Daily Heritage September 14

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DAILY HERITAGE THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2017
GH Heritage Month Series
Was Nkrumah
indeed a hero?
CONTINUE FROM PAGE 7
one citizens who, in emergencies,were called upon to
exercise arbitrary authority over the natives.”
Another major determinant of the journey to
freedom was the formation of the West African
Conference in 1917, which later became the West African
Congress in 1920. It was formed by J. E. Casely-Hayford,
who hitherto, had accepted the certainty of colonial
domination. The aim of the congress was to invite the
West African colonies under the British to demand “selfdetermination”
and “no taxation without representation.”
Three of their most significant demands are that: selfgovernment
should be implemented to enable peoples of
African descent to participate in the government of their
own country, elective franchise should be granted, and
the system of nomination to the Legislative Council
should be abolished because it is undemocratic (Ofosu-
Appiah, 1974). Although, the congress disintegrated
eventually, it should be stated emphatically that its
formation and aims were very critical in the geopolitics at
that time and contributed to the fight for freedom.
Again, the vibrancy of the media in the 1930s was a
crucial landmark towards our attainment of
independence. Upon returning from Britain after
obtaining his B. A. Honours in Philosophy, LL. B, and
Ph. D in Law and the Philosophy of the Mind, Dr. J. B.
Danquah, established the first daily paper in the country
in the 1900s. The paper was established in 1931 and was
called the Times of West Africa. Due to the quality
content of the paper, it was widely read across the
colony, especially in Nigeria and Sierra Leone. By 1933,
there were three papers in the country—The Times, The
Spectator and The Gold Coast Independent. These
papers provided the platform for intellectual discussions
in the colony, and contributed to national consciousness
or awakening among the people, especially the
intelligentsia.
The vibrancy of the media within the period led to
K. A. B. Jones Quartey referring to that era as “The
stormy Thirties of Gold Coast Journalism.” It must be
noted that it was through the efforts of the journalists
that enabled the people to demand that a delegation of
chiefs and the people be sent to protest at the colonial
office in London over the Criminal Code (Amendment)
Ordinance, popularly referred to as the Sedition Bill, and
the Water Works Ordinance of 1934. Dr. J. B. Danquah
led the delegation as the secretary, and apart from the
two demands stated above, they also, among others,
wanted an increase in the number of Africans on the
Legislative Council, the election of the provincial council
members for the Eastern Province by the Whole
Provincial Council, and non-chiefs becoming provincial
members. Sadly, only the last request was granted.
The Idea to form a political party was conceived by J.
B. Danquah and Mr. George Alfred Grant, who was a
wealthy businessman living in Sekondi. In February 1947,
J. B. Danquah visited him to pay his respects whilst
attending High Court. Mr. Grant was not happy about
the socio-economic problems at the time. This
interaction led to a meeting among Dr. Danquah, Mr. F.
Awoonor-Williams, Mr. R. S. Blay, and Mr. Grant. It was
at this meeting that Mr. Grant revealed that he had had
discussions with the leadership of the Aborigines Rights
However, on
August 4, 1947,
the United Gold
Coast Convention
was finally adopted
as the name of the
party. This day,
unarguably,
represents the most
important step
towards the
attainment of
independence in the
Gold Coast.
Protection Society—Mr. W. E. G. Sekyi, Mr.
George Moore, and Mr. R. S. Wood, about
the formation of a national movement. At
the meeting held at Saltpond in April 1947, it
was agreed that the Gold Coast People’s
Party would be formed at Saltpond in
August 1947.
However, on August 4, 1947, the United
Gold Coast Convention was finally adopted
as the name of the party. This day,
unarguably, represents the most important
step towards the attainment of
independence in the Gold Coast. At the
inauguration, Mr. Grant was elected the
chairman for the occasion, and Dr. J. B.
Danquah delivered the inaugural address.
The address was so potent to the extent that
it was able to create a national awareness,
and a soul, yearning for freedom. After the
speech, which was greeted with applause,
Mrs. J. B. Eyeson mounted the podium and
indicated, “Dr. Danquah, we had in the past
given enthusiastic support to the cause of
the Church. Today it is the cause of the
nation. Women of the country are behind
you.” (Ofosu-Appiah, 1974, p.52, 53).
It must be said without any equivocation
that the advent of the UGCC prepared the
grounds for our independence. As the first
political party in the country, their intentions
and subsequent activities brought the
attainment of independence within reach. It
was the executive committee of the UGCC,
upon the recommendation of Mr. Arko-
Adjei, that invitated Kwame Nkrumah to
become the secretary of the convention. He
arrived in the country on 10th December,
1947.
After the 1948 riots—that led to the
death of Sergeant Adjetey, Corporal Atipoe,
and Private Odartey Lamptey, J. B. Danquah,
a member of the executive committee of the
UGCC, wrote a long telegraph message to
the Secretary of State for the colonies in the
United Kingdom demanding the recall of
Governor Creasy, the dispatch of a special
Commissioner, the establishment of an
interim government to be run by the UGCC,
and a Constituent Assembly. Although, the
objective of the Convention was the
attainment of self-rule in the shortest
possible time, it was steadily moving in that
direction until Kwame Nkrumah broke away
to form the Convention People’s Party —
which formed the government when
independence was attained on 6th March,
1957.
From the above, it is clear that the
independence struggle was both a process
and struggle; it took patriotic Ghanaians to
fight to win us the battle of freedom from
colonial domination. Those persons who led
the charge, especially the leadership of the
UGCC deserve our commendation and
respect. But for patriots like Mr. Alfred
Grant and Dr. J. B. Danquah, who came
together to form a political movement to
salvage the country from economic
quagmire, and push for her eventual
independence, and their invitation of Dr.
Kwame Nkrumah to be part of the
preparation towards independence, probably,
6th March 6, 1957
wouldn’t have become a
reality.
The birth of UGCC
is significant in our lives
even today. It offers us
the opportunity to live
their dream—a dream of
selflessness, patriotism,
respect for the rule of
law and personal
liberties, freedom of
speech and association,
self-determination, and
love for our country.
On the occasion of
the 70th year anniversary
of the UGCC, I join the
numerous patriots of our
time to applaud their
memories, and never
dying souls. God bless
Ghana!
Source: Dr Kingsley
Nyarko, Executive
Director, Danquah
Institute (DI), Senior
Lectur er, University of
Ghana
BY PROF. AGYEMAN BADU AKOSA,
AVOWED NKRUMAIST
• Dr K.A Busia
REHABILITATION
OF OSAGYEFO DR
KWAME NKRUMAH
IS INCOMPLETE
GHANA'S DAY of shame, February 24, 1966, was
followed by an avalanche of well-orchestrated falsehoods to
attempt to justify the dastardly deed and demean the
independence of the nation. The struggle was pivoted on the
declaration of positive action which gave Ghanaians the
opportunity to show their abhorrence for the system of
colonialism.
That was the point of separation between those who
were prepared to stand up to be counted and those whose
brief was incremental participation in the governance by the
Governor and his cohort of collaborators and compradors.
Falsehoods
The falsehoods included Nkrumah taking gold bars to
Egypt for Madam Fathia, looting the nation's coffers,
• Dr Kwame Nkrumah excited at a CPP event
consulting 'Kankan Nyame' and the practice of occultism,
killing Ghanaians and throwing them to the lions in the
Flagstaff House zoo and so many others.
The reality of the situation was that there were no gold
bars in Egypt and poor Madam Fathia struggled beyond
recognition in her life thereafter. It is public knowledge now
that Nkrumah died with not even a plot of land to his name.
It is worth mentioning that the land on which the Peduase
Lodge is built was a gift to him and members of the
Convention People's Party contributed to the start of the
building for him but he characteristically was to give the
building to the state as Ghana's Camp David.
The fertile figment of his detractors' imagination
conjured many images of Nkrumah that was to make many
Ghanaians form a damaging impression of the man who
liberated them. The Ghanatta cartoon series were to cast a
very critical and psychologically damaging picture of
Nkrumah and yet he was a disciple of theology and a
practising human-centered individual who cared for
Ghanaians beyond measure.
His government's chief pride was the welfare of the
people and at every turn he told Ghanaians he would work
hard to abolish poverty, ignorance and disease. 'Kankan
Nyame' existed as a fetish shrine in Guinea but Nkrumah did
not consult it.
It is, however, a shame that Ghanatta has died not
apologising to the country for misleading Ghanaians.
Recognition and rehabilitation
In 2007, when Ghana hosted the AU and chose not to
have any campaign for the position of continental unity, His
Excellency Alpha Konare, Chairman of the AU, clearly stated
that Africa had not begun to honour Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
The establishment of the Founder's Day holiday in
Ghana and the continent-wide recognition has been
heartwarming and a good redeeming start.
Nkrumah staked his leadership on achieving the unity of
Africa and everything on achieving the unity of Africa and
everything he predicted would happen if we failed to unite
has come to pass. Africa, with 60 per cent of the world's
natural resources, controls only about one per cent of the
world' money.
The Statistics continue to be gloomy and yet the rich
nations continue to exploit our lack of unity to plunder our
resources under the guise of the latter day neo-colonialism
and imperialism agenda called globalization. The celebration
of the centenary of his birth was cleverly divided into three
by the Centenary Planning Committee made up of upright
Nkrumaist eminent men and women who believed in the
ideals of Nkrumah.
The birthday cluster in September 2009, the
independence cluster in March 2010 and the African Union
(AU) cluster in May 2010. The divisions recognised the man
and his achievements.
The high level participation of the
African Union in the AU cluster in May
2010 was commendable. The celebrations
have gone a long way to correct a great
wrong and rehabilitate Nkrumah in the
public domain. Many who did not know
him or of him have now heard about the
man. Many who knew him but had
forgotten have been reminded and even
those who knew and had heard but did
not wish to acknowledge have been reeducated.
The colloquium organized as
part of the AU cluster with speakers
from Ghana, the rest of Africa and
Ghana's eleventh region, the Diaspora,
demonstrated the man as an academic,
philosopher par excellence, original
thinker, emancipator of the black race
and a man who could be bound by the
history of time.
His ideas are even more relevant in
Ghana and Africa today than probably
during the period under his leadership.
The re-naming of Kwame Nkrumah
University of Science and Technology
(KNUST) must also be commended. It is
interesting to note that the old students
of Nsein Secondary School want the
school name to revert to Kwame
Nkrumah Secondary School.
The University of Cape Coast has
instituted Kwame Nkrumah Memorial
Lectures, which straddles his birth date.
The 2010 lectures began from Monday, September 20, for
three days ending on Wednesday, September 22, 2010.
KNUST unveiled Dr Nkrumah’s statues to his everlasting
memory. The University of Ghana has invested the Kwame
Nkrumah Chair of African Studies and the Academy of Arts
and Science organizers an annual Founder's Day week, which
includes the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Lecture and the
author delivered the centenary year lecture on 'Ghana the
house Nkrumah built'. Incidentally, for those who do not
know, the Academy was founded by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
What does the University of Education, Winneba, University
of Development Studies, Tamale and the University of
Mines and Technology, Tarkwa intend to do for the memory
of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, since all their antecedent
institutions were established by him. What has the Ghana
Institute of Management and Public Administration done or
intend to do?
This institute was also established by Osagyefo Dr.
Kwame Nkrumah. Then there are the many other
organizations such as Bank of Ghana, which has created the
new Ghana two Cedis to immortalize him but what about
State Insurance Company. Social Security and National
Insurance Trust, Ghana Commercial Bank, Agricultural
Development Bank, National Investment Bank, Telecom.
Ghana Post, COCOBOD, Produce Buying Agency, Cocoa
Processing Company, Ghana Ports and Harbour authority,
Dry Docks, GOIL, BOST and all the many organisations he
founded which have provided many jobs for people some of
whom do not even believe he is worth the recognition.
All these organisations must come together to set up the
Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Fund that can support the many
needy but brilliant children through junior high and senior
high schools and also through university. It can be done and
we look forward to hearing the announcement.
President John Evans Atta Mills demonstrated his
Nkrumaist credentials by the bold decision to create the
Founder's Day and also celebrate the centenary of his birth.
However, the continued glorification of the man paid by
the Central Intelligence Agency of United States of America
and M16 of Britain to overthrow the democratically elected
Government of Ghana and halt Ghana and Africa's forward
match leaves a lot to be desired and cannot be condoned.
Why on earth have successive governments of this country
shied away from taking the bold decision to change the name
of the international airport?
There was no way the Busia government was going to do
anything about it. As accomplices to the coup d'etat and
political advisor to the Military government of the National
Liberation Council, they were at home.
Surprisingly the Acheampong military government, who,
we are told, were sympathetic to Nkrumah, did not do it
either. Maybe their military instinct took the better part of
them. The part that baffles me more than any other is why
the Limann government did not change the name of the
main entry into Ghana.. I do not think they needed more
than twenty four hours to effect that change.
Twenty seven months later, the soldiers were out of
government but the name of Ghana's only international
airport continues to bear the name of the usurper Kotoka. It
did not surprise me that the Kufuor government did not do
anything about it. It was, however, represented by the
Deputy Attorney General at the unveiling of the statue of
Kotoka at Atimpoku to add further insult to Ghana's already
festering injury.
They [those opposed to Nkrumah] revel in it and
unashamedly as a tradition that demonstrates their
generational hatred for Dr Kwame Nkrumah in so many
ways. Our democracy has come to stay and our democratic
credentials are enviable. The smooth transition from one
political party to another has very well been received by the
world at large.
We therefore cannot continue to revere people who took
the people of this country to ransom and brought an end to
self-determination, self-reliance and pan-Africanism and the
fight for continental unity but deepened our dependency.
The rehabilitation of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah is
surely incomplete with our airport remaining Kotoka
International Airport .
Even if Ghana chooses not to name the airport after
Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, it must be named Accra
International Airport. The country must not give any
comfort to those who, through the barrel of the gun, have
held this country and all in it hostage; promised liberation,
redemption and revolutionary heroics all to no avail. We
must march forward recognizing those who genuinely
sacrificed to get us free. Freedom!