A retired Public Works Department staff member, Lawrence Frederick Asiamah Tenkorang, has rejected Kwame Nkrumah’s famous assertion that “the black man is capable of managing his own affairs.”
The 94-year-old has stated that he never believed in Nkrumah’s assertion, arguing that skin colour cannot determine a person’s ability to manage the affairs of a country.
Speaking to media personality Kafui Dey, Lawrence Frederick Asiamah Tenkorang questioned why skin colour should be an issue when determining who is capable of managing a country.
He argued that whether a person is “white” or “black”, the same blood runs through their veins, suggesting that race should not be the basis for determining who is capable of administering a country.
Lawrence Frederick Asiamah Tenkorang explained that after Ghana gained independence and the “whites” left, the country experienced what he described as a total collapse of its administrative system.
He further argued that the inability of the country’s new leaders to maintain stability was demonstrated by the numerous coups that followed, with successive leaders being removed from office.
'Ghana is suffering today because of Nkrumah's blunders' – Retired PWD staff claims
“I didn’t believe it. Because if a black man takes a blade and cuts himself, it’s blood that will come out; if a white man cuts himself, the same blood will come out. So why should skin colour be a difference? It doesn’t matter who was in charge, whether black or white. After all the whites went away, there was a total collapse of the administration, and there were so many coups, with people kicking each other out,” he stated.
In the same conversation, he also argued that Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah, committed blunders that contributed to some of the challenges Ghana is facing today.
According to him, Nkrumah made significant mistakes in the administration of the country after Ghana gained independence in 1957, particularly by retiring Western administrators who, he believes, had accumulated valuable experience in running the country.
“The Western people had administered the country for 113 years, from 1844 to 1957. So, they had 113 years of administrative experience. How they were administering the country, it was alright, fine. That’s how I saw it. The country was being administered beautifully, and they handed over power to him, Kwame Nkrumah,” he said.
He believes the decision to remove these Western administrators, who had years of experience in the country’s administration, negatively affected Ghana’s administrative system after independence.
After all the ‘whites’ left, there was a total collapse of the administration, and there were so many coups; people kicking each other out - Lawrence Frederick Asiamah Tenkorang, retired Public Works Department staff
— Kafui Dey (@KafuiDey) September 12, 2026
Watch full interview here https://t.co/7vuqUSW6A4… pic.twitter.com/Z7L8ZDLZoE
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