian hero but also a champion and freedom fighter for ALL Afrikan people.
Every nation at a significant point in its history honours those who have sacrificed immensely in the pursuit of freedom, justice and equality.
For example in the UK, every second Sunday in November is Armistice Day to honour those who gave their lives in sacrifice for the freedoms the UK enjoys today. In the United States of America the civil rights icon Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is honoured with a national holiday on the 3rd Monday of January every year.
A lasting tribute that the Government of Ghana can bestow on Dr. Kwame Nkrumah would be to highlight his significant contribution to Afrika and the development of Ghana by showcasing his philosophy to the people of Ghana (in the form of a DVD to be distributed everywhere particularly in schools, colleges and Universities) by erecting a plaque in his hometown (Nkroful) to honour his significant achievements and by making 21st September his birthday, a national holiday. I for one and I would like to think the management and publishers of Public Agenda, will take this opportunity to canvass public opinion and lobby government to make 21st September a national holiday, especially as 21st September 2009 will mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Greatest Afrikan of the 20th century. God Bless Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, God Bless His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor and God Bless Ghana.
Author: By Dr. Kwame Osei
|
