Nkrumah was no saint but the traitor JBD got what he deserved. He should have been paraded on the streets of our villages for Ghanaians to know who their true enemies were.
Nkrumah was no saint but the traitor JBD got what he deserved. He should have been paraded on the streets of our villages for Ghanaians to know who their true enemies were.
Nyansasem 9 years ago
At least read the article before you respond. Only boneheads respond to articles without reading.
At least read the article before you respond. Only boneheads respond to articles without reading.
Akwasi Prempeh 9 years ago
Dr Arthur Kennedy writes: “There is no record of either the CIA station chief or CIA Director ever confirming that the CIA ever paid any money to Danquah or that he was a spy. Added to that is the fact that Danquah was neve ... read full comment
Dr Arthur Kennedy writes: “There is no record of either the CIA station chief or CIA Director ever confirming that the CIA ever paid any money to Danquah or that he was a spy. Added to that is the fact that Danquah was never in a position to provide any state secrets to anybody. In other words, there is no iota of evidence backing the charge that Danquah was a CIA agent.”
Mahoney’s book titled JFK: The Africa Ordea l lm Africa was by the son of a late former diplomat, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana.
This is what Professor Mahoney wrote in his book (pages 184 - 185):
"The matter concerned Dr. J.B. Danquah, Nkrumah's opponent in presidential elections of 1960, who was released from prison a few months after Mahoney's arrival as ambassador. Danquah paid a visit one November day to the embassy to ask Mahoney why the FUNDS [my caps]his family had been receiving during his imprisonment had been cut off after his release. This was the first time that Mahoney had heard of the arrangement. After Danquah left, he summoned the CIA chief of station to ask why he had not been advised of the agency's association with Danquah. Dissatisfied with the explanation, Mahoney flew to Washington two days later and personally informed Kennedy about the matter.
The President reacted sharply to the news and told Mahoney that he had sent a letter to all ambassadors in May 1961 making it clear that their authority extended to all phases of embassy decision making. Kennedy then telephoned CIA Director John McCone and told him that he was sending Mahoney over to CIA headquarters and wanted the matter resolved immediately. The understanding that emerged from the meeting at Langley was that 'no undertakings of any kind, even remotely involving our situation in Ghana, would either be continued or launched without the ambassador's knowledge and approval'"(Ref 149).
Ref 149: "This account is drawn from OHWPM [Oral history of William P. Mahoney], JFKL [John F. Kennedy Library] and William P. Mahoney Jr. to the author, July 21, 1977.
What work did Danquah do for the US Embassy in Ghana to receive funds that had been cut off about which he complained to Ambassador Mahoney?
Dr Kennedy you will be naïve to think that the CIA or its agent will confirm or deny paying any money to Danquah or anyone else in Ghana.
Documentary evidence reveals that the United States and Britain first discussed the possibility of a coup d'état in Ghana in the spring of 1961, prior to John F. Kennedy's June 29 letter that committed the United States to fund the VRP. The Kennedy Administration further explored the possibility in the fall of 1961, after Nkrumah's trip to the East and China, and the President's issuance of National Security Action Memorandum (NSAM) No. 96, stating his desire to review the decision to fund the VRP. During both of these periods, documents that make reference to a possible coup have been heavily censored, or removed from files, opening the possibility that the United States did far more than discuss the coup in theory. The Administration apparently hoped that their support for the Volta would provide assistance to the people of Ghana, and that the Nkrumah administration would soon be replaced. References to a coup continue throughout 1962-1963 during bilateral talks with the United Kingdom and in CIA assessments of the political climate in Ghana. In October 1962 an offhanded reference in a telegram from the British High Commission in Lome, Togo to the British Foreign Office in London notes contacts between Americans and Ghanaian exiles. Ghanaian exiles in such contacts included Obetsebi Lamptey and R. E. Amponsah among others.
Nkrumah always suspected CIA involvement with exiles in Lome, and the British were certainly aware of these contacts. Documents in 1962-1963 also attest to the meetings between the United States, Britain and exiled Ghanaians K.A. Gbedemah and K.A. Busia, both of whom sought Western aid for their ill-conceived plans to stage a coup in Ghana. The sum of these leads suggests a longer history of US attempts at subversion in Ghana than currently declassified documents reveal. The attempts at subversion included economic sabotage through, for example, US.UK and France led orchestrated rapid fall in the world price for cocoa, and US withholding of economic aid to Ghana.
In the Cold War atmosphere of the 1960s and the alleged growing Soviet influence in the newly independent African countries, the Volta River project was to be used by the U. S. with the help of British “Prime Minister Macmillan in attempting to turn Nkrumah in a reasonable course.” (Notes for Record: National Security Council Meeting on Volta Dam, The White House, 12/5/61, p. 1.) Irving L. Markovitz (Power and Class in Africa, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1977, p. 80.) writes that: “Since his pro-Algerian independence speech as a senator, President Kennedy has been considered as a friend of nationalist regimes. He pursued a foreign policy that was disguised by its sophistication from the crude Dulles-Eisenhower era. Yet he sent several missions to Ghana headed by men such as Henry McLoy, Head of the Chase Manhattan National Bank, to find out whether Nkrumah was or wasn’t a communist.”9 Following the Cuban missile crisis, Nkrumah was considered “a Castro” rather than “a Nasser,” and it was felt that if the U. S. “should go ahead [to fund the project] we ought to get something in return” (“Imperialism and the Volta Dam,” West Africa, 3/31/80, p.520).
Some African leaders like Liberia’s William Tubman, Ivory Coast’s Houphouet-Boigny, Nigeria’s Tafewa Balewa and Ghana’s K. A. Gbedemah and K. A. Busia lobbied against U. S. funding of the Volta scheme. Busia was the leader of opposition in the Ghana Parliament at the time Ghana was negotiating with the U. S. for funding. He testified before the U. S. Internal Security Sub-Committee against U. S. support for the project. His testimony was released with other documents under the title “Is U. S. Money Aiding Another Communist State?” with a three-page introduction by Senator Dodd on July 15, 1963. Busia became Prime Minister of Ghana (October 1969-January 1972) after the CIA-backed military coup overthrew Nkrumah’s government in February 1966. These African leaders were not opposed to the imperial design of the Volta scheme, they wanted Nkrumah chastised by U. S. withdrawal; otherwise, they “would feel indignant that Ghana had been accorded the priority in assistance which they believed they had earned.”11 But the U. S. reasoned that these African leaders who opposed Nkrumah “would have to realize that U. S. backing for the Volta project would be needed to counter-balance Ghana’s increasingly close relations with the {Soviet] Bloc.”12
It is evident from the above discussion that from the very inception of the Volta River project the industrialization of Ghana was not the concern of the British and U. S. governments and the aluminum companies involved. Britain was more interested in harnessing Ghana’s water and mineral resources to meet Britain’s aluminum needs. The U. S. government wanted a vehicle to carry out its Cold War against the Soviet Bloc. Ghana became a pawn in the hands of external forces (THE EYES OF THE WORLD WERE WATCHING: GHANA, GREAT BRITAIN, AND THE UNITED STATES, 1957-1966 by Mary E. Montgomery. Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2004).
Also, in a statement before the United States Committee on Foreign Affairs, then Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, G. Mennen Williams explained: "... it is our estimate that in the long run there are favorable factors that will prevail. This is an area where the British developed a very soundly based civil service, a well-trained military... I think when you put the thing in balance, that over the long run we could hope for a government which would at least be non-aligned" (Allen and Johnson, 1970, p. 263). What a prophecy! A month after power from the hydroelectric plant was switched on, Nkrumah's government was toppled by the "well-trained military."
Mahmoud 9 years ago
If J.B Danquah hadn't been born at all patriotic Ghanaians would've still overthrow Nkrumah with or without the help of CIA since his leftward tendencies had reached a point of no return. The guy was a red sickle communist of ... read full comment
If J.B Danquah hadn't been born at all patriotic Ghanaians would've still overthrow Nkrumah with or without the help of CIA since his leftward tendencies had reached a point of no return. The guy was a red sickle communist of the Starling, Pol pot and Idi Amin type of human-being.
Every Ghanaian cursed the day that this cunning, dishonest man was invited to join the UGCC as its General Secretary, and he proved to be the mother of all traitors in Ghana. It was, therefore, legitimate and even desirable to get rid of that callous, one party state and president for life communist dictator. And I congratulate Kotoka and his friends once again for securing our second independence and delivering us from the grips of Kwame Nkrumah; one of the most dangerous human beings that ever lived on the African continent.
Paul 9 years ago
Arthur Kennedy should be carrying out searches like this and present more balanced arguments/ his interventions on Danquah in my view have so far proved counter-productive.
Arthur Kennedy should be carrying out searches like this and present more balanced arguments/ his interventions on Danquah in my view have so far proved counter-productive.
Prof Lungu 9 years ago
We also read the Paul Amuna essay.
That essay did not seek "to justify the imposition of Preventive Detention and the crushing of the opposition in the newly independent Ghana." There is no opinion from the author.
Wh ... read full comment
We also read the Paul Amuna essay.
That essay did not seek "to justify the imposition of Preventive Detention and the crushing of the opposition in the newly independent Ghana." There is no opinion from the author.
When a family and party chooses to glorify the death of an elder, there is no where to go, but down hill. It is simply, not inspiring. It may explain in part why Nana Akufo-Addo was reported to be asleep at the "celebration of death."
Most sane and objective Ghanaians and Ghana supporters will agree that the PDA is not one of those things...to be celebrated...as far as Nkrumah is concerned. But it is not an area any reasonable person can ask any one related to Nkrumah, including any party, to apologize for, given the history.
Further, the campaign of vilification, as far as we can see, is mostly coming from the "Danquah camp", and from a few individuals online whose only agenda is that vilification of Nkrumah.
These individuals, even in 2015 early in the 21st Century, are not interested in Ghana Education, Ghana Economy, Ghana Justice Reform, Ghana Gender Equality, Ghana Transportation, Ghana Housing, Ghana Finance, Ghana Agriculture, Ghana Sociology, Ghana Geography, Ghana Promotion and Marketing, Ghana Entertainment, Ghana Sports, etc. When they are, they are only interested in mid 1960-era 20th Century Ghana.
The inability and unwillingness of the leaders of the NPP to deal with these things over the years as wisely as it deserves, is telling.
So, as you suggest, the family and party need to recognize the stellar contributions of Nkrumah to the creation and endowment of Ghana, sad a state as the endowment is, currently. And as you imply, it is a lousy idea to credit Danquah "...for Akosombo Dam, Legon, Bank of Ghana...". It is as if Danquah invented the ideas about those things/institutions.
But, celebrate the life!
Celebrate the birth to discover!
Celebrate the birth, and we will get the multitudes throughout the Nation to join, to sympathize, to care, even!
Kwame 9 years ago
Prof. Lungu yours remind me of some people in Africa and Eastern Europe who still believe that there are no prisons in Western Europe because democracy is existence of hounds, criminal hounds leashed on people. It looks like ... read full comment
Prof. Lungu yours remind me of some people in Africa and Eastern Europe who still believe that there are no prisons in Western Europe because democracy is existence of hounds, criminal hounds leashed on people. It looks like people are imprisoned just because someone enjoys it.
perscoba 9 years ago
Thanks Dr. Arthur. Yes the family of JB must lead the fight to set the record straight.
It is too disheartening to hear people like Ametor Kwami,Lungi and others write about things they have no direct knowledge of. ... read full comment
Thanks Dr. Arthur. Yes the family of JB must lead the fight to set the record straight.
It is too disheartening to hear people like Ametor Kwami,Lungi and others write about things they have no direct knowledge of. First none of them have been able to provide solid evidence of any probative value to support their innuendos. That JB was a fine statesman is irrefutable.Jis work and qualifications are all demonstrable.SURE WITHOUT JB AND THE FANTE CONDERACY there could not have been KWAME NKRUMAH. JB btought Nkrumah from the US to be the secretaryof UGCC......but sneaky Nkrumah had other plans reulting in the creation of CPP and collateral MATEMEHO MOVEMENT THAT WAS STARTED IN THE VOLTA REGION ITSELF......
I would not waste time herer but Lungi with his big words can go back to learn GHANA HISTORY PROPER.
++++ 9 years ago
Brought Nkrumah from the US? You must be drunk! Keep up with Ahoofe..Perscoboys.
Brought Nkrumah from the US? You must be drunk! Keep up with Ahoofe..Perscoboys.
Kwabena Yeboah 9 years ago
There is an African proverb that says, until lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunters. The preemptive artifice of subterfuge by elements in the UP/NPP tradition cannot change Ghana's ven ... read full comment
There is an African proverb that says, until lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunters. The preemptive artifice of subterfuge by elements in the UP/NPP tradition cannot change Ghana's venerable history. We Ghanaians are a people of reason and pure decency, and do not need the UP/NPP to rewrite Ghana's history.
A nation that idolizes its villains is bound to fail and JB Danquah was a villain by every stretch of the word. Those of us who have lived long enough know this so called Doyen of Ghana Politics was complicit in the ritual killing of Apedwahene, Akyea Mensah. His traitorous CIA connection is irrefutable and no matter what defense the protagonists such as Arthur K, Akuffo Addo, and Otchere Darko advance, JB Danquah will forever be tainted with his connection to the CIA. Lest we forget his bomb throwing escapade that killed school children and maimed innocent market women.
It is sad to say, but JB Danquah's untimely death in Nsawam was a blessing - he deserved to die by an act of God or by an act of man for destroying many innocent lives for his selfish political ambition.
Fred Amoah 9 years ago
Under J.J.Rawlings regime selfish and evil-minded J.B.Danquah would have been tortured and executed by firing squad.What crime did Nkrumah commit to warrant five assassination attempts.There is overwhelming evidence that J.B. ... read full comment
Under J.J.Rawlings regime selfish and evil-minded J.B.Danquah would have been tortured and executed by firing squad.What crime did Nkrumah commit to warrant five assassination attempts.There is overwhelming evidence that J.B.Danquah was placed on CIA payroll with the purpose of plotting the assassination of Nkrumah and overthrowing the Government.
++++ 9 years ago
They should have severed his head and put it on a pike.
They should have severed his head and put it on a pike.
Brother 9 years ago
Dr. Arthur K himself has admitted that, stretching facts will not take us anywhere and given the events of the time, there was the need for action noting that, the CIA had intensified and engineered the stabilization effort. ... read full comment
Dr. Arthur K himself has admitted that, stretching facts will not take us anywhere and given the events of the time, there was the need for action noting that, the CIA had intensified and engineered the stabilization effort. As I indicated somewhere, ceelbrating his death is not my problem because whether others consider him a traitor or not he is still a father, a family member. But not when you are forcing me to accept him as my father when he could not even retain a simple constituency, was beaten by his own wife. Who ever told him that if Abuakwa did not want him, Ghana was going to vote for him as president?
Brother 9 years ago
destabilization not stabilization
destabilization not stabilization
INXS 9 years ago
... not because he felt he did something wrong. And if he was going to release Danquah the following day day for humanitarian reasons, he would still feel sad that he hadn't done it earlier. That is no sign that he felt he di ... read full comment
... not because he felt he did something wrong. And if he was going to release Danquah the following day day for humanitarian reasons, he would still feel sad that he hadn't done it earlier. That is no sign that he felt he did something wrong in signing his incarceration papers.
Indeed, Danquah's alleged CIA links should be investigated but the fact that the agency has not said he was a spy is, in itself, no evidence that he was not one. The CIA is a great liar which has lots of secrets no one knows of. Danquah may very well not have been a spy - we may never know.
Is the writer saying the Danquah family should take Paul Amuna, Quarmyne, kwarteng, prof Lungu, the odikro, and all forumers saying the man was a traitor to court? This will cost NPP many votes.
No matter what the NPP thinks, Nkrumah seems to be more popular today than at any time since he was overthrown. It doesn't matter that the man made some mistakes, he is still more popular than any leader in the Busia-Danquah-forget about Dombo tradition. Even long after his death Nkrumah still has the NLM people's back against the wall. Court case ke?
Nunkaawaa 9 years ago
In all this hulla baloo, was Dankwa tried in a competent court or not? Did his lawyers complain of intimidation or cry foul of the judges being intimidated? If the prosecution proved Dankwa was a traitor,we of today cannot pr ... read full comment
In all this hulla baloo, was Dankwa tried in a competent court or not? Did his lawyers complain of intimidation or cry foul of the judges being intimidated? If the prosecution proved Dankwa was a traitor,we of today cannot prove otherwise.
Kofi Ata, Cambridge, UK 9 years ago
I must say that I am baffled by this good versus evil argument by Nkrumahists and the UP tradition in Ghana, particularly on Ghanaweb. However, I am confused by Dr Arthur Kennedy's call on the JB Danquah family to sue those w ... read full comment
I must say that I am baffled by this good versus evil argument by Nkrumahists and the UP tradition in Ghana, particularly on Ghanaweb. However, I am confused by Dr Arthur Kennedy's call on the JB Danquah family to sue those who claim he was CIA Agent.
From what I have read on Ghanaweb, including your article, it appears the source of this claim is the book written by the then ten year old son of the US Ambassador to Ghana at the time, who is now a professor. I believed he did not write his book from his memory as a ten year old boy but researched it as an academic work. He might have also discussed it with his father as an adult and therefore possibly that he was writing from facts. Are you disputing that claim in his book, though I accept that receiving payment from CIA is not necessarily evidence of a CIA agent?
Regarding the strange suggestion by you, may I know if you are also calling on the JB Danquah's family to sue the former Ambassador's son who is the source of this accusation? If not, then why? I am not a lawyer but that suggestion is preposterous. What evidence will the family rely on to exonerate Danquah or to file their suit?
Dr Arthur Kennedy, whilst I also doubt some of what have been said on the good versus evil debate regarding the two personalities, you asked Prof Akosa to produce evidence of the alleged prepared speech found on Danquah at the time of his arrest. That is reasonable because I have been made to believe that Danquah was arrested at his home but now being told otherwise. I also read on Ghanaweb a letter written by Danquah to Nkrumah pleading for clemency. Whilst, I do not doubt the letter, some people are also questioning the authenticity of the letter. For example, did Danquah keep a copy of the letter on file which was most likely. So why can't Garby Otchere-Darko publish a pdf copy of the original letter? Would you advise the family to do that?
I find this whole debate very sad because it is not doing the nation any good, neither the two personalities involved. This is because, as a nation if we take entrenched positions on issues no matter what, instead of engaging in rational and objective analysis and learn lessons from the past we are doomed.
I have said that the best legacy or tribute the Danquah family could give to his memory, particularly as a family with good lawyers is to ensure that prisoners in Ghana get adequate health care,which was denied Danqauh, no one is detained unnecessarily and general conditions in prisons are improved. For example, according to last Saturday's Newsfile programme, about 50% of inmates in Ghanaian prisons like Dangauh are not supposed to be there. They are on remand (have not been tried) but many have served more than the jail term they would have received if they were tried and found guilty for the offences they have been accused of. I am sure Danquah will be turning in his grave if he becomes aware of this. Such a noble exrecise by the family will receive national and international support, including the Nkrumahists.
After 50 years of one of the big six dying tragically in prison when he should not have been there and for alleged lack of proper medical care, we still have thousands of our citizens in prisons when they should not be there, prisoners meeting their untimely death for lack of proper medical care. What have we learnt? Is it simply because they are poor and do not have Nkrumah/Danquah DNA?
Kwame 9 years ago
When absurdity become a game, instead of it been call by its name foolishness. I was 13 years old and then living behind the Mamobi Polyclinic on 24/2/1966 when the coup occurred. Members of the United Party that became the ... read full comment
When absurdity become a game, instead of it been call by its name foolishness. I was 13 years old and then living behind the Mamobi Polyclinic on 24/2/1966 when the coup occurred. Members of the United Party that became the advisers of the military junta National Liberation Council (NLC)named every structure that Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah put up a white elephant including the Akosombo Hydroelectric power station, among were the Tema Motorway, Tema Habour, Job 600, Kwabenya Nuclear power project, GIHOC, Young Pioneers and Brigades were said to be terrorist organizations.
I wrote on Monday about a Russian in the Ukraine who want the west to take over every thing in both Ukraine and Russia because to him nothing evil comes from the west. To poor souls like that they are happy that there are drug pushers, child drug users, mafia and KKK in Eastern Europe just because they come from the west, thus they are the best for everyone.
I thus imagine how tugs and hounds of J.B. Danquah would have been hounding Ghanaians at the Polo grounds and Ridge Hospital if we poor souls, Ghanaian were to have happen to have him as prime minister. Danquah and Busia both supported racial segregation in the U.S. and apartheid in Southern Africa.
NPP members should know that absurdity is bliss of foolishness and not a game to be played.
Akwasi Prempeh 9 years ago
In 1959 Busia became a Professor of Sociology and Culture of Africa at the University of Leiden near the Hague, Netherlands. From 1962 until 1969 he was a Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford. During this period he was finan ... read full comment
In 1959 Busia became a Professor of Sociology and Culture of Africa at the University of Leiden near the Hague, Netherlands. From 1962 until 1969 he was a Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford. During this period he was financially supported in secret by the racist Sir Roy Welensky and the government of the Central African Federation [now Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi], which paid him substantial sums through a London public relations consultancy named Voice & Vision (source: Frederic P. Miller, Agnes F. Vandome, John McBrewster, Ed. History of Ghana; Publisher: Alphascript Publishing, 2009).
Prof 9 years ago
And I was also around when Nkrumah the dictator ruled Ghana, when our own parents were afraid to hold a any conversation in front of us for fear that their own kids may report on them for incarceration, their kids had been in ... read full comment
And I was also around when Nkrumah the dictator ruled Ghana, when our own parents were afraid to hold a any conversation in front of us for fear that their own kids may report on them for incarceration, their kids had been indoctrinated into the fetish Young pioneer movement.
Its obvious where your alliance lies so need to even debate you on this.
I don't even envy your misplaced leftist tendencies in your sympathies with Russia
Kofi 9 years ago
Arthur K, cannot sue anyone because you cannot "libel" the dead.He can stick his bogus threat somewhere.
Arthur K, cannot sue anyone because you cannot "libel" the dead.He can stick his bogus threat somewhere.
Paul 9 years ago
Arthur Kennedy's article is rather unclear to me. His interpretation of my own presentation of Nkrumah's take on Unity in ?Ghana in which he relates matters which are of significance to the one-sided 'Danquah adulation' that ... read full comment
Arthur Kennedy's article is rather unclear to me. His interpretation of my own presentation of Nkrumah's take on Unity in ?Ghana in which he relates matters which are of significance to the one-sided 'Danquah adulation' that the likes of Arthur K were peddling was merely to let readers 'hear from the horse's own mouth' and make up their minds.
My article was in no way meant to "vilify" or 'bash' Danquah and I am sure fair and objective minded readers can see through this. Is Kennedy doubting the authentic voice of Nkrumah and wants me to quote 10 references to corroborate the Osagyefo?
Arthur K, the least you can do is to avoid twisting the facts. I only presented a whole chapter from Africa Must Unite and it was deliberate. It was not meant to be an academic discourse but merely to let people READ what Nkrumah himself had written about the goings-on at the time. You may not like it, but it was not my narrative, but Nkrumah's own voice, and what if I may ask is wrong with that?
Nor was I trying to rewrite our history as people like Kennedy have sought to do.
By the way your continued 'challenge' to the Danquah family to take up those "accusing" him of 'colluding with external vested interests such as the CIA who eventually led the overthrow of the Nkrumah regime I believe, must be even embarrassing to the Danquah family. The facts are there from declassified documents, never mind Mahoney's reference to it in his book. Is that too hard for you to appreciate? Why don't you delve into the archives and read the declassified documents and find out for yourself? After all where you are in Carolina, there are some really good libraries e.g. at USC.
Prof 9 years ago
"Historical"! facts serve only those
who have their own version of a story to tell ... from their perspectives...
Thank God for the internet, because these days we experience living history which plays right in front of o ... read full comment
"Historical"! facts serve only those
who have their own version of a story to tell ... from their perspectives...
Thank God for the internet, because these days we experience living history which plays right in front of our eyes for all to see...
It's shame JB could not avail himself of this modern phenomenon..
Nkrumah did well but he's no saint..
in fact he was one of Africa's topmost dictators who engineered the death of a compatriot.. just like present day leaders like Mugabe etc
k, no problem, a 9 years ago
Kennedy, I think you are a reasonable guy. But do not blame Nkrumah too much. I read it some where that the aim of the imperialist in collaboration with the opposition was to create such a situation in Ghana that Nkrumah wi ... read full comment
Kennedy, I think you are a reasonable guy. But do not blame Nkrumah too much. I read it some where that the aim of the imperialist in collaboration with the opposition was to create such a situation in Ghana that Nkrumah will start making mistakes. They achieved exactly that. I believe getting to the latter part Nkrumah did not even trust himself. That is how come they destroyed the trust for his close associates. It was a very sad situation in those days. Clearly if we are honest we will agree that that now how opposition should behave. I agree that the PDA was a mistake . It was a bad strategy. It would have been good for the police to be given powers to arres without warrant. But they must put you before a court within a month or set you free. The CPP sured have ensured that suspects were arrested, investigated , tried fairly and either convicted and punished according to law or acquited and set free acvording to law. So if there was such overwhelming evidence against JB what stopped them from trying him and punishing him according to the law. If they had done that , today there would not be any arguments. The law reports will be there , all the evidence recorded , all arguements recorded and the verdict recorded. Researchers and lovers of JB would have studied the case to establish errors if any. If there were, it would have been attributed to either the prosecution, JB, s lawyers or the judges but not to Nkrumah or the CPP. Herein liescthe mistake of the CPP. How can you imprison some one on hearsay, even though personally I believe JB as well as Busia were implicated in all the unfortunate incedence. My father told me a lot.
Nkrumah behaved like a kid or was ovet confident. Look at America today, they can destabilise any country now ad they could then. Let us be honest to ourselves. They can infiltrate, buy their way, spread false information, recruit your own people, give promises and get their enemies kicked out.
If we all have made a mistake in the past , let us a ccept them and refrain from repeating them. For instance if you think Mahama is not doing well just govto the people with the facts, appeal to them and if what you are saying is true they will vote him out. Look at what is happening in Ukraine and Syria now . Is there any sense. Is Ametica, s support not tantamount to supporting a coup. How can you say you are democratic but support a section of the people who will rise up against their legitimately elected presidents. Look at Ghana where Npp and NDC almost have equal numbers each one can command the masses to destabilise the government in power but is that the way forward.. if you are aware of what the CPP goverment went through in those days you will pardon them for some of the mistakes and admire them for what they wrre able to achieve within that short time in that unfriendly environment.
! S
Prof Lungu 9 years ago
You give us hope, k, no problem, a!
You give us hope, k, no problem, a!
??? 9 years ago
The US government has been detaining people without trial for more than ten years without trial.JB Danquah admirers in Ghana and America do not moan about it.They are still talking about 1965.What annoys me is the same US gov ... read full comment
The US government has been detaining people without trial for more than ten years without trial.JB Danquah admirers in Ghana and America do not moan about it.They are still talking about 1965.What annoys me is the same US government supports dictators that they like.
Kwabena Yeboah 9 years ago
Did you say Nkrumah behaved like a kid? How would you react when there have been 9 assassination attempts on your life and you know who is behind it. Stop the nonsense and seek knowledge, my friend!
With all Canada's demo ... read full comment
Did you say Nkrumah behaved like a kid? How would you react when there have been 9 assassination attempts on your life and you know who is behind it. Stop the nonsense and seek knowledge, my friend!
With all Canada's democratic credentials, go and read how Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the Prime Minister reacted in 1970 when there was an insurrection in his country. He invoked the War Measures Act, suspended civil liberties (I hope you understand what this means), and unleashed the Canadian Armed Forces to go from house to house without court order looking for the culprits, and jailed them without trial when they were found. Google Canada October crises and stop your blabbering.
Singapore is a very prosperous country spotting $36,000 income per capita, a feat not duplicated anywhere in the world. But do you know how Lee Kuan Yew built his country? He built his country by eliminating the saboteurs, the Danquah-like characters. Unlike Dr. Nkrumah, Lee Kuan Yew put his arch rival Lim Chin Siong behind bars by branding him a communist until the poor guy suffered a heart attack in prison died. Mind you, Lim Chin Siong did not throw bombs and kill many innocent children and market women, but he was a political obstructionist that had to be eliminated for the general good of the country.
Oh how I wish Nkrumah had hanged the bomb throwers and child killers JB Danquah and his compatriot Kofi Abrefa Busia. These villain were enemies of the State and should have been eliminated for the general good of the country. If Nkrumah had eliminated these traitors and had the peace of mind to develop the our country at the rate he was going, our country, Ghana, would have been a bright shinning black star in a very dark continent.
My friend, think before you say anything on this issue.
Kofi 9 years ago
The most sickening aspect of it all is, when they start praising South Korea,Singapore,Malaysia,Indonesia et all about their economic success without talking about their dictators.To them,one can be a dictator as long as the ... read full comment
The most sickening aspect of it all is, when they start praising South Korea,Singapore,Malaysia,Indonesia et all about their economic success without talking about their dictators.To them,one can be a dictator as long as the name is not Kwame Nkrumah.Nkrumah should have severed JB Traitor"s head as the French did to Max Robespierre.
Nkrumah was no saint but the traitor JBD got what he deserved. He should have been paraded on the streets of our villages for Ghanaians to know who their true enemies were.
At least read the article before you respond. Only boneheads respond to articles without reading.
Dr Arthur Kennedy writes: “There is no record of either the CIA station chief or CIA Director ever confirming that the CIA ever paid any money to Danquah or that he was a spy. Added to that is the fact that Danquah was neve ...
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If J.B Danquah hadn't been born at all patriotic Ghanaians would've still overthrow Nkrumah with or without the help of CIA since his leftward tendencies had reached a point of no return. The guy was a red sickle communist of ...
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Arthur Kennedy should be carrying out searches like this and present more balanced arguments/ his interventions on Danquah in my view have so far proved counter-productive.
We also read the Paul Amuna essay.
That essay did not seek "to justify the imposition of Preventive Detention and the crushing of the opposition in the newly independent Ghana." There is no opinion from the author.
Wh ...
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Prof. Lungu yours remind me of some people in Africa and Eastern Europe who still believe that there are no prisons in Western Europe because democracy is existence of hounds, criminal hounds leashed on people. It looks like ...
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Thanks Dr. Arthur. Yes the family of JB must lead the fight to set the record straight.
It is too disheartening to hear people like Ametor Kwami,Lungi and others write about things they have no direct knowledge of. ...
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Brought Nkrumah from the US? You must be drunk! Keep up with Ahoofe..Perscoboys.
There is an African proverb that says, until lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunters. The preemptive artifice of subterfuge by elements in the UP/NPP tradition cannot change Ghana's ven ...
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Under J.J.Rawlings regime selfish and evil-minded J.B.Danquah would have been tortured and executed by firing squad.What crime did Nkrumah commit to warrant five assassination attempts.There is overwhelming evidence that J.B. ...
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They should have severed his head and put it on a pike.
Dr. Arthur K himself has admitted that, stretching facts will not take us anywhere and given the events of the time, there was the need for action noting that, the CIA had intensified and engineered the stabilization effort. ...
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destabilization not stabilization
... not because he felt he did something wrong. And if he was going to release Danquah the following day day for humanitarian reasons, he would still feel sad that he hadn't done it earlier. That is no sign that he felt he di ...
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In all this hulla baloo, was Dankwa tried in a competent court or not? Did his lawyers complain of intimidation or cry foul of the judges being intimidated? If the prosecution proved Dankwa was a traitor,we of today cannot pr ...
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I must say that I am baffled by this good versus evil argument by Nkrumahists and the UP tradition in Ghana, particularly on Ghanaweb. However, I am confused by Dr Arthur Kennedy's call on the JB Danquah family to sue those w ...
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When absurdity become a game, instead of it been call by its name foolishness. I was 13 years old and then living behind the Mamobi Polyclinic on 24/2/1966 when the coup occurred. Members of the United Party that became the ...
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In 1959 Busia became a Professor of Sociology and Culture of Africa at the University of Leiden near the Hague, Netherlands. From 1962 until 1969 he was a Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford. During this period he was finan ...
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And I was also around when Nkrumah the dictator ruled Ghana, when our own parents were afraid to hold a any conversation in front of us for fear that their own kids may report on them for incarceration, their kids had been in ...
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Arthur K, cannot sue anyone because you cannot "libel" the dead.He can stick his bogus threat somewhere.
Arthur Kennedy's article is rather unclear to me. His interpretation of my own presentation of Nkrumah's take on Unity in ?Ghana in which he relates matters which are of significance to the one-sided 'Danquah adulation' that ...
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"Historical"! facts serve only those
who have their own version of a story to tell ... from their perspectives...
Thank God for the internet, because these days we experience living history which plays right in front of o ...
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Kennedy, I think you are a reasonable guy. But do not blame Nkrumah too much. I read it some where that the aim of the imperialist in collaboration with the opposition was to create such a situation in Ghana that Nkrumah wi ...
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You give us hope, k, no problem, a!
The US government has been detaining people without trial for more than ten years without trial.JB Danquah admirers in Ghana and America do not moan about it.They are still talking about 1965.What annoys me is the same US gov ...
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Did you say Nkrumah behaved like a kid? How would you react when there have been 9 assassination attempts on your life and you know who is behind it. Stop the nonsense and seek knowledge, my friend!
With all Canada's demo ...
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The most sickening aspect of it all is, when they start praising South Korea,Singapore,Malaysia,Indonesia et all about their economic success without talking about their dictators.To them,one can be a dictator as long as the ...
read full comment