This is a brilliant piece. Dr. Kwame Botwe-Asamoah has once again shown that he is a true master of postcolonial history, unlike the professional enemies of Nkrumah who write and argue from the s ... read full comment
Bravo Prof. Botwe-Asamoah,
This is a brilliant piece. Dr. Kwame Botwe-Asamoah has once again shown that he is a true master of postcolonial history, unlike the professional enemies of Nkrumah who write and argue from the standpoint of emotionalism, uninformed ignorance, and sometimes from the well of outright stupidity.
There are few who can write with his kind of flair for historical candor. He writes with grace and factual content.
It is this kind of intellectual we need to re-write Ghana's postcolonial history in line with Prof. Akosa's candid proposition (see Modernghana).
More people should read this for their education and edification.
Have a great weekend.
Thanks, Prof. Botwe-Asamoah.
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 8 years ago
Sir, this is your student Samuel Adjei Sarfo, Esq.
I think the real issue to rebut is Nkrumah's dictatorship: PDA, imprisonment without trial, life presidency, one party state, dismissal of judges, ingratitude to those wh ... read full comment
Sir, this is your student Samuel Adjei Sarfo, Esq.
I think the real issue to rebut is Nkrumah's dictatorship: PDA, imprisonment without trial, life presidency, one party state, dismissal of judges, ingratitude to those who helped him rise in life.......and what is the exact political legacy of Kwame Nkrumah, the meaning of Nkrumaism, and the meaning of his republic, independence, freedom and justice and his idea of African union and what he proposed to be its form of government, and the model he used for his notion of the African personality. (Himself?)
The historical records are explicit about how much the Brits left, and those in doubt can easily check the figures out. But we want to know whether you think Nkrumah was a great leader whose style of leadership should be reimposed on the country. If so, why, and if not, why not.
At this time when Osagyefo Dr. J.B. Danquah's democratic ideas rule the nation, your voice in the matter will be much appreciated.
Thanks sir.
Prof Lungu 8 years ago
In response to a comment from you, someone said earlier today that you may have a case of schizophrenia!
Having just read your "The Issue Is Moot" comment, we are forced to conclude that you must have some type of patholog ... read full comment
In response to a comment from you, someone said earlier today that you may have a case of schizophrenia!
Having just read your "The Issue Is Moot" comment, we are forced to conclude that you must have some type of pathology.
QUESTION: Are you asking readers to go read anything about the "560 million pounds which translates into something akin to 32.6 billion dollars", that the British left to Nkrumah?
THIS IS YOU, JUST 5 MONTHS AGO, IN BAIDOO-TIME:
Feature Article of Saturday, 21 February 2015
Columnist: Sarfo, Samuel Adjei
Answering the Nkrumaist Arguments. Part Three
READ: "...Then, in whimpers of desperation, his undeterred and unlettered followers will point to his widespread infrastructural development of the country as a testament of his achievements. But that is also easily debunked by modern economic stewardship models. Let us begin by considering all the amount of money the colonial government left to Nkrumah’s administration and let’s say it was some 120 million pounds.
120 pounds translates to 200 dollars which in turn translates into the following dollar amounts using the seven known standards of measuring wealth:
$1,660.00 using the Consumer Price Index
$1,280.00 using the GDP deflator
$2,010.00 using the value of consumer bundle
$2,040.00 using the unskilled wage
$2,490.00 using the Production Worker Compensation
$3,820.00 using the nominal GDP per capita
$7,060.00 using the relative share of GDP
From the foregoing, the preferred standard is Relative Share of GDP. When this is used, we can estimate that the amount left with Nkrumah was $7,060 multiplied by a million, or a little over seven billion dollars...//
...//...Then for the whole of the years that Nkrumah was a leader, let us hypothesize that the gross domestic product of Ghana stood at a meagre 70 million pounds per annum. From say 1957 to 1965, we will compute this amount to be another 560 million pounds which translates into something akin to 32.6 billion dollars. Add this to the original 7 billion dollars and arrive at over a whopping 39 billion dollars. This fund was, by conservative estimation, what was at Nkrumah’s disposal to be disbursed on a population of a scanty five million people over a period of nine years. From this astronomical amount, subtract whatever Nkrumah is said to have disbursed in his time on the Tema Township, railway lines, airports, schools, bridges, factories, ministries and government recurrent expenditure, etc..."
SOURCE: Samuel Adjei Sarfo, JD, MA, BA, etc. is an Attorney and Counselor at Law, a Teacher of Lore, Certified High School English Educator, Researcher and Scholar.
WE SUMMARY: So, Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law, "...The historical records are explicit about how much the Brits left, and those in doubt can easily check the figures out...?
You must be joking, at best, Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law!
Prof Lungu 8 years ago
To say....
IN SUMMARY
To say....
IN SUMMARY
francis kwarteng 8 years ago
Prof. Lungu,
I just finished watching Charlie Chaplin.
I am moving on to the Three Stooges.
Have a great weekend.
Thanks.
Prof. Lungu,
I just finished watching Charlie Chaplin.
I am moving on to the Three Stooges.
Have a great weekend.
Thanks.
Nii Teiko 8 years ago
I am happy that you have finally find something useful to do with your time and I think Adwoa Wangara would be happy too. Keep it up and the nest time you pick up a pen, think of Ghana and write something to address the faili ... read full comment
I am happy that you have finally find something useful to do with your time and I think Adwoa Wangara would be happy too. Keep it up and the nest time you pick up a pen, think of Ghana and write something to address the failing economy under the ndc.
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 8 years ago
The core point is that Nkrumah had huge reserves of money when he became president. That we all agree. Therefore his infrastructural development was nothing extraordinary. In the end, a greater amount of the reserve was squa ... read full comment
The core point is that Nkrumah had huge reserves of money when he became president. That we all agree. Therefore his infrastructural development was nothing extraordinary. In the end, a greater amount of the reserve was squandered. It is moot to debate who left what to whom. The important thing is that Nkrumah had the money and squandered it.
And get it straight into your rasta head that Nkrumah did not make a penny in his entire life. He depended solely on the people's money which he spent like a drunken sailor.
Mahmoud 8 years ago
I just don't know why these guys can't understand that Nkrumah was a terrible human being that shouldn't have ruled this country in the first place. Nkrumah is the source of all our troubles today, and the communist relics sh ... read full comment
I just don't know why these guys can't understand that Nkrumah was a terrible human being that shouldn't have ruled this country in the first place. Nkrumah is the source of all our troubles today, and the communist relics should do something better with their time rather than go on reminding us of the painful and dark days of Nkrumah's misrule. Above all, he was the mother of all traitors in Africa. May God guide them to see the light.
Prof Lungu 8 years ago
CRITICAL OBSERVERS REFLECT ON THE LEGACY OF KWAME NKRUMAH & THE FORCES BEHIND HIS OVERTHROW IN 1966 BY THE KOTOKA MILITARY JUNTA THAT ESTABLISHED A DICTATOTSHIP THROUGH MILITARY RULE...ALL THE WAY TO JERRY "ACCOUNTABILITY" RA ... read full comment
CRITICAL OBSERVERS REFLECT ON THE LEGACY OF KWAME NKRUMAH & THE FORCES BEHIND HIS OVERTHROW IN 1966 BY THE KOTOKA MILITARY JUNTA THAT ESTABLISHED A DICTATOTSHIP THROUGH MILITARY RULE...ALL THE WAY TO JERRY "ACCOUNTABILITY" RAWLINGS AND HIS P/NDC, INDEMNITY-CLAUSE-REGIME
BY DR. SAS, ATTORNEY AT LAW
READ:
"....Biological sciences affirm the notion that all humankind are equal, and that exposure to knowledge and culture accounts for why some are more inclined than others to achieve greatness, power and wealth...Therefore the defining variable in mental development is “opportunity” which establishes the most legitimate intellectual differentials in the cognitive abilities of groups and individuals.../
\...It is in the context of all this knowledge that Ghana’s first president, soon after independence, deemed it fit and proper to concentrate on the formal school system to boost the African personality and to merge the tribes under one great banner of nationhood . Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s vision for Ghana was the elevation of the confidence of the African and the unity of the nation and her people. This vision extended beyond Ghana’s borders to include the whole of Africa. What Nkrumah conceived of nationhood made philosophical sense because without knowledge and unity, no country can claim nationhood. If ignorance makes people show greater allegiances to tribes at the expense of the nation, then the survival of the nation is under serious threat. For a country to be a nation, her people will have to subsume ethnicity under the aegis of the national interest. The present conflicts amongst the tribes, though so far verbal, is a testimony that our country comprises nations within the state. In effect, we of this generation have repudiated the concept of nationhood with our ethnic animosity and undermined the very tenets under which the nation was founded..." ( 6 February 2007, Ghanaweb, Samuel Adjei Sarfo, J.D., AKA, Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law).
Kojo T 8 years ago
The truth is they are just haters .Most like Sarpong are idiots
The truth is they are just haters .Most like Sarpong are idiots
TT 8 years ago
What is the point of this article? The Writer ended up saying Ghana had five hundred million dollars at the time of independence, the same thing he tried to diffuse and it does not matter whether it was Nkrumah who saved that ... read full comment
What is the point of this article? The Writer ended up saying Ghana had five hundred million dollars at the time of independence, the same thing he tried to diffuse and it does not matter whether it was Nkrumah who saved that money.
Hopefully the writer is not telling us the five hundred million dollars came from Nkrumah rich family.
Mr. Figure-Out 8 years ago
Why are these Nkrumaiist trying to force us back to the politics of the 1950s, the era of the Kumasi Playing-Groud Pin-Hole Cameras.? Why are they so burnt of inviting us into useless debates when Mahama and his criminal atin ... read full comment
Why are these Nkrumaiist trying to force us back to the politics of the 1950s, the era of the Kumasi Playing-Groud Pin-Hole Cameras.? Why are they so burnt of inviting us into useless debates when Mahama and his criminal atinga-trokosi cabal are looting anything they lay their hands on? Until the last phase of the moribund Nkrumah's CPP and its supporters of colonial mindset are wiped off this planet, Ghana will continue to retrogress.
Kwamebeba 8 years ago
Nkrumah wished always to be known as Kwame Nkrumah. There is nothing to be cited where Nkrumah said he should be called "Osagyefo" and again it can never be proven that Nkrumah said he should be deemed life President of Ghan ... read full comment
Nkrumah wished always to be known as Kwame Nkrumah. There is nothing to be cited where Nkrumah said he should be called "Osagyefo" and again it can never be proven that Nkrumah said he should be deemed life President of Ghana. All accolades, titles etc. that were bestowed on Nkrumah was by the people of Ghana who realized his great achievements for the motherland. Unfortunately, some of these same people became traitors. Is it J.B. Danquah, who is speaking to SAS and Ahoofe to call him "osagyefo?" Lincoln University saw that Kwame Nkrumah is more that a Doctor of Philosophy and so they made him Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. It is always whom the cap fits that will wear it! Why don't you say again that, it is Kwame Nkrumah who ordered that his life statue should be erected in Addis Ababa. Fools will die for lack of wisdom and selfishnes. I doubt if these haters of Nkrumaism have bothered to even read one chapter or paragraph from one of the numerous works of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah the Katamanto. Dark Days in Ghana and Africa Must Unite will be a good prescription for their ailments.
Wanto 8 years ago
You don't even know what you are talking about. Lincoln University did not grant Nkrumah a Doctoral degree.
Nkrumah enrolled in a Doctoral degree program at University of Pennsylvania but did not finish it.
Nkrumah neve ... read full comment
You don't even know what you are talking about. Lincoln University did not grant Nkrumah a Doctoral degree.
Nkrumah enrolled in a Doctoral degree program at University of Pennsylvania but did not finish it.
Nkrumah never earned a Doctoral degree.
Kwame 8 years ago
Dr. SAS to form a government in anywhere in the world you must be elected to office. Danquah did not get the approval of the people because his policies were in the interest of the colonialist, the reason why the people from ... read full comment
Dr. SAS to form a government in anywhere in the world you must be elected to office. Danquah did not get the approval of the people because his policies were in the interest of the colonialist, the reason why the people from his own home town did not vote for him. Dr. SAS you write like a typical U.S. citizen who has never stepped foot out of where he or she was born. In th U.S. it is the party in power that implements its policies and not that of the opposition, moreover, when the man who was supposed to lead the opposition did not get a vote to parliament. It is also a fact that after U.S. got her independence her policies are not tuned to advance the socioeconomic interest of Britain. SAS you have such a slave mentality that need to be cured.
steve 8 years ago
Thank you Prof.You've made my 4th July celebration complete.You are the kind of big heads we want on Ghanaweb.God be with you.
Thank you Prof.You've made my 4th July celebration complete.You are the kind of big heads we want on Ghanaweb.God be with you.
SARPONG 8 years ago
What a poor excuse of a Professor this Kwame Botwe is. After rambling on for a greater part of this article, this fool who tagged those people who said at the time of independence, Ghana has a large amount of money to work wi ... read full comment
What a poor excuse of a Professor this Kwame Botwe is. After rambling on for a greater part of this article, this fool who tagged those people who said at the time of independence, Ghana has a large amount of money to work with came into the same conclusion and as a matter of fact revealed a larger amount that was in the vault than previously believed, $500 million an equivalent of 300 million pounds in 1957.
This fool of a Professor did not say Ghana did not have any money left to it but he was rather peeved that the credit of who created that wealth was given to the colonial masters instead of Kwame Nkrumah generated internal funds.
The point is that, Ghana had $500 million in its books in 1957 that is about 20 billion dollars in today's money. At least as bad as the colonial masters were, they did not take the money with them when they left. So whether Jonah was swallowed by the whale or Jonah swallowed the whale, there was a swallow.
So if Nkrumah could internally generate $500 million between 1951-1956, how much did he generate between 1957 to 1966 when the colonial masters were not breathing on his neck?
How could the country had gone broke in 1963 just six years after independence with Nkrumah's magic touch, Kwame Botwe?
kosoko 8 years ago
You are a disgusting and pathetic individual. Who do you think you are? Have respect for yourself and extend it to others. Swallow that silly degree you have from a mushroom university you attended in America and let readers ... read full comment
You are a disgusting and pathetic individual. Who do you think you are? Have respect for yourself and extend it to others. Swallow that silly degree you have from a mushroom university you attended in America and let readers on this forum have their piece.
SARPONG 8 years ago
Moron, respect is earned not bought. If that Botwe cannot and it is you the same Botwe masquerading as Kosoko who has no cojones to come out and defend your foolishness and instead hiding under the guise of Kosoko .
You do ... read full comment
Moron, respect is earned not bought. If that Botwe cannot and it is you the same Botwe masquerading as Kosoko who has no cojones to come out and defend your foolishness and instead hiding under the guise of Kosoko .
You don't call people who do not agree with you names and expect to be respected. You are talking about being a boy in 1952 that shows you are in your late sixties or early seventies, respect others opinion even if you don't agree with them instead of calling them names.
kosoko 8 years ago
Oh now you are asking others to respect your opinion? Really? Do you have one on this forum other than insults? I'm not Botwe Asmoah. I'm Kosoko.I have been using this monika on Ghanaweb and as to why I use this Monika rather ... read full comment
Oh now you are asking others to respect your opinion? Really? Do you have one on this forum other than insults? I'm not Botwe Asmoah. I'm Kosoko.I have been using this monika on Ghanaweb and as to why I use this Monika rather than my true identity is none your business. The truth is you disgust me. Learn how to debate rather than spewing insults on anyone who does not share your opinion. This not certainly how you were trained during your university education. Your attitude here is a symptom of a fool who feels he must win argument on issues he got less insight. Botwe Asamoah is not your wit by any measurement and certainly he is not your equal in any other thing else: age, life experience etc. and yet you have the affront to call him a fool for writing this excellent piece. Go and consult any serious scholar in this field who you can think of, about this piece and hear the person's comments yourself. If someone is a fool than you are on this forum then I don't know the definition of a fool
SARPONG 8 years ago
You are an idiot and if you think you are fooling anybody, then you are more stupid than I thought. I know how to get your IP adoah Botwe using that moniker.
I can debate anybody in this forum but if you want to start with ... read full comment
You are an idiot and if you think you are fooling anybody, then you are more stupid than I thought. I know how to get your IP adoah Botwe using that moniker.
I can debate anybody in this forum but if you want to start with insult as you wrote in your article calling people who think Britain left a large amount of money to Ghana at the time of Independence as illiterates, then you deserve every insult.
You fools might not know the meaning of fallacy. How can you fools call it a fallacy when after a long winding idiotic foolishness you ends up agreeing that at the time of Independence when Nkrumah became President there was $500 million . What is the fallacy then? Did Nkrumah get the $500 million from his Liberia father, you stupid intellectual midgets.
Joe Mensah 8 years ago
This narrrow-minded,conceited moron called SARPONG whose father is a MOSSI from Bourkina Fasso,is always casting insults and propogating falsehood.
This narrrow-minded,conceited moron called SARPONG whose father is a MOSSI from Bourkina Fasso,is always casting insults and propogating falsehood.
MINOR CASE 8 years ago
A quintessential pot calling the kettle black. A rebuttal of what the sage , Mr. Sarpong said would have been appropriate. Nkrumah was not the saint you people portray him to be. There is a saying that if you are left an inhe ... read full comment
A quintessential pot calling the kettle black. A rebuttal of what the sage , Mr. Sarpong said would have been appropriate. Nkrumah was not the saint you people portray him to be. There is a saying that if you are left an inheritance and you squander it to the extent that you go begging for food,then you are a fool indeed. Six years into his presidency, Ghana was broke .
kosoko 8 years ago
Look at another one so sick that he jumps into the fray to insult without knowing the basis of my beef with Sarong. A tired mind! You are worse than the one you are defending
Look at another one so sick that he jumps into the fray to insult without knowing the basis of my beef with Sarong. A tired mind! You are worse than the one you are defending
MINOR CASE 8 years ago
Where is the insult. Kwasia man like you, give a rebuttal of what Sarpong has written and stop beating about the bush.
Where is the insult. Kwasia man like you, give a rebuttal of what Sarpong has written and stop beating about the bush.
kosoko 8 years ago
Obvious a fool like u wouldn't see Sarong's insult. How could u? Like him u don't u act before you think. Odwan!
Obvious a fool like u wouldn't see Sarong's insult. How could u? Like him u don't u act before you think. Odwan!
MINOR CASE 8 years ago
Ha ha ha. Going off your rocker . You have not refuted Sarpong's statement ,still beating bout the bush . Odwendwentwie ( fool ) like you . The word " fool " does not even adequately described the Twi word I have used here. ... read full comment
Ha ha ha. Going off your rocker . You have not refuted Sarpong's statement ,still beating bout the bush . Odwendwentwie ( fool ) like you . The word " fool " does not even adequately described the Twi word I have used here. When we talk of human dregs, you are the real deal.
kosoko 8 years ago
What else can you do better apart from insults? You are the only one who thinks insult is an academic opinion to be refuted. Sick! I pity you. Go and take a shower and sleep. Maybe you will be normal again. A deluded fool!
What else can you do better apart from insults? You are the only one who thinks insult is an academic opinion to be refuted. Sick! I pity you. Go and take a shower and sleep. Maybe you will be normal again. A deluded fool!
Dan 8 years ago
So tell us what the fallacy is. The Author ant to defuse the burning issue of Nkrumah having come into the presidency without any money but he ended up saying there was five hundred million dollars.
Maye you guys have a di ... read full comment
So tell us what the fallacy is. The Author ant to defuse the burning issue of Nkrumah having come into the presidency without any money but he ended up saying there was five hundred million dollars.
Maye you guys have a different meaning for fallacy and I will ike to hear.
Sylvia Denu 8 years ago
Yes, Sarpong it is Botwe. These are people who hardly publish in peer-review journals, but come here to spew nonsense. Botwe is not a historian, but a dondologist who is masquerading in America as one, and he has the temerity ... read full comment
Yes, Sarpong it is Botwe. These are people who hardly publish in peer-review journals, but come here to spew nonsense. Botwe is not a historian, but a dondologist who is masquerading in America as one, and he has the temerity to blame you for attending a school in America.
kosoko 8 years ago
I'm not Dr. Botwe Asamoah. I am Kosoko. Your argument smack of a tired and a lazy mind. Dr. Asamoah is giant in Ghana's political history and an experts on Nkrumah's work. He has published prolifically in this field. He is hi ... read full comment
I'm not Dr. Botwe Asamoah. I am Kosoko. Your argument smack of a tired and a lazy mind. Dr. Asamoah is giant in Ghana's political history and an experts on Nkrumah's work. He has published prolifically in this field. He is highly respected here in America in these two areas. My advice is that go to any library here in America and read them for yourself and stop those childish tagging. Then,compare those works with Sarong's corpus of work on Ghana's political history and come out with something meaningful than this tired tagging.
Dan 8 years ago
He is an "experts" indeed.
He is an "experts" indeed.
Kojo T 8 years ago
Cash $500m , illiterate population 6m , no schools, hospitals, roads, houses, What is that $500m? Nothing
Cash $500m , illiterate population 6m , no schools, hospitals, roads, houses, What is that $500m? Nothing
Mahmoud 8 years ago
Tema Motorway cost only 5million pounds, but Nkrumah left this country without proper rods. Even there was no befitting road from Kumasi to Accra.
Tema Motorway cost only 5million pounds, but Nkrumah left this country without proper rods. Even there was no befitting road from Kumasi to Accra.
The scum of Ghana. 8 years ago
If I may add five hundred million dollars is around five 4 billion dollars in today's money(relatively).
If I may add five hundred million dollars is around five 4 billion dollars in today's money(relatively).
Sister Souljah 8 years ago
Sarpong the vulgar BUFFOON!
Sarpong the vulgar BUFFOON!
DUNGEON MASTER 8 years ago
I have always believed and have articulated to some posting comments here that you possess more common sense than most people with a PhD. In fact, you have shredded this "lengthy" article from a PhD holder with just a few sen ... read full comment
I have always believed and have articulated to some posting comments here that you possess more common sense than most people with a PhD. In fact, you have shredded this "lengthy" article from a PhD holder with just a few sentences. I could not have said it better: whether the colonialists gave 500 million dollars to the country upon their departure or that amount was in our coffers when they left, that money was still there. Nkrumah did with it as he pleased and bankrupted the nation a few years later. Thanks!
GOLD COAST 8 years ago
This certified AKURASE idiot and his boss,Bla Sarfo(another kuraseni and the ONLY lawyer with JD in Uncle Sam's country who calls himself "Dokita"),are engaged in misinformation,peddling of half-truths and contaminated truths ... read full comment
This certified AKURASE idiot and his boss,Bla Sarfo(another kuraseni and the ONLY lawyer with JD in Uncle Sam's country who calls himself "Dokita"),are engaged in misinformation,peddling of half-truths and contaminated truths. Their main goal is to cut down the national and international fame accorded Nkrumah - while elevating the terrorist and traitor,J.B Danquah unto a phantom horse.
This Sisyphean quest is only a dream as many,including Ahoofe,have failed miserably.The irony is that all these "educated" idiots benefited from the ninety secondary(boarding) schools that Nkrumah and the CPP government built before 1966.And the akurase lawyer,Bla Sarfo,also attented Cape Vars(built by Nkrumah)and Legon which Nkrumah invested heavily and transformed it from a colonial campus,into Ghana's premier university.Likewise,millions were spent to modernize the small College of Technology in Kumasi into KNUST.
Infact,Bla Sarfo and his sidekick Sarpong,were beneficiaries of the huge investments Nkrumah made in education,infrastucture,and health facilities.It is important to note that after their graduation and "exposure to light" in Ghana,they ran away to AMELIKA to enjoy the "good life" - instead of giving back to society.
More than forty years ago,they were naked;barefooted,played in their parents'farms;and ate fufu and antelope soup with their unwashed hands.
Today,they use cutlery at the table in Texas,USA;eat expensive New York steaks and drink imported brandy and French wine. Oh,yeah !! They made it! Thanks to "dictator" Nkrumah and his "extravagance".
PEACE
SARPONG 8 years ago
Hahahahha, now all the cuckoo's cannot say that Nkrumah came to meet empty coffers.
The father of Nkrumah yahoos has accepted the fact that Nkrumah after Independence had $500 million in 1957 to spend.
How Nkrumah coul ... read full comment
Hahahahha, now all the cuckoo's cannot say that Nkrumah came to meet empty coffers.
The father of Nkrumah yahoos has accepted the fact that Nkrumah after Independence had $500 million in 1957 to spend.
How Nkrumah could have saved $500 million in short five years, from 1951-56 in itself is a miracle when the country at that time was not earning even $100 million a year from its exports of Gold, cocoa, timber and others.
How Nkrumah mamaged to run the country from 1951-56 and still saved a hundred million a year in itself is a fallacy only idiots who have their brains on ice will believe.
Maybe Nkrumah wizardry of saving money took a flight with the colonial masters back to England the showboy bankrupted Ghana within six years after assuming full control of Ghana.
Robert Cudjoe 8 years ago
1972 born SARPONG,do you know the cost of the massive development Nkrumah undertook? You did not even know that Accra-Kumasi-Tamale road was not tarred,and there was no pipe-borne water and electricity in your hometown until ... read full comment
1972 born SARPONG,do you know the cost of the massive development Nkrumah undertook? You did not even know that Accra-Kumasi-Tamale road was not tarred,and there was no pipe-borne water and electricity in your hometown until Nkrumah came to the scene.Go back and find the cost of all the projects Nkrumah undertook and come back.You are idiotic like your DUNGEON MASTER.
Prof Lungu 8 years ago
READ: "...In the Gold Coast, the European trading companies....exploited the Africans by controlling both the price paid for farmers’ cocoa beans and the price of imported goods from Europe...The price of imported goods fro ... read full comment
READ: "...In the Gold Coast, the European trading companies....exploited the Africans by controlling both the price paid for farmers’ cocoa beans and the price of imported goods from Europe...The price of imported goods from Europe either doubled or tripled...the British Colonial Government suppressed and/or criminalized indigenous productions..locally distilled gin (akpeteshi)...a man in the 1930s...was arrested by the colonial police and prosecuted at the colonial court in Koforidua for making a bicycle with bamboo sticks.
WE SAY: That is really not the kind of government that will leave $500 million in any account for the colonized in "Dark Africa".
THEN THIS: "...The Gold Coast...contributed, on an average, 25% of the net dollar earnings of the British colonial territories...In the aftermath of the Second World War, the British economy collapsed ..."
WE SAY: That goes to prove the point we've made above! The British could not have left $500 million to Ghanaian just 10 years after that war
FINALLT: "...Therefore the British colonial government in the Gold Coast...was not a philanthropic organization to have invested in the raw materials (cocoa, gold, diamonds, manganese, timber and others) and returned the profits to the Gold Coast, let alone leaving huge surpluses for Kwame Nkrumah to “waste.”
WE SAY: Precisely!
MINOR CASE 8 years ago
See how these Nkrumahism apologists have lined up to insult Sarpong .In case they are awake from their stupor, Nkrumah's party , the CPP , I hear is on life support. They should stop disturbing our ears and go to its rescue ... read full comment
See how these Nkrumahism apologists have lined up to insult Sarpong .In case they are awake from their stupor, Nkrumah's party , the CPP , I hear is on life support. They should stop disturbing our ears and go to its rescue .
SARPONG 8 years ago
Minor Case, I don't know what point this Writer was trying to prove but he woefully failed miserably.
I thought he was going to prove there was no money in the kitty when Nkrumah assumed office as the President in 1957 but ... read full comment
Minor Case, I don't know what point this Writer was trying to prove but he woefully failed miserably.
I thought he was going to prove there was no money in the kitty when Nkrumah assumed office as the President in 1957 but rather ended up even making it worse. Formally it was thought the money left for him was about $300 million. Now it clear it was much higher, $500 million. 500 million dollars in 1957 is about 20 billion dollars in today's money.
The money did not come from Nkrumah's pocket as this writer tried hard to imply.
TT 8 years ago
Sarpong has exposed the shallowness of this article and Nkrumah supporters who have previously argued that there was no money when he became President now have no point to defend so they have to resort to insults.
Sarpong has exposed the shallowness of this article and Nkrumah supporters who have previously argued that there was no money when he became President now have no point to defend so they have to resort to insults.
Kofi 8 years ago
Where is the fallacy when you have agreed there was. 500M dollars in 1957?
Where is the fallacy when you have agreed there was. 500M dollars in 1957?
James Obeng 8 years ago
500 million dollars was insignificant considering the massive development Nkrumah undertook.I bet you,you did not even know the Accra-Kumasi road was not even tarred,and there was no pipe-borne water and electricity in your h ... read full comment
500 million dollars was insignificant considering the massive development Nkrumah undertook.I bet you,you did not even know the Accra-Kumasi road was not even tarred,and there was no pipe-borne water and electricity in your hometown until Nkrumah came to the scene.The fallacy is the silly allegation that "large sums" of money were left by the British and was wasted by Nkrumah,without considering the cost of all Nkrumah's projects which were critical for advancement.Here lies the fallacy.
Sasabonsam 8 years ago
If Nkrumah could generate that amount of money from 1951-55. How much did he and the CPP generated until he was overthrown.
We know that the country was bankrupt when C. Osei (governer for bank of Ghana )
told him in 1965 b ... read full comment
If Nkrumah could generate that amount of money from 1951-55. How much did he and the CPP generated until he was overthrown.
We know that the country was bankrupt when C. Osei (governer for bank of Ghana )
told him in 1965 budget that there was only $65.00 left in our cofers (BBC ).WHY DID CRY. You are the types who see, hear or talk no fault about Nkrumah s evil empire
Prof Lungu 8 years ago
CRITICAL OBSERVERS REFLECT ON THE LEGACY OF KWAME NKRUMAH & THE FORCES BEHIND HIS OVERTHROW IN 1966 BY THE KOTOKA MILITARY JUNTA THAT ESTABLISHED A DICTATOTSHIP THROUGH MILITARY RULE...ALL THE WAY TO JERRY "ACCOUNTABILITY" RA ... read full comment
CRITICAL OBSERVERS REFLECT ON THE LEGACY OF KWAME NKRUMAH & THE FORCES BEHIND HIS OVERTHROW IN 1966 BY THE KOTOKA MILITARY JUNTA THAT ESTABLISHED A DICTATOTSHIP THROUGH MILITARY RULE...ALL THE WAY TO JERRY "ACCOUNTABILITY" RAWLINGS AND HIS P/NDC, INDEMNITY-CLAUSE-REGIME
BY , DR. SAS, ATTORNEY AT LAW
READ:
"....Biological sciences affirm the notion that all humankind are equal, and that exposure to knowledge and culture accounts for why some are more inclined than others to achieve greatness, power and wealth...Therefore the defining variable in mental development is “opportunity” which establishes the most legitimate intellectual differentials in the cognitive abilities of groups and individuals.../
\...It is in the context of all this knowledge that Ghana’s first president, soon after independence, deemed it fit and proper to concentrate on the formal school system to boost the African personality and to merge the tribes under one great banner of nationhood . Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s vision for Ghana was the elevation of the confidence of the African and the unity of the nation and her people. This vision extended beyond Ghana’s borders to include the whole of Africa. What Nkrumah conceived of nationhood made philosophical sense because without knowledge and unity, no country can claim nationhood. If ignorance makes people show greater allegiances to tribes at the expense of the nation, then the survival of the nation is under serious threat. For a country to be a nation, her people will have to subsume ethnicity under the aegis of the national interest. The present conflicts amongst the tribes, though so far verbal, is a testimony that our country comprises nations within the state. In effect, we of this generation have repudiated the concept of nationhood with our ethnic animosity and undermined the very tenets under which the nation was founded..." ( 6 February 2007, Ghanaweb, Samuel Adjei Sarfo, J.D., AKA, Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law).
Mr. Figure-Out 8 years ago
Yes, Nkrumah did generate 500 million through self government under the British supervision; the million dollar question is how much he was able to generate after the British left the management of the country under his care ... read full comment
Yes, Nkrumah did generate 500 million through self government under the British supervision; the million dollar question is how much he was able to generate after the British left the management of the country under his care when Ghana became a republic? All that we know is that, ambitious Kwame, in other to fulfil his mantra of " independence of Ghana is meaningless until the total liberation of Africa, abandoned the core duty of developing Ghana to the full and focused on the liberation and unification Africa. This premature notion/ambition of Nkrumah for newly independent state saw the drain of our meager resources to benefit some African countries, notably Guinea and Mali. What was the use of supplying electricity to Togo and Ivory Coast when the entire Northern sector of Ghana had no electricity, let alone the experience of Dumsor in those days? On this score alone, we say Nkrumah was a necessary evil. He had good vision but his poor timing and radicalism necesitated his overthrow at that point. What we also know is that, whether the CIA masterminded his overthrow or not, almost all Ghanaian, from Wa to Bolgatanga, through Bimbila to Keta, Axim etc, all poured out to the streets to celebrate the overthrow the then government of terror and brutal dictatorship. We can confidently conclude that Ghana could have been a paradise had Nkrumah remained focus in managing the abundant flow of natural resources( gold, diamond, bauxite,timber), coupled with the booming cocoa, coffee and rubber plantations of the agric sector.
BONE MARROW 8 years ago
hmmmmmm so we had dat amount of money at dat time and we couldnt make any meaningful projects with it i thought it was 200 million pounds with total debt of 20 million pounds hmmm den prof u did nt do nkrumah any good by reve ... read full comment
hmmmmmm so we had dat amount of money at dat time and we couldnt make any meaningful projects with it i thought it was 200 million pounds with total debt of 20 million pounds hmmm den prof u did nt do nkrumah any good by revealing de secret but u ve made us to know dat de man was nt a saint as u made us to believe.no wonder somebody said corruption started from adam
Lexus 8 years ago
What's wrong koraa with this Asamoah Botwe?
What a load of balderdash!!!
Btw, what does my Professor first cousin [in Bloomington, IN] see in you to speak so kindly of you, even when he disagrees with you politically on ... read full comment
What's wrong koraa with this Asamoah Botwe?
What a load of balderdash!!!
Btw, what does my Professor first cousin [in Bloomington, IN] see in you to speak so kindly of you, even when he disagrees with you politically on almost every issue? I got rebuked in private for posting some "distasteful comment" to one of your senseless Nkrumah articles, a few months back. I am doing my best to be a 'good boy' today.
For Heaven's sake be a little objective every now and then.
Gute Nacht!!!!!
Kwabena Akurang-Parry 8 years ago
Revisionism can be bad history if it is not well-pruned. The Brits left money in the vaults of the Gold Coast/Ghana. Two key questions may be tackled. First is how much did the Brit leave behind? This is clouded in relativiti ... read full comment
Revisionism can be bad history if it is not well-pruned. The Brits left money in the vaults of the Gold Coast/Ghana. Two key questions may be tackled. First is how much did the Brit leave behind? This is clouded in relativities because it is not only money in the bank, but other investments, etc. Second, is how Nkrumah applied the "leftover" money? I think the second issue is what should be problematized and clarified to make an incontrovertible conclusion that Nkrumah with all his faults did not squander the money at hand, but used it to develop Ghana. I figured this was what Kwame Botwe-Asamoah had set out to do but got lost in the academic plantation.
One often-used critical missile against Nkrumah is that he squandered about 200 million pounds that the British had accumulated for the Gold Coast. Sadly, critics of Nkrumah have not asked what the British used the wealth obtained from our gold, cocoa, timber, etc. to do for us in almost one hundred years of predatory colonial rule of political divisiveness, religio-cultural benightedness, and economic dependency. Nkrumah used whatever the Brits left behind to rectify some of these problems and by so doing rescued Ghanaians from the prison neocolonialism.
And yes, we may fault Nkrumah for generously putting our money in the chest of African liberation, but even then it came from a noble calling, not a thievery one, and in the end some Africans gained from it.
Combine all the economic achievements of the leaders of the post-Nkrumah era and they would not measure up to what Nkrumah achieved whether he squandered our monies or not. Framed in critical comparative perspectives what is happening in Ghana today makes Nkrumah a peerless leader. Due to the tyranny of time and space, just consider the Woyomizations, the saddled SADAs, the Akomfem in flight projects, the GYEEDAs, the Kufour Hotels, the Drill Ships, the NSCs, World Cup corruption, etc. and you would end up canonizing Nkrumah as the only sane, if not saintly leader that Ghana has had. Long Live Nkrumah! Long Live the CPP!
James Obeng 8 years ago
Thank you Kwabena.You have hit the nail right on its head.It takes fair-minded,open-minded,objective and intellectually sound writers like you to uderstand Botwe-Asamoah's essay.
Thank you Kwabena.You have hit the nail right on its head.It takes fair-minded,open-minded,objective and intellectually sound writers like you to uderstand Botwe-Asamoah's essay.
Samson 8 years ago
Brilliant. Sadly we shall not in our lifetime see another leader like Nkrumah again. Ghana will surely have been a better country had the 1966 coup not happened. We all know who were responsible for that terrible happening in ... read full comment
Brilliant. Sadly we shall not in our lifetime see another leader like Nkrumah again. Ghana will surely have been a better country had the 1966 coup not happened. We all know who were responsible for that terrible happening in our country. No matter what the detractors write and say the truth of Nkrumah's achievements will always stand, period!!!
Yaw K. 8 years ago
Nkrumah the evil leader is dead cpp is gone for good.
Nkrumah the evil leader is dead cpp is gone for good.
Anto 8 years ago
After reading just the intro, i realised the writer is just and Nkrumah apologist and probably suffers from schizophrenia as well. A disgrace to PhD holders.
After reading just the intro, i realised the writer is just and Nkrumah apologist and probably suffers from schizophrenia as well. A disgrace to PhD holders.
Bravo Prof. Botwe-Asamoah,
This is a brilliant piece. Dr. Kwame Botwe-Asamoah has once again shown that he is a true master of postcolonial history, unlike the professional enemies of Nkrumah who write and argue from the s ...
read full comment
Sir, this is your student Samuel Adjei Sarfo, Esq.
I think the real issue to rebut is Nkrumah's dictatorship: PDA, imprisonment without trial, life presidency, one party state, dismissal of judges, ingratitude to those wh ...
read full comment
In response to a comment from you, someone said earlier today that you may have a case of schizophrenia!
Having just read your "The Issue Is Moot" comment, we are forced to conclude that you must have some type of patholog ...
read full comment
To say....
IN SUMMARY
Prof. Lungu,
I just finished watching Charlie Chaplin.
I am moving on to the Three Stooges.
Have a great weekend.
Thanks.
I am happy that you have finally find something useful to do with your time and I think Adwoa Wangara would be happy too. Keep it up and the nest time you pick up a pen, think of Ghana and write something to address the faili ...
read full comment
The core point is that Nkrumah had huge reserves of money when he became president. That we all agree. Therefore his infrastructural development was nothing extraordinary. In the end, a greater amount of the reserve was squa ...
read full comment
I just don't know why these guys can't understand that Nkrumah was a terrible human being that shouldn't have ruled this country in the first place. Nkrumah is the source of all our troubles today, and the communist relics sh ...
read full comment
CRITICAL OBSERVERS REFLECT ON THE LEGACY OF KWAME NKRUMAH & THE FORCES BEHIND HIS OVERTHROW IN 1966 BY THE KOTOKA MILITARY JUNTA THAT ESTABLISHED A DICTATOTSHIP THROUGH MILITARY RULE...ALL THE WAY TO JERRY "ACCOUNTABILITY" RA ...
read full comment
The truth is they are just haters .Most like Sarpong are idiots
What is the point of this article? The Writer ended up saying Ghana had five hundred million dollars at the time of independence, the same thing he tried to diffuse and it does not matter whether it was Nkrumah who saved that ...
read full comment
Why are these Nkrumaiist trying to force us back to the politics of the 1950s, the era of the Kumasi Playing-Groud Pin-Hole Cameras.? Why are they so burnt of inviting us into useless debates when Mahama and his criminal atin ...
read full comment
Nkrumah wished always to be known as Kwame Nkrumah. There is nothing to be cited where Nkrumah said he should be called "Osagyefo" and again it can never be proven that Nkrumah said he should be deemed life President of Ghan ...
read full comment
You don't even know what you are talking about. Lincoln University did not grant Nkrumah a Doctoral degree.
Nkrumah enrolled in a Doctoral degree program at University of Pennsylvania but did not finish it.
Nkrumah neve ...
read full comment
Dr. SAS to form a government in anywhere in the world you must be elected to office. Danquah did not get the approval of the people because his policies were in the interest of the colonialist, the reason why the people from ...
read full comment
Thank you Prof.You've made my 4th July celebration complete.You are the kind of big heads we want on Ghanaweb.God be with you.
What a poor excuse of a Professor this Kwame Botwe is. After rambling on for a greater part of this article, this fool who tagged those people who said at the time of independence, Ghana has a large amount of money to work wi ...
read full comment
You are a disgusting and pathetic individual. Who do you think you are? Have respect for yourself and extend it to others. Swallow that silly degree you have from a mushroom university you attended in America and let readers ...
read full comment
Moron, respect is earned not bought. If that Botwe cannot and it is you the same Botwe masquerading as Kosoko who has no cojones to come out and defend your foolishness and instead hiding under the guise of Kosoko .
You do ...
read full comment
Oh now you are asking others to respect your opinion? Really? Do you have one on this forum other than insults? I'm not Botwe Asmoah. I'm Kosoko.I have been using this monika on Ghanaweb and as to why I use this Monika rather ...
read full comment
You are an idiot and if you think you are fooling anybody, then you are more stupid than I thought. I know how to get your IP adoah Botwe using that moniker.
I can debate anybody in this forum but if you want to start with ...
read full comment
This narrrow-minded,conceited moron called SARPONG whose father is a MOSSI from Bourkina Fasso,is always casting insults and propogating falsehood.
A quintessential pot calling the kettle black. A rebuttal of what the sage , Mr. Sarpong said would have been appropriate. Nkrumah was not the saint you people portray him to be. There is a saying that if you are left an inhe ...
read full comment
Look at another one so sick that he jumps into the fray to insult without knowing the basis of my beef with Sarong. A tired mind! You are worse than the one you are defending
Where is the insult. Kwasia man like you, give a rebuttal of what Sarpong has written and stop beating about the bush.
Obvious a fool like u wouldn't see Sarong's insult. How could u? Like him u don't u act before you think. Odwan!
Ha ha ha. Going off your rocker . You have not refuted Sarpong's statement ,still beating bout the bush . Odwendwentwie ( fool ) like you . The word " fool " does not even adequately described the Twi word I have used here. ...
read full comment
What else can you do better apart from insults? You are the only one who thinks insult is an academic opinion to be refuted. Sick! I pity you. Go and take a shower and sleep. Maybe you will be normal again. A deluded fool!
So tell us what the fallacy is. The Author ant to defuse the burning issue of Nkrumah having come into the presidency without any money but he ended up saying there was five hundred million dollars.
Maye you guys have a di ...
read full comment
Yes, Sarpong it is Botwe. These are people who hardly publish in peer-review journals, but come here to spew nonsense. Botwe is not a historian, but a dondologist who is masquerading in America as one, and he has the temerity ...
read full comment
I'm not Dr. Botwe Asamoah. I am Kosoko. Your argument smack of a tired and a lazy mind. Dr. Asamoah is giant in Ghana's political history and an experts on Nkrumah's work. He has published prolifically in this field. He is hi ...
read full comment
He is an "experts" indeed.
Cash $500m , illiterate population 6m , no schools, hospitals, roads, houses, What is that $500m? Nothing
Tema Motorway cost only 5million pounds, but Nkrumah left this country without proper rods. Even there was no befitting road from Kumasi to Accra.
If I may add five hundred million dollars is around five 4 billion dollars in today's money(relatively).
Sarpong the vulgar BUFFOON!
I have always believed and have articulated to some posting comments here that you possess more common sense than most people with a PhD. In fact, you have shredded this "lengthy" article from a PhD holder with just a few sen ...
read full comment
This certified AKURASE idiot and his boss,Bla Sarfo(another kuraseni and the ONLY lawyer with JD in Uncle Sam's country who calls himself "Dokita"),are engaged in misinformation,peddling of half-truths and contaminated truths ...
read full comment
Hahahahha, now all the cuckoo's cannot say that Nkrumah came to meet empty coffers.
The father of Nkrumah yahoos has accepted the fact that Nkrumah after Independence had $500 million in 1957 to spend.
How Nkrumah coul ...
read full comment
1972 born SARPONG,do you know the cost of the massive development Nkrumah undertook? You did not even know that Accra-Kumasi-Tamale road was not tarred,and there was no pipe-borne water and electricity in your hometown until ...
read full comment
READ: "...In the Gold Coast, the European trading companies....exploited the Africans by controlling both the price paid for farmers’ cocoa beans and the price of imported goods from Europe...The price of imported goods fro ...
read full comment
See how these Nkrumahism apologists have lined up to insult Sarpong .In case they are awake from their stupor, Nkrumah's party , the CPP , I hear is on life support. They should stop disturbing our ears and go to its rescue ...
read full comment
Minor Case, I don't know what point this Writer was trying to prove but he woefully failed miserably.
I thought he was going to prove there was no money in the kitty when Nkrumah assumed office as the President in 1957 but ...
read full comment
Sarpong has exposed the shallowness of this article and Nkrumah supporters who have previously argued that there was no money when he became President now have no point to defend so they have to resort to insults.
Where is the fallacy when you have agreed there was. 500M dollars in 1957?
500 million dollars was insignificant considering the massive development Nkrumah undertook.I bet you,you did not even know the Accra-Kumasi road was not even tarred,and there was no pipe-borne water and electricity in your h ...
read full comment
If Nkrumah could generate that amount of money from 1951-55. How much did he and the CPP generated until he was overthrown.
We know that the country was bankrupt when C. Osei (governer for bank of Ghana )
told him in 1965 b ...
read full comment
CRITICAL OBSERVERS REFLECT ON THE LEGACY OF KWAME NKRUMAH & THE FORCES BEHIND HIS OVERTHROW IN 1966 BY THE KOTOKA MILITARY JUNTA THAT ESTABLISHED A DICTATOTSHIP THROUGH MILITARY RULE...ALL THE WAY TO JERRY "ACCOUNTABILITY" RA ...
read full comment
Yes, Nkrumah did generate 500 million through self government under the British supervision; the million dollar question is how much he was able to generate after the British left the management of the country under his care ...
read full comment
hmmmmmm so we had dat amount of money at dat time and we couldnt make any meaningful projects with it i thought it was 200 million pounds with total debt of 20 million pounds hmmm den prof u did nt do nkrumah any good by reve ...
read full comment
What's wrong koraa with this Asamoah Botwe?
What a load of balderdash!!!
Btw, what does my Professor first cousin [in Bloomington, IN] see in you to speak so kindly of you, even when he disagrees with you politically on ...
read full comment
Revisionism can be bad history if it is not well-pruned. The Brits left money in the vaults of the Gold Coast/Ghana. Two key questions may be tackled. First is how much did the Brit leave behind? This is clouded in relativiti ...
read full comment
Thank you Kwabena.You have hit the nail right on its head.It takes fair-minded,open-minded,objective and intellectually sound writers like you to uderstand Botwe-Asamoah's essay.
Brilliant. Sadly we shall not in our lifetime see another leader like Nkrumah again. Ghana will surely have been a better country had the 1966 coup not happened. We all know who were responsible for that terrible happening in ...
read full comment
Nkrumah the evil leader is dead cpp is gone for good.
After reading just the intro, i realised the writer is just and Nkrumah apologist and probably suffers from schizophrenia as well. A disgrace to PhD holders.