Commander Jorge Risquet Valdes, Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, says the attainment of independence in the eyes of late Dr Kwame Nkrumah was only the beginning of the first step of his great dream.

He said his great cause was to achieve independence and unity for the whole African Continent.

Commander Valdes was speaking on the topic: “The Contribution of Dr Kwame Nkrumah to the struggle against imperialism” at a symposium to mark the 103 birthday of the late first President of Ghana in Accra on Friday.

The event jointly organised by the Socialist Forum of Ghana and the Ministry of Information, was on the theme: “Nkrumah Never Dies”.

He said it would be pretentious to recount the impact of that decade of struggle by Dr Nkrumah, the fighting hero, strong, intelligent, with the burning desire to sensitise, motivate, mobilise and assemble the masses towards the achievement of total independence.

He said the struggle for unity of the newly liberated nations and the assistance given to countries that were still fighting for independence was a permanent feature of Dr Nkrumah.

Commander Valdes said over the thirty-year of Ghana-Cuba cooperation, about 900 Cubans had served in Ghana, particularly in the health sector. Currently there are 200 of compatriots working in Ghana.

“During the same period about 1200 Ghanaian students have been offered Cuban scholarships to study at the secondary and tertiary levels in various fields,” he noted.

He said under the current economic conditions in Ghana and Cuba, there were collaborations which were of mutual benefit to both countries.

President John Mahama, who was represented by Ms Hannah Tetteh, Minister of Trade and Industry, called on the youth to learn from the values of Dr Nkrumah, which were strategic thinking, strong organisation and confidence to improve on their lives for national development.

He said if not for the visionary leadership of Dr Nkrumah, the country would not have gotten the Akosombo Dam and some other state institutions which transformed the economy of the country.

President Mahama noted that Dr Nkrumah believed in the idea of giving the youth the opportunity to contribute to the development of the country, hence the expansion of education to empower them.

Mr. Kwesi Pratt Jnr, Member of the Socialist Forum said what the public expected from politicians was nothing but conditions that would improve on their lives.

He said politicians ought to listen to the electorate for their concerns to be addressed, since they were the same people who voted them into power.