NKRUMAH, GOOD OR BAD?

“The indivisibility of peace is staked upon the indivisibility of freedom”.  A couple of months ago, I penned down a number of worth-emulating attributes of Kwame Nkrumah and the need for the youth of Ghana, and even across Africa, to imbibe his vision and ideologies. But when taking coffee this morning, a series of questions occurred to me; is Nkrumah solely the champion of Ghana’s independence? Is his accomplishments overly exaggerated?

Growing up, I took utmost relish in listening to discussions focused on Nkrumah and other freedom fighters across the continent. It came to a time that I almost deified them because I saw them as ‘Homo sapiens’ with extraordinary abilities and wit. But now, my perspective has changed.

Nkrumah was a human being like us; with weaknesses and strengths. Thus, I wonder why people get emotionally agitated when the other side of Nkrumah is talked about. There is a saying that nobody is perfect.

The independence of Ghana is wholly credited to Nkrumah, though other people also engaged in the fight for freedom. This issue has been and is still debated in some quarters, especially when it comes to the coinage of the September 21 celebration “founder’s day”. Personally, Nkrumah deserves the credit for Ghana’s independence since he took a step further.

Nkrumah was moreover a key advocate of pan-africanism.  Indeed, he was instrumental in the formation of the current African Union (AU), formerly Organization of African Unity (OAU). During his reign, Ghana saw the execution of several infra-structural projects include the construction of the Komfo Anokye hospital, Accra-Tema motorway, Achimota College, the Akosombo dam, etc. But some people argue that he was able to embark on these projects because Ghana at then was financially healthy and the economy was splendid.

However, some people at completely not in sync with ‘show boy’. What are their arguments? Firstly, they argued that most of Nkrumah’s policies were parochially and dictatorially inclined. They made reference to the Preventive Detention Act. It was acts that threaten the freedom of critics of his government in the sense that people with opposing views are thrown into prisons without fair trial or trial at all.

Some even expressed that Nkrumah could have been ‘photocopy’ of Mugabe if he has not been overthrown since his policies were directed at establishing a one-party state and making himself a life president.

They further argued that during the reign of Nkrumah, the economy of Ghana got deteriorated. There was massive unemployment, the price of cocoa on the international market fell, food prices increased, etc.

Well, the solid fact is I was not around to experience the reign of Nkrumah. But having listened to both sides of the argument, I come to the conclusion that Nkrumah is no different from us; he is composed of flesh, blood, and soul highly tempted to sin. Period!