Dr Sekou Nkrumah, the youngest son of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, has said his father “had his faults”, however, “the fact is no political leader [past or present president] can be compared to him”.
Former President Nkrumah led Ghana to independence from Britain in 1957 and served as its first prime minister and president. He was an influential advocate of Pan-Africanism and was a founding member of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now African Union (AU), and winner of the Lenin Peace Prize in 1962.
Sekou, reacting to comments by former President John Agyekum Kufuor that his father plunged the country into chaos and virtually eradicated democracy, said there was no perfect leader and that the achievements of his father surpass those by any Ghanaian president.
Ex-President Kufuor, who was interacting with the leadership of the International Democratic Union (IDU) which paid a courtesy call on him at his office in Accra on Tuesday June 20, said former President Nkrumah misused Ghana’s resources and plunged the country into poverty.
Explaining further, he pointed out that by 1963, “our then President Nkrumah, left of centre politician, moved the country into a one-party state with a lot of intolerance; he built a whole prison just 22 miles of Accra for detention of political opponents”.
He observed: “Democracy as we are espousing was virtually killed,” and was quick to add that “by 1966 the country had had too much and it was labouring under poverty it had never known before”.
Mr Kufuor, who served as president between 2001 and 2009, said the country was “labouring under intolerance and people were not allowed to express themselves [under President Nkrumah]…”
He indicated that it was after 1992 that the country became stable and democracy was introduced and hopefully has been strengthened over the years.
However, Sekou said his father’s “achievements were just too massive in the context of Ghana's independence as well as nation building”.
For him, the feats chalked by his father have not been matched by any president of Ghana since being deposed in a coup in 1966.
Source: classfmonline.com
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Nkrumah is hero in African circles but not in Ghana and what Kufour said is very true because Nkrumah was surprisingly a member of Ghanaian parliament while he was still president and attends parliament only when there are important laws to pass and the secret votings was not allowed but rather headcounts He was so tyranical that almost all his close allies that brought him to power lost favour with him and were either jailed or were thrown into exiles , sample was Komla Gbedemah He was dismissing top men from their post on radio Ghanaian should for ever thank General Kotoka for yoman,s job he did when he overthrew Dr Nkrumah in 1966 because that was the reason we had another epoch and a shot at democracy
I EXPECT YOU TO SPEAK GOOD OF YOUR FATHER AND THAT IS NOT NEGOTIABLE. BUT CAN YOU GIVE US A DNA THAT YOU ARE KWAME NKRUMAH'S SON PLSSSSS. BECAUSE IBI LIKE SAY YOU WERE CARRY FORWARD SOMTIME OOOOO
what at all did Nkrumah do for Ghana? And to you sekou ***barred word*** and stop this my father was the best u think we r uneducated.He is never the best
To all the hooded hoodlums attacking my comment on here, Jerry Rawlings and Kufour individually undertook many more projects than Nkrumah, check the records. How long is the motorway that you keep disturbing our ears with? How much electricity does Akosombo contribute to our energy mix? And do you clowns know that Akosombo was the private dam of Kaiser Corporation of the US that they put up to run VALCO? You guys have no depth and just ignorantly repeat beer bar chatter and believe it as gospel. And that funny bit about Sekou being better educated than myself, that guy is hardly educated, and in any case, why is he not able to hold down a marriage and job like most others do? It is the internet grants uneducated oafs like you the chance to mis-educate ignoramuses.
I completely disagree with you Sekou. I am not surprised, but it seems too self serving to speak the way you are doing. Your father had the greatest opportunity to make Ghana a paradise. Instead he used populism, brutal suppression of dissent and hero worshiping as a to rule. He failed to nurture baby Ghana into a more responsible and prosperous adult. The results are what we are witnessing today. Ghana was very rich when he became the leader of government business in 1951. He failed miserably in courting Ghana into a matured adult. I will agree with you in one aspect of his rulership though; his vision for a united Africa. That was visionary. To Ghana however, he failed miserably. His appointees were extremely corrupt. He made populism in politics attractive without considering its detrimental effects on the culture of the young nation. No wonder, JJ Rawlings stepping in toe, adopted that strategy. These account for where we are as a people today. BLAME IT ON YOUR FATHER AND STOP PRAISING HIM WITH AN AIM OF BRUSHING YOURSELF WITH SOME OF THE PRAISE. Your political affiliations talk a lot about who you are. Education has not helped you that much to be objective. I THINK IT IS A SHAME!
Nkrumah was left with a lot of funds from the colonial administration which he used to build the infrastructure you talk about. what about Ghana resources he took to Egypt to develop that country? All humans would like to develop in freedom than in slavery. Nkrumah was the only person who gave a Ghanaian to a lion. he operated on the fear of the people than their respect. operated on a divide and rule basis among the various tribes. he jailed and killed those who brought him down to Ghana. that is a traitor we called a hero.he was a tyrant.
Back to you James Otto. Ghanaians are not nice people. Look how they murdered Major Mahama. You have the nerve to call honorable people maggots. You are beneath Sekou. I doubt if you have the level of education he or any of his siblings. You should be careful about what you post. Its ok to disagree with a man but descending to the gutter to say people are lucky Ghanains are kind shows your level of ignorance. By the way, Rawlings regime killed more people and is responsible for the level of indiscipline and brutality we have in Ghana today
Mr Kufuor you also ....take your time
James Otto, You display crass ignorance. Because Sekou was two when his father was overthrown does not mean he does not know what his father did. Ever heard of the Accra-Tema Motorway? Akosombo Dam, UST, Nkrumah's role in African Liberation etc. Every leader after him pales in comparison. None even comes close. To compare Nkrumah and Rawlings is to discount Nkrumah's role in Ghana. He indeed was despotic and suppressed dissent. His son Sekou is educated enough to admit that and he does. That said, read some history James Otto.
You were two years old when your despotic and murderous father was kicked out of power, what would you know about those times? You and your family are lucky to be alive still, some regime would have buried all of you alive when they kicked your dad out of power. Do you know how many Ghanaians were killed summarily by your dad? Ghanaians are just nice people and maggots like these can spew garbage. OMG, SMH