Francis Kwame Nkrumah 21st September 1909 –1972
(1st Prime Minister of Ghana)
Francis Kwame Nkrumah was the 1st Prime Minister of Ghana (1957 – July 1 1960) and 1st President of Ghana (1st July 1960 – 24th February 1966).
Birth/Early years and education
He was born at Nkroful in Gold Coast now Ghana on the 21st September 1909 to Madam Nyaniba. Kwame Nkrumah, the son of a goldsmith, His spouse was Fathia Rizk. Nkrumah had 4 children namely Francis, Gamal, Samia, Sekou. He went to Achimota School in Accra, which was one of the best secondary schools in Ghana. He graduated in 1930 and went on to study at the Roman Catholic Seminary and teaching in a Catholic school in Axim.
In 1935 Nkrumah left Ghana for the United States to left to study economics and sociology. In 1939 he received a BA from Lincoln University, Pennsylvania. In 1942 he received an STB (Bachelor of Sacred Theology). He also earned a Masters of Science in education from University of Pennsylvanian and a Masters of Arts in philosophy in 1943 from the University of Pennsylvanian. He lectured in political science at Lincoln University, while lecturing in Lincoln he was elected the president of the African Students Organization of America and Canada.
Kwame Nkrumah arrived in London in 1945 to study at the LSE, however, after meeting George Padmore his plans changed. He became actively involved in the Pan-African Congress and decolonization of Africa. He founded the West African national Secretariat and was the Vice-President of the West African Students’ Union.
Nkrumah and Dr Martin Luther King Jnr.
Return to Gold Coast - Ghana
He returned to Ghana in 1947 and became General Secretary of the newly founded United Gold Coast Convention, which was campaigning to end British rule. He was also a firm believer in African liberation, Nkrumah pursued a radical pan-African policy, playing a key role in the formation of the Organization of African Unity in 1963.
Kwame Nkrumah
In February 1948 Nkrumah and other leading members of the UGCC were arrested, following a series of riots in Accra, Kumasi and other parts of the country by ex-servicemen protesting against the rising cost of living. However, in 1948 he was expelled from the organization for leading a campaign of civil disobedience. He then went on to form the Convention People's Party (CPP) in 1949, the first mass political party in black Africa.
The British responded to the unrest in the country by making moves towards self-government and invited draft for a new constitution. Nkrumah’s "People's Assembly" composed of representatives of party members, youth organizations, trade unions, farmers, and veterans. Their proposals called for a universal franchise without property qualifications, a separate house of chiefs, and self-governing status under the Statute of Westminster. These amendments, known as the Constitutional Proposals of October 1949, were rejected by the colonial administration. The rejection of the People’s Assembly’s recommendation led to Nkrumah calling for “Positive Action” in 1950. This includes boycotts, strikes, looting, civil disobedience etc. Nkrumah and many of his supporters were arrested and sentenced for 3 years in prison.
Imprisoned by the British in 1950, he was released the next year after the CPP's landslide election victory. In 1952 Nkrumah became the country's first prime minister. After independence in 1957 Ghana became a republic in 1960. But while Nkrumah worked to improve living standards at home his ambitions extended beyond national boundaries to the creation of a federal union of African states.
Exile and death
In February 1966 while Nkrumah was away on a state visit to Vietnam, his government was overthrown in a military coup. Nkrumah never returned to Ghana. He went into exile in Conakry, Guinea at the invitation of Sekou Toure, who made him honary co-president of Guinea. He spent his last years in exile, dying in Bucharest, Romania, he died of skin cancer in April 1972 at the age of 62 and was buried at Nkroful. His remains were later transferred to a large national memorial tomb and park in Accra.
Today, he Today, Nkrumah is still one of the most respected leaders in African history. In 2000 he was voted Africa's man of the millennium by listeners to the BBC World Service. His legacy and dream of a "United States of African" still remains a goal to be achieved among many African leaders.
Popular speeches
“Divided we are weak; united, Africa could become one of the greatest forces for good in the world”.
“All for One and One for All”
"United we stand"
All for One and One for All
Explaining his vision in his 1961 book, I
Speak of Freedom, Nkrumah wrote:
'Divided we are weak; united, Africa could become one of the greatest forces for
good in the world. I believe strongly and sincerely that with the deep-rooted
wisdom and dignity, the innate respect for human lives, the intense humanity
that is our heritage, the African race, united under one federal government,
will emerge not as just another world bloc to flaunt its wealth and strength,
but as a Great Power whose greatness is indestructible because it is built not
on fear, envy and suspicion, nor won at the expense of others, but founded on
hope, trust, friendship and directed to the good of all mankind.'
However, few of the newly independent African countries were persuaded of the
need to give up some of the power they had recently won, to a central parliament
for the continent. Ghana was one of 30 nations that founded the Organisation of
African Unity in 1963. But Nkrumah regarded it as inadequate as it was not the
United States of Africa he longed for.
African Socialism Revisited – Dr Kwame Nkrumah
"We know that the traditional African society was founded on principles of egalitarianism. In its actual workings, however, it had various shortcomings. Its humanist impulse, nevertheless, is something that continues to urge us towards our all-African socialist reconstruction. We postulate each man to be an end in himself, not merely a means; and we accept the necessity of guaranteeing each man equal opportunities for his development. The implications of this for socio-political practice have to be worked out scientifically, and the necessary social and economic policies pursued with resolution. Any meaningful humanism must begin from egalitarianism and must lead to objectively chosen policies for safeguarding and sustaining egalitarianism. Hence, socialism. Hence, also, scientific socialism."
See pictures of the big six : Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey, Mr. Ako Adjei, The big six includes Mr. Edward Akuffo-Addo, Dr. J. B. Danquah, Mr. William Ofori Atta
The big six pictures – the big six were six brave leaders of the UGCC who were arrested and detained under the Emergency Regulation in 1948 during disturbances in the Gold Coast.
Conference of Independent African States - April 1958
Addressing African Heads of State - May 1965
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