RE: Nkrumah’s Socialism, Full of Ideas, But It Doesn’t Work

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Pelicles 9 years ago

After years of practicing what the "White man" has come up with and without finding a sound footing for suites you the black man, what sort of government have you come up with to align with you and your people?

It amazes m ...
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After years of practicing what the "White man" has come up with and without finding a sound footing for suites you the black man, what sort of government have you come up with to align with you and your people?

It amazes me to read lengthy articles from our "scholars" who can even write and speak better than the White man yet, they are all laboring on foreign soil as if they have no place on their own land or soil. Tweakai.
Ada Boy 9 years ago

That is the sad face of the African intelligentsia who spend countless hours pumping out these hollow and confusing material that offers no solutions besides spruiking english writing skills.Their hypocrisy is unmatched,many ...
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That is the sad face of the African intelligentsia who spend countless hours pumping out these hollow and confusing material that offers no solutions besides spruiking english writing skills.Their hypocrisy is unmatched,many of them are holed in the West,their perennial punching bag, enjoying the fruits of capitalism and free enterprise.Damn masochists!
Cuba is slowly dismantling the pillars of socialism and why? It will be totally obscene for anyone to be advocating that path of the colossal failure,communism/socialism.
KOLA, INSIDE LONDON. 9 years ago

I think the author has made a good job producing a more balanced and insightful article which to me he has already come up with how we should have been governed.

This article is more like a missile to Dr Kwame Nkrumah's op ...
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I think the author has made a good job producing a more balanced and insightful article which to me he has already come up with how we should have been governed.

This article is more like a missile to Dr Kwame Nkrumah's opponents and it tells me that Nkrumah really got it right but for greedy opponents his ideology was short lived.
Mahmoud 9 years ago

The so-called professor that tried to embellish Nkrumah's economic record needs to go to School all over again. These types of socialist arguments could deceive Ghanaians in the 50s and 60s but, they cannot do so now. Nkrumah ...
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The so-called professor that tried to embellish Nkrumah's economic record needs to go to School all over again. These types of socialist arguments could deceive Ghanaians in the 50s and 60s but, they cannot do so now. Nkrumah was the first leader to introduce unsustainable debt into this country by borrowing massively and unnecessarily to finance his whims and caprices to cling to power. It was a misfortune that we had such a person as president immediately after the independence. He didn't lay a realistic economic foundation for sustainable development of the young nation at all, considering the amount of money that was at his disposal in those days.

Ghana had about one billion dollars in reserve when Nkrumah took over the reins of government from the colonial master. Could you imagine what the value of 1bn dollars was in the early fifties? Again, after 2years of his rule, cocoa prices at the world market rocketed and increased four-fold. But contrary to any sound economic planning, he did not reserve any fraction of the windfall for a rainy day as the Whiteman had done with only one fourth of the revenues he got from cocoa. So, what did Nkrumah do with all the revenue he got from the astronomical cocoa prices, and the big reserve he inherited that took many years to build for our financial stability and sustainable development?

The man just went on a spending spree both in Ghana and around the world, throwing his weight about and talking big. So when the cocoa prices fell close to the end of his rule, he was quick to point accusing fingers at the West, blaming them for manipulating cocoa prices to sabotage the economy of Ghana and overthrow his government. Finally, after misusing all the money mainly on useless prestigious projects, failed communist agricultural projects and whimsical mad rush industrialization projects that did not withstand the test of time, he also burdened the young nation with another billion dollars' debt before he was forced out of the country.

The truth is that, communists don't grow economy because the system luck the mechanisms and incentives that would release the energies of the people to create wealth. As a result, Nkrumah met a rich, confident country with stable economy, and left it bankrupt in some few years as a result of gross mismanagement.
Mahmoud 9 years ago

Strong partisanship started in Ghana when Kwame Nkrumah divided the nation into patriots and traitors. Patriots were those who accepted that he should be president for life, practice one party state and communism and indulge ...
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Strong partisanship started in Ghana when Kwame Nkrumah divided the nation into patriots and traitors. Patriots were those who accepted that he should be president for life, practice one party state and communism and indulge in leftist anti-Western propaganda using the small country's meager resources to challenge centuries' old, well-established Western countries. They even accepted that he should act as savior of the Blackman around the world, while tyrannizing his own Black people at home because they had alternative views for development of their country.

Those who wanted him to concentrate more on basic needs of the young nation and tone down his rhetoric against the powerful were called traitors, reactionaries, and agents of imperialism that should be liquidated and imprisoned dead or alive. Could you believe that the opposition members he was tyrannizing were the very people who started the struggle for our independence? They employed Nkrumah and paid for his ticket from the UK to come and work as general secretary of the group, saving him from the tyranny of unemployment in London. The independence struggle vanguards were senior civil servants in the Gold Coast. And as their struggle was gaining momentum and scope of their activities widening, they needed someone to work full-time for the group; free from official work constrains to further spread message of the struggle.

Under their responsibility and protection, Nkrumah used the platform to become public face of the group and his popularity soared. This was because; many of the people in those days could not differentiate between the spokesperson and the leaders, and saw him as the person or the only person that was fighting for our independence. Subsequently, when he heard from the Governor General's female secretary, who was later sacked, that the British were preparing to grant us independence, he increasingly used needless militant tactics to provoke the Whiteman, when it was clear that the wind of change was blowing, and also embarrass his employers in order to outfox them. He then used the opportunity to break away from the group, forming his own party and slapping them from behind to take power.

This explains the strong partisanship in the country and why Nkrumah didn't want the Liberation Vanguards to ever come to power in his life time. Maybe, he was afraid of his own ghost or because of his communist tendencies. Unfortunately, and despite all these plain facts, his supporters still want us to believe that he initiated, spearheaded and single handedly fought for our independence, and name every national project after him as if we were in a kingdom.
Mahmoud 9 years ago

I have been challenged to explain line by line what Dr. Kwame Botwe-Asamoah said in his three-part series that confirms our claim, even remotely, that Nkrumah was a communist that cunningly used the UGCC platform as a cover t ...
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I have been challenged to explain line by line what Dr. Kwame Botwe-Asamoah said in his three-part series that confirms our claim, even remotely, that Nkrumah was a communist that cunningly used the UGCC platform as a cover to work against the group from within, and in the end stabbed them from behind to take power. The following excerpts are only from Dr. Asamoah's Three-part series entitled, Kwame Nkrumah: The ONE and ONLY Founding Father of Ghana -2014 Independence Day Special..

UGCC MISTAKENLY HIRED A PAN-AFRICAN COMMUNIST
"The fact is Nkrumah initially was reluctant to accept the offer as he perceived the UGCC members to be “bourgeois reactionaries” enamored in capitalist ideology and philosophy." "Secondly, he, as the General-Secretary of West African National Secretariat, as well as Chairman of “The Circle,” was at the time busy working on a West African National Conference towards a Union of West African Socialist Republics, slated to be held in Lagos in October 1948."

CONSPIRACY HATCHED IN LONDON TO SABOTAGE UGCC
"Nonetheless, after meeting with his comrades in the West African National Secretariat, it was decided that Nkrumah should accept the offer and return to operationalize the 1945 Manchester Pan-African Congress resolutions. Nkrumah assured them that he would not compromise with the reactionaries and reformists in the UGCC (Smertin)"

UGCC SENSED A DANGER (THEY HAVE PATAKU (Wolf) IN THEIR MIDST)
"They (UGCC) brought many charges against Nkrumah based on differences in vision, ideology, philosophy and strategy. One was the word “Comrade” in one of Nkrumah’s letters Obetsebi Lamptey and William Ofori Attah had confiscated from Nkrumah’s office in Saltpond. They quizzed him about the word comrade, since they found it to be synonymous with Communism. Second. The Working Committee accused Nkrumah of acting outside his authority…" "They blamed Ako Adjei for his role in recommending Nkrumah to the group. Dr. J. B. Danquah wept saying that he would not have supported the recommendation by Ako Adjei, had he (Danquah) known of Nkrumah’s ideological persuasion."

A SECRET NETWORK IN THE NAME OF UGCC TO STAB IT FROM BEHIND
"The (UGCC) Working Committee accused Nkrumah of establishing a Youth Study Group at Osu in Accra with Komla Gbedemah as its Chairman. This would later embody a nationalist youth movement with the Ashanti Youth Association and the Ghana Youth Association of Sekondi, and become known as the Committee on Youth Organization (CYO).The CYO, Nkrumah explained to the Working Committee, was to serve as the youth wing of the UGCC, yet they still objected to its formation. They found the CYO’s manifesto, “Self-Government Now” a threat to the program of the UGCC, “Self-Government within the shortest possible time.”… All the while, Nkrumah and his Comrades were working on turning the CYO into a political party." And that was CPP of course.
francis kwarteng 9 years ago

Hello Mahmoud,

You have not seen anything yet!

Have you read Dr. Kwame Botwe-Asamoah's five-part series "The Fallacies of JB Danquah's Heroic Legacy" and "KA Busia: His Politics of Demagoguery, National Disintegration a ...
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Hello Mahmoud,

You have not seen anything yet!

Have you read Dr. Kwame Botwe-Asamoah's five-part series "The Fallacies of JB Danquah's Heroic Legacy" and "KA Busia: His Politics of Demagoguery, National Disintegration and Autocracy," all published on Ghanaweb?

Explain to me line by line what Dr. Asamoah has said in this three-part series that agrees with yours, even remotely.

This is what some Ghanaweb readers are known for doing, making hollow, vacuous statements and running away with them.

Be more specific. Tell me what your ahistorical remarks have in common with Dr. Asamoah's.

Do you know the difference between communism and socialism? Could you conduct a little research and tell readers what you think communism and socialism are?

Do you have any clue what a "mixed economy" is? Could you give me any authoritative source when Nkrumah said he was a communist!

Any by saying Nkrumah "outfoxed" them, are you saying those he allegedly outfoxed were stupid, dumb, unintelligent, and foolish, or blockheads? What do you mean by that statement, explain!

I don't believe you read Dr. Kwame Botwe-Asamoah's article carefully, and even if you did, you may not have grasped the complexity of his three-part essay.

Let me reproduce it for for your re-reading.

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Kwame Nkrumah: The ONE and ONLY Founding Father of Ghana - Part I ...2014 Independence Day Special..

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Introduction.
That Kwame Nkrumah is the founder of modern Ghana is not debatable; yet, there are still some guilty and misguided individuals among us who would clothe themselves in an oblong missile and blast it from Mars into a fortified round hole. Since the late President Arthur Mills declared Kwame Nkrumah’s birthday as a statutory Founder’s Day in Ghana, certain resentful, misguided and ill-informed individuals have been blowing their shattered trumpets from Mars about their so-called “founding fathers” by way of distorting and turning Ghana’s political history upside down. So far, they have failed to provide any cogent argument/s to underscore their hodgepodge position. By their imprudent logic, all leaders of the anti-European intruders, anti-Gold Coast Crown colony, pro-self-government Fante confederation, anti-AWAM (European merchants), anti-draconian indirect rule, cocoa hold-up, as well as ethnocentric, terrorist and secessionist crusaders, from 1482 to March 6, 1957, are “founding fathers.” But going by the American benchmark, “Founding Fathers,” refers to a group of individuals (men) with shared political philosophy and ideology, vision and socio-economic values, who struggle, revolt, and/or fight together to overthrow their foreign overlord to found a nation based on a constitution. In the case of Ghana, can the so-called “founders fathers” meet this criterion? Aside from their sabotaging and domestic terrorist tactics (including bombing, shooting, and hunting down supporters of the CPP), parochial objectives and secessionist goals, none of the names that often pop up played any role, identified or associated themselves with Kwame Nkrumah and his CPP’s political ideology, Pan-African vision, strategy and tactics, which galvanized the common people and some “chiefs” to rally behind Kwame Nkrumah’s struggle for a unified country from 1949 to the 1954 and 1956 general elections. It was consequent to the victory of Nkrumah and his CPP (the first and only political party in all the four independent territories under the British colonial administration) in the 1956 general election that modern Ghana was founded on March 6, 1957. As the subsequent discourse shows, not only did the champions of barefaced ethnocentrism, parochialism and secessionism ferociously try to sabotage Ghana’s independence, but they also oppose the name, Ghana, when Kwame Nkrumah proposed it. So, why are they “Founding Fathers?”

Origin of the UGCC.
In the aftermath of the so-called World War II and the collapsed of the British economy, the British colonial government limited import and export licenses to the Association of West African (Europeans) Merchants (AWAM). Feeling marginalized, some of the African merchants led by George Paa Grant (a wealthy Sekondi merchant), Awoonor-Williams (a Sekondi-based lawyer) and others formed the Gold Coast League as a pressure group to advance their economic and political interest. Concurrently, the upshot of Dr. J. B. Danquah’s connection with the ritual murder of Odikro of Akyea Mensah of Apedwa brought him (Danquah) into conflict with Governor Allen Burns. As a result, J. B. Danquah, Erick Akufo Addo, Ako Adjei and others in Accra formed the Gold Coast National Party to oppose the Burns Constitution. The irony here is that in Governor Burns’ constitutional reform in the late 1930s, Dr. J. B. Danquah pressed for the creation of an Office of Minister of Home Affairs for himself. As well, Dr. Danquah had wholeheartedly embraced the Burns Constitution by representing the Joint Provincial Council of Chiefs in the Burns Legislative Council in 1946.

Dr. J. B. Danquah’s personal contradictory positions notwithstanding, the economic and political interest of these two pressure groups resulted in a marriage of convenience and became the United Gold Coast Convention in Saltpond in August 1947, under the leadership of George Paa Grant. The main objective of this self-selected “Gentlemen’s Club,” comprising lawyers, merchant, wealthy cocoa farmers, and other similar-minded individuals was to advance their economic and political interest through political power sharing with the Colonial Government. Most critical was their call for the replacement of Chiefs on the Legislative Council with educated persons. The important thing to note here is that the UGCC was a loose, [Gentlemen’s Club] without program of action, funds and bank account.

Because of its self-appointed mandate, the UGCC avoided designating itself as a political party; thus, seeing themselves as “rightful rulers,” its original initiators detested the idea of political parties. Secondly, as bourgeoisies, they took politics to be a leisure activity. Their elitist outlook also prevented them from reconciling themselves with the people. Hence, they needed Nkrumah’s kind of leadership and organizational skills to bring some of the “chiefs” and people into their fold, and turn the UGGC into a popular movement to oppose and upset the Burns Constitution. The big question, however, is, if the UGCC was truly a “movement struggling for independence (as some apologists have claimed), why did its initiators not give up their private business and professional endeavors as Vladimir Lenin, Nelson Mandela, Augustino Neto, Mahatma Gandhi and others did, rather than search for another citizen (Nkrumah) outside the territory with special leadership and organizational skills to become its general secretary?

Kwame Nkrumah as the Antidote to the UGCC Handicaps.

Ako Adjei, who recommended Kwame Nkrumah as the antidote to the UGCC’s inadequacies, knew about Nkrumah’s anti-colonial crusade and Union of West African States agitation in the US, as well as his unique organizational kills and leadership roles during and after the 5th Pan-African Congress in Manchester. To test the waters, Ako Adjei wrote to ask Nkrumah if he would consider returning to the country to become the General Secretary of a newly formed UGCC. Without waiting for his response, Awoonor-Williams wrote a letter, and signed by Paa Grant, to Nkrumah, offering him the job of General Secretary, a monthly salary of one hundred pounds and a car. Dr. J.B. Danquah followed it up his letter urging him to accept the position. So, who was the “opportunist” here, as some functional illiterates and boorish individuals try to impute in their hoaxed writings? Clearly, they wanted to use Nkrumah to attain their selfish goal, namely to replace the “Chiefs” on the Legislative Council with themselves, self-styled elites.

The fact is Nkrumah initially was reluctant to accept the offer as he perceived the UGCC members to be “bourgeois reactionaries” enamored in capitalist ideology and philosophy. Secondly, he, as the General-Secretary of West African National Secretariat, as well as Chairman of “The Circle,” was at the time busy working on a West African National Conference towards a Union of West African Socialist Republics, slated to be held in Lagos in October 1948. Nonetheless, after meeting with his comrades in the West African National Secretariat, it was decided that Nkrumah should accept the offer and return to operationalize the 1945 Manchester Pan-African Congress resolutions. Nkrumah assured them that he would not compromise with the reactionaries and reformists in the UGCC (Smertin) So, right from the beginning, Nkrumah understood his mission as returning to, inter-alia, liberate the Gold Coast from British colonialism, and make Ghana the liberated zone for the total liberation of the African continent.

Prior to Kwame Nkrumah’s acceptance of the invitation to become the General Secretary of the yet-to-be christened UGCC, he had committed himself to serious revolutionary work, which entailed personal sacrifices. THE CIRCLE, under his Chairmanship, had as its motto, “The Three S’s—Service, Sacrifice, Suffering,” to which each member pledged and swore. It was this commitment to “revolutionary suicide,” to borrow Che Guevara’s lexis, that distinguished Kwame Nkrumah from the conformists in the Gentlemen’s Club (UGCC).

The Return of Kwame Nkrumah and the Launching of The UGCC.

The main issues the UGCC had to resolve once Kwame Nkrumah arrived on December 8 1947, were confirmation of his appointment as general secretary, and affirmation of his salary and car, contained in Paa Grant’s letter. But the one hundred pounds monthly salary promised him, Nkrumah soon found out, was a bait. Not perturbed by monetary compensation for revolutionary work, Nkrumah told them that he would work for free, if the compromised twenty five pounds was going to be difficult for the organization. Though the gentlemen looked at each other in astonishment, they prevailed on Nkrumah to accept the compromised monthly remuneration. Thereafter, under Kwame Nkrumah’s capacity as General Secretary, the UGCC was formally launched in Saltpond on December 29, 1947. So, if everything was “cooked” before Kwame Nkrumah’s arrival, as some shame-faced individuals have claimed, why did this self-appointed “gentlemen’s club,” (UGCC) wait for Nkrumah to launch it in his capacity as General Secretary? In fact the idea that everything was “cooked” prior to the return of Nkrumah is totally false, if not hogwash.

The Objective of the UGCC.
The objective of the UGCC was “to ensure by all legitimate and constitutional means the direction and control of government should pass into the hands of the people and chiefs in the shortest possible time.” This is delusional. First of all, who begged the British and other European monarchies to send their coach-managers to nurture the pre-colonial Africans to maturity before allowing them to rule themselves? Second, saying that “by all ‘legitimate’ and ‘constitutional’ means” not only legitimized the evil British colonization of the Gold Coast, but it also gave credence to the so-called “white man’s burden.” In effect, “by all ‘legitimate’ and ‘constitutional’ means” meant that any forceful demand, demonstrations, boycotts, strikes, uprising, rebellions or positive action confrontation with the British colonial government were illegal and illegitimate, as Dr. Danquah would later characterize the Positive Action. Did the subjugated Irish people “ensure by all legitimate and constitutional means” so that “the direction and control of government” be passed on from the Anglo-Norman rulers into their (Celtics’) hands “in the shortest possible time?” If the Irish people would wage a war against the Anglo-Norman occupation of Ireland from 1177 to 1921 (especially the IRA-led ‘Irish War of Independence’ from 1916 to 1921 for a Home Rule), what about a little over 100 year- old British Gold Coast [Black African] colony?

The request for self-government “in the shortest possible time” is connotative and laughable. Colonialists and imperialists are sly, vicious, always buying time and waiting for opportune moments to disintegrate opponents in the colonies. Historical evidence proves that colonial government or foreign settler regimes never “PASS” on the control of government into the hands of the colonized and/or occupied people, “by all legitimate and constitutional means…in the possible shortest time?” Rather European colonial governments employed deliberate policy of brute violence to suppress legitimate protests, uprisings, rebellions in India, Kenya, South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and other places. In the Gold Coast, the Fante Confederacy’s demand for self-government from the British colonial rule led to the arrest of its leaders. Likewise, the peaceful protest march by the Ex-servicemen to the seat of the colonial government in 1948 was met with violence. In the case of the planned CPP-GCTUC’s Positive Action in 1950, the same British colonial government flew war planes into the country with the intention of crushing the non-violent Positive Action. As this paper shows, it was the POSITIVE ACTION, and NOT the feet-dragging strategy, which set in motion the Kwame Nkrumah CPP’s forceful and immediate demand for independence from the illegal British colonial rule in the Gold Coast (e. i. the four territories).

Kwame Nkrumah’s Plan of Action.
After searching and organizing an office, Nkrumah drew up far-reaching plans and placed it before the UGCC Working Committee on January 20, 1948. First among the plans were “Shadow Cabinet” and “Organizational Work.” The latter included direct confrontation with the colonial government through organizing strikes, demonstrations and boycotts, contained in one of the resolutions adopted at the 5th Pan-African Congress in Manchester. Also because the scope of the UGCC was limited to the Colony proper, and to a lesser degree with Ashanti, Nkrumah proposed recommendations for the UGCC to embrace the entire Ashanti Province, the Northern Territories and Trans-Volta/Togoland.

The Kwame Nkrumah Countrywide Tour.
While the other members of the Executive/Working Committee of the UGCC were busy attending to their private endeavors, Kwame Nkrumah decided to travel throughout the four territories—the Colony, Ashanti Province, Northern Territories, and Trans/Volta Togoland—under the British colonial government. Notwithstanding the appalling states of roads in many areas, as well as the poor condition of the old car with which he was traveling, Nkrumah was determined to meet, hear, see and rally the people for the anti-colonial struggle. In doing so, he sometimes walked or got a lift with a passing “mammy” lorry when the car broke down, leaving the car with the driver; sometimes, he either walked to the next village or town and on some occasions slept on the roadside in the bush. The most intriguing phenomenon was that Nkrumah, in many instances, carried his suitcase containing his personal belongings on his head. The question is, which of the so-called “founding fathers” were prepared to undergo these hardships, aside from pleasing their colonial masters by “drinking tea, dining and playing tennis with them?” to borrow Sannie Awudu’s words.

Nonetheless, Nkrumah held endless meetings and rallies, delivering hundreds of speeches while organizing branches of the UGCC by himself. Prior to his arrival, there were thirteen (13) non-functioning branches in the Colony. But within six months, Nkrumah had established over five hundred (500) branches in the Colony alone, issuing membership cards with dues paying. Along side these, he established youth organizations, and later placed them under the umbrella of Council of Youth Organization (CYO). During the tours, Nkrumah found feeling of discontent and unrest among the people. It was by no accident, therefore, that Kwame Nkrumah would soon become the face of the UGCC and, by extension, the icon of the anti-colonial struggle in the four territories.
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Kwame Nkrumah: The ONE and ONLY Founding Father of Ghana - Part II
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The January-28th February Incidence: Kwame Nkrumah’s Role.

Nevertheless, the feeling of the discontent that Nkrumah found would lead to the two major uprisings in the “country” in January and February 1948, fuelling the drive for Ghana’s independence. The two major uprisings coincided with the return of Kwame Nkrumah to the Gold Coast. With the exception of the ex-servicemen’s march, Nkrumah had no knowledge of the plans for the boycott of the Association of West African Merchants (AWAM) and Syrians’ commodities organized by Nii Kwabena Bonne. The end of the Nii Kwabena Boone strike coincided with the ex-servicemen’s peaceful march on February 28 with a petition containing their grievances to the Governor, during which three of its Union members were shot dead with others wounded at Christiansborg Cross-Roads. This incidence subsequently led to the arrest and detention of the six Executive members of the UGCC. Did the UGCC play any role leading to the February 28 uprising leading to their arrest? Earlier, Danquah and Nkrumah had addressed the ex-servicemen on February 20 at Palladium to express solidarity with their concerns. Yet, Danquah’s telegram to the Secretary of State for the Colonies regarding the 28th incidence ended with the words “God Save the King.”

On the other hand, a careful investigation of what appears to be Nkrumah’s calculated statements may possibly shed some light on his complicity in the ex-servicemen’s march. He wrote: “I was certainly aware of the general dissatisfaction of the ex-servicemen and “was acquainted with their Union through my work as general secretary of the UGCC;” “it had been my intention to organize them in due course as an arm of our movement;” and that “I was fully aware that they intended to make peaceful demonstration.” The question is how did he know this? I put this question to the leadership of the Veterans Association of Ghana in my 1990 interview with them at their headquarters in Accra, and the answer I got was revealing. Its Chairman (one of the leaders of the ex-servicemen at the time of the 28 February march) emphatically said it was Kwame Nkrumah who wrote their petition and passed it on to them through Ako Adjei. The Watson Commission also noted that Kwame Nkrumah had circulated the “The Circle” in which he advocated civil disobedience, demonstrations, boycotts, and strikes. So the Watson Commission was right in attributing the two uprisings to Nkrumah’s arrival.

Detention, Watson Commission and The Myth of The Big Six.

The anger of the remaining Ex-servicemen and general public over the death of Sgt Adjetey, Cpl. Attipoe and Private Odartey-Lamptey fueled the violence that erupted leading to massive looting and destruction of public property. Subsequently, Governor Creasy on March 12, 1948, issued Removal Order for the arrest and imprisoned of the six executives of the UGCC, namely Jones William Ofori-Atta, Joseph Danquah, Ako Adjei, Obetsebi Lamptey and Akuffo-Addo and Kwame Nkrumah for being responsible for the riots; hence, they collectively became known as “Big Six.” While in prison, the other five blamed Kwame Nkrumah for the riots and their imprisonment and expressed their regret for inviting Nkrumah to take up the secretary generalship of the UGCC. To this end, they blamed Ako Adjei for his role in recommending Nkrumah to the group. Dr. J. B. Danquah wept saying that he would not have supported the recommendation by Ako Adjei, had he (Danquah) known of Nkrumah’s ideological persuasion.

After their release from prison to appear individually before the Watson Commission of Inquiry regarding the two uprisings, the other five members dissociated themselves from the two uprisings. With the exception of S. E. Ackah, all the Executive members of the UGCC totally disowned Nkrumah’s recommendations, which they had previously approved. But upon cross-examination, several members of them admitted to having received the recommendations from Nkrumah, but went further to clarify that they never associated themselves with it. In other words, Kwame Nkrumah was just and employee of the UGCC, and, as such, they could not entirely be held responsible for his actions. Such acts of betrayal, denial and cowardly behavior are the marks of those pretenders. Certainly, they were traitors worthy of rebuke. “The Big Six” is, thus, a misnomer.

But to acknowledge Kwame Nkrumah as the major driving force in the UGCC at the time, it is worthy of notice to quote the Commission’s observation:

From the internal minutes evidence of the Minute Book of the Working Committee, the Convention did not really get down to business until the arrival of Mr. Kwame Nkrumah on 16th December, 1947, and his assumption of his assumption of the post as Secretary (see the Watson

Commission Report).
So, in essence, the UGCC was an inert organization before Kwame Nkrumah’s arrival to become its General Secretary; thus, it was he who built and breathed life into the UGCC, thereby giving rise to political and national consciousness across the entire country as we know today.

In its inquiry, the Watson Commission also noted that Kwame Nkrumah had circulated the “The Circle” in which he advocated an open defiance to colonialism through civil disobedience, demonstrations, boycotts, and strikes. In effect, this observation and that of the other five members of the UGCC (while in imprison) linked Nkrumah’s activities to the uprisings. Yet, while the two uprisings did not threaten the British colonial government, it caused the replacement of the Burns constitution with the Coussey Constitution in 1951. It also served as a prelude to Kwame Nkrumah-GCTUC Positive Action in 1950 from which the British colonial government never recovered. The Watson Commission was therefore right when it forewarned in its conclusion that KWAME NKRUMAH (and NOT the spineless members of the UGCC) was the “MAN TO BE WATCHED.”

Kwame Nkrumah in a Head-on Collision with the UGCC.

First. After blaming Nkrumah for their imprisonment, as well as denouncing his recommendations during the deliberation of the Watson Commission of Inquiry, the Working Committee of the UGCC opposed everything Nkrumah had to do or say. They brought many charges against Nkrumah based on differences in vision, ideology, philosophy and strategy. One was the word “Comrade” in one of Nkrumah’s letters Obetsebi Lamptey and William Ofori Attah had confiscated from Nkrumah’s office in Saltpond. They quizzed him about the word comrade, since they found it to be synonymous with Communism.

Second. The Working Committee accused Nkrumah of acting outside his authority to set up a school for the dismissed teachers and students on March 28, 1948 for demonstrating against the arrest and detention of the “The Big Six.” The Working Committee objected to the idea when Nkrumah proposed it. In setting up the College, Nkrumah donated half of his monthly salary of twenty five (25) pounds as seed money towards purchasing tins, packing cases and boards as seats and desks for the first batch of ten students. The Ghana College expanded to became the Ghana National College. In fact, they were apprehensive about Nkrumah’s reference to UNITED GOLD COAST and United West Africa in his inaugural speech to the students and teachers of what would become the Ghana National College. “Founding Fathers” indeed!

Third. The Working Committee objected to Nkrumah’s suggestion for the creation of a newspaper as an organ of the movement, because it would get the members of the Committee embroiled in seditious cases. But when Nkrumah went ahead and launched the “Accra Evening News,” they forget about “seditious” cases and founded their own newspaper called the “The Ghana Statesman”

Fourth. Because of the popularity and success of the “Accra Evening News” (in contrast to “The Ghana Statesman”), some members of the Working Committee prevailed on a few civil servants and the Commissioner of Police to bring libel cases against Nkrumah. The libel cases amounted to about ten thousand pounds, which Nkrumah’s supporters raised money to meet the claims of the plaintiffs.

Fifth. J.B. Danquah brought a libel suit against the “Accra Evening News” for publishing an article about the Kyebi ritual murder. Danquah was awarded damages, but not contented with the awards, he went ahead to buy the rights to the paper. In this situation, Kwame Nkrumah outwitted J.B. Danquah. Thus, “The Head Press” which published the “Accra Evening News” was instantly taken over by the “Heal Press” and published the newspaper under a new name, the “Ghana Evening News.”

Sixth. The Working Committee demanded an immediate dismissal of Nkrumah’s private secretary on the grounds that Nkrumah appointed him without their prior approval and was being paid out of the UGCC’s funds.

Seventh. To buttress their suggestion to Nkrumah to resign from his job as Secretary General of the UGCC, they offered him one hundred pounds to return to England.

Eighth. Realizing that Nkrumah was the key figure in the movement with strong following, and fearful that his removal from the UGCC would lead to a complete collapse of the movement, they moved Nkrumah to the post of treasurer.

Ninth. The Working Committee accused Nkrumah of establishing a Youth Study Group at Osu in Accra with Komla Gbedemah as its Chairman. This would later embody a nationalist youth movement with the Ashanti Youth Association and the Ghana Youth Association of Sekondi, and become known as the Committee on Youth Organization (CYO). The CYO, Nkrumah explained to the Working Committee, was to serve as the youth wing of the UGCC, yet they still objected to its formation. They found the CYO’s manifesto, “Self-Government Now” a threat to the program of the UGCC, “Self-Government within the shortest possible time.” As aristocrats, they were nurturing the hope that their gentle approach would be rewarded by new concessions from their colonial masters which would enable them to fulfill their aspirations. Hence, they opposed the CYO as it was composed of the less privileged and radical section of the populace, and who were articulating the economic, social and political aspirations of the rank and file. More importantly, considering themselves as the noblemen, they felt a little uneasy by Nkrumah’s open and simple manner approach to the ordinary people.

All the while, Nkrumah and his Comrades were working on turning the CYO into a political party. In the CPP’s revolutionary program and forceful demand for “Self-Government NOW” that followed, the UGCC became a lame-duck association as the local branches which Nkrumah had set up either converted to the CPP or collapsed. Subsequently, the Working Committee of the UGCC meeting in Saltpond in 1949 passed a vote of NO CONFIDENCE in DR. J. B. DANQUAH’s LEADERSHIP. So why the sudden hullabaloo about one of Ghana’s foremost traitors?

The CPP as the First National Political Party.

The CPP’s Six-Point Program, prior to its launching, included realization of unity of the chiefs and people of the Colony, Ashanti, Northern Territories and Trans-Volta, and the achievement of full “Self-Government Now.” The emphasis on the realization of a United Gold Coast, in particular, was to have a far-reaching impact on the results of the 1956 United Nation’s Plebiscite regarding the fate of the people in the UN trusteeship.

After the formal resignation from the UGCC, Nkrumah launched the CPP on June 12, 1949 in Accra to an audience of about sixty people, with demand for “Self-government Now.” They included people from all the four provinces under the British colonial administration. Nkrumah “declared himself, and his very life blood, if need be to the cause of Ghana.” Remember the three “SSS” (Service, Sacrifice and Suffering) mentioned above? Critical to the successes of the CPP were WOMEN. From the birth of the CPP, they were the topmost field organizers of the CPP. Thus, with women as effective field organizers, the CPP went on to build an unprecedented grass-root campaign by building cells with structures in all towns and villages across the entire country. Consequently, the membership of the CPP by 1950 swelled up to about one million, unknown in the history of the country at the time.

And what did the UGCC aristocrats do? They resulted to name callings, referring to the CPP as a party of “verandah boys, hooligans, and communists.” Prior to the name callings, Obetsebi Lamptey, during the (UGCC) Working Committee’s meeting in Palladium on June 16, 1949, questioned why the majority Ga people in Accra should allow themselves to be led by” a “stranger.” Though the remarks caused the meeting to end in uproar and confusion against him, we must ask if these are the attributes we expect from “founding fathers”?

The Coussey Constitution.
The All African Coussey Committee included “The Big Six,” exclusive of Nkrumah. The new constitution still fell far short of the CPP's call for full self-government. Executive power remained in the hands of the British Governor to appoint three Ex-Officio portfolios for Defense and External Affairs, Finance and Justice, and Attorney General. This, to Nkrumah, meant that the Constitution was not designed for the Africans to take over the Government. It was formulated as an adaptation of the principle of indirect rule, whereby change would come through and with the consent of the traditional authorities.

Enamored in Edmund Burke’s political ideology of rule by the preordained elite, the Committee’s Constitution/Report stipulated that only those citizens with sufficient wages and property would be allowed to vote. In his response, Nkrumah organized “People Representative Assembly” comprising trade unions, farmers, women, youth, unemployed school leavers and others. The Assembly called for a universal suffrage without regard to property qualification, a separate house of chiefs, and demanded a self-government constitution. So when the British colonial government rejected the CPP self-government constitution, Kwame Nkrumah organized the Positive Action with full participation by the Gold Coast Trade Union Congress (GCTUC).

The Positive Action and the Road to Ghana’s Independence.

It was Frederick Douglas who once said that “power concedes nothing without a demand.” With this mind, Nkrumah said that colonialism had never been overthrown without a bitter and vigorous struggle. News of the intended Positive Action caused the Ga State Council to summon Nkrumah to appear before them to explain what he meant. Also present were the Joint-Provincial Council of Chiefs. Surprisingly, J. B. Danquah and other ex-UGCC members were present. The Chiefs, led by Sir Tsibu Darku and Nana Ofori Attah II, expressed their total disapproval of the demands of the Peoples Assembly. Ofori Attah’s speech, in particular was “abusive couched in language in an undignified language,” Nkrumah described. In deploying the Positive Action, the Joint-Provincial Council of Chiefs characterized its organizers as “grasshopper leaders.”

But when Nkrumah avowed that the Positive Action would go on as planned if the request for the People’s Representative Assembly was still rejected, J. B. Danquah responded in undignified and sinister ways. He said: “It is obvious that the law, as far as Kwame Nkrumah is concerned, must go according to him. It is my opinion that those who go against [colonial] constitutional authority MUST EXCPECT TO PAY FOR IT WITH THEIR NECKS.” How and by who? one may ask.

The colonial government on its part, asked for the suspension of the Positive Action. On January 8 1950, Kwame Nkrumah declared “Positive Action,” which called for a general strike, and non-cooperation with the colonial Government. A state of emergency was subsequently declared throughout the whole country, and a curfew imposed.. Thereafter, the office of the “Evening News” was raided, closed down by the police, and banned. Syrian, Lebanese and British nationals were armed as special constables to help the colonial government to restore order. Two African policemen died during a confrontation with an ex-servicemen’s demonstration. Nkrumah and his associates (including women) were arrested, tried and imprisoned for instigating the strike. Nkrumah was sentenced to a three-year sentence for public disorder and sedition.

Predictably, Dr. J. B. Danquah condemned the Positive Action “as an act of treachery.” His instant joy over the arrest of Nkrumah and other leading members of the CPP ended in these words: pataku (wolf) has been driven away.”

To Be Continued!!
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Kwame Nkrumah: The ONE And ONLY Founding Father Of Ghana 2014 Independence Day Special (Part III)
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From Prison to Leader of Government Business

While Nkrumah was being treated as a criminal in prison, crowds gathered daily in front of the James Fort chanting the Party’s songs/anthems, “There is Victory for US” etc. Nkrumah, on the other hand, was busy writing on sheets of toilet paper in darkness outlying the party’s strategies on the next level of the struggle, as well as rewriting the Party’s manifesto. Notwithstanding its opposition to the Coussey Constitution, the CPP changed its mind and contested the first general elections in the history of the Gold Coast on February 8, 1951. Not only did Nkrumah win the Accra Central constituency by obtaining 22, 780 votes out of registered 23, 122 voters, but also the CPP won a sweeping victory by pulling 39 of the 43 popularly elected seats. Subsequently, Nkrumah was released from prison on February 12, 1951 to become Leader of Government Business.

Shortly after the CPP victory in the 1951 election, the UGCC collapsed. So all along, “Kwame Nkrumah was the UGCC and the UGCC was Kwame Nkrumah.”

Nonetheless, on October 14, 1951, Nkrumah, while a Leader of Government Business, invited all the political parties (including J. B. Danquah and Obetsebi Lamptey) to join the CPP in a conference to plan a nation-wide campaign of Positive Action, should the British Government “rejects a motion for self-government now,” but none of them responded. In the meantime, due to pressures from Nkrumah, the Governor, on March 5, 1952 addressed the Legislative Assembly and declared that the Leader of Government Business should disappear from the constitution and be replaced by the office of Prime Minister. Accordingly, Nkrumah was elected by a secret ballot in the Assembly on March 10 to the office of Prime Minister. Not surprisingly, Dr. Danquah characterized it as “window dressing.”

The differences between Kwame Nkrumah political ideology and economic philosophy and those J. B. Danquah manifested during the 1951 Cocoa Marketing Board Amendment debate in the Legislative Assembly. While the CPP, led by Ohene Djan, argued for state control of the Gold Coast Marketing Board to generate revenue from the sale of cocoa to promote the development in the country (like the Adomi Bridge, Volta River project, Tema Harbor and township, Okomfo Anokye Hospital, democratization of education and health services, construction of the University of Ghana campus at Legon, Kumasi College of Technology (now KNUST), Medical School, road construction etc.), the Opposition, led by Dr. Danquah, opposed it saying that the bill was in violation of the full enjoyment of private property; hence, the property-owning political party (UGCC, GCP, NLM, UP, PP, NPP).

The 1954 and 1956 General Elections.
On June 10, 1953, Kwame Nkrumah tabled a motion in the Assembly on constitutional reform, popularly known as the “Motion of Destiny,” in which Nkrumah demanded self-government. This resulted in the 1954 general election on June 15, 1954, which the CPP won 72 out of the 104 parliamentary seats. The Ghana Congress Party (GCP), formed by Prof. Busia in May 1952, only won one out of the 104 seats. Dr. J.B. Danquah (also of the Ghana Congress Party) lost the parliamentary seat in the Central Akyem Abuakwa constituency. (Danquah’s election to the Legislative Assembly in 1951 was through the municipal/and electoral college, and not by popular vote.) Like the UGCC, Ghana Congress Party collapsed.

In 1954, the UN Trusteeship Visiting Team recommended that a plebiscite be held in the Trans-Volta under British rule for the people to decide whether they wanted a union with the imminent Gold Coast’s independence. Due to the 1948 Nkrumah Nation-wide tour, his United Gold Coast agenda, as well as the CPP campaign in the province, majority of the people voted to cast their lot with the new country Ghana. S.G. Antor (conceivably, one of the Founding Fathers) of the Togoland Congress strongly campaigned it.

That notwithstanding, the anticipated independence in 1956 as promised by the Van Lare Constitution was bludgeoned with the birth of the ethnocentric National Liberation Movement (NLM) in the Asante Region. Launched (amidst slaughtering a sheep, the firing of muskets and chanting Asante war songs) by Bafour Osei Akoto with Prof. Kofi Abrefa Busia as its leader, the NLM accused the CPP government of using the cocoa farmers’ money to develop the coastal region or Colony. Thus, the Asante “cocoa farmers would be better off if they would manage their own internal affairs.” But the real reason behind the launching of this anti-political party movement was to provide another opportunity for the opposition parties (NLM, NPP, Togoland Congress etc.) to punctuate the attainment of Ghana’s independence under Kwame Nkrumah and his CPP government that year. In doing so, they (including J. B. Danquah, Obetsebi and other members of the defunct UGCC and GCP) demanded federalism by boycotting all talks, forums, meetings etc. The British government yielded to the intrigues of the Opposition and decided to hold another general election in 1956 for the people to decide whether they wanted a “unitary government” or a “federal form of government.” In spite of the NLM terrorist acts, the CPP, again, won another decisive victory in the July 1956 election.

Prior to the election, Dr. Busia had written to inform the Governor that, “in accordance with the constitutional practice in the United Kingdom, the National Liberation Movement and its allies will expect Your Excellency to call upon Doctor K. A. Busia, their Parliamentary Leader, to form a Government should they win more than 52 seats at the election.” Yet after Nkrumah’s CPP won the 1956 general election, Prof. Busia produced another theory saying that no constitution would be acceptable unless it was “favored by a majority of the people of every region into which the Gold Coast” was divided.

Dr. J. B. Danquah’s Doctrine of Independence from the British Empire

In his March 6, 1944 speech marking the centenary of the infamous Bond of 1844, Danquah expressed his unflinching desire to place a self-governing Ghana under the British empire. He said: “I AM SOMETIMES MUCH SURPRISED WHEN I SEE MANY OF MY COUNTRYMEN TERRIFIED BY THE USE OF THAT WORD, ‘SELF-GOVERNMENT.’ THEY ARE TERRIFIED OF IT BEACUSE THEY THINK IT MEANS THE DESIRE TO BREAK AWAY FROM THE [BRITISH] EMPIRE AND BECOME INDEPENDENT OF THE BRITISH. IF IT COMES TO THAT, IF IT COMES TO A DECION TO BREAK AWAY FROM THE BRITISH CONNECTION, I WOULD BE THE LAST [PERSON] TO EXPRESS SUCH A TERRIFIC WISH” (see the Historic Speeches of J. B. Danquah).

In his July 13, 1959 letter to Mr. Brockway in London, J. B. Danquah said, “I was against any election as premature and favoured Constituent Assembly,” where the pre-ordained rulers would be selected to rule (see Historic Speeches of Danquah). To understand Danquah’s reason for disregarding the electoral process and disrespecting the CPP victories and Nkrumah’s government, we must go to the root of Danquah’s political ideology. Aside from being a “tame student of Kant’s moral philosophy” (Danquah, Vol. 1), Danquah (Busia included) echoed and practiced Edmund Burke’s ideology of rule by the preordained elite. Burke’s political philosophy was developed at Oxford University into an ideology that the elite is born to rule the world. Thus, it does society great harm, Burke reasoned, if the masses (affirming Aristotle’s views that the masses should have been slaves) are allowed to participate in governance by voting. So, since Kwame Nkrumah was a goldsmith’s son with some “NTAFO” (Northerners) in his 1951 government, Dr. Danquah remarked, and since the CPP was voted into power mostly by the “masses,” the Danquah-Busia camp considered the CPP government illegitimate and dangerous to the society; hence, it must be destroyed by violence.

In fact, Danquah’s elitism was manifested in his distaste and contempt for “this thing of masses,” whom he viewed as “only individuals” and dismissed their aspirations as “emotions.”

The Danquah-Busia Camp’s Style of Democracy.
1. On April 5, 1955, the Opposition led by Busia and Modesto Apaloo walked out of the Assembly, just after a Motion on a Select Committee to examine the whole question of the federal system of government had been seconded. In their opinion, the Select Committee, comprising some CPP parliamentarians or the “homeless tramp and jackals” (Liberator, March 1956), was incompetent to deal with national matters.

2. Bafour Osei Akoto and the chiefs in the “National Liberation Movement” did not want their movement to be called “Party,” since “party politics were contrary to the tenets of traditional rule.” Similarly, on March 14, 1956, Danquah and his brother Nana Ofori Atta II told a visiting parliamentarian delegation to Kyebi that “PARTY POLITICS is an alien political form which” had “created civil strife and violent dissension between father and son.” Accordingly, if the British showed no understanding, Akyem Abuakwa would secede from the country “as a sovereign and independent state with the only rival of the Ashanti country.”

3. During the Jackson Commission, Danquah categorically denounced the authority of the Kwame Nkrumah government saying that “the people of Akyem are not subjects to the laws of Ghana (Jackson Commission’s Report, 1958). So, his recourse was to do what?

4. Dr. Busia’s NLM referred to the CPP supporters in Asante as “those who belong to no family or clan, those who are strangers, not properly trained to appreciate the value of the true and noble Akan” (Liberator, December 20, 1955). A Party of “Founding Fathers?”

5. The Opposition led by Dr. Busia, refused to meet with Sir Frederick Bourne in Kumase, sent by the British government to resolve the impasse between the CPP government and Opposition. And when the government issued its constitutional proposal for the country’s independence in the April White Paper of 1956, again, the Opposition boycotted its proceedings. So, how would later-day apologists lump the Opposition leaders together with Nkrumah as “Founding Fathers?”

5. On November 20, 1956, leaders of the NLM and NPP sent a resolution to the Secretary for Colonies in London, demanding a separate independence for Asante and Northern Territories. Yesterday’s Secessionists, today’s Founding Fathers!

Terrorist Acts of the Danquah-Busia Camp.
6. . Dr. K. A. Busia and the NLM warned the British government in August of 1955 of grisly aftereffects, if the country attained independence under the CPP government. Hence, the Danquah-Busia camp resorted to the undemocratic methods and terrorist acts and bomb attacks to overthrow the democratically elected government of Kwame Nkrumah, before and after Ghana’s independence. Yesterday’s Terrorists, Today’s “Founding Fathers”!

7. On November 10, 1955, Nkrumah’s house was bombed while he was resting and working in his house with his secretary and others because of a terrible cold. Danquah-

Busia-Obetsebi Lamptey’s style of democracy!!!
8. On the day that the CPP reopened its regional office in Kumase after fourteen months of closure, Prof. Busia’s NLM drove a jeep past the crowd and fired shots into it and wounded several people; it also killed a pregnant woman. Earlier, Krobo Edusei’s sister had been shot dead as she was preparing food in the backyard for her children; while Edusei’s wife had survived a bomb blast. Yesterday’s Murderous, Today’s “Founding Fathers”!

9. On the eve of Ghana’s Independence on March 6, 1957, the Ewe Unificationists, led by S.G. Antor (Danquah’s buddy), formed themselves into a ragged guerilla army in Alavanyo and prepared for armed insurrection with homemade guns against the CPP government. The Governor-General sent troops to the region to put down the revolt. Yes, S. G. Antor (J. B. Danquah’s loyal buddy, an ally of Prof. Busia, and one of President Kufour’s heroes) by his (Antor’s) terrorist acts also passes to be one of the “Founding Father.”

Sabotaging Ghana’s Independence: Dr. Busia and the NLM.

10. On August 3, 1956, the Opposition leaders boycotted the constitutional debate tabled by the CPP government regarding Ghana’s independence. “Founding Fathers” indeed!

11. Again, when the Parliament formally opened after the 1956 general election to deliberate on Nkrumah’s Motion of Independence, Dr. Busia and the NLM, and NPP’s parliamentarians were absent. Reprehensible Saboteurs and not “Founding Fathers”!

12. When the British Governor, in his opening speech, introduced a Bill declaring that the Gold Coast would be a sovereign and independent State within the Commonwealth, Prof. Busia and the Opposition criticized the proposal saying that it was premature. Saboteurs and not “Founding Fathers”!

13. Before independence, Dr. Busia traveled to London to make a plea to the British Government to deny granting independence to Ghana, “because the country is not ready for parliamentary democracy.” He continued, “We still need you in the Gold Coast. Your experiment there [Gold Coast] is not complete. Sometimes I wonder why you seem such in a hurry to wash you hands off us.” What a Traitor!!!

Opposing and Attacking the Name Ghana and Flag for the New Nation

14. When the British Government conceded to Ghana’s independence on March 6, 1957, and Nkrumah chose for Ghana’s flag, Red for the blood of the martyrs, Gold for wealth, Green for the rich land and the Black Star in the center representing the freedom of Africans on the continent and in the Diaspora, Danquah-Busia camp opposed it.

15. The Danquah-Busia camp had previously associated themselves with the name Ghana, yet when Kwame Nkrumah proposed it (GHANA) as the name for the new nation-state, they not only opposed, but they also attacked it. How can saboteurs become “Founding Fathers?”

Given all that have been discussed above, how on earth can any living sane person lump Kwame Nkrumah together with the fictitiously labeled “Big- Six” and/or ex-UGCC’s Working Committee members etc., (who strongly opposed, condemned, sabotaged and distanced themselves from anything associated with Nkrumah, as well as bitterly decried him, bombed his house, terrorized members of his CPP, attempted secession from the country, and opposed the name, “Ghana” for the new nation-state and its flag, from 1948 to Ghana’s independence on March 1957) as “Founding Fathers?” Where were they on the dais where Kwame Nkrumah stood and declared the Independence of Ghana, followed by the National Anthem as the rising FLAG of Ghana was replacing the downward British flag on the eve of Ghana’s independence? Also, where were they in the banquet hall where all those who mattered assembled to celebrate Ghana’s independence? The answer? They were busy plotting to make the new nation-state ungovernable, and overthrow to the CPP Government by violence.

History, as a social science, is not a conjured tale, but an analysis of observable and verifiable invents. The records of Ghana’s political history are stored in print and electronic media of the time, primary materials and archives for all rational prople to look into. And until new data descends from MARS, KWAME NKRUMAH remains and will remain the ONE and ONLY FOUNDING FATHER of MODERN GHANA
ADJOA WANGARA 9 years ago

francis kwarteng, you better shut up because you have copied and pasted a total NONSENSE that has nothing to do with your subject: Nkrumah’s Socialism, Full of Ideas, But It Doesn’t Work.

You are not even in the posit ...
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francis kwarteng, you better shut up because you have copied and pasted a total NONSENSE that has nothing to do with your subject: Nkrumah’s Socialism, Full of Ideas, But It Doesn’t Work.

You are not even in the position to define socialism, capitalism and communism. "Shut the fuck!!!"
KOLA, INSIDE LONDON. 9 years ago

where is Mahmoud? He has taken to his heels and that is what they are noted for.

where is Mahmoud? He has taken to his heels and that is what they are noted for.
KOLA outside LONDON 9 years ago

Author: KOLA, INSIDE LONDON.
Date: 2014-12-30 04:44:31
Comment to:Re: What have you come up with?

I think the author has made a good job producing a more balanced and insightful article which to me he has already come ...
read full comment

Author: KOLA, INSIDE LONDON.
Date: 2014-12-30 04:44:31
Comment to:Re: What have you come up with?

I think the author has made a good job producing a more balanced and insightful article which to me he has already come up with how we should have been governed.

This article is more like a missile to Dr Kwame Nkrumah's opponents and it tells me that Nkrumah really got it right but for greedy opponents his ideology was short lived.
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In the first place your English is stinking to the ceiling.
("I think the author has made a good job")
("producing a more balanced and insightful article")
("which to me he has already come up with how we should have been governed.") -->"KWASEA"
Kofi Ata, Cambridge, UK 9 years ago

I must confess that I did not expect such immediate and detailed rejoinder or rebuttal to Mr Philip Kobina Baidoo Jr's article that attempted to discredit Kwame Nkrumah's socialist policies in Ghana as a failure. This has bee ...
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I must confess that I did not expect such immediate and detailed rejoinder or rebuttal to Mr Philip Kobina Baidoo Jr's article that attempted to discredit Kwame Nkrumah's socialist policies in Ghana as a failure. This has been more than a befitting response and the writer should be given credit for his work. In fact, I enjoyed the historical facts provided herein in response to Mahmoud's comments than the original article. One does not get such detailed historical facts on Nkrumah, J B Danquah, Dr Busia, Obestebi Lamptey and others as provided here.

I am not sure what Philip Kwobina Baidoo Jr thinks of this rejoinder. I guess he is either preparing his response so his conspicuous absence by way of a comment or has nothing to add to or take away. What a palaver? Did he bring this on himself with that confused article that worshiped everything and anything capitalism, condemned welfare benefits and the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU as socialism and at the same time praised the success of the mixed economy of the Nordic countries. The fact is, there is no single or pure capitalism or socialism anywhere on this planet.
OYOKOBA 9 years ago

Me too, I did not expect such a detailed overnight rejoinder to Baidoo's article, which leads me to suspect the article has been long done and sitting in the drawer or computer for an opportune time to come out with few twea ...
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Me too, I did not expect such a detailed overnight rejoinder to Baidoo's article, which leads me to suspect the article has been long done and sitting in the drawer or computer for an opportune time to come out with few tweaks to the opening paragraph.

But then let's step back and reflect on what we are grappling with...the merits and demerits of socialism/communism as compared to capitalism, or in hindsight given all that we know, in the context of our own political economy and history in the last 50plus years, as well as given what we have witnessed in economic developments around the globe.....whether or not Kwame Nkrumah was a very bad or very good starter for team Ghana? That is the crust of the matter.

I do not favor people who are only good at churning out bus loads of data without being able to breathe life into them, in such a way even a grandma or your average Joe Sixpack will understand. Francis Kwarteng, I am afraid, is all verbage and cannot see the trees in a forest. He has the tendency to make simple things complex instead of the other way round. There are about 196 countries in the world today, I guarantee you that only a handful are truly socialists or communists. In fact, compared to the 1960's, there are fewer socialist or communist countries today than before, and that number continues to shrink. So my question to Francis Kwarteng is very simple: Looking at the tea leaves, why is it that there are more people migrating towards capitalist countries than socialist countries if they are so good? When was the last time did you hear a container load of Americans or Canadians beaching at any socialist or communist country as refugees? It is simple...give me liberty or death. People resent being treated like helpless wards of the state. People prefer taking risks and reaping the rewards therefrom. We hate being treated like poultry chicken that are bombarded everyday with hollow slogans and propaganda. Will you want to live in North Korea or Cuba or just visit them as bad examples of human experiment?

We are the posterity Nkrumah's era had in mind. My call is Kwame Nkrumah started us on the wrong foot. Look at us... we have a dysfunctional political economy and nothing seems to work. The reason is Captain Kwame Nkrumah didn't want to listen to anybody except himself. He saw himself as the ubiquitous alpha and omega, without whom we cannot proceed. In fact he created for himself a secular monarchy who was to rule till death do us apart. In simple terms Nkrumah was a narcissistic egocentric individual who thought he was the only wisest person in the country. It was all about perpetuating himself ad infinitum rather than the state. He and the state were one. What Kwame Nkrumah had in mind is the Kim dynasty in North Korea today, from grandfather to son to grandson, forever and ever. He scared away or jailed those who disagreed with him and fed us with utopian slogans that some of us have still not weaned ourselves of. You see that in Ede bii keke, legless "probity and accountability etc. We forgot that before we could start growing fat on socialist entitlements, we should have grown our economy and politics first. You cannot share what you have not grown, socialism is lazy bums heaven.
YA BRE 9 years ago

Capitalist Britain ruled Gold Coast from 1870s to 1957.There were no schools, nor hospitals, built in my local district.Nkrumah did all that.My ancestors had farmlands which were not seized by him as communist do.I have no in ...
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Capitalist Britain ruled Gold Coast from 1870s to 1957.There were no schools, nor hospitals, built in my local district.Nkrumah did all that.My ancestors had farmlands which were not seized by him as communist do.I have no intention of living in Cuba or North Korea.The point is,did Nkrumah put up enough infrastructure up to propel Ghana? Yes,he jolly well did!How much did he inherit?....A tad over £200 million.Akosombo Dam...cost £130 million to build.
C.Y. ANDY-K 9 years ago

Bravo Nyebro Francis!

This is what we call indeed Rapid Response!

I've been struggling with a particularly bad case of the colds virus, besides minding my daily existence and so can't keep space with events. However, j ...
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Bravo Nyebro Francis!

This is what we call indeed Rapid Response!

I've been struggling with a particularly bad case of the colds virus, besides minding my daily existence and so can't keep space with events. However, just like yesterday, I wrote a brief response to Baidoo's fallacious claims. For the record yet again, I'd like to post an edited version below. You had provided the details already.

----------------

I'd have to write a tome to correct the many confusions and distortions Baidoo has presented as historical facts, so I'd just make a brief list.

1. Totally false that Ghana under Nkrumah was a socialist country and socialism was practised and it failed. It was a mixed economy with an increasingly robust state participation by way of introducing a non-existent industrial sector and commercial agriculture/fishing. It is called by socialists "State capitalism".

2. Most countries of the West developed through active state support for even the private sector. That's why Karl Marx wrote that the modern state was just a committee for managing the whole affairs of the bourgeoisie. Where necessary, the state directly intervened in econ activities, even in the USA. The TVA project which saw the building of the Hoover Dam and regenerating a most depressed vast area is a case in point.

3. It has been proven by many scholarly works that state intervention leads to faster devt and change. Stalin's success in transforming feudal Soviet Union, albeit at great human lives cost, is a fact; a fact which surprised the whole world, including Hitler who seriously underestimated even the tanks the Soviets had built. It had been repeated that were Hitler aware of those facts, he'd never had launched Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union. As it were, the Soviets defeated three quarters of the German Army, and thus were the forces that defeated Hitler, not the Western forces. Of course, Lease-lend helped.

All the Asian Tigers, books have been written to show, developed thanks to very strong state intervention directly in the economy and supporting powerful families, protectionism, etc. Crony capitalism was the rule rather than the exception until it got so bad there was backlash.

4. Earliest socialists were the Utopian socialists and they were mainly English and German Christians from the C16-17th. Rousseau wasn't even born then!

5. The rural serfs and landless in England flocked to the towns or went overseas - migrated - not cos of the success of capitalism. It was due to the Enclosure Movt and the Corn Laws that robbed them of any means of sustaining themselves.

6. Text book capitalism died in the C19th with the rise of the Welfare State. Had that not happened there would have been communist-inspired revolutions in all capitalist countries. The success of the Soviet Union convinced capitalist countries to adopt state intervention and nationalisations after WW11. Britain nationalised a lot of key industries. Even the US tried to nationalise the steel industry during WW11.

Enough!

Andy-K
francis kwarteng 9 years ago

Nyebro Yao,

Bravo.

I never saw nor read these brilliant summary commentaries of yours when I read Baidoo,Jr's article.

I had to rush to produce a quick response to Baidoo, Jr.'s, giving me limited time to read thro ...
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Nyebro Yao,

Bravo.

I never saw nor read these brilliant summary commentaries of yours when I read Baidoo,Jr's article.

I had to rush to produce a quick response to Baidoo, Jr.'s, giving me limited time to read through the commentaries on his article. Still, I am happy you reproduce hem here.

I hope Baidoo, Jr.'s takes note of them (your points) and research them further. At least your summary commentaries give a boost to my argunments.

Thanks, Nyebro Yao. And get well. The battle is not yet over. We need you.

My regards to the family.

Happy New Year.
francis kwarteng 9 years ago

Brother Kofi Ata,

Yes, there "is no single or pure capitalism or socialism anywhere on this planet."

I hope Philip Kobina Baidoo,Jr. is listening to you!

Happy New Year!

Thanks.

Brother Kofi Ata,

Yes, there "is no single or pure capitalism or socialism anywhere on this planet."

I hope Philip Kobina Baidoo,Jr. is listening to you!

Happy New Year!

Thanks.
francis kwarteng 9 years ago

See Dr. Zizwe Poe's book "Kwame Nkrumah's Contributions to Pan-Africanism: An Afrocentric Analysis," pages 91-94. It reads:
.................................................................................................... ...
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See Dr. Zizwe Poe's book "Kwame Nkrumah's Contributions to Pan-Africanism: An Afrocentric Analysis," pages 91-94. It reads:
........................................................................................................................................................
Nkrumah arrived in the Gold Coast and after meeting with his family he assessed the political climate from the ‘ground level.’ He had done investigations from abroad through conversations with Africans and others who had traveled to and from the colony.

The political climate was ripe for his plans and the African masses only required the systematic organization of their collective agency. All that remained was his official installment in the UGCC. The process leading to his installment would cement Nkrumah’s doubts about the group he was to work with. His testimony is both illuminating and somewhat satirical.

"The members received me enthusiastically and made many speeches of welcome before we finally settled down to the business in hand. The first item on the agenda was my appointment as general secretary. This, it was agreed by everybody, should be confirmed forthwith. When the question of salary arose, however, there was diversity of opinions. The hundred pounds a month and the car had obviously, I realised, been used only as a bait for I soon discovered that the Convention (which itself lacked any kind of programme or mass organisation) had no funds at all and had not even attempted to open a banking account. As the payment of a hundred pounds was quite out of the question, they compromised by offering me twenty-five pounds a month instead. I realised that even this sum was going to be difficult for them to find and I proposed that I would work for nothing so long as they would take care of my board and lodging expenses. The whole room full of them turned to look at me in astonishment. As each one was making an income of around two or three thousand a year, they must have thought I was either a pretty queer character or that in a shrewd way I was trying on something too clever for them to see.... They obviously intended taking no chances for they would not agree to my proposal and insisted on paying me twenty five pounds a month. It mattered little to me one way or the other, and I accepted their offer. In January of the next year, therefore, I began my official duties as general secretary of the U.G.C.C. (Nkrumah 1973a, 58)"

Nkrumah set out immediately to do organizational work according to a program of action he put before the Working Committee of the UGCC. The work of implementing the platform fell into three periods.
The first period was to include the coordination of the various organizations under the control of the UGCC. These included “Political, Social, Educational, Farmers’ and Women’s Organizations as well as Native Societies, Trade Unions, NKRUMAH AND THE PAN-AFRICAN MOVEMENT 1945–1966 91 Co-operative Societies, etc. (Nkrumah 1973c, 53)” which were to be granted affiliate membership with the UGCC.

Existing branches were to be consolidated and new branches were to be established in virgin territories throughout the colony. Odikros 7 were to be persuaded to become patrons of the UGCC. Weekends ‘Convention schools’ were to be opened wherever there were UGCC branches for the purpose of “political mass education of the country for Self- Government” (Nkrumah 1973c, 53).

During the second period, political crises were to be made use of by constant demonstrations to test organizational strength. These actions would be expanded in the third period to include boycotts and strikes to bring pressure to bear on the colonial forces to allow Self-Government. The third period also included the convening of a Constitutional Assembly of colonial subjects of the Gold Coast (Nkrumah 1973a, c).

Nkrumah discovered that only a couple branches of the organization existed. Within six months he established 500 branches. Dues began to flow in and a bank account was established for the UGCC. As Nkrumah traveled throughout the country establishing branches of the organization he became even more aware of the frustration of the population. He began to politically educate the masses.

Nkrumah spoke to about two thousand persons of the Nzima group at Aboso in February 1948. He told them that only the united support of the people could bring about success. He went on to say, Without organizational strength we are weak; unity is the dynamic force behind any great venture. In whatever sphere of labour you are placed we want you to work so well that when the time comes for you to serve your country you will be the right man at the right place.
(Nkrumah 1973b, 3)

In a typical fashion he went on to extol the virtues of working with the UGCC by starting a branch. A rapid series of events and altercations between the populace and the colonial administration provided Nkrumah with the opportunity to advance to the second phase of his strategy within a year.

Even before the leadership of the UGCC, the traditional structures and other organizational forces were in rebellion. “A countrywide boycott of European and Syrian merchants had been called by a sub-chief of the Ga State, Nii Kwaben Bonne, in an attempt to force foreign shopkeepers to reduce the high prices of
their goods. The boycott spread quickly and lasted about a month. (1973c, 54–55)”

The boycott was called off on 28 February 1948. On that same day the colonial authorities were responsible for an altercation at a demonstration of the Ex-Servicemen’s Union that re sulted in the death of two demonstrators and five wounded. The resultant uprising lasted for several days, “during which some twenty people were killed and 237 injured” (1973c, 55).

Nkrumah gave his first mass presentation in Accra at the Palladium Cinema at the end of January 1948
8 to an overflowing crowd. There were thousands of 92 KWAME NKRUMAH’S CONTRIBUTION youth in attendance. His topic was “The Ideological Battles of Our Times” (Nkrumah 1973a).

This presentation, taking place during an economic boycott, allowed Nkrumah the opportunity to link the economic crisis to the political situation. He encouraged the audience to help pass the control of government into the hands of the people. He became pointed and told his audience: A fierce fight against the economic system is raging. It does not matter whether those who have promoted that economic system are black or white.

The Convention is against anybody who identifies himself, be he black or white, with that economic system. The present struggle is a historical one, for down the ages this fight has been raging with unabated intensity and has pointed all along to one goal-complete independence for West Africa. (Nkrumah 1973b, 4–5)

The long applause and response from the youth was inspiring and no doubt worried the colonial authorities. At this presentation Danquah told that audience that Nkrumah would never fail them. Soon after, the famous ‘Accra rebellion’ mentioned above ensued.

The UGCC was implicated in the uprising for two reasons. First, the speech given by Nkrumah was considered provocative. The second factor that implicated the UGCC resulted from their response to the fracas. Acting quickly, Nkrumah assembled the UGCC Executive Committee and they called the colonial administration to abdicate governance to the chiefs and the people. The UGCC leadership was promptly arrested and deported to Kumasi.

They were later taken further north because of fear from a rumor that the youth of the Ashanti were going to physically break them out of confinement. The rumor was well founded as Nkrumah had reached out to the youth at every opportunity.

They appreciated his militancy and the response in Accra to Nkrumah’s presentation was probably well known by the colonial authorities. While the UGCC’s leadership was released after six weeks of being under arrest, the pressure of this and other activities prompted them to separate from Nkrumah.

Nkrumah knew that the separation was inevitable and he was not idle. He continued to travel and speak to the masses. He launched an independent school known as the Ghana National College for students from various colleges and secondary schools who had gone on strike. They were subsequently expelled when the UGCC leadership was arrested. The opening ceremony took place on 20 July 1948 at which Nkrumah explained to the audience that the task of the college was to liberate the minds of the youth to enable them to tackle the problems of the time. He further in structured them to combine the best of Western culture with the best in African culture (Nkrumah 1973a).

“The magic story of human achievement gives irrefutable proof that as soon as an awakened intelligentsia emerges among so-called subject people, it becomes the vanguard of the struggle against alien rule” (Nkrumah 1973a, 74). At the end of his presentation he advised them to use their education to build a united Gold Coast NKRUMAH AND THE PAN-AFRICAN MOVEMENT 1945–1966 93 and a united West Africa (Nkrumah 1973a, 74). The school thrived and in the following year had 200 students. Nkrumah formed the Youth Study Group that evolved into the Committee on Youth Organization (CYO). The CYO was comprised of the Youth Study Group, the Ashanti Youth Association and the Ghana Youth Association of Sekondi.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
k,no problem,a 9 years ago

Francis Kwarten, who are you and what are you. I have fallen in love with you.Not quite long i argued on this same line albeit very short. Please these writings should be published in the dailies. In fact serialized. We need ...
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Francis Kwarten, who are you and what are you. I have fallen in love with you.Not quite long i argued on this same line albeit very short. Please these writings should be published in the dailies. In fact serialized. We need people like you because Ghana is drifting aimlessly, the youth are being fed with misinformation. You are one of the greatest. PLEASE do not stop writing.
ADJOA WANGARA 9 years ago

k,no problem,a:
If you want to know "who and what" Francis Kwarteng is, I will be the best person to enlighten you more about the personal character of your lover boy F.K.

Francis Kwarteng is a mere braggart, an arro ...
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k,no problem,a:
If you want to know "who and what" Francis Kwarteng is, I will be the best person to enlighten you more about the personal character of your lover boy F.K.

Francis Kwarteng is a mere braggart, an arrogant nonentity, more or less an imposter who loves to raise himself to the level he can never attain. He is an impersonator who in most times claims the position of other dignities (people)to be his.

He has even gone to the extent of saying, he sometimes use to correct the academic work of some professors in the United States of America.
Oh! Yes! that is the braggart Francis Kwarteng.

Whatever you read from Ghanaweb posted by Francis Kwarteng is just a combination of paragraphs from different writers and even with that he makes no collective sense because he copies and paste paragraphs combined as an essay inflated with gargantuan words but usually deviates from his main subject/heading.

In a nutshell Francis Kwarteng is fake columnist, who, in all his so far posted articles, to 98%, he copied different paragraphs from different writers, put them together and paste them on Ghanaweb and also to other media platforms in Ghana for people to read.

Trust me the guy is "Zero" and a "fake columnist," with no personal ideas.
JOE 9 years ago

Adjoa, what is wrong with citing other people's works? Kwarteng correctly cites all sources of his information which is the hallmark of a good scholar, he has never claimed be the main source of all the information he puts to ...
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Adjoa, what is wrong with citing other people's works? Kwarteng correctly cites all sources of his information which is the hallmark of a good scholar, he has never claimed be the main source of all the information he puts together in his essays. The charges of arrogance will not also stick, I have followed most of your attacks on the guy and not even once has he responded with any semblance of arrogance and pomposity. Please you can direct your energy and resources to better causes like Kwarteng is currently doing.
Charlie King Addo 9 years ago

Many go into politics, only for selfish reasons, especially in Africa. But there were few that honestly burned for the people of Africa. Right from the get go Nkrumah’s mates detected his intentions were too pure and that h ...
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Many go into politics, only for selfish reasons, especially in Africa. But there were few that honestly burned for the people of Africa. Right from the get go Nkrumah’s mates detected his intentions were too pure and that he was incorruptible, thus not best suited for their agenda. He had to be eliminated before he could walk and talk, let alone lay a brick.

Unsuspecting Nkrumah thought he had partners but they were fervently working tooth and nails against every move Kwame made.

Nkrumah could see 50 years ahead of him, (not to exaggerate) and made provisions as to how to alleviate some or most of the hardships Africa faced.

He was a strategist and burned for his people and for humanity. Hate a visionary and chastise goodness but all you do in the end is, expose your own ignorance and shallowness and magnify them for all to witness. I had wanted to use the words, “your foolishness”---- but I will spare you that title this time.

Nkrumah is long gone so all you men of great ideas and philosophies, chart your own magic plans to have the good lives you so wish to live and let our ears go to sleep.

There is no more any Nkrumah behind any tree to apprehend you from achieving your brilliant goals any longer. You are uninhibited so fear not, children of Africa, march on gallantly and don’t look back, build your cities, towns and villages without any hindrances. The boogie man is no more.

What to you is a tyrant has become the martyr in the eyes of millions around the globe. The more you limit yourself through juvenile utterances; to greater heights you hoist the brave and our beloved pioneers and immortalize them.

Show me your wonderful achievements in Ghana, 50 years without the great man’s interference.

If the incompetence, the anarchy and the decay we see around us is ideal to you then I weep no more for Africa. “Sika afifiri wor ebini mu”. Now your good for nothing suckers for leaders have climbed to the top, only to make a pig of themselves.

I doubt it if Ghanaians really do understand the hidden truths behind my write-ups.

The dirtier your leaders look, the uglier we appear to the rest of the world.

Ever wondered why the world hates us, disrespect and make fun of us?

What do you expect when you have clowns for leaders and comments as though the head sits where the anus should be?

Some comments make me wonna throw up.
If Mother Nature could purge all these many nincompoops so the wise could have a clear view to help lead us to the Promised Land, oh what a feat!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Impossible though it may seem to the many blind and the nutty professors that dominate and have hampered our growth, such dreams are achievable.
francis kwarteng 9 years ago

Mahmoud,

"But, to adapt a famous phrase of Winston Churchill about democracy (market in votes) to capitalism (market in goods), capitalism is the worst possible form of economic development save for all the rest.

You th ...
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Mahmoud,

"But, to adapt a famous phrase of Winston Churchill about democracy (market in votes) to capitalism (market in goods), capitalism is the worst possible form of economic development save for all the rest.

You think as someone who lives on another planet? What is your intellectual strength in the area of political economy? Do you have any expertise in political economy?

Go read Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism," John Perkin's "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man," Cheryl Payer's "The Debt Trap: The International Monetary Plan and the Third World," Eric Williams' "Slavery and Capitalism," and try to read most of the 100-plus books of Noam Chomsky.

These writers will give you firsthand accounts hundreds of million of people whose lives have been destroyed by capitalism (including environmental pollution, ozone depletion is just one).

Did you ever hear of "Occupy Wall Street," watch the movies "Wolf of Wall Street" and "The Great Gatsby"?

None of the countries (China, Russia, you mentioned is technically capitalist; they all practiced mixed economy. Who carries the burden of America's debt beside the American people? China, a mixed economy.

Know that a "mixed economy" is neither socialism/communism nor capitalism! It is a mixture of so many things, hence "mixed."

In case you don't also know Scandinavian countries are not capitalist either. And a brief history of the United States should have taught you how socialist/communist ideas contributed to Pres. Franklin Roosevelt's so-called New Deal.

You might also want to know how socialist/communist ideas contributed to unionization of America and many parts of the West.

And you might want to know how socialist policies continue to shape Obama's thinking and his policies like his Affordable Care Act; see how the capitalist Republicans attacked him for introducing socialist policies in the America).

And you might want to know how America has tried to unseat the leadership of Cuba but failed.

Do you know how many times America tried to poison Fidel Castro's cigars (via the mafia) and still failed? Have you ever in your life heard or read about the Bay of Pigs Invasion?

Have you any idea how long America has been longing to have Cuba in its sphere of influence, hence America's subversive attempts to overthrow Fidel Castro?

Have you idea that Cuba, a communist country, has a better economy and health system (and has one of the highest literary rates in the world) than all the capitalist countries in African? How many Africans (including Ghanaians, Westerners, and Asians) are sent there every to train as doctors?

Have you read Fidel Castro's and Nelson Mandela's books "Cuba and Angola: Fighting Africa's Freedom and Our Own" and "How Far We Slaves Have Come: South Africa and Cuba in Today's World" to see what the communist Cubans did for Africans while your capitalist West colonized and enslaved Africans? Have you read Adams Hochschild's "King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa" and CLR James' "The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution" too see the evils of capitalism?

Have you any ideas why generations of American leaders tried to overthrow the Cuban leadership?

Go and read the New York Times piece "US To Restore Full Relations With Cuba, Erasing a Last Chance of Cold War Hostility," Dec. 17, 2014 (Peter Baker).

You might want to see Pope Francis' role in making it happen. And you might want to know has always been part of Obama's progressive orientation to do exactly that (if he ever became a president.

Have you read any of Obama's books or any of his scholarly writings yet?

Have you heard of South Africa's Dr. Death (Dr. Wouter Baason) and what his capitalist bosses did to Black South Africans?

Don't demonstrate your ignorance on a public forum as Ghanaweb!
KOLA, INSIDE LONDON. 9 years ago

He could not explain himself a bit and has taken to heels.

He could not explain himself a bit and has taken to heels.
KOLA outside LONDON 9 years ago

Author: KOLA, INSIDE LONDON.
Date: 2014-12-30 06:22:41
Comment to:Don't Be Shamelessly Ignorant, Mahmoud!

He could not explain himself a bit and has taken to heels.

What English grammar is this -->"has taken to heel ...
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Author: KOLA, INSIDE LONDON.
Date: 2014-12-30 06:22:41
Comment to:Don't Be Shamelessly Ignorant, Mahmoud!

He could not explain himself a bit and has taken to heels.

What English grammar is this -->"has taken to heels."
-------------------------------------

KOLA, you see now, where your illiteracy lies?
Kwadwo 9 years ago

Francis, Mamoud does not need to read all the body of work you have cited for him to have an opinion of what you have put out here. Just address his comments and stop calling him ignorant. What if he had read all those citati ...
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Francis, Mamoud does not need to read all the body of work you have cited for him to have an opinion of what you have put out here. Just address his comments and stop calling him ignorant. What if he had read all those citations but came out with different conclusions than yours? Please ponder on this for a minute!
Divine 9 years ago

Did you actually comprehend what the author wrote? You are just parroting what you heard from those who don't know any better.

Did you actually comprehend what the author wrote? You are just parroting what you heard from those who don't know any better.
Kofi Ata, Cambridge, UK 9 years ago

Mahmoud, you often claim on Ghanaweb that, "Ghana had about one billion dollars in reserve when Nkrumah took over the reins of government from the colonial master". Where is your source? I have never come across this figure a ...
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Mahmoud, you often claim on Ghanaweb that, "Ghana had about one billion dollars in reserve when Nkrumah took over the reins of government from the colonial master". Where is your source? I have never come across this figure anywhere except you. I will appreciate if you kindly provide your source.
jamal al-binsallam 9 years ago

its funny how these young educated illiterates talk now a days,they should read more about nkrumah in the archives of the FBI.

its funny how these young educated illiterates talk now a days,they should read more about nkrumah in the archives of the FBI.
Gye Nyame 9 years ago

Mean Salary of Cubans is about $22 a month so what purchasing power do “well educated” Cubans have? Even medical doctors make about $26 a month though recently those in Havana have been given increases to about $67 a mont ...
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Mean Salary of Cubans is about $22 a month so what purchasing power do “well educated” Cubans have? Even medical doctors make about $26 a month though recently those in Havana have been given increases to about $67 a month, why do you think they export medical personnel to other countries including Ghana? If it is fine and dandy in Cuba then why do they risk their lives to “swim” to the US? Read more about Cuba:
www.havanatimes.org/?p=97506
www.foxnews.com/world/2014/03/21/cuba-hikes-salaries-for-doctors-nurses-to-as-much-as-67-month/
By the way the current boom of China started after they discarded Maoism and embraced the “reform and opening up” started by Deng Xiaoping about 30 or so years ago. It is capitalism that is driving the Chinese economy now. Read the below about China:
money.cnn.com/2014/10/13/news/economy/capitalism-china-likes-more-than-us/
www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/10/10/chinas-government-may-be-communist-but-its-people-embrace-capitalism/
www.economist.com/news/business-books-quarterly/21627564-private-companies-have-been-hugely-underestimated-china-unstated-capitalism
joe the observer 9 years ago

The sub Saharan African is afraid to be different, because its colonial master will punish he or she for being rebellious against western imperialism. This is part of the problem. Africans need to stop being cowards and start ...
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The sub Saharan African is afraid to be different, because its colonial master will punish he or she for being rebellious against western imperialism. This is part of the problem. Africans need to stop being cowards and start thinking. We are smarter than then the west. Lets use are brains.
Kwabena Akurang-Parry 9 years ago

Yes, grow up. This is scholarship at its finest. Baidoo's essay is very elementary indeed. The simple assumption that Nkrumah failed stands history on its head. If Nkrumah failed, we wouldn't have Ghana today. Knowledge is th ...
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Yes, grow up. This is scholarship at its finest. Baidoo's essay is very elementary indeed. The simple assumption that Nkrumah failed stands history on its head. If Nkrumah failed, we wouldn't have Ghana today. Knowledge is the foundation block of development. Kwarteng has exhibited that! It is up to you to build!
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 9 years ago

People's mouths are pregnant with questions as to how you came to shack up with an illiterate goon like Akadu Mensema who nearly stole your identity. Can you explain that? Some of us had too much respect for you to understand ...
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People's mouths are pregnant with questions as to how you came to shack up with an illiterate goon like Akadu Mensema who nearly stole your identity. Can you explain that? Some of us had too much respect for you to understand your living arrangement with that illiterate scholar.
ADJOA WANGARA 9 years ago

Sarfo, you are equally an illiterate goon better to say, you are an illiterate scholar or if you like a semi literate.

You join this platform only to display your dirty arrogance and stupidity fighting fellow Ghanaian peop ...
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Sarfo, you are equally an illiterate goon better to say, you are an illiterate scholar or if you like a semi literate.

You join this platform only to display your dirty arrogance and stupidity fighting fellow Ghanaian people without any tangible reason as a so-claimed PH.D. holder and you still has the audacity to call other goons and illiterates? Village lawyer!
Prof Lungu 9 years ago

Super fast retort!

Well-deserved!

Balanced, non-committal, even!

For Philip Kobina Baidoo, Jr.’s
--- Germany was "resurrected" in part by the Marshall Plan, 100% American-funded, after the war. And that goes for ...
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Super fast retort!

Well-deserved!

Balanced, non-committal, even!

For Philip Kobina Baidoo, Jr.’s
--- Germany was "resurrected" in part by the Marshall Plan, 100% American-funded, after the war. And that goes for their Constitution. So there is no hiding place for you on that count, on that Slavery thing!

Also, please read this story in its entirety to garner a modicum of self-reflection, balance, and a fairer interpretation of human history and development:

READ: "Struggling Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist Represents Face Of Poverty In The U.S.", courtesy the Huffington Post's Eleanor Goldberg (29 Dec 14):

The Link:
www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/29/william-mcpherson_n_6392090.html .

Nuff Shown/Said!

Thanks, Francis Kwarteng!!!!!!!
Prof Lungu 9 years ago

Germany was "resurrected" in part by the Marshall Plan, 100% American-funded, after the war. And that goes for their Constitution. So there is no hiding place for you on that count, on that Slavery thing!

Also, please rea ...
read full comment

Germany was "resurrected" in part by the Marshall Plan, 100% American-funded, after the war. And that goes for their Constitution. So there is no hiding place for you on that count, on that Slavery thing!

Also, please read this story in its entirety to garner a modicum of self-reflection, balance, and a fairer interpretation of human history and development:

READ: "Struggling Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist Represents Face Of Poverty In The U.S.", courtesy the Huffington Post's Eleanor Goldberg (29 Dec 14):

The Link:
www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/29/william-mcpherson_n_6392090.html .

Nuff Shown/Said!

Again, thanks, Francis Kwarteng!!!!!!!
ADJOA WANGARA 9 years ago

The stupid fool, "copy and paste master" Francis Kwarteng, captioned his nonsense with:
RE: Nkrumah’s Socialism, Full of Ideas, But It Doesn’t Work

But all what he wrote about Nkrumah's Government is:
"given that ...
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The stupid fool, "copy and paste master" Francis Kwarteng, captioned his nonsense with:
RE: Nkrumah’s Socialism, Full of Ideas, But It Doesn’t Work

But all what he wrote about Nkrumah's Government is:
"given that the system that Nkrumah’s government implemented in Ghana during his presidency was largely a mixed economy, not socialism or communism from a technical standpoint?

Why! because he copied different stories from different writers to compose his NONSENSE.

The idiot started from socialism, capitalism, communism but could not underline any relevant definition as to its importance and difference. He then made a big jump to land in Pakistan, India, North Korea, Cuba, South Africa, Germany, France and Israel failing to mention UDSSR/Russia in respect of communism. Why? because he copied and pasted all his nonsense from different writers.

I ask myself why the stupid fool Kwarteng couldn't tell readers about the ineffectiveness of Nkrumah’s Socialism, Full of Ideas, But It Doesn’t Work.

Francis Kwarteng has totally wasted space with a lengthy amalgamated paragraphs of senseless compilation filled with WHY? WHY? WHY? and HOW? HOW? HOW?

A topic/subject with no association or affiliation to its composition, a deviated useless story.
KOLA, INSIDE LONDON. 9 years ago

You better say you don't understand what the author Francis Kwarteng has put up here rather than your 'non fa' nonsense and insults.

Leave the stage for the intelligent ones , you Kookoase Illiterate hiding under 'ADJOA WA ...
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You better say you don't understand what the author Francis Kwarteng has put up here rather than your 'non fa' nonsense and insults.

Leave the stage for the intelligent ones , you Kookoase Illiterate hiding under 'ADJOA WANGARA.
ADJOA WANGARA 9 years ago

KOLA, INSIDE LONDON, you bloody dirty Ewe, get it in that your "Cat clouded dented brain" that I, ADJOA WANGARA is not in the USA and therefore cannot be Sarpong as you always claim.

Besides your stupidity, the standard o ...
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KOLA, INSIDE LONDON, you bloody dirty Ewe, get it in that your "Cat clouded dented brain" that I, ADJOA WANGARA is not in the USA and therefore cannot be Sarpong as you always claim.

Besides your stupidity, the standard of your English command is enough evidence to classify you, rather as an illiterate, you go back and read sentence by sentence the sort of English grammar you have written.

Moreover as a supporter of Francis Kwarteng, you can be straight away categorised under "dumbass."

I hope you will understand what I am trying to bring to your door step, else I will write it in Ewe version for you.
KKO 9 years ago

The guy is so illiterate, he probably cannot read Ewe!

The guy is so illiterate, he probably cannot read Ewe!
francis kwarteng 9 years ago

Dear Prof. Lungu,

I am grateful for the link you provided for William McPherson's sad story.

I just finished reading it. It is a "universal" story right here in the US.

I hope readers will quickly take a look at.
...
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Dear Prof. Lungu,

I am grateful for the link you provided for William McPherson's sad story.

I just finished reading it. It is a "universal" story right here in the US.

I hope readers will quickly take a look at.

Happy New Year.

Thanks, Prof. Lungu.
Kwadwo 9 years ago

If this is an attempt to counter Baidoo's piece on Nkrumah's socialism, you have failed miserably. You see, you can cite all this academic crap to support you views on Nkrumaism, but real life experience guides us to our own ...
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If this is an attempt to counter Baidoo's piece on Nkrumah's socialism, you have failed miserably. You see, you can cite all this academic crap to support you views on Nkrumaism, but real life experience guides us to our own conclusions. If Nkruma's brand of socialism was so great, why are making a living in good old capitalist USA? Please join your comrades in North Korea and propagate Nkrumah's scientific socialism and leave us who don't adhere to that brand of ideology alone. You are not impressing anybody with the body of work you have been citing in support of your Nkrumaist/ Afrocentric views. And please don't respond by referring me to Molef Asante or whatever his name is. I will not read that crap. By the way, Baidoo piece was brilliant.
Prof Lungu 9 years ago

Kwabena,
We are thinking what Francis Kwarteng and others are asking is a balanced judgement of history, not naked hind-sight 20/20 "brilliance".

And how is someone living in the "good old USA" living in the US as a resu ...
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Kwabena,
We are thinking what Francis Kwarteng and others are asking is a balanced judgement of history, not naked hind-sight 20/20 "brilliance".

And how is someone living in the "good old USA" living in the US as a result of Nkrumah's scientific socialism" more than 2 generations removed?

You are not saying after leading the struggle for Ghana's independence, Nkrumah is still responsible for Ghana's current condition, are you?

If that were the case, it would be ridiculous!
Mahmoud 9 years ago

Communists don't grow economy because the system luck the mechanisms and incentives that would release the energies of the people to create wealth. As a result, Nkrumah met a rich, confident country with stable economy, and l ...
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Communists don't grow economy because the system luck the mechanisms and incentives that would release the energies of the people to create wealth. As a result, Nkrumah met a rich, confident country with stable economy, and left it bankrupt in some few years as a result of gross communist mismanagement.
JOE 9 years ago

"Communists don't grow economy because the system luck the mechanisms and incentives that would release the energies of the people to create wealth"
Mahmoud for not knowing the difference between "luck" and "lack" I refuse t ...
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"Communists don't grow economy because the system luck the mechanisms and incentives that would release the energies of the people to create wealth"
Mahmoud for not knowing the difference between "luck" and "lack" I refuse to take you SERIOUS, and urge other serious minded people on this forum to do same. You are FIRED!
JOE 9 years ago

Here come my most admired scholar on Ghanaweb the refined, civilized, objective and fair-minded Prof Lungu. Prof you won my RESPECT and ADMIRATION stay Blessed!

Here come my most admired scholar on Ghanaweb the refined, civilized, objective and fair-minded Prof Lungu. Prof you won my RESPECT and ADMIRATION stay Blessed!
Divine 9 years ago

Well balanced objective narrative; brilliantly written.

You wrote it so well that actually, the disclaimer at the end is not necessary.

Well balanced objective narrative; brilliantly written.

You wrote it so well that actually, the disclaimer at the end is not necessary.
Dickson 9 years ago

What is the meaning of well balanced "objective narrative"?

And what do you mean by "the disclaimer at the end is not necessary"?

Do you belong to the idiots on Ghanaweb who write just writing sake for others to read?

What is the meaning of well balanced "objective narrative"?

And what do you mean by "the disclaimer at the end is not necessary"?

Do you belong to the idiots on Ghanaweb who write just writing sake for others to read?
Divine 9 years ago

Let me know if you want a cat, I can get one for you.

Let me know if you want a cat, I can get one for you.
EDUARDO DOMINGO 9 years ago

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU ON YOUR VERY BIG ENGLISH REBUTTAL OF THE COMMENT, MADE BY THE IGNORAMUS WHO SO STUPIDLY TALK ABSOLUTE NONSENSE WHICH BORE NO RESEMBLANCE TO THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF DR KWAME NKRUMAH. BUT DON'T YOU REALIZE ...
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I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU ON YOUR VERY BIG ENGLISH REBUTTAL OF THE COMMENT, MADE BY THE IGNORAMUS WHO SO STUPIDLY TALK ABSOLUTE NONSENSE WHICH BORE NO RESEMBLANCE TO THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF DR KWAME NKRUMAH. BUT DON'T YOU REALIZE THAT YOUR TARGET AUDIENCES ARE GHANAIAN? WHY USE SUCH COMPLICATION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE ON US? NEXT TIME PLEASE ATTEMPT TO COMMUNICATE AND NOT CONFUSE US SIR!! THANKS THOUGH!
Kwabena Akurang-Parry 9 years ago

This is a must read for all anti-Nkrumahists!

This is a must read for all anti-Nkrumahists!
francis kwarteng 9 years ago

Dear Dr. Kwabena Akurang-Parry,

Happy New Year.

Thanks for your generous words.

Of course, I am also aware of your solid and profound scholarship, being also cognizant of your 50-plus published papers in respected p ...
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Dear Dr. Kwabena Akurang-Parry,

Happy New Year.

Thanks for your generous words.

Of course, I am also aware of your solid and profound scholarship, being also cognizant of your 50-plus published papers in respected peer-reviewed journals.

I always take it upon myself to celebrate our great thinkers.

I think writers like us have the responsibility to make the youth aware of what you and others are doing for the world.

Thanks for reading!
Princeattapy Ribeiro USA 9 years ago

Re: Nkrumah's SSocialism, full of ideas,but it doesn't work

Re: Nkrumah's SSocialism, full of ideas,but it doesn't work
Princeattapy Ribeiro USA 9 years ago

Re:Nrumah's Socialism, Full of ideas, but it doesn't work

Re:Nrumah's Socialism, Full of ideas, but it doesn't work
Lowry 9 years ago

Everything positive works if you have good management and accountability

Everything positive works if you have good management and accountability
KKO 9 years ago

My O my, exactly why we are not going anywhere fast as a country!

What exactly is this long verbosity about? Kobina Baidoo, analysed a practical situation, gave credit where credit was due and came to a conclusion as to w ...
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My O my, exactly why we are not going anywhere fast as a country!

What exactly is this long verbosity about? Kobina Baidoo, analysed a practical situation, gave credit where credit was due and came to a conclusion as to why Ghana is where it is today.

Why don't you stick to that. Why were the happy and confident 6.5m people of Ghana in 1951 reduced to a fearful bunch of people who did not trust each other by 1965? If Lee Kuang Yew's Singapore and Houphuet Boingy's Ivory Coast are still making progress (even in the face of a Civil War in the case of IC), why is Ghana still tottering? Why is our capital still in darkness and being swallowed by filth?

If the parties of all those guys still win elections in their respective countries, why is the CPP so irrelevant in Ghana? Does that not say something about its progenitor(s)?

Cuban education huh? Go to GNPC, SCC, Korle Bu, '37, and other places and enquire about their products. The fact that most of these contorted essays are crafted in the USA and not North Korea or Cuba says it all!
Maryjane Tetteh 9 years ago

Sir, I love Kwarteng's profound intervention in Baidoo's anti-Nkrumah forays. Verbosity my foot. It is scholarship.

Sir, I love Kwarteng's profound intervention in Baidoo's anti-Nkrumah forays. Verbosity my foot. It is scholarship.
KKO 9 years ago

Ever heard of Non-Sylla? That is what Kwarteng's article is!

Kobina Baidoo made a specific reference case about why Ghana did not work and has not worked till today. That is the matter for debate, not insults like your in ...
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Ever heard of Non-Sylla? That is what Kwarteng's article is!

Kobina Baidoo made a specific reference case about why Ghana did not work and has not worked till today. That is the matter for debate, not insults like your infantile one. I hope you do not have examinations ahead in your life!
Kwadwo 9 years ago

We know what has worked in this world and what has failed on countless times. Kwame Nkrumah's scientic socialism failed and glad it did. Baidoo's piece said it all.

We know what has worked in this world and what has failed on countless times. Kwame Nkrumah's scientic socialism failed and glad it did. Baidoo's piece said it all.
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 9 years ago

Impressive riposte by Prof. Francis Kwarteng.......
I personally think that a broad condemnation of the socialist ideology, no matter from what quarters, is per se simplistic. What is also simplistic is its wholesale imbiba ...
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Impressive riposte by Prof. Francis Kwarteng.......
I personally think that a broad condemnation of the socialist ideology, no matter from what quarters, is per se simplistic. What is also simplistic is its wholesale imbibation. The better approach is the integration of those ideologies that best suit our circumstances, and I think that is what Nkrumah tried to do. Unfortunately, Nkrumah's socialist principles were mostly couched to perpetuate his personal ambitions and despotic posture, hence his life presidency, one party state and power to imprison his political opponents without trial....
What the so-called Nordic countries have done with socialist ideas serve as good examples of what socialism can do when undergirded by true democratic principles.
J .Thompson 9 years ago

Nkrumah's free education policy under his Socialism has produced doctors,engineers,scientists,lawyers and experts who are serving all over the globe and has made Ghanaians the PRIDE of Black Africa,not to mention their remitt ...
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Nkrumah's free education policy under his Socialism has produced doctors,engineers,scientists,lawyers and experts who are serving all over the globe and has made Ghanaians the PRIDE of Black Africa,not to mention their remittance to families and relatives in Ghana running into billions of dollars.His free medical care was also excellent and a blessing considering the poverty level of Ghanaians.This Philip Kobina Baidoo with his porous analysis and all Nkrumah bashers,must be living on another planet.
RINGO 9 years ago

I hope you know why the Preventive Detention Act was passed in Parliament.

I hope you know why the Preventive Detention Act was passed in Parliament.
Paul 9 years ago

"Couched to perpetuate his personal ambitions and despotic posture"? This narrative is as old as it is false, and has characterized the approach to all things anti-Nkrumah.

SAS, if you care to study Nkrumah carefully, you ...
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"Couched to perpetuate his personal ambitions and despotic posture"? This narrative is as old as it is false, and has characterized the approach to all things anti-Nkrumah.

SAS, if you care to study Nkrumah carefully, you will find that there were things he did and mistakes he made e.g. declaring a one-party state which were clear mistakes but to be fair to him, they were not done because he was a "despot or had personal ambitions" but in his 'naive' belief that that approach would help him achieve the goals for our African emancipation and using Ghana as a test case for our external enemies. Clearly he blundered and paid heavily for it there.

SAS, the fact is, Nkrumah's reasoning about what we as Ghanaians and Africans needed to do to first secure our FULL independence and second, to embark upon a harmonized and meaningful development among the body of nations still hold true today and his untimely removal did far more harm to us as a nation and a continent than any "personal ambitions" he may have had.

If anything, Nkrumah's personal ambitions were tied to his overriding passion and focus on African independence and the development of its people, resources and stature!!! Unless you take your time to carefully study and understand why people do things, you will always follow the popular narrative which unfortunately seems to emanate mainly from one side of our political divide to which the likes of SAS belong. That is very unfortunate and somehow needs to be abandoned because frankly Nkrumah may be called many names, but one thing he NEVER was, was a "despot with a god-like ambition" steeped in his own self-importance as he has been wrongly characterized and in my view, for far too long. You diminish both your own stature and the person and the arguments when you stick to that line my friend.
KBK 9 years ago

Oh, francis, is this not too heavy handed a reply to Baidoo's simple (or simplistic) critique of the Osagyefo? Baidoo is a nice dude but it's clear he doesn't have the same intellectual and analytical depth as you. When is he ...
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Oh, francis, is this not too heavy handed a reply to Baidoo's simple (or simplistic) critique of the Osagyefo? Baidoo is a nice dude but it's clear he doesn't have the same intellectual and analytical depth as you. When is he (or anyone else for that matter) going to finish reading all the hundreds of refs you provide to be able to come up with answer?

I would've preferred you'd given him a terse and precise critique but we know you can't write short articles. I suspect you wrote this in the night and must despatch it quickly to meet the European morning, (Baidoo's was writing from the UK) else you'd have gone on a bit longer ... lol, lol, lol.

I must say it's nice to see young men like you, both obviously born AFTER the death of Nkrumah, discoursing so passionately about him. That alone shows that the man has NEVER been dead and is still as relevant to our politics as he has always been.

On the topic itself, I'll agree with you that Nkrumah was never a doctrinaire socialist and definitely not a communist. On a personal note, I'll say there are many of us, not being dadamba or with politically connected parents, who would never have stepped on the green lawns of Legon but for Nkrumah. (I was in Middle School when he was overthrown).

He had his faults but no leader since him has had the best intentions for Ghana - and for Africa!
JOE 9 years ago

Baidoo need to be put in his right place and fortunately we have guys like Kwarteng with both the resources and time to do so, for which we rightly applaud his efforts. Thank you Francis Kwarteng.

Baidoo need to be put in his right place and fortunately we have guys like Kwarteng with both the resources and time to do so, for which we rightly applaud his efforts. Thank you Francis Kwarteng.
YAW 9 years ago

Kwarteng has managed to compile a genuinely useful article to dispel the myth that Nkrumah turned Ghana into some God-Knows-what-socialist Kingdom.Capitalist started mining gold in Obuasi,Tarkwa,Bibiani etc since 1890s.Is Ob ...
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Kwarteng has managed to compile a genuinely useful article to dispel the myth that Nkrumah turned Ghana into some God-Knows-what-socialist Kingdom.Capitalist started mining gold in Obuasi,Tarkwa,Bibiani etc since 1890s.Is Obuasi anywhere near an average town in Switzerland? They hardly tell us about the "ugly and the unacceptable " face of capitalism.You have written an engaging and well-informed guide for those who are willing to distinguish facts from distorted ones.Frank,try and read about this remarkable Iraqi called "FAROUK AL KASIM" who helped Norway to discover oil and also gave them the "state socialist" blueprint that led to the creation of their sovereign wealth.Have a nice day!
Jojo Hammond, New Jersey 9 years ago

Most People cannot read and appreciate a well-balanced article, like this one here.

You may agree or disagree but one should be able to appreciate another view point.

This rabid hatred for everything Nkrumah must stop a ...
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Most People cannot read and appreciate a well-balanced article, like this one here.

You may agree or disagree but one should be able to appreciate another view point.

This rabid hatred for everything Nkrumah must stop and appreciate what our first President did for our nation. We don't have to accept everything he did. He did a lot for our nation, but he was human.
YAW 9 years ago

I am going to sue you for stalking.LOL:} I hope all is well with my "beloved" nephew in La la Land.Wofa hia sika kakra a ode benom "Nsafufuo".You always put a smile on my face:}

I am going to sue you for stalking.LOL:} I hope all is well with my "beloved" nephew in La la Land.Wofa hia sika kakra a ode benom "Nsafufuo".You always put a smile on my face:}
Jojo Hammond, New Jersey 9 years ago

I can't stalk my own uncle. The law courts will throw it out for purely being a family affair.

All is well here in the land of Chris Christie, wofa.

Afehyia pa, Wofa. I was not aware nsafufuo is still around, wow !!!

I can't stalk my own uncle. The law courts will throw it out for purely being a family affair.

All is well here in the land of Chris Christie, wofa.

Afehyia pa, Wofa. I was not aware nsafufuo is still around, wow !!!
Paul 9 years ago

Thanks Francis. I read this rebuttal earlier but could not comment earlier. The "isms" debate in my view is neither here nor there and Francis makes some very detailed and strong points on the issues. Apart from his emotional ...
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Thanks Francis. I read this rebuttal earlier but could not comment earlier. The "isms" debate in my view is neither here nor there and Francis makes some very detailed and strong points on the issues. Apart from his emotional attachment to the issues which come through when you read his posting, it is amazing how much thought and effort he has made into this rebuttal.

In my own view, Kobina's arguments were more about 'selling capitalism' to us, against socialism or communism (or both), based on his own experiences and perspectives. As I pointed out in my comments, his article has nothing to do with Nkrumahism in my view, and using Nkrumah as a basis for his article did not do it justice. I also believe that his choice of examples and arguments was rather selective and lacked the balance and objectivity that you would expect of a critical analysis of two 'sides of a coin' in order to draw fair and balanced conclusions one way or another.

I find it extraordinary that those who seek to 'condemn Nkrumahism' or seek to diminish Nkrumah's legacy ten d to dwell on very narrow points of ideology instead of examining the body of work that define the man. I also find it sad that his stature in world and contemporary politics and his singular efforts to promote African independence as a basis for its own development is so lost on critics.

the BRICS countries, the US, Germany and others are rich or doing well not solely because of the "isms" but much more than that and it worries me that our analyses sometimes become so narrow as to make them appear rather simplistic.

I also appeal to those against Nkrumah to just try and 'leave the man and his human failings' aside and study the works. Yes, by all means be critical, but fair, balanced and objective and you will come out with a different picture. For the likes of Kobina I do not blame because unlike some of us who have come to know Nkrumah through his works, Kobina claims to have 'worn the badge of Young Pioneers' and therefore equates that (and reading and studying Nkrumahism, whatever that means) to having first class and detailed knowledge and authority on the subject. The trouble is, sometimes when you are too close to the issues, it is easy to miss the obvious.

Surely we need these discussions and they should be done in a fair, balanced, objective and fact-based manner and not looked at from partisan or blind ideological positions.
francis kwarteng 9 years ago

Dear Readers,

Thanks for reading and sharing your insightful ideas and criticisms. Once again I am grateful to you all for your constructive criticisms.

Of course this is not the end of the discussion.

We shall def ...
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Dear Readers,

Thanks for reading and sharing your insightful ideas and criticisms. Once again I am grateful to you all for your constructive criticisms.

Of course this is not the end of the discussion.

We shall definitely return to this topic again in the future depending on circumstances.

I wish you all the best in the coming year.

Happy New Year. My regards to all your families members.

Stay safe.

Thanks.
ADJOA WANGARA 9 years ago

The "Bomb thrower" and so-claimed English teacher in USA, Francis Kwarteng, writes, --> "My regards to all your families members."

Why this grammar from Kwarteng? Because he has to write it from his own I.Q. without copyin ...
read full comment

The "Bomb thrower" and so-claimed English teacher in USA, Francis Kwarteng, writes, --> "My regards to all your families members."

Why this grammar from Kwarteng? Because he has to write it from his own I.Q. without copying from others.
And as you can see, that is all what Kwarteng is up to as far as he can cogitate.

-------------------------------------

Author: francis kwarteng
Date: 2014-12-30 21:52:56
Comment to: RE: Nkrumah’s Socialism, Full of Ideas, But It D

Dear Readers,

Thanks for reading and sharing your insightful ideas and criticisms. Once again I am grateful to you all for your constructive criticisms.

Of course this is not the end of the discussion.

We shall definitely return to this topic again in the future depending on circumstances.

I wish you all the best in the coming year.

Happy New Year. My regards to all your families members.

Stay safe.

Thanks.
francis kwarteng 9 years ago

Adjoa Wangara,

Oh thank God, you finally got the "so-called" correct today, not your dysfunctional phrase "so called" of yesteryear.

Remember it took you about a month to get it right. Finally!

Oh my God!

You are ...
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Adjoa Wangara,

Oh thank God, you finally got the "so-called" correct today, not your dysfunctional phrase "so called" of yesteryear.

Remember it took you about a month to get it right. Finally!

Oh my God!

You are learning something from us on Ghanaweb, and that is fine! You should be grateful to us!
Kwabena Yeboah 9 years ago

This is a joy to read - well thought out and well presented. Impressive!

This is a joy to read - well thought out and well presented. Impressive!
Kwabena Yeboah 9 years ago

This is a joy to read - well thought out and well presented. Impressive!

This is a joy to read - well thought out and well presented. Impressive!
ADJOA WANGARA 9 years ago

The "Bomb thrower" and so-claimed English teacher in USA, Francis Kwarteng, writes another tautological English --> "My regards to all your families members."

Why this grammar from Kwarteng? Because he has to write it from ...
read full comment

The "Bomb thrower" and so-claimed English teacher in USA, Francis Kwarteng, writes another tautological English --> "My regards to all your families members."

Why this grammar from Kwarteng? Because he has to write it from his own I.Q. without copying from others.
And as you can see, that is all what Kwarteng is up to as far as he can cogitate.

-------------------------------------

Author: francis kwarteng
Date: 2014-12-30 21:52:56
Comment to: RE: Nkrumah’s Socialism, Full of Ideas, But It D

Dear Readers,

Thanks for reading and sharing your insightful ideas and criticisms. Once again I am grateful to you all for your constructive criticisms.

Of course this is not the end of the discussion.

We shall definitely return to this topic again in the future depending on circumstances.

I wish you all the best in the coming year.

Happy New Year. My regards to all your families members.

Stay safe.

Thanks.
Joe Mensah 9 years ago

These petty mistakes are "NO BIG DEAL".We all make mistakes sometimes,especially when we are rushing.Adjoa Wangara,find something better to do.

These petty mistakes are "NO BIG DEAL".We all make mistakes sometimes,especially when we are rushing.Adjoa Wangara,find something better to do.
francisco velasco 9 years ago

In case you didn't know, Sweden has been a bastion of free market reform for the past 10 years. They have privatized majority of their infrastructure, all swedes, enjoy universal school choice,
(which is a free market ideal ...
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In case you didn't know, Sweden has been a bastion of free market reform for the past 10 years. They have privatized majority of their infrastructure, all swedes, enjoy universal school choice,
(which is a free market ideal) and Sweden has been phasing out of their socialist style economic system for a very long time.

Do some actually research buddy before you post.

Link to video of info
youtube.com/watch?v=tDAQWJbEl9U
francis kwarteng 9 years ago

Read this:

Have you finished reading all works I cited in the essay? Have you read Thomas Piketty's book "Capitalism in the 21st Century"? I am yet to read this book but I still know "all" there is to know about this book. ...
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Read this:

Have you finished reading all works I cited in the essay? Have you read Thomas Piketty's book "Capitalism in the 21st Century"? I am yet to read this book but I still know "all" there is to know about this book. Go read them and come back.

For now, I don't need the link for the youtube. I have provided more information in my essay (incuding the works I have cited)than the any youtube link can tell you!

Go read them and come. In the meantime, the extract I provide below should inform on how these Scandinavian countries have incorporated Marxist socialism and capitalist ideas into their political economies. Combining Marxist socialism and capitalism IS NOT CAPITALISM. IT IS CALLED SOCIAL DEMOCRACY OR MIXED ECONOMY. GO READ MY ARTICLE IF YOU DID NOT GET THIS SIMPLE FACT RIGH1!

Have you heard of the so-called Nordic Model (Nordic social democracy)? This is about "mixed economy," the thrust of my essay with regards to my essay. Read on:

........................................................................................................................................................

The Nordic Model: Pros and Cons
By James E. McWhinney AAA |

Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark (collectively the Nordic countries) have a combination of high living standards and low income disparity that has captured the world’s attention. At a time when the growing gap between the rich and poor has become a political hot button in developed nations, the region known as Scandinavia has been cited by many scholars as a role model for economic opportunity and equality.

The Nordic Model

The Nordic model is a term coined to capture the unique combination of free market capitalism and social benefits that have given rise to a society that enjoys a host of top-quality services, including free education and free healthcare, as well as generous, guaranteed pension payments for retirees. These benefits are funded by taxpayers and administered by the government for the benefit of all citizens. The citizens have a high degree of trust in their government and a history of working together to reach compromises and address societal challenges through democratic processes. Their policy makers have chosen a mixed economic system that reduces the gap between the rich and the poor through redistributive taxation and a robust public sector while preserving the benefits of capitalism.

The model is underpinned by a capitalist economy that encourages creative destruction. While the laws make it is easy for companies to shed workers and implement transformative business models, employees are supported by generous social welfare programs. The nation’s tax structure is based on individual rather than household income, coupled with a flat-tax. The result is a system that treats all citizens equally and encourages workforce participation. Gender equality is hallmark trait of the culture that not only results in a high degree of workplace participation by women but also a high level of parental engagement by men.

History Helps

What makes the Nordic model work? A combination of shared history and societal development are credited with much of its success. Unlike areas that developed around the formation of large corporate-owned farms, the history of Scandinavia is largely one of family-driven agriculture. The result is a nation of small entrepreneurial enterprises directed by citizens facing the same set of challenges. Solutions that benefit one member of the society are likely to benefit all members. This collective mentality results in a citizenry that trust its government because the government is led by citizens seeking to create programs that benefit everyone. Accordingly, the citizens willingly chose to pay higher taxes in exchange for benefits that they and their family members will get to enjoy. The result is publicly funded services, such as healthcare and education that are of such high quality that private enterprise has no reason to offer these services or room to improve them. This mindset remained intact as capitalist enterprises developed.

Challenges

The Nordic model faces some notable pressures to its sustainability. Two of the largest concerns are an aging population and influx of immigrants. In terms of an aging population, a large base of young taxpayers and a smaller population of older residents receiving services is the ideal scenario. As the population balance shifts the other way, benefit reductions are a likely outcome. Fortunately for their citizens, the Nordic nations have willingly chosen a path of greater equality for all citizens and have demonstrated an ability to work through their political differences for the greater good of all.

In terms of immigration, Scandinavia attracts a notable influx of newcomers seeking to enjoy the generous public benefits. These new arrivals often come from nations that do not have a long, shared history of making decisions on behalf of the common good. While native Scandinavians tend to have a high degree of participation in the workforce as part of their collective decision to support the amenities their society offers, immigrants do not always share this vision. These new arrivals present a significant burden to the system and could, ultimately, result in its demise. (For more, see: How Globalization Affects Developed Countries)

Two other concerns include native citizens taking advantage of the generous benefits system and the impact of poor global economic conditions. Again, the culture of cooperation and shared interest in a strong social safety net has enabled these countries to adjust their benefit programs and continue to deliver a wide range of services even in the aftermath of the Great Recession.

A Model for Other Nations?

The Nordic model has attracted a significant amount of attention from other nations. Many wonder if it provides a template for smaller countries where citizens are more homogeneous in terms of their opinions and experiences yet live in poverty or repression as a result of Marxist government policies. Others believe it provides a template for reforming the unchecked capitalism that has created notable income inequality and dramatic differences between the quality of life between the rich and the poor in prosperous nations. Sitting between the controlled economy of Marxist regimes and unchecked capitalism at the other end of the spectrum, the Nordic model is sometimes referred to as “the third way.”

Politics and Controversy

The Nordic model has created quite a bit of controversy outside of Scandinavia, Many people in countries operating under what is often referred to as “the American model” of capitalistic enterprise see the Nordic model as an attractive alternative to the winner-take-all brand of capitalism that has resulted in poverty, a lack of affordable quality health care and education, a deteriorating social safety net, a lack of retirement security, massive scandals in the financial markets and tremendous income disparity. They point out that public services, such as education and government run programs in America are of poor quality and that the rich have access to far better resources than the poor and that implementation of the Nordic model could solve these issues.

Opponents of the Nordic model criticize the high taxes, high degree of government intervention and relatively low gross domestic product and productivity, noting that these all limit economic growth. They point out that the Nordic Model redistributes assets, limits the amount of money available for personal spending and consumption and encourages reliance on government subsidized programs.

The Bottom Line

The unwillingness of Marxists governments to make changes is likely to mean that philosophical discussions about implementation of the Nordic model will remain just that: discussions. The inability of developed nations to move beyond vitriolic political rhetoric coupled with their lack of shared culture due to geographically and ethnically diverse populations that lack shared experiences will similarly serve as barriers to implementation of the Nordic model in those countries.

In any event, while outsiders argue vigorously in favor of social democracy or against so-called welfare states, the Scandinavians themselves make no effort at all to induce or coerce other nations into adopting the Nordic model. Rather, they seem content to work through their problems together in a collective manner that consistently results in placing them at the pinnacle of global surveys of the happiest people in the world.

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jamal al-binsallam 9 years ago

Nkrumah's Socialism was the best thing to happen to Ghana.check the archives of CIA now that the right to information is passed.

Nkrumah's Socialism was the best thing to happen to Ghana.check the archives of CIA now that the right to information is passed.

RE: Nkrumah’s Socialism, Full of Ideas, But It Doesn’t Work

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