The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembelle Constituency in the Western region, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah has acknowledged the high standard set by the first President of Ghana Kwame Nkrumah when he led the country for almost a decade.

"Nkrumah's authority never rested in his title. It rested in his willingness to sacrifice everything including comfort, safety and even his freedom for a continent that had not yet learned to believe in itself", he said.

"That is the inheritance I bring to this podium, and it is the same spirit I now ask each of you to carry to Nkroful the birthplace of Osagyefor Dr Kwame Nkrumah in September", he appealed.

Speaking at the launch of this year's edition of NkrumahFest, the lawmaker recalled the transitional moment of the African Icon who spearheaded the liberation of Africa.

"One hundred and seventeen (117) years since a child was born in a small village of Nkroful. A child who would grow to rearrange the map of a continent and the conscience of a world. We gather today beneath the towering presence of this sacred mausoleum as living torch bearers of a vision that refuses to die" he remarked.

He commended participants for showing up for the launch of this year's programme "I thank you sincerely for honouring this call at such a short notice.Your presence here is not just a gesture of respect but a declaration that the fire Kwame Nkrumah lit in our hearts still burns bright. We are here to launch the 2026 edition of the NkrumahFest which is dubbed "A Journey to Nkroful" he submitted

This annual pilgrimage to Nkroful he underscored, is the sacred duty of all Ghanaians.

"It is our collective return to the very soil that gave birth to the man who gave birth to a nation"

On his part, he explained "For years, I have been honoured to spearhead this initiative, and each year, as we prepare to walk the paths he once walked, I am reminded that Nkrumah's legacy is not a monument to be admired but a mandate to be fulfilled"

He stated the obvious "Let me stare clearly why we are here. We are here to launch a movement. We are here to rekindle a revolution. We are here to declare that the dream Dr. Kwame Nkrumah planted in the soil of Nkroful is not a relic of the past—it is the blueprint for our future.

He stated, "Today, we officially set in motion the machinery for the main event. From the 14th to the 21st of September, we will engage in a week-long array of activities in Nkroful—a programme meticulously designed to truly honour the memory of a man of such towering stature.

There will be lectures, cultural displays, community engagements, and moments of deep reflection, all aimed at ensuring that we do not just remember Nkrumah, but that we embody his spirit"

He added "This year, as we celebrate his 117th birthday, we do so under a theme that is not merely descriptive but prophetic: "Nkrumah @ 117: Celebrating His Enduring Legacy - Africa Must Unite or Perish."

Let us pause and sit with that theme. It is a summons. It is not a suggestion, he said.

"Africa Must Unite or Perish” these were not the idle words of a dreamer. These were the urgent words of a statesman who saw the future with terrifying clarity. Nkrumah understood that the forces of imperialism, poverty, and underdevelopment would never be defeated by fragmented, bickering nations.

He said, "He understood that our strength as Africans lies not in our borders, but in our bonds. He understood that our destiny is intertwined—that no African nation can truly be free until all of Africa is free. And so, as we celebrate his enduring legacy, we must ask ourselves: Have we heeded his warning?"

Have we embraced his vision? Have we moved beyond the rhetoric of Pan-Africanism to the reality of it"

Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah noted that to celebrate Nkrumah's enduring legacy is not to place wreaths at his feet while ignoring the foundations he laid.

"It is to build upon those foundations. It is to look at the schools he built and ask: Are we educating our children for liberation or for subjugation? It is to look at the factories he established and ask: Are we building an economy that serves our people or one that serves distant masters? It is to look at the Akosombo Dam and ask: Are we lighting up our future or allowing darkness to creep back in?"

His legacy, he underscored is alive in the roads we travel, the hospitals that heal us, and the industries that sustain us.

He concluded that, "But more importantly, his legacy lives in the spirit of every Ghanaian who dares to dream beyond the circumstances. That is the legacy we celebrate—not a man frozen in bronze, but a man whose ideas are still shaping our present and demanding our future".