Brilliant as usual. Your dissection of the matter is surely in order, in critical perspective.
I applaud you for exposing the logical weaknesses and rhetorical inconsistencies of the matter, for which ... read full comment
Dear Prof. Lungu,
Brilliant as usual. Your dissection of the matter is surely in order, in critical perspective.
I applaud you for exposing the logical weaknesses and rhetorical inconsistencies of the matter, for which you are well positioned to critique with the authorial forcefulness of a perceptive thinker, Prof. Lungu.
The politics of comparative advantage, neo-colonialism, paternalism, Machiavellian intelligence, intelligence and counterintelligence, "negative" historical revisionism, economic sabotage, etc., are alive and kicking.
You bring all of them, if implied or otherwise, to bear on your critical exposition of facts!
Keep it up.
Thanks.
ADJOA WANGARA 9 years ago
Prof. Lungu, let us bear with the gentleman Kwame Okoampa Ahoofe that, no time should be wasted slugging with people like FRANCIS KWARTENG, who are irredeemably dissonant in their logic, heavily indebted to truth, stupid and ... read full comment
Prof. Lungu, let us bear with the gentleman Kwame Okoampa Ahoofe that, no time should be wasted slugging with people like FRANCIS KWARTENG, who are irredeemably dissonant in their logic, heavily indebted to truth, stupid and not honest.
Prof Lungu 9 years ago
Sure!
We are bear(ing) with "gentleman Kwame Okoampa Ahoofe" by showing how his essay was "dissonant in...logic...".
Thanks.
Sure!
We are bear(ing) with "gentleman Kwame Okoampa Ahoofe" by showing how his essay was "dissonant in...logic...".
Thanks.
francis kwarteng 9 years ago
Prof. Lungu,
This is just by the way, a brief diversion:
Title: Mega-church Pastor Seeks Donations For Pricey Private Jet."
............................................................................................ ... read full comment
Prof. Lungu,
This is just by the way, a brief diversion:
Title: Mega-church Pastor Seeks Donations For Pricey Private Jet."
ATLANTA (AP) — The ministry of a prominent Georgia megachurch pastor and evangelist who teaches that God wants to bless the faithful with earthly riches is seeking donations to buy a luxury jet valued at more than $65 million.
The website of Creflo Dollar Ministries asked people Friday to "Sow your love gift of any amount" to help the ministry buy a Gulfstream G650 airplane. Dollar and his wife, Taffi, are co-pastors of World Changers International Church in College Park, just south of Atlanta.
Dollar is one of the most prominent African-American preachers based around Atlanta who have built successful ministries on the prosperity gospel. Ministers in this tradition often hold up their own wealth as evidence that the teaching works.
The ministry's current plane, acquired in 1999, was built in 1984, has traveled more than 4 million miles and is no longer safe, spokesman Juda Engelmayer said. On a recent trip overseas, one of the engines failed, but the pilot was able to land safely and no one was injured, the ministry's website says.
"(W)e are asking members, partners, and supporters of this ministry to assist us in acquiring a Gulfstream G650 airplane so that Pastors Creflo and Taffi and World Changers Church International can continue to blanket the globe with the Gospel of grace," the ministry's website says.
Gulfstream's website lists an asking price of $67,950,000 for a G650 with a flight record of 1,616 hours and 625 landings since it entered service in mid-December.
Members of the ministry travel for much of the year bringing their message, food and supplies to people around the world, Engelmayer said. They need a plane that's fuel efficient, faster, with enough cargo capacity and enough seats, he said.
The G650 "flies at more than 92 percent of the speed of sound," typically holds about 18 seated passengers and can take off with a maximum weight of 99,600, according to Gulfstream's website.
Numerous online reports quoted the ministry website as saying: "We are believing for 200,000 people to give contributions of 300 US dollars or more to turn this dream into a reality."
On Friday afternoon, that line was gone, and the website instead said: "Your love gift of any amount will be greatly appreciated."
When asked about the change, Engelmayer replied in an email: "The ministry operates on the goodness of its followers and has always been a donor based organization. Every gift given is heartfelt and appreciated, and people who wish will give at the level comfortable to their situation and ability."
Soon after that, the website's entire page about the plane appeared disabled.
Dollar, who has five children, is a native of College Park and says he received a vision for the church in 1986. He held the first service in front of eight people in an elementary school cafeteria. His ministry grew quickly and the church moved into its current 8,500-seat sanctuary, on Dec. 24, 1995.
Dollar said in a 2007 interview with The Associated Press that he renounced his church salary, and his income comes only from personal investments, including a real estate business and horse breeding company called Dollar Ranch. He's also published more than 30 books, focusing mostly on family and life issues, including debt management.
He said he can get up to $100,000 for a single appearance on his packed schedule of speaking engagements.
ITEM: The way things have been going the last 2 decades in the US, that "elementary school" from where it all begun may no longer have the "cafeteria", assuming the ... read full comment
Interesting!
What folks treasure most, and pay for!
ITEM: The way things have been going the last 2 decades in the US, that "elementary school" from where it all begun may no longer have the "cafeteria", assuming the school still exists, in the first place.
But, more important, from the public policy perspective, in this case at least, we are allowed to wonder if Pastor Dollar ever returned to the "elementary school" to repay the investments in his ministry by the elementary school in a commensurate amount, when he was still a pauper minister!
And yes, an 18-passenger corporate jet can get to a disaster scene a lot faster. Except, the way disasters go, there may not be runway for the jet to land at the disaster scene.
Thanks.
Colins 9 years ago
Nkrumah was a tyrant that was why he was the only President ever without a Vice President. He killed all political opponents in Nsawam Prison and drove others into exile
Nkrumah was a tyrant that was why he was the only President ever without a Vice President. He killed all political opponents in Nsawam Prison and drove others into exile
Vuvuzela 9 years ago
Yawn! Find some bone, mate!
Yawn! Find some bone, mate!
kaketonti 9 years ago
Colins open your eyes and be fair. Blair,Bush,Obama etc have drones.They decide who should breath air.
Colins open your eyes and be fair. Blair,Bush,Obama etc have drones.They decide who should breath air.
Vuvuzela 9 years ago
The coup d’état very successfully initiated Ghana's decline, horizontally and vertically. This is because those who came after Nkrumah lacked his genius to understand how a state (Historical embodiment of people with the s ... read full comment
The coup d’état very successfully initiated Ghana's decline, horizontally and vertically. This is because those who came after Nkrumah lacked his genius to understand how a state (Historical embodiment of people with the same cause and aspirations) actually works.
58 odd years and we're not even yet readying to figure out exactly who we are to even attempt edifying a march towards success.
Just read below this Nkrumah’s address and tell me if there’s anyone with anything in his grey matter comparable to it. It encapsulates the ideal of a powerful mind’s conception of Ghana’s future. It provokes tears when you reflect on the depth of our fiasco of today. Yes, Nkrumah was ambitious: a remarkable force in intelligent and charismatic people avid for success.
What a waste called Ghana!
Nkrumah’s speech on the Atomic Reactor.
Speech delivered by President Kwame Nkrumah when he laid the foundation stone for the construction of Ghana Atomic Reactor at Kwabenya, on 25 November 1964.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are gathered here this afternoon to mark the beginning of Ghana's Atomic Reactor Centre. This Centre, when completed, will enable Ghana to participate in the developments now taking place in Atomic Science. In this way, we shall be equipped with the greater knowledge and the means to give richer service to our people and to Africa.
Nearly three years ago, we decided to build an Atomic Reactor in Ghana. We were fully aware then that our motives might be misconstrued, for the setting up of an Atomic Reactor is the first practical step to building an Atomic bomb. We have always stood for the use of fissionable material exclusively for peaceful ends. We have consistently stood against the unnecessary proliferation of weapons of mass destructions, and with equal consistency for the abolition of such weapons.
Our sole motive in reaching the decision to build the centre, which you now see, rising before you, is to enable Ghana to take every advantage of the decisive methods of research and development, which mark our modern world. It is essential to do this if we are to impart to our development the acceleration, which is required to break even with more advanced economies. We have therefore been compelled to enter the field of Atomic energy, because this already promises to yield the greatest economic source of power since the beginning of man. Our success in this field would enable us to solve the many sided problems which face us in all the spheres of our development in Ghana and in Africa.
We know that doubts have been expressed concerning the wisdom and practicability of our decision. Many important but inconclusive reasons have been advanced to persuade us to abandon this project, but we are not persuaded.
Let me say that, in the age of Science & Technology, in this age of Atomic Revolution, neither Ghana nor Africa can afford to lag behind our nations, or to ignore the scientific development of our time. Indeed, we start with certain definitive advantages over many nations, which have preceded us in the scientific revolution.
Allow me to remind you of the metaphysical problem of the flea. You know that some key people have wondered with some concerns, whether assuming that there is a flea on our back, there is on the back of that minor flea, and there is on the back of that minor flea, and upon on that back of the minor flea yet another mini-minor flea and so on, ad infinitum. A similar problem was expressed in the history of science about matter.
We, however, have not had to prove for ourselves that the atom can be split. We have not had to discover that steam can produce energy or that water power can be used to generate electricity.
Indeed, we begin where many ended. We make our start from the great body of scientific and technological attainment, which is the common heritage of mankind. Beginning as loftily as we do, there is no reason for us to be timid in joining the forward march of knowledge.
We have a second reason in the field of Atomic research; it is known that the development of the peaceful uses of atomic energy can bring about a profound transformation in the life of mankind. A socialist society more than any other, needs to bring about such profound changes in order to produce for all.
We in Ghana are committed to the building of an industrialized socialist society. We cannot afford to sit still and be mere passive lookers. We must ourselves take part in the pursuit of scientific and technological research as a means of providing the basis of our socialist society. Socialism without science is void.
Already, the residential sites where the many Ghanaian scientists and engineers who will be engaged in this project would live, has been completed. These young men and women who have received their specialist training in the Soviet Union and elsewhere would provide the basis for our corps of skilled specialist in nuclear science. We are sending more Ghanaians abroad to acquire this specialist knowledge in training.
We have now embarked on the second stage of the project. This will include the construction of the reactor itself and the construction of a monitoring station to ensure that no harmful radioactive substances are released or disseminated. Radio-chemical laboratories are to be built where the elaborate procedures for processing radioactive substances will be carried out. There will also be the many other ancillary buildings, which such a project calls for.
By 1966 the reactor itself should be in operation, and the Research Centre will start on the extensive programme of research for which all these elaborate and intricate preparations are being made.
Every stage of this complicated preparatory work has been carried through the aid of specialists and scientists provided by the Government of the Soviet Union. At all stages there has been the closest and most friendly co-operation between Ghana and the Soviet Union. The friendly relations between our two countries have been strengthened by the success of this common endeavor.
In 1961 I caused the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission to be established to guide and direct this enterprise. Our Atomic Energy Commission now operates in close relationship with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Only recently the Director and the Deputy Director of the Agency visited Ghana, and commented favorably on the breadth of vision of our plans.
We believe that the amount of energy, which can be generated in Ghana, can play a decisive role in the development of our industry, agriculture, health and other services. Certainly, the foundations for the effective and rapid industrialisation of our country must rest on the provision of cheap and abundant power.
This is why we have placed our faith in the Volta River Project, which, perhaps, might never have been started without the personal interest of the late President Kennedy and the assistance of the United States Government. Without the friendly relations between Ghana and the United States of America, this project would not have been possible.
As I speak, the Volta Lake has risen to two hundred and sixty feet (260), and it is confidently expected that power can be generated at Akosombo by the end of 1965. The biggest consumer of this power will be the Aluminum Smelter, which is to be established by the Volta Aluminum Company at Tema. I am glad to announce that the groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of work will take place in ten days time, on Saturday, 5th December.
I have also recently directed the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission to investigate and expand research on the possibilities of solar energy, which is already going on at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. It is estimated that even-one-tenth of the solar energy falling on the earth's surface would be enough to produce an amount of energy several times the amount generated at present. In Africa we have no lack of sunlight, and the development of solar energy should, be one of our main scientific preoccupations.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Science can be applied for good ends, for the betterment of the human race, or for bad ends, for the making of weapons of destruction. In no field of science is the contrast between these two aspects so great as it is in atomic energy. The hydrogen bomb, that instrument of mass destruction which we all fear and dread so much, is based on the same source of power.
Scientists hope that, in the very near future, thermo-nuclear reaction will release unlimited resources of power for industrial use.
If the world can survive the threat of annihilation posed by the hydrogen bomb, and other agents of mass destruction, then the peaceful application of thermo- nuclear energy, which is at present predominantly turned to warlike purposes, will bring about an unprecedented release of the human race from drudgery and fear, starvation and poverty, which is now the lot of so many.
It is in this important field that the peaceful uses of nuclear energy can play such a major role. The greatest happiness of the greatest number is only possible by the purposeful application of science to peaceful ends.
One of the most urgent tasks before us, therefore, is to secure worldwide, total and complete disarmament and the banning of all nuclear devices of mass destruction. This process is rapidly becoming more urgent and more difficult as the number of nations, which have access to these weapons increase. That is why we support wholeheartedly the efforts by the Organisation of African Unity and the United Nations to make Africa a Nuclear Free Zone.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Scientists the world over have recognized the urgency and danger of our nuclear predicament, their own special responsibility and involvement in it.
The scientist is a social being and can effect an idealistic concern for the destiny of mankind. The scientist can, by his specialized knowledge, affect our whole fate. He must, for this reason, accept a proportionate obligation in public affairs.
Many issues can be resolved only on the basis of scientific and technical knowledge. For this, the public and the government turn to the scientist for advice. It is the scientist’s duty to serve them well, conscientiously and scrupulously, without regard for personal ambition, or the natural wish to say what is pleasant to hear.
The scientist must also explain to us the consequences of our acceptance of his advice. He cannot accept credit for the great advances in medicine, agriculture, and industry, and at the same time disclaim responsibility for the consequences of weapons of mass destruction. Here the scientists have an obligation to make the governments and people of the world fully aware of the dangers facing them, and to give sober and disinterested advice.
We must unite in our fight for peace and complete disarmament. People of all nations must bend every effort towards the development of science and technology, which would herald a new and happy future for mankind. We in Ghana propose to set a forceful example by restricting our efforts in the field of atomic research to exclusively peaceful uses. To advance science in the service of man, is to advance socialism, is to abolish imperialism, in all its forms and manifestations.
The Ghana Atomic Energy Programme is destined for peaceful purposes and Ghana was one of the first countries to sign the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in Moscow. Though the provisions of that treaty are incomplete, we intend to abide by its terms. Neither this Reactor nor the laboratories attached to it will be directed to the development of devices for war.
This Reactor is designed for experimental work in the field of nuclear and atomic physics, including the study of the properties of materials and how they are affected by radiations and radiochemistry. It will serve as a focal point for scientists and research workers from various institutions of the Ghana Academy of Sciences, from our universities and from government laboratories all over the country. Here they will be provided with facilities for investigations involving nuclear techniques in biology, agriculture, medicine, physics and chemistry. It will be a centre for the training of Ghanaian scientists in nuclear science and technology.
A heterogeneous nuclear research reactor, as well as an up-to-date radio chemical laboratory and the development of the peaceful uses of atomic energy in Ghana will be centered around the Nuclear Research Institute to be established here.
A Radio Isotope Centre is assisting five agriculture centres of the Ghana Academy of Sciences and the University of Ghana in the application of radioisotope techniques in the study of plant protection from weeds and insect pests, and the uptake of fertilizers by plants under local conditions.
Among other uses of nuclear power, it is hoped to develop peaceful uses of nuclear explosives for excavation, mining and recovery of gas and oil.
The Atomic Reactor Centre will provide experimental channels for the study of radiation genetics.
Through these researchers it will become possible to find a way of inducing genetic changes in plants and animals to provide better crops and better meat.
In point of fact, we are not entirely newcomers to this field of endeavor. For some time now the Ghana Academy of Sciences has been pursuing a program of research work in which radioactive materials have been applied to many problems in agriculture and medicine.
During the coming year, the scope of this work will be greatly increased. It will provide the wide range of facilities needed to train many more research workers and technicians for this programme.
In planning this Centre, we have been painfully aware of our limitations in men and material, and the variety and complexity of the research problems, which face Africa as a whole. Until we in Africa come together, and establish a Union Government for all Africa, we shall be forced to tackle our problems in isolation, hampered by our disunity and many disabilities. Progress will be slow, and we shall deny ourselves the advantages of well-integrated and commonly executed planning.
This is another of the many compelling reasons why we in Ghana have made a persistent appeal for the early establishment of Continental Government of Africa.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The basis of our whole programme of socialist development must be the application of Science and Technology. For the implementation of our Seven- Year Plan, for the success of our agricultural industry, for ensuring increased output in industrial production demand, we must apply the latest scientific techniques. We, especially our young men and women, must acquire and master these new techniques.
We are already making every effort to raise both the number and the quality of the scientists who come from our Universities and to raise the standards of the science teaching in the schools. We have made great progress in this field. Much more remains to be done. There are not nearly enough Ghanaians scientists and Ghanaian technicians of all kinds for the work we have on hand. Even the finest laboratory, the best equipment or, indeed, the best reactor, will not produce scientific work of their own accord.
Only men and women can do that, and only after long and highly specialized training in scientific techniques. Hence we need to press on with the greatest urgency the scientific and technological training of young Ghanaians. Every boy or girl who shows talent in this direction must be encouraged and helped, because such talent is especially precious to us and we must foster and guard it. Our Universities, the various Institutes of the Ghana Academy of Sciences, the University College of Science and Education in Cape Coast, our newly established Medical School and the proposed University College of Agriculture, will help in providing this training.
We need also to reach out to the mass people who have not had the opportunities of formal education. We must use every means of mass communication- the press, the radio, television and films.
Last year, as part of the Academy’s anniversary celebrations, there was a science exhibition in Accra. This year there has been another one in Kumasi. Similar exhibitions have been held in our Universities in Kumasi and Accra. The enthusiastic response to these exhibitions and the eager way in which our young men and women studied the exhibits was most encouraging.
The projected National Science Museum, when completed, next year, will provide this kind of exhibition in a permanent form. This is a major project which will play a great part in exciting public interest in science and conveying in a direct and vivid way the impact of science on everyday life.
It is important that our people should not only be instructed in science but they should take part in it, apply it themselves in their own ways. For science is not just a subject to be learned out of a book or from a teacher. It is a way of life, a way of tackling any problem which one can only master by using it for oneself. We must have science clubs in which our people can develop their own talents for discovery and invention.
I expect the Ghana Academy of Sciences to play a leading role in all this. To that end, I have asked the Academy to prepare a first seven-year national programme for the promotion of science in Ghana. This plan, which is ready for implementation, will ensure that within the next seven years, science becomes part and parcel of the life of our people.
In order to provide the necessary physical facilities, and also to make for the maximum co-ordination of efforts, I am contemplating the creation of a special scientific community where scientists of the Academy from different fields will live and work.
The scheme will enable the scientist to share common facilities, and also increase personal communication between scientists working on related problems. I have proposed the name “Science City” for this scientific community. It will have a main central building to be known as the “Palace of Science”, containing a whole range of laboratories and other facilities.
The Science City will accommodate a number of special research institutes and will be a centre where the Academy will undertake pilot industries based on its discoveries, so that when the Academy recommends the setting up of any full scale industry, it will be in a position not only to give expert advice on the type of industrial plants to be established, but to make the necessary economic appraisal of the proposed industry.
One of the most important projects planned for the Science City is a National Bureau of Standards where the testing of the quality of both imported and locally manufactured products will be undertaken to ensure that they conform to acceptable standards.
The Ghana Academy of Sciences should not be just a body of learned men elected for their distinction and eminence. It should be part of our national life, serving the people of Ghana, working with them and helping to bring science and scientists into the closest possible relationship with their lives.
It is only through this practical union of theory and action that the life of man can attain the highest material, cultural, moral and spiritual fulfillment in the service of his fellow men. This ultimately is the only justification for the pursuit of knowledge and the discoveries of science.
And now Ladies and Gentlemen, let me turn to the historic business before us today. I dedicate this Reactor to the progress of true science, to the application of science to the well being of man, to the enlargement of his spirit and to the promotion of peace.
I have great pleasure in laying this Foundation Stone of Ghana Atomic Reactor Centre.
Thank you.
Vuvuzela 9 years ago
Oh, and, well, let me remind people that the YEAR was 1964, when most of Africa doesn't even know how to read!
Should such a person be ousted by any pretenses whatsoever? People like Collins who continue to see a "power dr ... read full comment
Oh, and, well, let me remind people that the YEAR was 1964, when most of Africa doesn't even know how to read!
Should such a person be ousted by any pretenses whatsoever? People like Collins who continue to see a "power drunk" in Nkrumah kind of admire the actual state of our affairs at 58!
I will wholeheartedly cheer a dictator than accept systemic predatory on our resources such as we see today by the extremely greedy politicians in NDC and NPP.
Prof Lungu 9 years ago
A fine record!
A statement for the ages!
What could have been, well founded!
Thanks, Vuvuzela!
A fine record!
A statement for the ages!
What could have been, well founded!
Thanks, Vuvuzela!
Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D. 9 years ago
He has sworn not to ever comment on my articles any longer; that was scarcely two or three weeks ago. And so whatever changed his mind? Some surgical procedure on his brain?
You see, there is no point in debating a fanatic ... read full comment
He has sworn not to ever comment on my articles any longer; that was scarcely two or three weeks ago. And so whatever changed his mind? Some surgical procedure on his brain?
You see, there is no point in debating a fanatic. But one thing is clear: Ghana's fame, fortunes and stand-out status in African political culture and history were not initiated by Nkrumah; it has long been so, largely the creation of Akan history and culture, since pre-medieval or ancient times. Read the writings of European traders on Ghana's coast since the 1500's and draw the proper conclusions.
I am the direct descendant of King Osei-Tutu I, and so Kwame Nkrumah is only a toddler on the critical question of nation-building.
The real issue to be discussed here is not some historically ungrounded declassified CIA intelligence documents, but what Nkrumah did to Ghana's independence constitution to unwisely undermine his own credibility and mandate.
I don't waste my time slugging with people who are irredeemably dissonant in their logic and heavily indebted to truth and honesty.
Vuvuzela 9 years ago
How are you, Kwame? Looks like this will be of interest to you if you don't have it already.
---------------------------------------------------
Author: Repugnant.
Date: 2014-02-09 21:51:49
Comment to: Danquah needn’t ... read full comment
How are you, Kwame? Looks like this will be of interest to you if you don't have it already.
---------------------------------------------------
Author: Repugnant.
Date: 2014-02-09 21:51:49
Comment to: Danquah needn’t have died like a ‘criminal’
Attempts to overthrow the Nkrumah and assassinate him.
In 1961 the C.P.P government introduced an austerity budget to counter declining world price of cocoa while maintaining planned capital expenditure on economic expansion and industrialisation, including Tema Harbour and the new township, new industries such as the steelworks, new housing, and new schools, among others. In response to increases in duty on consumer goods and the introduction of a compulsory saving scheme to quell rising inflation, the railways workers organized a strike to register their opposition to the austerity measures in the budget.
Nkrumah was out of the country at the time and a delegation of the cabinet sought a meeting with representatives of the Unions but the leaders of the strike refused to meet and the government declared a state of emergency in response to what was an illegal strike under the 1958 Industrial Relations Act. After this, many workers returned to work except in Sekondi -Takoradi and surrounding areas.
As time wore on, it became clear that the union leadership had been infiltrated and come under the influence of the opposition United Party. Two leading members of the strike - Ishmaila Annan and Atta Bordoh - were executive members of the United Party in the Western region. Ishmaila Annan had been a member of the Moslem Association Party (before it became part of the UP) and was closely associated with the deported Amadu Baba who orchestrated much of the N.L.M.’s violence in the run up to independence.
A week after the strike was declared the executive of the opposition United Party met in Dr. J.B. Danquah’s House in Accra. Present at the meeting were the strike leaders, Ishmaila Annan and Atta Bordoh ostensibly in their capacity as party executives and not as trade unionists or strike organisers. However, as Dr. J.B. Danquah was later to confirm, the central issue for discussion at the meeting was the railway strike and the 1961-1962 budget.
At the end of the meeting, the United Party executives issued a press statement calling on the government to recall parliament and revise the budget or resign. In public, however, the opposition did not condemn the illegal strike but criticized the government for failing to control it.
A week after the executive meeting of the United Party, Dr. J.B. Danquah travelled to Sekondi to meet with the strike leaders in Kwesi Lamptey’s house in Fijai Secondary School. Those present included members of the United Party executive, and far from seeking to resolve the dispute, the meeting discussed how to steel the nerves of the striking workers and to persuade them to continue with the dispute and not to respond to Nkrumah’s overtures such as ending state of emergency and releasing persons arrested, after he had returned from his trip.
It later transpired that members of the opposition helped drafted and paid for telegrams on behalf of the unions (using fictional unions names and a private mail bag addresses belonging to the Ishmaila Annan) to International Railway and Maritime workers unions in Nigeria, U.S and UK requesting funds to ensure the “survival of parliamentary democracy “ in Ghana. The strike was no longer about workers’ grievances against the 1961 budget, but the survival of parliamentary democracy in Ghana. It became clear that not only were the UP financing the strike, they were involved in the design of an illegal activity that soon took on a politically subversive character.
Dr. K.A. Busia , who was in self-imposed exile moved to Lome to provide proximate support to the strikers and other subversives, and was joined by number of opposition leaders including Obetsebi Lamptey and Ekow Richardson. Dr. Busia disclosed he had been offered £50,000 to fight the democratically elected government of his country.
The government also discovered that among the plans of the Lome group was a series of bomb explosions to be launched from neighbouring Togo on national monuments and at the residences of prominent ministers orchestrated by the personal assistant to K.A. Gbedemah (who had by now become estranged from the C.P.P. administration) Victor Yaw de Grant Bempong.
It became clear that as in 1954, when a defeated opposition took advantage of the grievances of farmers to re-launch itself on the political stage, having lost the 1960 elections, they were once gain taking advantage of the genuine grievances of working people about an austere budget to bring down the elected government of Ghana. This time the colonial government was not around to indulge them and thee C.P.P took decisive action and leading members of opposition politicians were including Dr. Danquah and Joe Appiah were arrested under prevention detention for the first time in the three years since the Act’s introduction.
The violence did not, however, end there: numerous attempts were made on Nkrumah’s life in the years following the introduction of the PDA, including the infamous Kulungugu bomb outrage, the bomb outrages in late 1961 that preceded the visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1962, and the repeated assassination attempts on Nkrumah throughout the early 1960s and especially in 1962 and 1964. By the fifth assassination attempt on Nkrumah’s life, a death toll of 30 Ghanaians, men, women and children, had been recorded with the wounding of some 300 others.
Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D. 9 years ago
Vuvuzela, read my book titled "Dr. J. B. Danquah: Architect of Modern Ghana" (2005). I have extensively dealt with this kind of falsehood from the Nkrumacrats.
Danquah never traveled beyond his hometown of Kyebi at the t ... read full comment
Vuvuzela, read my book titled "Dr. J. B. Danquah: Architect of Modern Ghana" (2005). I have extensively dealt with this kind of falsehood from the Nkrumacrats.
Danquah never traveled beyond his hometown of Kyebi at the time of the railroad workers' strike in 1961. He also never held any secret meetings in his Accra residence; Danquah was no coward; he was in national politics long before a wet-eared Nkrumah. In fact, it was Danquah who introduced Nkrumah to modern politics as we know it.
All meetings called by Danquah were advertised in the Dailies, as he wrote in testimony at the time.
Prof Lungu 9 years ago
Thanks for the 2009 Repugnant perspective!
Thanks for the 2009 Repugnant perspective!
Prof Lungu 9 years ago
Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.,
We do not swear, least of all on petty artifacts and statements. What we said "...scarcely two or three weeks ago,,,", was may not comment on your essays again.
Why?
Because the co ... read full comment
Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.,
We do not swear, least of all on petty artifacts and statements. What we said "...scarcely two or three weeks ago,,,", was may not comment on your essays again.
Why?
Because the comments about that particular essay of yours shapely descended into abusive and shameful language and positioning between you and Attorney Adjei Sarfo. And so we stopped making further comments on that particular essay.
And yes, "logic...truth and honesty..." count in the affairs of man, including on Ghanaweb. In this essay, we've shown that at least on that occasion, your "logic" fell outside the window.
More over, how did we get to that "...declassified CIA intelligence document..."? Clearly, that is not what we wrote.
With respect to "truth and honesty", we believe that the 2009 comments from Repugnant, "Danquah needn’t have died like a ‘criminal’", courtesy Vuvuzela, is the more objective one.
No body is going to read your book and arrive at a balanced, neutral position because among other reasons your entire approach is severely conflicted.
One does not sit in ones house and wail about how unpretentious, good, and honorable one and one's arguments are and expect reasonable people to buy it all - hook, line, and sinker!
It does not work like that any where:
Not on Ghanaweb!
Not at the Water Cooler!
Not at Country-to-Country Relations
Not in the Academy!
Related to our preceding paragraph, it is mighty good for you that you are "...the direct descendant of King Osei-Tutu I..." That ought to give you a lot of credibility!
Finally, we all know that History is important. But we also know what the Gold Coast was to the colonialists; that out of the disparate states and nations, Nkrumah's vision was the one that manifested into "Ghana", the new Nation, the subject of our two essays. Your essay was simply not about "...what Nkrumah did to Ghana's independence constitution to unwisely undermine his own credibility and mandate..."
Greetings!
francis kwarteng 9 years ago
Dear Prof. Lungu,
I recall your using the word "might" as part of your general statement not to comment further on the said article, "Only CPP Declined with Nkrumah's Overthrow," on account of the ongoing impasse on the CO ... read full comment
Dear Prof. Lungu,
I recall your using the word "might" as part of your general statement not to comment further on the said article, "Only CPP Declined with Nkrumah's Overthrow," on account of the ongoing impasse on the COMMENT SECTION.
Since when did the auxillary verb "might" lose its connotative possibilities and, as a matter fact, become "must"? Of course, the word "might" gives you all the flexibility and possibilities you want to do as you wish.
I take note of critical rhetorical landmarks in write-ups!
Thanks.
Prof Lungu 9 years ago
Thanks for the note, Professor Kwarteng!
We are not going back to see exactly what we wrote on top of "might" or "may", under that essay by Dr. Okoampa-Ahoofe, nearly 3 weeks ago.
We believe we were talking about "Comm ... read full comment
Thanks for the note, Professor Kwarteng!
We are not going back to see exactly what we wrote on top of "might" or "may", under that essay by Dr. Okoampa-Ahoofe, nearly 3 weeks ago.
We believe we were talking about "Comment".
In fact, we also neglected to point out earlier that a "Comment" on Ghanaweb is at bottom of an essay of interest.
A "Response" or "Retort" to an essay sent to Ghanaweb that begins with "Re", is not in the class of a "Comment".
Plainly, it will be mighty pointless for us on Ghanaweb to neglect egregious falsehoods and imbalanced articles that, as far as we can see, are a poor reflection on Ghana, its citizens, and supporters; pieces that do not educate anyone purposefully.
Dear Prof. Lungu,
Brilliant as usual. Your dissection of the matter is surely in order, in critical perspective.
I applaud you for exposing the logical weaknesses and rhetorical inconsistencies of the matter, for which ...
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Prof. Lungu, let us bear with the gentleman Kwame Okoampa Ahoofe that, no time should be wasted slugging with people like FRANCIS KWARTENG, who are irredeemably dissonant in their logic, heavily indebted to truth, stupid and ...
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Sure!
We are bear(ing) with "gentleman Kwame Okoampa Ahoofe" by showing how his essay was "dissonant in...logic...".
Thanks.
Prof. Lungu,
This is just by the way, a brief diversion:
Title: Mega-church Pastor Seeks Donations For Pricey Private Jet."
............................................................................................ ...
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Interesting!
What folks treasure most, and pay for!
ITEM: The way things have been going the last 2 decades in the US, that "elementary school" from where it all begun may no longer have the "cafeteria", assuming the ...
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Nkrumah was a tyrant that was why he was the only President ever without a Vice President. He killed all political opponents in Nsawam Prison and drove others into exile
Yawn! Find some bone, mate!
Colins open your eyes and be fair. Blair,Bush,Obama etc have drones.They decide who should breath air.
The coup d’état very successfully initiated Ghana's decline, horizontally and vertically. This is because those who came after Nkrumah lacked his genius to understand how a state (Historical embodiment of people with the s ...
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Oh, and, well, let me remind people that the YEAR was 1964, when most of Africa doesn't even know how to read!
Should such a person be ousted by any pretenses whatsoever? People like Collins who continue to see a "power dr ...
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A fine record!
A statement for the ages!
What could have been, well founded!
Thanks, Vuvuzela!
He has sworn not to ever comment on my articles any longer; that was scarcely two or three weeks ago. And so whatever changed his mind? Some surgical procedure on his brain?
You see, there is no point in debating a fanatic ...
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How are you, Kwame? Looks like this will be of interest to you if you don't have it already.
---------------------------------------------------
Author: Repugnant.
Date: 2014-02-09 21:51:49
Comment to: Danquah needn’t ...
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Vuvuzela, read my book titled "Dr. J. B. Danquah: Architect of Modern Ghana" (2005). I have extensively dealt with this kind of falsehood from the Nkrumacrats.
Danquah never traveled beyond his hometown of Kyebi at the t ...
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Thanks for the 2009 Repugnant perspective!
Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.,
We do not swear, least of all on petty artifacts and statements. What we said "...scarcely two or three weeks ago,,,", was may not comment on your essays again.
Why?
Because the co ...
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Dear Prof. Lungu,
I recall your using the word "might" as part of your general statement not to comment further on the said article, "Only CPP Declined with Nkrumah's Overthrow," on account of the ongoing impasse on the CO ...
read full comment
Thanks for the note, Professor Kwarteng!
We are not going back to see exactly what we wrote on top of "might" or "may", under that essay by Dr. Okoampa-Ahoofe, nearly 3 weeks ago.
We believe we were talking about "Comm ...
read full comment