ADVERTISEMENT
50 years on; Remembering the legacy of Dr Kwame Nkrumah
It's 50 years when soldiers led by Lt. Col. Emmanuel Kotoka and Major Akwasi Afrifa made sure Nkrumah did not make a return trip to Ghana and to power again.
Recommended articles
Dr. Nkrumah, President of Ghana was on his way to Hanoi Vietnam to help resolve the Vietnam War when he was overthrown through a military and police coup d’état in which the key figures were Col E.K. Kotoka, Major A.A. Afrifa and Inspector General of Police J.W.K. Harlley.
The soldiers led by Lt. Col. Emmanuel Kotoka and Major Akwasi Afrifa made sure Nkrumah did not make a return trip to Ghana and to power again.
Back home, his own country, which he had helped to liberate from British colonial rule, was in turmoil.
ADVERTISEMENT
The overthrow of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah shook Ghana's politics and totally shifted and changed the organizations and institutions that Nkrumah developed. It also threw out his ideas and structures.
Over the past 50 years, there has been several stops and starts with democratic rule, but the country now has political stability with the successful elections of four presidents.
However, political stability alone does not propel economic development.
Kwame Nkrumah despite his overthrow chalked up unprecedented successes in six years than any other government from the first republic to the fourth republic.
The Akosombo Dam is one of such infrastructures that continues to pump life for the country, some 50-odd years later. But the problem is that Ghana’s population has swelled to five times what the population was at the time Dr. Nkrumah led the dam’s construction.
ADVERTISEMENT
Our leaders are apathetic about how the nation has outstripped the capacity of the dam. As a result, Ghana has daily experienced an energy crisis over the last three to four years. We now call it Dumsor. But Dr Nkrumah predicted it back in 1968 from lessons learned firsthand with our people. Seems not much has changed.
These leaders are so unlike him. Visionless vultures. It’s heart wrenching to witness how disconnected political leaders are from the concerns of citizens, how easily amnesia sets in after we transfer power from our thumbs into their hands.
Today, our government does nothing but insult our intelligence. Ministers of State mock and disrespect us, blatantly and constantly, all the while, looting taxpayer money and participating in the glad rape of our resources.
I cannot end without some memorable quotes of the great leader on the African continent.
I salute Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the entrepreneur, visionary leader and a world leader icon.
ADVERTISEMENT
Kwame Nkrumah quotes
"Common territory, language and culture may in fact be present in a nation, but the existence of a nation does not necessarily imply the presence of all three. Common territory and language alone may form the basis of a nation. Similarly, common territory plus common culture may be the basis. In some cases, only one of the three applies. A state may exist on a multi-national basis. The community of economic life is the major feature within a nation, and it is the economy which holds together the people living in a territory. It is on this basis that the new Africans recognise themselves as potentially one nation, whose domination is the entire African continent."
"...a very grave responsibility lies on the shoulders of us all, not only as Ghanaians, but also as members of the Convention People's Party which, no matter what may be said by our detractors, remains right in front of the struggle for the total liberation of Africa and the union of the independent African states..."
JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!
ADVERTISEMENT
Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:
Email: eyewitness@pulse.com.gh
Recommended articles
Woman who claims to have been taken to another world by dwarfs shares experience
Organised Labour threatens to strike May 2 over Tier-2 pension arrears
Nana Addo assures he will prioritize the welfare of cocoa farmers
Truck driver arrested for allegedly causing train accident on Tema-Mpakadan railway line
Kia driver who caused accident involving Ghana’s new train reports himself to Police
No passenger injured in accident involving Ghana’s newly imported train – Railways Minister
NAGRAT gives govt one-week deadline to address unpaid pensions affecting 700,000 workers
Inside story of how Ghana’s new train got involved in accident on a test run
