By: Edzorna Francis Mensah
Samia Yaba Christina Nkrumah, former Member of Parliament and former Chairperson of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and Daughter of former President of Ghana Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah has stated that his father’s legacy lives on, 50 years after his death.
According to her, the family is so strong and happy in spite of the fact that “we have not organized any activity to mark the event” but “we are not sad, but strong and we have hope because, more than ever our father’s works, his policies, and politics his thoughts is becoming the order of the day, politics in Ghana and Africa or for all black people”.
“…..so his legacy so strong and still guiding us and no one today can deny the deep influence and positive impact Kwame Nkrumah has on the life of Ghanaians and the black people worldwide and so we are not sad”.
Madam Samia who couldn’t hide her joy told Thelma Tackie on GTV Breakfast Show that “I’m happy that, GBC is showing the first School he attended and recalling the issues, going back to his hometown to reiterate some of the challenges in his hometown in around Half Assini but challenges in other parts of Ghana including the Greater Accra Region as a nation”.
She, however, mentioned that the current state of each of the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum needs to be upgraded, and “we have an idea to have a Kwame Nkrumah Library using modern technology to show many of the of things he did and said because when we talk about his enduring legacy, we are also talking about his speeches, write-ups, his economic plans and policies that he initiated and that are still inspiring us today”.
She admonished the Governments on the African Continent to learn from his idea of how he linked his factories to the Government farms to create a market for farm foodstuffs, “everything was connected, we need to go back, and we need to revisit his philosophy. With this, we can find a common ground as Africans to develop and that was the essence of what he was trying to tell us”.
Background
On February 21, 1966, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah left Ghana on a State visit to Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, ostensibly to broker a peace deal to end the American war in Vietnam.
On February 24, 1966, the Ghana Police and the Ghana Armed Forces, aided and abetted by forces of imperialism took advantage of his absence and staged a bloody coup that overthrew his government.
The coup, led by Major Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, was code-named “Operation Cold Chop”.
Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah went into exile in Guinea, at the invitation of his friend, President Sekou Toure, the President of Guinea, who appointed him honorary co-President of his country.
He stayed in Guinea for six years. In 1971, he fell sick and was flown to Bucharest, Romania for treatment.
He was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer and on April 27, 1972, he died. The government then, the National Redemption Council (NRC), under the leadership of Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, engaged in a protracted negotiation for his remains to be flown to Ghana.
He was buried in his hometown Nkroful in the Western Region on July 9, 1972. On July 1, 1992, the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), under the late Flt.Lt. J.J. Rawlings transferred his remains to the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, a tomb that was constructed to honour his memory.
It serves as a tourist destination that has been attracting many from all over the world to visit it. Incidentally, that place was the Polo Grounds, where he declared Ghana’s independence from Great Britain on March 6, 1957:
“At long last, the battle has ended, and thus Ghana your beloved country is free forever.”
So ended the life of a man who was imbued with the spirit of Patriotism and Nationalism, a man whose unbridled passion was for the socio-economic development of his country.
