How Busia danaged Nkrumah & Busia in Ghana

The main purpose of this article and its subsequent series is to help the youth in Ghana know the record of the Danquah/Busia tradition to which the NPP has its umbilical cord in the political history of Ghana since majority of voters were too young then to experience the general arrogance, ineptitude and unprogressive nature of the D/B group when they were in power from 1969-1972.As a matter of fact, the so-called intellectuals in our country, for reasons which appear to themselves sufficient, have re-written or are still re- writing our history, blackening the dark side of the D/B tradition completely. Dr Busia was an intellectual, no doubt about that but he couldn't have referred to Nkrumah as a "brawn" when he Busia's Ghana Congress Party performed abysmally in the June 15th,1954 elections.After losing that election, Busia referred to Dr Nkrumah as a "show boy" with inferior intellect. Busia's craze for power carried him all the way to New York City to testify before a United States Senate sub-committee on December 3rd,1962 against Ghana and Dr Nkrumah just for political power, a similar thing Akuffo Addo is doing today.Busia pleaded with the Senate committee to investigate Dr Nkrumah & his administration. Busia hoped to convince the US that Dr Nkrumah was a Communist and a threat to world peace, therefore he must be isolated. For Busia,the timing of his testimony was perfect because it coincided with Nkrumah's negotiations with the US for loans meant for the Volta River hydroelectric project. During his testimony, the investigation analyst, Mr Robert McManus asked Busia what the Bureau of African Affairs stood for.Busia in reply said the Bureau was used for subversive activities in other African countries.He furnished the committee with Nkrumah's military budget and even tried to link the origin of Chief Obafemi Awolowo's alleged purchase of arms to Ghana.I submit Busia's own words "That the situation in Ghana constitutes a threat not only to liberty and democracy, but to the whole continent of Africa ; and in the context of the East-West, the role of Ghana is a serious threat to world peace ".Those were Busia's words damaging the very country he wanted to lead. He gave a detailed account of Nkrumah's travels through the former "Eastern Bloc" and falsely added Ghana's attempt on the life of President Olympio of Togo but refused to mention the same Olympio's support to the opposition of which he,Busia was part.

In response to a question, whether the US should give aid to the Volta River Project or not, Busia responded among other things that "if it were to change the social structure, if it was going to mean increased liberty for the people, or the kind of democracy in the West,then that was not just there in Ghana".Based on these adverse testimony, the then US Secretary of State,Dean Rusk told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the US must withhold funds for the dam unless there were assurances that Dr Nkrumah will not embark on policies hostile to the US.The only thing that saved the project was KAISER ENGINEERS financial interest in the project. Even that the US insisted unless Nkrumah's government signed a "satisfactory " agreement with Kaiser's, millions of dollars in foreign aid and world bank funds for Ghana were to held up.A determined Nkrumah went ahead and signed the agreement with Kaiser Engineers which guaranteed the company cheap electric power for 30 years with sn option to renew for another 20 years. Kaiser got a 50 year exemption from import fees.It was during the PNDC era that the government called on VALCO to renegotiate the agreement which was finally completed in 1984.The question therefore is,did Nkrumah live to enjoy his toil and what is Busia's legacy? .This is how the craze for power can can carry people, damn the consequences.Stay tuned for more stuff on "WHEN THEY WERE IN POWER.