In Part 2 of our “JB Danquah: The Case for The Preventive Detention Act” we made the following statement: “As an illustration of the first point, lawyer Danquah, a reprobate political criminal, and Ataa Ayi, a hardened armed robber, both knew the law and what was required of them by society yet they ignored the law thinking they were too smart to get caught in the dragnet of their misdeeds.” There is no doubt that this statement defines the basis of Danquah’s self-destruction. This essay takes a look at the events leading to Danquah’s arrest and nine-month detention under the Preventive Detention Act (PDA), an emergency Act of Parliament.
It is essential to stress that Danquah’s detention did not evolve in a vacuum. Therefore, it is crucial to connect the dots between his subversive political calculations against the state and his arrests and detention. At the first treason trial of the Awhiatey-Amponsah-Apaloo conspiracy in November 1958, it was revealed that Danquah had assured a foreign diplomat of Nkrumah’s overthrow in December 1959 (see Geoffrey Bing’s “Reap the Whirlwind”). Yet the security forces did not act immediately upon this information. Rather, they set out to gather more corroborating evidence by placing Danquah’s every move under surveillance. This strategy of gathering intelligence on dangerous enemies of the state to avert its subversion was and still is not unique to Ghana; it is part and parcel of statecraft in democratic societies globally.
The fact of the matter was that Danquah organized a meeting in his home during which two men, Ismaila Annan and Atta Bordoh, presented a plan to him detailing the subversion of Nkrumah’s government. Danquah endorsed it. Annan and Bordoh had been executive members of the United Party in the Western Region. Both men infiltrated the leadership of the union, infusing it with their subversive political tactics. On the occasion when they met in Danquah’s home, both men presented themselves as party executives, not as trade unionists or strike organizers. Later, it became known that the Opposition had assisted the union in drafting and paying for telegrams in behalf of the unions, via fictitious names and a private mail-bag address of Ishmaili Annan [Annan was a member of the Moslem Association Party before it became part of the United Party], a man known for his close association with Amadu Baba. The government deported Baba for orchestrating much of the NLM’s violence in Kumasi in the lead-up to independence. The contents of the drafted telegrams, made out to the International Railway and Maritime Workers’ Unions in Nigeria, the U.S. and the U.K, asked for funds to secure the “survival of parliamentary democracy” in Ghana. In other words the aim of the strikers was no longer about workers’ grievances. The workers’ grievances had shifted to the survival of parliamentary democracy in Ghana.
All this happened against the backdrop that the government had declared the strike illegal under the 1958 Industrial Relations Act, because Union representatives refused to meet with cabinet members to iron out their differences. As well, following an executive meeting of the United Party, Danquah traveled to Sekondi where he met with strike leaders in the house of one Kwesi Lamptey (Fijai Secondary School). The meeting focused on strengthen the resolve of the striking workers not to give up their demands, and to ignore Nkrumah’s offers upon his return from a trip. Prior to this, however, the executives of the United Party had organized a press statement calling on the government to resign or to recall parliament in the failure or refusal of the government to revise the budget.
That aside, what were the grounds for Danquah’s arrest which was submitted to him in writing? The state then indicted Danquah in a written submission read to him, as was done to all indicted enemies of the state. This was how he [Danquah] interpreted his indictment. He wrote: “During the first month of September 1961 YOU DID JOIN in a DESIGN for the subversion of the Government of Ghana PRESENTED to you at a meeting on the premises of Dr. J.B. Danquah in Accra, by ISMAILA ANNAN and ATTA BORDAH both now detained and you did ENCOURAGE this design and in furtherance of it DID ACT in a manner calculated to endanger the security of the State and to cause the overthrow of the Government of Ghana by unlawful means” (see the “Historic Speeches of J.B. Danquah”). Dr. Botwe-Asamoah, however, makes an interesting observation regarding the manner in which Danquah crafted his response to make it look like the handiwork of a defense attorney. Danquah claimed he had called for the meeting in his home in reference to the 1961 Takoradi Workers Strike and the government budget. That notwithstanding, the strategy for crafting his indictment the way he did, it seemed, was, in Dr. Botwe-Asamoah’s words, to make it possible for him to “accuse the Nkrumah’s Government of unlawful detention without trial.” In other words, he crafted his indictment in such a way as to give him some leeway to transfer his culpability to the state instead.
It also turned out after Nkrumah had pardoned him and other detainees on June 2, 1962, he [Danquah] went to the American Embassy to make inquiries into why CIA funds to his family while he served his nine-month detention had ceased. Richard D. Mahoney, author of “JFK: Ordeal in Africa” and son of William Mahoney, the American Ambassador at the time, writes that [The situation caused his father to summon “the CIA chief of station to ask why he had not been advised of the agency’s association with Danquah…; and that Ambassador Mahoney was not satisfied with the explanation given him by the CIA chief of station so he “(Mahoney) flew to Washington two days later and personally informed Kennedy about the matter”]. Thus, Danquah’s lamentations over why the CIA funds had ceased and the contents of the telegrams requesting for funds to underwrite parliamentary democracy in Ghana are not unrelated. That said, Danquah’s placement under surveillance would yield another fruitful outcome when the Chief Security Officer authorized his arrest and detention under the PDA on January 8, 1964, nearly two years after Nkrumah had pardoned him. His arrest came against the backdrop of his participation in Constable Seth Ametewe’s aborted assassination attempt on Nkrumah on January 2, 1964. Danquah was found to possess his own signed hand-written speech which he intended for broadcast in the wake of the success of the Seth Ametewe’s attempted assassination on Nkrumah. Dr. M.N. Tetteh makes it clear that Danquah and other traitors were detained “after the Chief Security Officer had made sure that adequate reasons were given to justify’ their detention, and that such people ‘WERE DETAINED BEFORE NKRUMAH COULD BE INFORMED OF THEIR DETENTION.’”
It also became clear upon investigation that, according to the testimony of two members of the police band, a leading Opposition politician in the country persuaded them to shoot Nkrumah as he “approached the band to congratulate them after their performance” at Flagstaff House (see June Milne’s “Forward Ever” and the “Exemption Committee Report”). It also became clear later that the co-conspirators of the assassination plot including some top police officers, strangled one of their own whom they had suspected of making attempts to expose them. To cover their misdeeds however, they alleged that their strangled colleague had committed suicide by throwing himself via a third-floor window onto the ground, a window with iron rods that the body of a baby will have a hard time going through. The leading Opposition politician in question in the country at the time was Danquah, since all the other Opposition members were outside the country plotting with foreign security services to overthrow Nkrumah and destabilize the country, were in detention under the PDA for various crimes against the state, or were on board with Nkrumah and the CPP government building and developing the country.
Concerning Nkrumah’s concern for Danquah’s condition in detention, the former assigned his best friend Dr. Seth Cudjoe (also a Pan-Africanist) to provide medical care for J.B. Danquah; and indeed, Dr. Cudjoe “prescribed medicines’ for Danquah. Besides, Danquah “was allowed sandals, clothing and his own blanket” (see Genoveva Marias). Marias further makes it clear that the sister of Danquah’s second wife, Nkrumah’s friend, visited Danquah in detention. She then went back to Nkrumah with information on Danquah’s medical condition. Marias notes that Danquah’s second wife “visited Nkrumah fairly regularly and improvements were made to her house on Nkrumah’s instructions” and also that Danquah’s wife “always saw Nkrumah when she requested an interview, which was never refused.” Danquah’s wife even wrote to Nkrumah requesting private funeral rites for her husband upon his death. Danquah, on the other hand, got to know about Nkrumah’s concern for his health and welfare through these visits undertaken by individuals closest to him. Why would Nkrumah weep over Danquah’s passing, a man he appointed as Director of Legal Education in Ghana and who he also made a member of the Ghana Arts and Academy of Science? (see Geoffrey Bing).
Put differently, why would Nkrumah mourn a traitor who had plotted his assassination on a number of occasions? Where in the world do coup plotters and assassins enjoy life as Danquah did in detention? Was the PDA not the most appropriate and effective response to the danger which Danquah and his terrorist and ethnocentric secessionist gangsters represent? Did the National Liberation Council not execute Lt. Moses Yeboah and Lt. Samuel by firing squad after the former assassinated General Kwasi Kotoka? Even Pres. George W. Bush cited Saddam Hussein’s alleged plot to assassinate his father [George H.W. Bush] as one of the principal reasons to get rid of Saddam and his government. Why must it always be different with Nkrumah as regards the state’s approach to stemming the tide of terrorism, armed insurrection, and violence on the part of the Opposition? Why must the Opposition refuse to use constitutional means to seek redress for their grievances, which the masses rejected? And what if the state under Nkrumah’s premiership had resorted to the conventional method of executing bomb throwers, assassins, and coup plotters?
Thus, Nkrumah may partly be blamed for allowing bomb throwers, assassins, and coup plotters to go scot-free, to live. We, therefore, have to agree with Marias’ position that “he [Nkrumah] would have [perhaps] remained in power and his enemies been given no opportunity to plot and counterplot against him” had he physically eliminated all his enemies. It is also a fact that Nkrumah allowed dangerous political criminals to live “because of his strong sense of spirituality like Gandhi (meatless diet, loath for alcohol, fasting, meditation, yoga, etc); his anti-capital punishment philosophy and attitude of forgiveness…This was typical of Nkrumah. And those who did not understand Nkrumah’s forgiving heart and anti-capital punishment ‘took it to be a lack of stability in’ his character’” (see Marias). Overall, Dr. Botwe-Asamoah notes: “In fact, evidence collected at the Exemption Committee of personal accounts of some Ghanaians, including close associates of Nkrumah who testified to having actually subverted Nkrumah’s government ‘by financing the importation of various bombs and grenades which killed school children and Young Pioneers,’ vindicated Nkrumah’s government” (see Dr. M.N. Tetteh).
Where did Nkrumah go wrong? We believe the situation may have turned out differently if Nkrumah had listened to advice. Perhaps he may not have paid serious attention to one such advice Richard Wright, the famous African-American writer, gave him in a letter. Wright said: “Be merciful by being stern! If I [Richard Wright] lived under your regime, I’ll ask for this hardness, this coldness…Make no mistake, Kwame, they are going to come at you with words about democracy; you are going to be pinned to the wall and warned about decency; plump-faced men will mumble academic phrases about ‘sound’ development; gentlemen of the cloth will speak unctuously of values and standards; in short, a barrage of concentrated arguments will be hurled at you to persuade you to temper the pace and drive of your movement…But you know as well as I that the logic of your actions is being determined by the conditions of the lives of your people. If, for one moment, you take your eyes off that fact, you’ll soon be just another African in a cloth on the streets of Accra. You’ve got to find your OWN path, your OWN values…” (Wright’s emphasis).
Wright continued: “Above all, feel free to IMPROVISE. The political cat can be skinned in many fashions; the building of that bridge between tribal man and the twentieth century can be done in a score of ways…You know as well as I know that politics alone is not enough for Africa. Keep the fires of passion burning in your movement; don’t let Westerners turn you away from the only force that can, at this time, knit our people together. It’s a secular religion you must create; it’s that, or your edifice falls apart. In your hands lies the first bid for African freedom and independence. Thus far you have followed an African pathway. I say: So be it…Europe know clearly that what you have achieved so far is not confined to the boundaries of the Gold Coast alone;…Your fight has been fought before. I am an American and my country too was once a colony of England…” (Wright’s emphasis; see Martin Kilson’s and Cromwell Hill’s book “Apropos of Africa: Sentiments of Negro American Leaders on Africa from the 1800s to the 1950s”).
We shall close this chapter by invoking one of the lines in Wright’s 1954 letter to Nkrumah: ” THERE WILL BE NO WAY TO AVOID A DEGREE OF SUFFERING, OF TRIAL, OF TRIBULATION; SUFFERING COMES TO ALL PEOPLE, BUT YOU HAVE WITHIN YOUR POWER THE MEANS TO MAKE THE SUFFERING OF YOUR PEOPLE MEANINGFUL, TO REDEEM WHATEVER STRESSES AND STRAINS MAY COME. NONE BUT AFRICANS CAN PERFORM THIS FOR AFRICA. AND, AS YOU LAUNCH YOUR BOLD PROGRAMS, AS YOU CALL ON YOUR PEOPLE FOR SACRIFICES, YOU CAN BE CONFIDENT THAT THERE ARE FREE MEN BEYOND THE CONTINENT OF AFRICA WHO SEE DEEPLY ENOUGH INTO LIFE TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MUST DO, WHAT YOU MUST IMPOSE…”
In the end, Danquah’s coup plots against and assassination attempts on Nkrumah were part of a larger scheme going as far back as April 19, 1956, when the Kumasi-based terrorist and secessionist National Liberation Movement (NLM) prophesied what happened in February 24, 1966, a plot ten years in the making (see Prof. Ninsin)! Like all his eternal handiworks, it is hardly debatable that Nkrumah’s unitary state and vision have outlived Danquah’s intellectual and political myopia!
Repetition is expected of good teachers, sometimes.
This, after all, is a case where education of others and the self, is strongly desired/helpful.
And so, we await publication of " ... read full comment
Not To Worry, Professor Kwarteng!
Repetition is expected of good teachers, sometimes.
This, after all, is a case where education of others and the self, is strongly desired/helpful.
And so, we await publication of "THE CASE FOR JB DANQUAH'S ARREST AND DETENTION," as you intended, on Ghanaweb.
Greetings!
ADJOA WANGARA 9 years ago
The kwarteng guy is such a stupid idiot that he forwards every nonsense to the editor of ghanaweb for publication. He does not even know what sort of stuff he himself has posted for publication all because he copies from diff ... read full comment
The kwarteng guy is such a stupid idiot that he forwards every nonsense to the editor of ghanaweb for publication. He does not even know what sort of stuff he himself has posted for publication all because he copies from different writers at the same time and put together.
Prof Lrtungu 9 years ago
ADJOA WANGARA,
Let's forgive Professor Kwarteng for this one!
We are all here doing what we can, to inform and be informed, hoping all of that will make us all a bit knowledgeable and wiser.
It is all a labor of love, ... read full comment
ADJOA WANGARA,
Let's forgive Professor Kwarteng for this one!
We are all here doing what we can, to inform and be informed, hoping all of that will make us all a bit knowledgeable and wiser.
It is all a labor of love, with a tinge of selfishness, if we may.
Also, it is a far bigger job to compose, as you may know.
We all make mistakes, sometimes!
So, let's be charitable, please!
Peace!
Prof Lungu 9 years ago
Talking about mistakes!
Talking about mistakes!
RINGO 9 years ago
LET'S ALL PRAY FOR THIS HOMOSEXUAL PSYCHIATRIC PATIENT.
LET'S ALL PRAY FOR THIS HOMOSEXUAL PSYCHIATRIC PATIENT.
AKUFFO ADDO WEE SMOKER 9 years ago
Danquah was A CRIMINAL.
Danquah was A CRIMINAL.
I. S.ISAH 7 years ago
The Truth Really Hurts, Adjoa (Kojo) Wangara.
Whether the wri.ter is a homosexual or psychiatric patient, he has revealed the truth why Danquah was arrested and detained. You have not contradicted what he wrote, but chose ... read full comment
The Truth Really Hurts, Adjoa (Kojo) Wangara.
Whether the wri.ter is a homosexual or psychiatric patient, he has revealed the truth why Danquah was arrested and detained. You have not contradicted what he wrote, but chose the easiest path to insult him. No wonder you are Adwoa Kojo
PROPHET 9 years ago
No SINGLE PERSON HAS PUT OKOAPA IN HIS PLACE LIKE KWARTENG. GOOD JOB, FRANCIS. KEEP IT COMING.
No SINGLE PERSON HAS PUT OKOAPA IN HIS PLACE LIKE KWARTENG. GOOD JOB, FRANCIS. KEEP IT COMING.
Be wise 9 years ago
This is a well written article with references..Continue this good job.. I may also write about why Nkrumah declared Ghana a one party state in the future, to clear the myth about the so called Nkrumah as a dictator which in ... read full comment
This is a well written article with references..Continue this good job.. I may also write about why Nkrumah declared Ghana a one party state in the future, to clear the myth about the so called Nkrumah as a dictator which in it sense is a completely wrong picture of the true brightness of the man Nkrumah... That article will shock many Ghanaians.
Nkrumah who forged this unitary system that all Ghanaians are now enjoying so much so that even now northerners and ewes are now proud of themselves to the extend that they now see themselves as better people than the rest thanks to selfless great leader like Nkrumah who could have joined his fellow tribesmen to form a federal state of Ghana where other tribes would have been subjugated.
Prof Lungu 9 years ago
YOUR: "... I may also write about why Nkrumah declared Ghana a one party state in the future, to clear the myth about the so called Nkrumah as a dictator..."
WE SAY: Please do! We would all like to read your piece, Be wise ... read full comment
YOUR: "... I may also write about why Nkrumah declared Ghana a one party state in the future, to clear the myth about the so called Nkrumah as a dictator..."
WE SAY: Please do! We would all like to read your piece, Be wise!
Prof Lungu 9 years ago
Some remarkable words, prophetic, even, from Richard Wright, the African-American writer.
This, we must say, is new to us!
THE FINALE: "...Like all his eternal handiworks, it is hardly debatable that Nkrumah’s unita ... read full comment
Some remarkable words, prophetic, even, from Richard Wright, the African-American writer.
This, we must say, is new to us!
THE FINALE: "...Like all his eternal handiworks, it is hardly debatable that Nkrumah’s unitary state and vision have outlived Danquah’s intellectual and political myopia!"
OUR COMMENT: The legacy still lives on. Imagine Akufo Addo talking yesterday about Ghanaians staying together as a collective, without regard to religion.
Just imagine!
How do you get there with a confederate government?
How many States/Regions would have Danquah and Busia started with, with all that equal power?
Then to read:
Busia could have!
Busia would have!
Yes!
Right!
Nene Teye 9 years ago
Enlighting read. Oh mother Ghana, how ye hath been striped off your best son ever ! I am a yung ma who was born long after thedeath of this great African patriot, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. I respect and adore what he did. N ... read full comment
Enlighting read. Oh mother Ghana, how ye hath been striped off your best son ever ! I am a yung ma who was born long after thedeath of this great African patriot, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. I respect and adore what he did. Now what legacy are current politicians leaving behind. I agree with Mr Richard Wright "You know as well as I know that politics alone is not enough for Africa..."
James Okine 9 years ago
Nkrumah was too lenient and merciful.Danquah would have disappeared under J.J.Rawlngs regime.
Nkrumah was too lenient and merciful.Danquah would have disappeared under J.J.Rawlngs regime.
NEW YORK SUPERMAN 9 years ago
The article represents a good historical record of Danquah's iniquities against not only Nkrumah, but the Republic both of them helped birth. Danquah was a failure at everything he did and he deeply resented Nkrumah's success ... read full comment
The article represents a good historical record of Danquah's iniquities against not only Nkrumah, but the Republic both of them helped birth. Danquah was a failure at everything he did and he deeply resented Nkrumah's success as a politician, who had played on the world stage from the time he formed the CPP and helped oust the colonial government. This deep resentment is what blinded him to every aspect of nation building that Nkrumah's group put forth. It is not unlike the deep resentment the Republican party now has for President Obama. When you hate, it destroys you, and Danquah's pettiness always got the better of him, hence his consignment to the dung heap of history. Only his forebears admire him, and in their search for glory where none can be found, strive endless to make him an icon. He isn't, wasn't and never shall be. If you doubt it, google both Nkrumah and Danquah and see what you get on both men: one failed, the other succeeded marvelously.
Africa 9 years ago
Long Live Africa, Nkrumah and the CPP. Continue with the excellent work, history is on our side.
Long Live Africa, Nkrumah and the CPP. Continue with the excellent work, history is on our side.
RINGO 9 years ago
To consult AHOOFE'S psychiatrist or DR SAS' psychiatrist is a major decision ADJOA WANGARA is struggling with.
To consult AHOOFE'S psychiatrist or DR SAS' psychiatrist is a major decision ADJOA WANGARA is struggling with.
Frank Appiah 9 years ago
This is an excellent piece with authentic references.Nkrumah haters must bow down their heads in shame.
This is an excellent piece with authentic references.Nkrumah haters must bow down their heads in shame.
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 9 years ago
When people open the door to showcase Nkrumah as the best thing that ever happened to Ghana, it is the right and duty of honest citizens to also showcase every one of his acts to determine whether the truth is being told. In ... read full comment
When people open the door to showcase Nkrumah as the best thing that ever happened to Ghana, it is the right and duty of honest citizens to also showcase every one of his acts to determine whether the truth is being told. In sum, Nkrumah had nothing to his name after over twelve years abroad when he was invited over to join the fight for Ghana's independence. He usurped his employers and established himself as the man of the people seeking freedom for the masses. Soon after his so-called independence, he imposed a dictatorship on the country by his enactment of the PDA, his abolition of opposition, and declaration of one-party state. He abolished judicial independence by dismissing judges and vesting the law in his person. He supplanted the operational command of the army by making himself Supreme Commander. He established a school system in which his ideology and adoration were taught, causing to be burned books he considered inimical to his egocentric policies. He had his effigy on the national currency and his portrait on the streets and his statue in front of parliament house.
He ran a disastrous economic policy wherefore the national resources were freely given away in pursuit of his megalomaniacal agenda to rule the whole of Africa. In the end, he ran a rich nation into deep bankruptcy and was overthrown in ignominy, dying alone in exile without his family and friends, and betrayed by his most trusted acolytes. That is the story of Nkrumah.
And these are the facts of history to be discussed by intelligent minds. If anyone establishes excuses for any of Nkrumah's evil acts, then we should remember that Hitler had excuses; Jim Crow had excuses, Dread Scott judges had excuses, and KKK had excuses..... So, as I have said elsewhere, greatness involves those acts and ideas for which posterity will accept as noble models for the guidance of their lives, not those ignoble acts perpetrated with wild excuses and self-serving caveats.
And if you list any of the human virtues and attributes for which any great leader must be extolled, Nkrumah had none. He was an extremely wicked man, a brutal dictator and an arrant spendthrift of extraordinary proportions. That is why he can have no legacy to his name.
It is possible to make a prosopographical argument to justify Nkrumah's acts, but such an argument brings him down to the level of a mediocre leader. For greatness belongs to those whose acts are forever noble and forever exemplary. Perennial concepts go in accord with those we want to emulate, and in Nkrumah's case, we find none to emulate. Rather, we find those devilish acts which all sound-minded people must repudiate.
Today, his followers may well dissemble his acts and surgically reconstruct his broken image; but facts are facts. Those insulting me must tell me where I have the facts wrong before they go ahead with their re-interpretation of the facts. They should stop questioning my sanity and throwing around salacious lies about me....
Nkrumah had only fifteen years of window of his entire life to do something great; but he became extremely toxic to his friends, to his country and to the whole of Africa and was cast onto the dustbin of history. None of his legacy survives today....The legacy of the true leaders like Osagyefo Dr. J.B. Danquah still survives them long after they are gone. Nkrumah is indeed dead, insofar as he has no single legacy left to his name. Danquah lives forever through his legacy of democracy in whose path our country charts its cause...
And when I write about these things, I want posterity to understand that I told the truth with a clear conscience as it should be told, and that I did not pander to the palpable lies and darker fictions of those Nkrumaist idol worshipers and town-criers to whom the dead Nkrumah never dies and the evil Nkrumah does no wrong.
Prof Lungu 9 years ago
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law,
You are a lawyer and you love to talk about the law and courtroom principles!
Even on Ghanaweb!
So, if we may...
In your particular case, the Nkrumah position is already recognized globall ... read full comment
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law,
You are a lawyer and you love to talk about the law and courtroom principles!
Even on Ghanaweb!
So, if we may...
In your particular case, the Nkrumah position is already recognized globally, and in Ghana, even, after all the deliberate destruction of that legacy by the NLC and their Busia cohorts, and others that followed.
First year college students, including law students, know the difference between a Danquah confederation and an Nkrumah unitary government, and how all of that relate to "democracy".
The other day, we heard Akufo-Addo basking in Nkrumah's unitary vision and actuality, saying Ghanaians are one. All of that must be confederate in your ears, we must presume!
More important, in your particular case, you were for Nkrumah, long before you were against Nkrumah. This is no mean achievement/detraction for a lawyer. Fact is, all of that go beyond expertise, knowledge, intentions, even character!
Fact again is, your attempts at claiming that you are a victim of "abuses" on Ghanaweb do not hold. You had been at the tip of that shameful "abusive" spear.
However, we will grant you that recently, you have began to ramp it all the way down. That, Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law, we must say, is a good thing for Ghanaweb.
Thomas Osei 9 years ago
DR SAS' response is meaningless to any objective and fair-minded reader.
DR SAS' response is meaningless to any objective and fair-minded reader.
YAW 9 years ago
Sarfo rants against Nkrumah with all the restraint of Rush Limbaugh at African-American bashing party.
Sarfo rants against Nkrumah with all the restraint of Rush Limbaugh at African-American bashing party.
MARCUS AMPADU 9 years ago
I see GHANA as the loser in this back and forth.
The Nkrumahists and the Danquahists forces are focusing too much on the past, and too little on the future.
Because of the rapid changes the whole world is now experiencin ... read full comment
I see GHANA as the loser in this back and forth.
The Nkrumahists and the Danquahists forces are focusing too much on the past, and too little on the future.
Because of the rapid changes the whole world is now experiencing, it makes more sense to plan for Ghana's future.
I will rather dwell on developing scenarios on alternative futures , worry about analyzing probable futures, and selecting preferable future for our nation.
Kwame Tawiah 9 years ago
Nkrumah haters led by DR SAS must be honest.They have lost the debate.
Nkrumah haters led by DR SAS must be honest.They have lost the debate.
C.Y. ANDY-K 9 years ago
Yes, they lost it patapata, having started it! Now all the dirt about their beloved Danquah has been spilt more than ever before.
Andy-K
Yes, they lost it patapata, having started it! Now all the dirt about their beloved Danquah has been spilt more than ever before.
Andy-K
be wise 9 years ago
You're "an acute hater" of Nkrumah indeed. You wait patiently for my article... Nkrumah did not usurp anyone..He humbly took the position given him at the time..
And interesting things began to enfold at the various UGCC m ... read full comment
You're "an acute hater" of Nkrumah indeed. You wait patiently for my article... Nkrumah did not usurp anyone..He humbly took the position given him at the time..
And interesting things began to enfold at the various UGCC meetings (which in our cycles we call the "Ashanti meetings"), a well planned tribal policy by our own Akan brothers (the asantes who only love to subjugate other tribes)..So it was no surprise why Nkrumah was extremely hated by his friendly enemies his own tribesmen not because he (Nkrumah betrayed them)...
Think about it: why was Nkrumah overthrown at his absence.. ask even the ring leader he will tell you that the man was genuine and upright so much so that they cannot do anything against him at his presence... And on the side note if what you've written is to be taken seriously then the world must be crazy to have awarded Nkrumah the man of the Century even after he's death and gone (the only honest award ever given and agreed on even by the colonialists)..
I once posed a question to an European friend about Mandela and Nkrumah.. I asked him if this two men were Europeans fighting for unity and justice for citizens of Europe and specifically for his countrymen.. You can imagine what he said..
C.Y. ANDY-K 9 years ago
Dr SAS,
I don't expect anything less than the usual catalogue of ill-thought through calumny against Nkrumah from you and your ilk. But you know what? Sane, knowledgeable and intelligent beings like some of us, Ghanaians a ... read full comment
Dr SAS,
I don't expect anything less than the usual catalogue of ill-thought through calumny against Nkrumah from you and your ilk. But you know what? Sane, knowledgeable and intelligent beings like some of us, Ghanaians and non-Ghanaians, are not the least convinced by your fabrications. Francis just wrote that Nkrumah was too lenient to the likes of Danquah and you expect anyone to convince him otherwise?
You want facts? I had told you more than once around that not even the key traitors in the NLC who overthrew the CPP regime claimed they overthrew a dictatorship. One of them was married to an aunt. They said they acted in order to avert a "creeping dictatorship", whatever that means.
Secondly, I had referred you to Prof. Macpheron's classic broadcast on Radio Canada in which he identified the the Third World variant of democracy based on one party states as the closest to the original Athenian democracy of Pericles. But there was also Solon and Draco (from whom we got the phrase "draconian laws")in that history. man, you critiques of Nkrumah are too uneducated and no worthwhile debate can be had with you. So, within the prevailing paradigm, Nkrumah was very right in the choices he made at the time. When even parties proclaiming socialism were ruling countries in Western European countries too???
Go get some independent education on these things and return, since the free one Francis is providing is not sinking it to you.
Before I go, let me recount a story by a Norwegian traveller in W. Africa I watched on Norwegian TV, NRK, in the mid-198os. According to the man, arriving from Nigeria by land, he found himself in Togo, and needed to cross Ghana to Cote D'ivore in order to catch a plane. He had heard of the "brutal junta" in Ghana and was in dread for his live and was determined to cross Ghana in a dash - a day. But crossing into Aflao, he was struck by the orderly queues to join vehicles and no soldier nor Police in sight to be shaping people in line. Typical Ghanaians reaction to obronis, he found himself being given special friendly treatment. By the time he arrived in Accra, going through those barriers with not single person molested, no bribe taken from a driver, no goods seized (things he had witnessed in Nigeria, Benin and Togo. ever crossed at Hilla Condji?? Phew!), he was befuddled at what sort of "brutal dictatorship" this junta was running. The long and the short of his story that he ended up spending 2 week in Ghana instead of less than a day and he had his best time of the trip there. There was no way you can convince that Norwegian that JJ was running a "brutal dictatorship" under the PNDC. I think the mass of Ghanaians who support the NDC will agree with him.
Andy-K
francis kwarteng 9 years ago
Nyebro Yao,
Good day to you both.
As usual, brilliant analysis from you. I like the fact that you mentioned Draco and Solon, Brother Yao.
Furthermore, according to one tradition (courtesy of Plato), Solon, the Gree ... read full comment
Nyebro Yao,
Good day to you both.
As usual, brilliant analysis from you. I like the fact that you mentioned Draco and Solon, Brother Yao.
Furthermore, according to one tradition (courtesy of Plato), Solon, the Greek legislator, claimed to have picked up the brand of "democracy" he later introduced in Athens (Ancient Greece), after his trip to Egypt(from Ancient Egyptians (Egyptian Priest)).
As ans aside, WEB Du Bois' investigation of Ancient Egyptian political system clearly revealed the "one party system," if I can otherwise label it "a democratic constitutional monarchy," as the system that produced one of the most, if not the most, influential, productive, creative, and stable civilizations (Egyptian civilization) in human history.
The empires of West Africa (and other parts) of Africa are not too far. I wonder what we should call the British constitutional system (and other Western/European political systems based on their constitutional monarchies), if not a one-party system! We should also recall that West Africa, for instance, had a "democratic" constitutional monarchy in place A THOUSAND YEARS before the first of its kind appeared in Europe!
Even America's duopoly is a one-party system, a corporatocracy, a point Prof. Domhoff argues in his influential book "Who Rules America? Challenegs to Corporate Dominance." One leading American scholar even refers to America's duopoly as "dictatorship of the minority" (a one-party system), a direct reference to the corporate class and how it controls America.
What is more, Jomo Kenyatta, Julius Nyerere, Felix Houghouet-Boigny, Modibo Keita, Gnassingbe Eyadema, etc., all practiced it. America practiced a one-party ssystem, in the strictest sense of the word, for nearly 16 years before the role of slavery in America's political economy changed the course of political practice in America, leading to the advent of the Republicans, Democrats, and what have you!
Finally, in all the authoritative references I have seen dealing with why the 1966 coup occurred, I have come across the phrases "creeping dictatorshop," "encroaching dictatorship," etc. Other words closest to "creeping" and "encroaching" have also been used elsewhere.
Have a great weekend (you both).
kasapreko III 9 years ago
The so-called western multiparty system practiced in and around Western Europe and the US, is a fluke that is designed to deceive vulnerable minds to tow that slippery line of thought to their own utter destruction.
If you ... read full comment
The so-called western multiparty system practiced in and around Western Europe and the US, is a fluke that is designed to deceive vulnerable minds to tow that slippery line of thought to their own utter destruction.
If you have a supposedly multiparty system in which all actors and parties practice the same ideology whilst all emerging and practicing leaders are the only circumstances that may change, how should one describe this farce? What is the difference between this scenario and a de facto one party state where the various echelons of state leadership likewise, also change from time to time according to the dictates of the state party's elections?
Has any major political party in the US ever been anything other than capitalist (neo-liberal) and imperialistic? Has any major political party in the US been tolerant of any other ideological tendencies around the world?
What for example, is the fundamental ideological difference between the two Bushes, Ronald Reagan, Nixon, Clinton, or for that matter, any other American President including Obama?
In the same vein one would ask what, if any, are the major intrinsic differences between the Democrats and the Republicans who have dominated the US political scene forever to the tacit exclusion of other parties whose fortunes are methodically undermined?
Does this not preclude that the neo-liberal imperialists practice a monstrous intolerant creed called neo-liberalism that can emphatically also be described as an impervious state ideology that considers all other practicing allies and nations as one?
Is it an accident of nature that all successful neo-liberal countries, are generally deemed to be racist in their posture?
And I thought that the idea about western democracy was about tolerating all shades of opinion as well as political creeds? And that ultimately, it was the choice of the electorate and not the system itself that should determine the better option?
Francis Kwarteng, thanks for another exciting, stimulating and eye-opening magnum Opus.
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 9 years ago
Dr. Andy-K,
What is a person supposed to tell you when you ignorantly state:
"......not even the key traitors in the NLC who overthrew the CPP regime claimed they overthrew a dictatorship. One of them was married to an ... read full comment
Dr. Andy-K,
What is a person supposed to tell you when you ignorantly state:
"......not even the key traitors in the NLC who overthrew the CPP regime claimed they overthrew a dictatorship. One of them was married to an aunt. They said they acted in order to avert a "creeping dictatorship"??
So the "key traitors" said "creeping dictatorship" so we must all agree to add the "creeping" to dictatorship?
I am surprised that you still disagree with me that you have "creeping" Alzheimer's disease. And even your English is getting worse.
Frank Appiah 9 years ago
THE POT CALLS THE BLACK
THE POT CALLS THE BLACK
Frank Appiah 9 years ago
THE POT CALLS THE KETTLE BLACK.
THE POT CALLS THE KETTLE BLACK.
kasapreko III 9 years ago
.............more psychobabble
.............more psychobabble
Joe Mensah 9 years ago
Hey Dr SAS! Your persistent anti-Nkrumah comments are shocking.Evidence of Nkrumah's greatness is overwhelming.I will admonish you to take a deep breath and try to be objective and fair-minded for one moment.Even the imperial ... read full comment
Hey Dr SAS! Your persistent anti-Nkrumah comments are shocking.Evidence of Nkrumah's greatness is overwhelming.I will admonish you to take a deep breath and try to be objective and fair-minded for one moment.Even the imperialists and neo-colonialists who removed him from the political scene have admitted that he lived ahead of his time.The same cannot be said about the traitor J.B.Danquah,the stooge who was on CIA payroll.
Ghanaian To The Core 9 years ago
Please return!
Please return!
PROPHET 9 years ago
Nkrumah is loved by AKANS, GAS, EWES, FRAFRAS, JAMAICANS, AFRICAN AMERICANS, RUSSIANS, YOU NAME IT. NKRUMAH IS A GIANT, DANQUAH A DWARF.
Nkrumah is loved by AKANS, GAS, EWES, FRAFRAS, JAMAICANS, AFRICAN AMERICANS, RUSSIANS, YOU NAME IT. NKRUMAH IS A GIANT, DANQUAH A DWARF.
Atuo 9 years ago
What was Dr. Sokolov, the Russian Doctor who was assigned a military car and driver doing at the Nsawam Prison on his frequent visits? It's an open secret that Genovive Marais, the South African Director of GTV who was using ... read full comment
What was Dr. Sokolov, the Russian Doctor who was assigned a military car and driver doing at the Nsawam Prison on his frequent visits? It's an open secret that Genovive Marais, the South African Director of GTV who was using a Thunderbird car bought for him by his boy friend, Nkrumah. We shall all be answerable to our maker, therefore you should continue to destroy people with such rotten articles.
Dear Readers,
This is not the the essay I intended for publication. I mixed up the titles!
I sent the intended one to the editor and asked that that be published instead.
I sent the editor three notices declaring my ...
read full comment
Not To Worry, Professor Kwarteng!
Repetition is expected of good teachers, sometimes.
This, after all, is a case where education of others and the self, is strongly desired/helpful.
And so, we await publication of " ...
read full comment
The kwarteng guy is such a stupid idiot that he forwards every nonsense to the editor of ghanaweb for publication. He does not even know what sort of stuff he himself has posted for publication all because he copies from diff ...
read full comment
ADJOA WANGARA,
Let's forgive Professor Kwarteng for this one!
We are all here doing what we can, to inform and be informed, hoping all of that will make us all a bit knowledgeable and wiser.
It is all a labor of love, ...
read full comment
Talking about mistakes!
LET'S ALL PRAY FOR THIS HOMOSEXUAL PSYCHIATRIC PATIENT.
Danquah was A CRIMINAL.
The Truth Really Hurts, Adjoa (Kojo) Wangara.
Whether the wri.ter is a homosexual or psychiatric patient, he has revealed the truth why Danquah was arrested and detained. You have not contradicted what he wrote, but chose ...
read full comment
No SINGLE PERSON HAS PUT OKOAPA IN HIS PLACE LIKE KWARTENG. GOOD JOB, FRANCIS. KEEP IT COMING.
This is a well written article with references..Continue this good job.. I may also write about why Nkrumah declared Ghana a one party state in the future, to clear the myth about the so called Nkrumah as a dictator which in ...
read full comment
YOUR: "... I may also write about why Nkrumah declared Ghana a one party state in the future, to clear the myth about the so called Nkrumah as a dictator..."
WE SAY: Please do! We would all like to read your piece, Be wise ...
read full comment
Some remarkable words, prophetic, even, from Richard Wright, the African-American writer.
This, we must say, is new to us!
THE FINALE: "...Like all his eternal handiworks, it is hardly debatable that Nkrumah’s unita ...
read full comment
Enlighting read. Oh mother Ghana, how ye hath been striped off your best son ever ! I am a yung ma who was born long after thedeath of this great African patriot, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. I respect and adore what he did. N ...
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Nkrumah was too lenient and merciful.Danquah would have disappeared under J.J.Rawlngs regime.
The article represents a good historical record of Danquah's iniquities against not only Nkrumah, but the Republic both of them helped birth. Danquah was a failure at everything he did and he deeply resented Nkrumah's success ...
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Long Live Africa, Nkrumah and the CPP. Continue with the excellent work, history is on our side.
To consult AHOOFE'S psychiatrist or DR SAS' psychiatrist is a major decision ADJOA WANGARA is struggling with.
This is an excellent piece with authentic references.Nkrumah haters must bow down their heads in shame.
When people open the door to showcase Nkrumah as the best thing that ever happened to Ghana, it is the right and duty of honest citizens to also showcase every one of his acts to determine whether the truth is being told. In ...
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Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law,
You are a lawyer and you love to talk about the law and courtroom principles!
Even on Ghanaweb!
So, if we may...
In your particular case, the Nkrumah position is already recognized globall ...
read full comment
DR SAS' response is meaningless to any objective and fair-minded reader.
Sarfo rants against Nkrumah with all the restraint of Rush Limbaugh at African-American bashing party.
I see GHANA as the loser in this back and forth.
The Nkrumahists and the Danquahists forces are focusing too much on the past, and too little on the future.
Because of the rapid changes the whole world is now experiencin ...
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Nkrumah haters led by DR SAS must be honest.They have lost the debate.
Yes, they lost it patapata, having started it! Now all the dirt about their beloved Danquah has been spilt more than ever before.
Andy-K
You're "an acute hater" of Nkrumah indeed. You wait patiently for my article... Nkrumah did not usurp anyone..He humbly took the position given him at the time..
And interesting things began to enfold at the various UGCC m ...
read full comment
Dr SAS,
I don't expect anything less than the usual catalogue of ill-thought through calumny against Nkrumah from you and your ilk. But you know what? Sane, knowledgeable and intelligent beings like some of us, Ghanaians a ...
read full comment
Nyebro Yao,
Good day to you both.
As usual, brilliant analysis from you. I like the fact that you mentioned Draco and Solon, Brother Yao.
Furthermore, according to one tradition (courtesy of Plato), Solon, the Gree ...
read full comment
The so-called western multiparty system practiced in and around Western Europe and the US, is a fluke that is designed to deceive vulnerable minds to tow that slippery line of thought to their own utter destruction.
If you ...
read full comment
Dr. Andy-K,
What is a person supposed to tell you when you ignorantly state:
"......not even the key traitors in the NLC who overthrew the CPP regime claimed they overthrew a dictatorship. One of them was married to an ...
read full comment
THE POT CALLS THE BLACK
THE POT CALLS THE KETTLE BLACK.
.............more psychobabble
Hey Dr SAS! Your persistent anti-Nkrumah comments are shocking.Evidence of Nkrumah's greatness is overwhelming.I will admonish you to take a deep breath and try to be objective and fair-minded for one moment.Even the imperial ...
read full comment
Please return!
Nkrumah is loved by AKANS, GAS, EWES, FRAFRAS, JAMAICANS, AFRICAN AMERICANS, RUSSIANS, YOU NAME IT. NKRUMAH IS A GIANT, DANQUAH A DWARF.
What was Dr. Sokolov, the Russian Doctor who was assigned a military car and driver doing at the Nsawam Prison on his frequent visits? It's an open secret that Genovive Marais, the South African Director of GTV who was using ...
read full comment