Nkrumah, Kwame 1909–1972

Kwame Nkrumah 1909–1972

Former head of state of Ghana

At a Glance…

Led Protest Against British Rule in Africa

Overcame Opposition Within Ghana

Nkrumahism Emerged as Sole Ideology

A One-Party Socialist State Developed

Foreign Policy Based on Pan-Africanism and Liberation

Political Conflicts Led to Overthrow

Exile in Guinea

Selected writings

Sources

Even decades after his death in 1972, Kwame Nkrumah remains a symbol of the movement for African independence that occurred in the 1950s and 1960s. He assumed a position of leadership in the struggle for African freedom by becoming prime minister of the Gold Coast—the first African-born prime minister of a sub-Saharan British dependency. When the Gold Coast achieved independence as Ghana in 1957, Nkrumah became its head of state. Within a few years, he attained cult figure status and became the country’s sole decisionmaker. Nkrumah wrote extensively and was a leading philosopher of Pan-Africanism, the movement toward African unity. Though generally recognized as a brilliant leader, he was overthrown by a bloodless military coup when his policies led to widespread discontent in his own country.

Nkrumah grew up in a typical African village. Although records of his exact date of birth in 1909 vary and are not considered official, he reportedly celebrated his birthday on September 18. Nkrumah attended a local elementary school run by a Roman Catholic mission, where he was baptized. He did well at school and became a pupil teacher. In 1926 he was sent to the Government Training College(GTC) in the seaport city of Accra, which later became the capital of Ghana. Two years later, the GTC became part of Achimota College, a Christian foundation open to all Africans. It was a challenging curricula, and Nkrumah took part in such extracurricular activities as drama and debate.

Around this time he became exposed to the Pan-African ideas of American social and political activist W.E.B. Du Bois and Jamaican black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. Nkrumah left Achimota in 1930 and took a teaching post at Elmina Roman Catholic primary school. After a series of promotions, he joined the staff of the Catholic seminary at Amisso in 1933.

In 1935, having failed the entrance examination for London University, Nkrumah decided to apply to an American university. On the advice of Dr. Azikiwe, a Nigerian journalist who had attended Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, he applied there. With the aid of his extended African family, he was able to travel to America and enroll at Lincoln. It was the beginning of ten difficult years in America.

Nkrumah graduated from Lincoln in 1939 with a bachelor’s

At a Glance…

Born September 18, 1909, in Nkroful, British West Africa; died of cancer, April 27, 1972, in Bucharest, Romania. Education: Attended Roman Catholic missionary schools; attended Government Training College, Accra, 1926-30; Lincoln University, B.A., 1939; Lincoln Theological Seminary, B.A., 1942; received M.A. and M.S. from University of Pennsylvania.

Began career as a teacher at Roman Catholic schools and seminary, Gold Coast, 1930-35; traveled to United States, 1935, to attend Lincoln University; organized and became president of African Students Association; returned to Gold Coast, 1947; became secretary of the United Gold Coast Convention (political party); established Convention People’s party (CPP), 1949; elected prime minister of Gold Coast, 1951, reelected 1954 and 1956; became head of state when Gold Coast achieved independence as Ghana, 1957; overthown by military coup, 1966, and forced into exile; named joint head of state of Guinea by Sekou Toure while in exile.

degree in economics and sociology. He took a post as an assistant lecturer in philosophy to support himself. He also enrolled in graduate classes at the Lincoln Theological Seminary and at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1942 he graduated as the top student from the seminary in the bachelor of theology program. He also earned master’s degrees in philosophy and education from the University of Pennsylvania.

Devoting more time to political activities, Nkrumah joined a group of African students and helped it become the national African Students Association, of which he was elected president. He participated in several conferences on the independence and development of Africa and began setting down his political and philosophical ideas in a pamphlet that would be published in 1962 as Towards Colonial Freedom. Completed during his stay in London in 1946, the work reflects a wide variety of revolutionary influences and denounced Britain’s colonial rule in Africa.

Led Protest Against British Rule in Africa

In 1947 the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) was established, and Nkrumah returned to the Gold Coast from London to become its secretary. This national movement was essentially middle-class in origin and conservative in its policies. Within two years, Nkrumah broke from this moderate organization and, together with like-minded radicals, formed the Convention People’s Party (CPP), which adopted the slogan “Self-Government Now.” It was supported by many segments of Gold Coast society that wished to see the end of British rule, including army veterans, small traders, and other nationalists.

Nkrumah’s protests were eventually successful. After the British jailed him in 1950 for political agitation, they allowed a new national constitution to be drafted, with elections to be held in February of 1951. Although still under arrest, Nkrumah became the continent’s first African-born prime minister. After winning the 1951 election, Nkrumah’s CPP went on to win subsequent elections in 1954 and 1956.

Nkrumah pressed for full independence, and on March 6, 1957, the Gold Coast became the first black African colony to be liberated from British rule. It merged with the former British Togoland to form Ghana. As the initial experiment in independent African democratic socialism, Ghana was subject to high expectations, and Nkrumah assumed a position of leadership among African as well as Western intellectuals and ideologues.

Overcame Opposition Within Ghana

During the first years of his rule, Nkrumah and the CPP were faced with opposition in the form of the United Party (UP). In general, the CPP was socialistic in nature and sought to centralize power and ownership in the government. The UP, on the other hand, championed a federalist philosophy that would allow for a greater distribution of power; the party also espoused the cause of Ghana’s capitalists, supporting private ownership and a competitive free market system. With Ghana’s economy largely based on the production of cocoa, the UP found strong support among the nation’s cocoa farmers, who opposed the CPP’s state-controlled cocoa marketing system.

Nkrumah and the CPP set about to weaken their opposition. Opposition leaders who would not merge or compromise with the CPP were eventually harassed or placed in preventive detention. The Preventive Detention Act of 1958 enabled the government to imprison opponents for up to five years without a trial. Press censorship was practiced, and the right to hold public meetings was sharply curtailed. The CPP, with headquarters in Accra, became the center of the nation’s political activity. The party’s central committee became responsible for selecting members of parliament and filling other government positions.

A wide range of institutions were created or influenced by the CPP to gain more control over Ghana’s population. Through party appointments, the CPP put its own people into positions such as regional commissioners, district commissioners, and town or local development committee posts. The CPP also created a wide range of functional groups, including the Ghana Trade Union Congress, the United Ghana Farmers Council, the Young Pioneers, the Workers Brigade, and organizations for women, all of which worked to neutralize the opposition. In case these measures failed, vigilante groups garnered support for the CPP with the aid of Nkrumah’s private security forces.

Nkrumahism Emerged as Sole Ideology

By 1960 Nkrumah and the CPP had consolidated their power and were ready to implement their political policies. The government’s policies were guided by Nkrumah’s personal philosophy, which came to be known as Nkrumahism. According to Ghana: Coping with Uncertainty, “Nkrumahism rejected the rigidity of existing traditional institutions and opposed all manifestations of colonialism, neocolonialism, and external interference.” In other words, Nkrumah opposed the influence of outside powers on his country. He steadfastly resisted the exertion of political or economic power on Ghana from any other source.

The basic tenets of Nkrumahism included socialism as the path to further development and unity with other emerging African nations as the way to achieve power in the international arena. As described in Ghana: Coping with Uncertainty, “Nkrumahism rested on several pillars: an outright attack on underdevelopment, the rapid expansion of state intervention in the economy, industrialization as the key to economic growth, and diversification of foreign contacts.”

Nkrumahism became an instrument in the development of the cult of personality that surrounded Nkrumah. Eventually, it was seen to be an abstract vision rather than a force that could provide the necessary guidelines for dealing with Ghana’s political and economic realities.

A One-Party Socialist State Developed

In 1961 Nkrumah nationalized Ghana’s cocoa trade, thus beginning the implementation of his socialist policies. A broad class of state corporations was established to further industrialization and economic growth. These state-linked corporations included agricultural units, external trade organizations, distribution networks, and marketing monopolies.

Unfortunately, Ghana’s economic problems began around this time as well. The world cocoa price was falling, and imports and government expenditures increased while proceeds from exports began to decline. A bare bones spending plan or “austerity budget” was introduced. The government borrowed heavily and passed the Compulsory Savings Act, which deducted five percent for savings from workers’ paychecks. When introduced in September of 1961, this deduction led to a general strike on the part of workers.

A combination of socialist policies and various external factors led to a serious decline in Ghana’s economy. According to Ghana: Coping with Uncertainty, “Production in government plants during the 1961-66 period declined, the foreign debt burden grew at an alarming pace, real urban wages were cut by half, sectoral imbalances were magnified, and in the name of socialism, gold mines, plantations, and even Accra’s laundries were nationalized, draining resources and generating no return. Agricultural production stagnated and in some cases dropped.”

Foreign Policy Based on Pan-Africanism and Liberation

Nkrumah implemented an active foreign policy to bring Ghana from the periphery of world affairs to a more important role in the struggle for African liberation and unity. He was instrumental in the creation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), underwriting preliminary conferences on African unity and developing personal ties with other African leaders. He balanced his ties with the West by participating in the Afro-Asian movement and strengthening his relations with the Soviet bloc.

By expanding the range and scope of Ghana’s international ties, Nkrumah hoped to break Ghana’s inherited dependency on external forces. In the early 1960s more than 60 ambassadors were placed in foreign capitals, and a special Bureau of African Affairs was created. Nkrumah’s explicitly global perspective was designed to bring about an improvement in conditions in all of Africa as well as in Ghana.

Political Conflicts Led to Overthrow

The workers’ strikes of 1961 were led by the same groups that had helped bring Nkrumah to power. When the government’s efforts to placate the workers were ineffective, the trade unions were joined in their opposition by religious groups that protested the attribution of godlike qualities to Nkrumah. At the same time, policy conflicts intensified within the CPP. In August of 1962 an attempt was made on Nkrumah’s life at Kulungugu in Ghana’s Upper Region. As a result, Nkrumah came to distrust the moderate elements within the CPP and relied more on the party’s radicals, resulting in greater isolation from his supporters.

In the trial following the Kulungugu assassination attempt, the major suspects were found not guilty. Overreacting to the decision, Nkrumah dismissed the nation’s chief justice and rushed a bill through the National Assembly that gave him the power to set aside any judgment in the nation’s courts. Effectively demolishing the country’s independent judiciary, Nkrumah seemed to be embarking on a course leading to dictatorship. His actions alienated many of his supporters, especially the United States and Great Britain.

In January of 1964 a referendum was held to make Ghana a one-party state. It passed, and Ghana legally became a one-party socialist state. However, the vote on the referendum was reportedly rigged, revealing how much power was concentrated in the hands of Nkrumah. Another assassination attempt was made by one of Nkrumah’s own guards. When there was a flurry of military activity around Accra, security concerns escalated. Angry demonstrations against the U.S. embassy followed reports that capitalist forces were trying to overthrow Nkrumah. Four American professors were subsequently dismissed from the University of Ghana at Legon. During this period, Nkrumah was welcoming more Russians to Accra and strengthening his ties to the communist states of Europe’s Eastern bloc while again denouncing the imposition of power on African states by other nations.

During 1964 and 1965 Nkrumah became involved in attempts to end the Vietnam War. He had good relations with the Chinese and Vietnamese leaders as well as with the Western powers. Nkrumah was forced to put his peace plans on hold, however, when rumors of more coup attempts surfaced.

Around the same time, political turmoil was brewing in the self-governing British colony of Southern Rhodesia. A white minority government declared independence in 1965, and over the next few years efforts to control and segregate the country’s African population increased. Ghana supported the OAU during the Rhodesian crisis and broke off diplomatic relations with Great Britain. Nkrumah’s at tempts to mobilize the military to prepare for war with Rhodesia only exacerbated the problems he was having with Ghana’s armed forces.

On February 1, 1966, Nkrumah made his last address to the National Assembly. Preoccupied with a proposed visit to Hanoi, North Vietnam, Nkrumah was by this time isolated from the OAU and virtually at war with his neighbors in West Africa. He left the Accra airport for China on his way to Hanoi on February 21, 1966, and a few days later the Ghanaian army and police staged a coup, thereby seizing power from him. Nkrumah learned of the coup from the Chinese when he arrived in Peking.

Exile in Guinea

Nkrumah accepted an offer of security from Guinean leader Sekou Toure, who made him the joint head of state of Guinea, and Nkrumah carried on the African revolutionary struggle there. He also continued to write during his exile in Guinea and frequently made broadcasts to the people in his homeland of Ghana over the “Voice of Revolution” radio station.

In 1968 Nkrumah set up a publishing company to publish his books. His writings became more revolutionary and extreme. His final philosophy was published in The Class Struggle in Africa in 1970, in which he views the African revolution as part of the world socialist revolutionary process. Later that year Nkrumah became seriously ill. Diagnosed with cancer, he went through a long period of severe suffering before he died on April 27, 1972, in Bucharest.

Selected writings

The Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah, Nelson, 1957.

I Speak of Freedom, Panaf, 1961.

Towards Colonial Freedom, Heinemann, 1962.

Consciencism, Panaf, 1964.

Africa Must Unite, Panaf, 1964.

Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism, Panaf, 1965.

Challenge of the Congo, Panaf, 1967.

Axioms, Panaf, 1967.

Voice from Conakry, Panaf, 1967.

Dark Days in Ghana, Panaf, 1968.

The Class Struggle in Africa, Panaf, 1970.

Revolutionary path, International, 1973.

Sources

Books

Hadjor, Kofi Buenor, Nkrumah and Ghana: The Dilemma of Post-Colonial Power, Kegan Paul International, 1988.

McKown, Robin, Nkrumah: A Biography, Doubleday, 1973.

Pellow, Deborah, and Naomi Chazan, Ghana: Coping with Uncertainty, Westview, 1986.

Rooney, David, Kwame Nkrumah: The Political Kingdom in the Third World, St. Martin’s, 1988.

Smertin, Yuri, Kwame Nkrumah, International, 1987.

Periodicals

Time, May 8, 1972.

Newsweek, May 8, 1972.

Nation, June 5, 1972.

—David Bianco