September 21 is Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day. The Day is celebrated in Ghana to commemorate the birth, legacy, achievements and vision of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the country’s first president who led Ghana to independence. Ghana, before independence known as Gold Coast, was the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve freedom from colonial rule.
Born in the Gold Coast town of Nkroful on September 21st 1909. Nkrumah lived in Nkroful with his mother for three years before they left to join his father who was a gold smith at Half Assini. Nkrumah started his career as a teacher at Roman Catholic junior schools in Elmina and Axim.
The sudden demise of his father thrusted the young Nkrumah into a hard world of poverty and deprivation. He therefore resolved to further his education abroad. He first sailed from Takoradi to Liverpool, and later to the United States of America. He continued his studies at Lincoln University in 1935. Upon completion, he served as a teaching assistant for some time, and in 1939, he continued his education at the University of Pennsylvania.
While there, the young Nkrumah came face to face with the realities of race and economic inequalities in the US, an observation which ignited his interest in the study of socialism, notably Karl Marx and Vladimir I. Lenin. In doing so, however, he also took on many ad-hoc, menial jobs to survive; he worked as a fish wholesaler, a dishwasher and a cleaner. He also immersed himself in political work, reorganizing and becoming president of the African Students’ Organization of the United States and Canada.
He left the United States in May 1945 and went to England with the aim of studying law and completing his thesis for his doctorate. However, on meeting George Padmore, he renounced his plans, and the two as Co-Political Secretaries helped to organize the Sixth Pan-African Congress in Manchester, England. After the Congress, Nkrumah continued his work for de-colonization of Africa and became Vice-President of West African Students Union. He was also leader of \”The Circle\”, the secret organization dedicated to the unity and independence of West Africa, in its struggle
He returned home in 1947 to become the General Secretary of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC). On February 1948, police fired on ex-servicemen protesting the rising cost of living. The shooting spurred massive riots in Accra and Kumasi. The colonial government suspected the UGCC was behind the protests and arrested Dr Nkrumah and other party leaders. After his release, Dr Nkrumah went around the country proclaiming that the Gold Coast needed \”self-government now\”, and built a large power base. This put him at odds with the other leaders of the UGCC who preferred “self-government in the shortest possible time.” On June 12, 1949, Dr Nkrumah led the formation of the CPP.
Dr Nkrumah declared “positive action” on January 8, 1950 in front of a large CPP crowd at a public meeting in Accra. The strike soon spread to Sekondi, Cape Coast and Takoradi. The colonial government declared a state of emergency effective January 12, 1950 and prohibited the holding of processions, imposed curfews and disconnected public services in certain areas.
Dr Nkrumah was arrested on January 21, 1950 and tried for inciting an illegal strike and sedition for an article in the Cape Coast Daily Mail and sentenced to three years imprisonment. While in prison, Dr Nkrumah led the CPP to achieve a stunning victory in the February 1951 elections. On 6th March, 1957, he led Ghana to independence, making it the first country South of the Sahara to achieve freedom from colonial rule.
On February 24, 1966, while he was on a peace mission to Hanoi, a junta consisting of senior military and police officers staged a coup and overthrew the Nkrumah government. After the fall of his administration, Dr Nkrumah never returned to Ghana but continued to push for his vision of African unity. He lived in exile in Guinea as the guest of then President Ahmed Sekou Touré, who made him honorary president of the country. In failing health, he flew to Bucharest, Romania, for medical treatment in August 1971. He died there in April 1972, at the age of 62.
Dr Nkrumah is fondly remembered for his economic legacies, including the building of Tema township, the Accra-Tema Motorway, Akosombo Dam, Adome bridge Komfo Anokye Hospital in Kumasi, University of Science and Technology, University of Cape Coast, polytechnics and second-cycle schools around the country. To make the country self-reliant, he also set up factories and import-substitution industries such as the sugar factory in Asutuare, Tomato and Mango Canning factory in Wenchi, The Steel factory in Tema, The Aboaso Glass factory, Ghana Cement (GHACEM), among many others. The objective was to transform Ghana into a modern industrial nation capable of providing its needs.
On the continental scene, Dr Nkrumah supported and campaigned for the decolonization of Africa, lending support to freedom fighters and movements across the continent. He also campaigned for the unity of the continent as a tool for overcoming neocolonialism. To this end, he helped found the Organization of African Unity (O.A.U) in 1963 to lead the efforts towards continental union.
As the world celebrate Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day, many countries in Africa are looking to embrace his legacy and vision to direct their paths towards shared prosperity.