Compare the best of them and see the worst in each!
But, these are mostly men whose legacies remain as paramount edifices for what a visionary human being ought to be judged as - in comparison one, and to the other.
Ag ... read full comment
Compare the best of them and see the worst in each!
But, these are mostly men whose legacies remain as paramount edifices for what a visionary human being ought to be judged as - in comparison one, and to the other.
Again, these are our angels!
They are not the evil ones others like to foolishly throw around for comparisons out of all context where evil truly dwells. We are talking about the Idi Amins, and the worst of them, including Stalin and Hitler.
ITEM: We are particularly thankful that the lead up to this particular essay that compares legacies is about Mahatma Gandhi, and George Orwell's observations about him. But even so, none of that takes away from Gandhi's legacy to India and to the world.
Which, we are thinking, is the entire point about this essay.
Return, Professor Kwarteng!
ADJOA WANGARA 9 years ago
There is no doubt that professional fools like francis kwarteng will always copy nonsense about Nkrumah and spread it just to make himself heard. A silly way of seeking public attention.
There is no doubt that professional fools like francis kwarteng will always copy nonsense about Nkrumah and spread it just to make himself heard. A silly way of seeking public attention.
Mr. Figure-Out 9 years ago
I wouldn't have read this piece if I knew it is loaded with this kind of crappy stuff, far from my expectation to read something about the so called Nkrumah's SCIENTIFIC THINKING. Check this out;
"It is also morally accept ... read full comment
I wouldn't have read this piece if I knew it is loaded with this kind of crappy stuff, far from my expectation to read something about the so called Nkrumah's SCIENTIFIC THINKING. Check this out;
"It is also morally acceptable for Nyerere, Houphouët-Boigny, and Kenyatta to establish one-party states but morally unacceptable for Nkrumah to do same, as when his enemies pushed him to establish one. " Absolute nonsense! Who pushed whom to form a one party state? Nkrumah had his own agenda to form a one party state as it was evident in his unholy associations with tyrants and dictators in the communist bloc and the world as a whole. Nkrumah was friends to China, Cuba, Romania and many other Eastern European countries where communism and one-party-state prevailed. Fact is that, Nkrumah simply did not believe in the Western type of democracy. It was therefore not so surprising that he made himself president for life. It was his inner instinct, intrinsically imbibed and part of his egoistic intuitions. So , in my humble opinion , nobody pushed Nkrumah to make Ghana a one party state as Kwarteng would want readers to believe.
Prof Lungu 9 years ago
Again, We are particularly thankful that the lead up to this essay that compares legacies is about Mahatma Gandhi, and George Orwell's take. But even so, none of that takes away from Gandhi's legacy to the world.
Again, We are particularly thankful that the lead up to this essay that compares legacies is about Mahatma Gandhi, and George Orwell's take. But even so, none of that takes away from Gandhi's legacy to the world.
Mojingles 9 years ago
What legacy, Lungu, did Gandhi bequeath to the world? He was an uncompromising and unrepentant racist who poured scorn and disdain on blacks describing them in coarse and distasteful terms.
What legacy, Lungu, did Gandhi bequeath to the world? He was an uncompromising and unrepentant racist who poured scorn and disdain on blacks describing them in coarse and distasteful terms.
Prof Lungu 9 years ago
You have a point, Mojingles!
With respect to Gandhi, we were only talking about the Non Violence Activism, and alternative form of resistance to oppression, by "government".
You have a point, Mojingles!
With respect to Gandhi, we were only talking about the Non Violence Activism, and alternative form of resistance to oppression, by "government".
Borketey Lawe 9 years ago
Another great attempt at justifying hot air "Talking big with no solid foundation at liberating your people"
Ghana became famous for producing cocoa and it was the indigenous farmer who produced that accolade.
Nkrumah's ans ... read full comment
Another great attempt at justifying hot air "Talking big with no solid foundation at liberating your people"
Ghana became famous for producing cocoa and it was the indigenous farmer who produced that accolade.
Nkrumah's answer was to start the state farms and cmb to rip the ordinary farmer of his toils. Study Nkrumah's approach to what Ghana was. Ye shall be known by their deeds not what blinking idiots and sycophants trumpet.
James Obeng 9 years ago
Your comment is meaningless
Your comment is meaningless
Bernard Sackey 9 years ago
Nkrumah was a despot, dictator, megalomaniac, totalitarian and murderous tyrant who imprisoned opponents for life while he made himself President for life with no Vice President.
Communist Peoples Party (CPP) did not like ... read full comment
Nkrumah was a despot, dictator, megalomaniac, totalitarian and murderous tyrant who imprisoned opponents for life while he made himself President for life with no Vice President.
Communist Peoples Party (CPP) did not like multi-party system so why are they participating in it? CPP wil get only 0.01 in the next election. The evils that men do live after them
kosoko 9 years ago
I'm sorry, your point here is misplaced. It's a 'crying baby type of argument. My point is, even if you wish to argue that state farm was a failure. It was established with good intentions i.e. to mechanize and commercialize ... read full comment
I'm sorry, your point here is misplaced. It's a 'crying baby type of argument. My point is, even if you wish to argue that state farm was a failure. It was established with good intentions i.e. to mechanize and commercialize agriculture and to supplement what the farmers were already producing.
Abeeku Mensah 9 years ago
In every civilized industrialized nation mechanization, automation and mergers have displaced and replaced workers with machines not to mention the destruction of communities. Global community as it is called has ensured that ... read full comment
In every civilized industrialized nation mechanization, automation and mergers have displaced and replaced workers with machines not to mention the destruction of communities. Global community as it is called has ensured that competition is no longer against known competitors/foes but against phantoms. To imply that state farms under the CPP took away the cash cow of cocoa farmers is to imply that modernization ushered in enslavement of workers/labor force around the world and thus modernization must be evil and not best for human progress. I do not think you will pooh pooh progress brought on by the white man through mechanization and automation but hate all things Nkrumah. A classic hypocrite and self/race hatred at its worst.
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 9 years ago
A comprehensive essay that uses the apparent weaknesses of other great men and women as examples to demonstrate unimpeachably that Nkrumah, as a human being, had his deluge of moral, physical and spiritual weaknesses.
Kud ... read full comment
A comprehensive essay that uses the apparent weaknesses of other great men and women as examples to demonstrate unimpeachably that Nkrumah, as a human being, had his deluge of moral, physical and spiritual weaknesses.
Kudos to Prof. Kwarteng!
Prof Lungu 9 years ago
You are reading something not said into all of it, Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law.
It is all about the legacies bequeathed, comparatively, despite the "deluges"!
You are reading something not said into all of it, Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law.
It is all about the legacies bequeathed, comparatively, despite the "deluges"!
Abeeku Mensah 9 years ago
If the one thing you could derive from the article was the imperfections of Nkrumah then you and the number of Nkrumah haters and worshipers of J.B. Danquah may want to prove to us all why your idol is a saint without fault. ... read full comment
If the one thing you could derive from the article was the imperfections of Nkrumah then you and the number of Nkrumah haters and worshipers of J.B. Danquah may want to prove to us all why your idol is a saint without fault. As the article exposed to you and others, those who have their foot planted on the necks of their victims/slaves/laborers seem to see the struggles to free themselves as acts of terror of the communist type while the atrocities committed against humanity in the quest for riches are couched in fancy terms for the greed an unprincipled to accept as necessary progress. J.B. Danquah by any measure was a terrorist of the worst kind. Anyone who would espouse or advocate for the continued enslavement of his fellow country men just so he can earn the sole right to lord over them at the opportune time is unfit to be a dog catcher. And while you attempt to make a saint out of J.B. Danquah, please explain why his fight against the right for all Ghanaians to have voting rights (Danquah advocated that voting be reserved for the elite class in Ghana and I dare you to refute) square in the democracy the UP/UGCC/NPP pretend to sell.
Prof Lungu 9 years ago
Gauntlet: "Danquah advocated that voting be reserved for the elite class in Ghana and I dare you to refute"!
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law, what says you?
Gauntlet: "Danquah advocated that voting be reserved for the elite class in Ghana and I dare you to refute"!
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law, what says you?
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 9 years ago
If Osagyefo Dr. J.B. Danquah indeed advocated for the restriction of the universal adult suffrage, I would never say that he was right. We Danquists espouse only those values for which the Osagyefo the great Redeemer, J.B. Da ... read full comment
If Osagyefo Dr. J.B. Danquah indeed advocated for the restriction of the universal adult suffrage, I would never say that he was right. We Danquists espouse only those values for which the Osagyefo the great Redeemer, J.B. Danquah, put down his life for Ghana. We don't have any mantra as "Danquah does no wrong" or "Danquah never dies". We are liberal democrats; we worship no idols.......
But it is important to know that if Danquah even advocated for a restriction of the vote, Nkrumah totally took away the vote. Now discuss that.
kasapreko III 9 years ago
In all seriousness, it seems to me that this SAS chap really needs some kind of help. I would not want to be in his shoes - or rather in his head.
SAS's evident extreme phobia of anything about Nkrumah, conjures the metaph ... read full comment
In all seriousness, it seems to me that this SAS chap really needs some kind of help. I would not want to be in his shoes - or rather in his head.
SAS's evident extreme phobia of anything about Nkrumah, conjures the metaphorical picture of a bull that closes its eyes, lowers its head and heedlessly charges in the direction of any visible red flag or object.
Likewise, SAS, upon reading this great article, is immediately driven to exclusively focus on and corroborate what Nkrumah himself has confirmed about great men being merely an accident of nature. But guess what, there is a hitch, SAS does this only with the mischievous and malicious intent to denigrate Nkrumah. Aba! SAS, grow up.
Whilst unbelievably applauding this prodigious awe-inspiring write-up by Francis, SAS, like an inconsolable wailing baby in the middle of a solemn church service, had to find something in it to run Nkrumah down only just to prove that he maintains his unreasonable stance on Nkrumah. Why is he doing this to himself?
In spite of the fact that Nkrumaists happily flaunt slogans like "Nkrumah never dies", "Kwame Nkrumah show-boy" and all sorts of other politically inspiring and invigorating catch-words, aphorisms and maxims of endearment, we all of course know that Nkrumah was a mortal like ourselves. Nkrumah like all other mortals, has his down-sides which were not for want of trying to achieve good things for mankind. As he himself is quoted to have said on the eve of the independence of Ghana, the Blackman will fight his own battles and we will make our own mistakes in pursuit of freedom, independence and development. But it must however be admitted that, like all other great men, Nkrumah was head and shoulders above the rest of us and this is why all of us – including SAS, find time today, several years after his death, to discuss him. This cannot be denied by any reasonable human being.
Again the thing about great men is that we are not interested in the relatively insignificant details of their foibles. We are generally interested in the elements that have made them great and which we can use to maximum advantage. It is that aspect of life that motivates the rest of us ordinary mortals to look for the brighter things in life.
From the way I understand people like SAS, they would, in the same way that he thinks and conducts himself as regards Nkrumah, denigrate even Jesus Christ and describe him as an intolerant autocrat for being firm in his beliefs and mission.
Kwame 9 years ago
At independence in 1957 we do not have Ghanaians and foreigners growing or cultivating staples in a large scale. The big farms were usually the cocoa farms that grew cocoa which are exported. As the process of industrializati ... read full comment
At independence in 1957 we do not have Ghanaians and foreigners growing or cultivating staples in a large scale. The big farms were usually the cocoa farms that grew cocoa which are exported. As the process of industrialization of Ghana started Dr. Kwame Nkrumah saw that there must be big farms to cater for the food needs of the village population that is been urbanized.
He studies the process of food production and distribution in the two most populous countries in the world, namely China and India. China has both state food production and distribution companies. India on the other hand has state food distribution company, which buy food crops from farmers, subsidize it and sell it to the population. It is a fact that without this form of food production and distribution in the two most populous countries in the world their socioeconomic problems could have been more intense than it is today, mainly in the case of India.
This goes to Benard Sackey who is not aware that Nkrumah's Farmers' Brigade still exist in China, Russia, Cuba, North Korea and Viet Nam from where some of the rice in Ghana are imported from. Lark of research and discarding some of the classroom trash that has been put into the mind of the Ghanaian intellectual make him look like a kindergarten child repeating his rhymes.
It is a fact that for farmers in imperialist countries to produce food at a large scale they are given subsidies in various forms from land, machinery and seedling, which they said the African farmer must be deprived of.
It is cynicism when people who did waste and continue to act like brutes call Stalin a dictator. The U.S. security killed members of the Black Panther Movement in their sleep. Osaman Bin Laden was not judged by any court before he was assassinated by the U.S. marine. However the dolls of Washington want Stalin and Kwame Nkrumah to seat like seating ducks and be shot by their enemies. Bernard Sackey did you read what Mr. Watts said about Negroes in 2007. What was your response, or because you fear the white man? Read Abese Kpalikpa on that issue in a rejoinder to Mr. Kofi Akordor another hound who hounds his own people.
G. K. Berko 9 years ago
I commend you for acknowledging Prof. Kwarteng's efforts in this Article, even though I sense your thinly veiled cynicism.
Using 'the apparent weaknesses of other great men and women as examples to demonstrate unimpeachab ... read full comment
I commend you for acknowledging Prof. Kwarteng's efforts in this Article, even though I sense your thinly veiled cynicism.
Using 'the apparent weaknesses of other great men and women as examples to demonstrate unimpeachably that Nkrumah, as a human being, had his deluge of moral, physical and spiritual weaknesses' (your verbiage), is something you haven't yet demonstrated you are capable of.
I would love you more, my compatriot, Dr. SAS, if you could do just that. Your protracted, unrelenting onslaught of harping on only Nkrumah's fallibility, and dehumanizing denigration of him to portray him as the worst monster of a dictator that ever lived on this Earth sharply contrasts the humble concession of Prof. Kwarteng's in this Article that shows Nkrumah as humanly fallible, not unlike all those great figures referred to.
I would, then, further expound that your claim of Nkrumah's moral and spiritual frailties has no legitimate bases but predicated upon wanton propangandist reprobation. You could not show your readership any authentic, intimate witnesses whose attestation of such demeaning attributes of Nkrumah's could be believable. The usual source of such deplorable disparaging of Nkrumah has always been in the tales of his political nemeses, both inside and outside Ghana, like in the accounts of the masterminds of the Coup that toppled him, especially that of the USA faux-diplomat who presented a cursory psychoanalysis of Nkrumah's state of mind to his superiors, back in the USA, after his last meeting with the late Ghanaian President.
Where else, Dr. SAS, would you have us look to confirm those debilitating symptoms of dementia, for example, that you claimed to be an aspect of Nkrumah's insanity?
I hope we all temper our exuberant effusions of vile against others with the thoughtful acknowledgment of our own vulnerability to the human failings we so ferociously ascribe to them.
Even in the absence of similar humility observable in you yet, as you applaud Prof. Kwarteng for, I would extend Kudos to you, too, for recognizing Prof. Kwarteng's efforts, here.
Long Live Ghana!!!
Kofi UK 9 years ago
The problem with blackman is that, the whiteman can easily get us to hate our own kind. While the whiteman tries to glorify their own kind even though compelling evidence shows contrally, the blackman will join the whites to ... read full comment
The problem with blackman is that, the whiteman can easily get us to hate our own kind. While the whiteman tries to glorify their own kind even though compelling evidence shows contrally, the blackman will join the whites to destroy their own. I have met a lot of white people in UK who adore Nkrumah including Neil Kinnock but the system tries to rather demonise Nkrumah. When Nkrumah planned of OAU, Europe had not thought about European Union. This idea was stolen from Nkrumah yet they refuse to say it but in their minds the idea was brought about by Nkrumah. People who hate him will never change their mind but one thing for sure is that all the infrastucture and the systems in place in Ghana are all Nkrumah's making.
G. K. Berko 9 years ago
I simply see this Article as one of the best reasoned, conceding Nkrumah's fallibility unlike in any other leader among the World's modern historical giants, while emphasizing his general good deeds.
It is always humbling ... read full comment
I simply see this Article as one of the best reasoned, conceding Nkrumah's fallibility unlike in any other leader among the World's modern historical giants, while emphasizing his general good deeds.
It is always humbling to acknowledge that even the most famous and widely acclaimed leaders among us have flaws, just as I wish that we recognize and enunciate any good deed in leaders that have been largely known for their malfeasance.
That is why I have always been suggesting that we need to end this vicious campaign to destroy the reputation of each of our past Political leaders with trumped-up charges of unrecorded or ill-explained malfeasance. And if we would like to compare any two, we would have to be fair enough to list the contextual background for such comparison.
I have always cited similar foreign political leaders as the Article did in showing the blatant bias with which Nkrumah's dictatorship was and has been exclusively demonized by the West, while the others enjoyed its approbation with complete silence over their pervasive ills. One illustrious leader that was left out of the list in this Article is Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew.
The West had almost always supported Dictatorships who were multifold worse than Nkrumah because such leaders facilitated the economic exploitations of their own countries by the West. Most of these dictators enjoyed the full support of the West, as they perpetrated some of the most despicable, heinous, savagery upon their own Citizens, that make Nkrumah's dictatorship pale in comparison. These woefully devious leaders rode on the wings of Capitalism to enrich themselves at the expense of the Citizens but had the stable, unwavering allegiance of the West which could only hew their heftiest axe of imperial extortions under the blanket of free-enterprise. The saddest thing is that Capitalism never got to be freely practiced by all the Citizens of such victimized Nations. It was only accessible by the well-connected, political cronies of the ruling Dictators. I place Nkrumah in the category of Lee Kuan Yew, when considering dictatorships. The two leaders epitomize dictators with exclusive patriotism and selflessness whose focus on duty to their respective Nations allowed for no distracting political Opposition.
The overarching difference between Nkrumah's and Lee's situations is that the West didn't want Nkrumah to succeed developing his Country but fully supported Lee in all his endeavors.
It is most important to acknowledge that the behavior of the West towards Nkrumah emanated from the very roots of his advocacy for Ghana's Independence. While the West considered Nkrumah's leadership as a dangerous example for all other Colonies it occupied to break away to undermine its Economic power, it looked upon Lee Kuan Yew's leadership as crucial for the West's continued strong presence in the backyard of China and Russia. Meanwhile, Lee did not demand for Singapore's Independence directly and initially from the West. His hands were forced to claim Singapore's Independence by the repulsive rejectionist inclinations of his former Malayan compatriots.
Singapore, was, thus, not at friction with the West to seek her freedom but with Malaya. Lee, therefore, needed a protector and helper to secure Singapore's economic and political viability and saw the West as the most convenient for that role. And the West came rushing in, also for the reason just offered above.
So, if Nkrumah's detractors would like to be fair, they must not only criticize his dictatorship with hyperbolic deepening of its demerits but make efforts to draw honest parallel from all the others that their Western overlords and paymasters connived with to impose on other Developing Countries.
It is not just enough to berate Nkrumah for being dictatorial. The very details of his dictatorial reign ought to be spilled out along with the context under which they were perpetrated so that the Public, especially the young, could make their own objective comparison of the relative depths of Nkrumah's dictatorship versus those of the other leaders the comparison is made.
Long Live Ghana!!!
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 9 years ago
There are those who ask the rather simplistic question as to why we incessantly criticize Francis Kwame Kofi Nwia Ngoloma Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana. My answer is simply that many myths have shrouded his real perso ... read full comment
There are those who ask the rather simplistic question as to why we incessantly criticize Francis Kwame Kofi Nwia Ngoloma Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana. My answer is simply that many myths have shrouded his real persona and led to the false impression that the man was infallible, a messiah, a fountain of wisdom, etc. etc. But we cannot build any foundations of our democracy on fictional narratives or by hiding the sordid truth of our political history. We must separate all the facts from fiction in order to distil the lessons of truth for our future guidance, and for the guidance of posterity. And if all we are doing is chanting praises and justification for extreme wrong-doing, then we are not even beginning to appreciate the foundational realities that must be the prerequisites of our nation building. Our life source as a nation will be to pursue the truth to its logical conclusion: we must critically examine the things that led to our downfall as a nation and to swear that never again shall we commit those terrible errors of judgment that have led to the retrogression of the land. And as long as there are those individuals who maintain that Nkrumah was a saint who did no wrong, we will have to shine an everlasting light on the man’s fault, so that generations will know the truth.
From the very beginning, there was never any true freedom, justice or independence in Ghana. The whole thing was a well-concocted charade!! The country was soon put under the scourge of the Preventive Detention Act (PDA) in 1958, giving the president the power to put any citizen in prison without trial, and Nkrumah progressively tightened the noose of dictatorship around the country with further draconian laws. Eventually, no law existed in the country because Nkrumah became the law unto himself. He could imprison anybody without trial for as long as ten years. He could appoint and sack judges at will. He effectively abolished pluralistic democracy and made himself a life president with untrammeled powers to run the country as his personal property. He created an ideological institute to corrupt the psyche of the youth to sing his praises until their deaths. He squelched the activities of the Trade Unions that helped him ascend to power. He incarcerated every one of those people who at one time helped in the independence movement, including Arko Adjei and Gbedemah who virtually made him president. He surrounded himself with cowering sycophants and fake ideologues who sang his praises to high heavens. He squandered the national resources in his overweening ambition to become king of the whole of Africa. He led the country on to the path of false ideology and blasphemous hero-worshiping wherein he was proclaimed god, messiah, fountain of wisdom etc. etc.
So given all this tyrannical posture, exactly what did Nkrumah mean by his brand of freedom and justice when there was so much fear and anger and anxiety for his dictatorial posture? What was justice to Nkrumah while his perceived enemies were being incarcerated without trial? Even his tainted trials, wherein the chief justice was dismissed for failing to return a judgment favorable to him would have been much preferred to incarceration without trial. But this travesty of justice was even denied Nkrumah’s enemies. So somebody tell me what exactly was the meaning of the independence which Nkrumah is said to have procured for Ghana? What is the meaning of FREEDOM AND JUSTICE? Exactly what happened in Ghana after March 6, 1957 to make Ghana independent? Somebody tell me that!!!
And indeed, when Prof. Nkrumah graciously admits Nkrumah's sins but concludes:
"Thus, any serious attempt to decipher the labyrinthine infrastructure of leadership greatness within and outside the circumvolution of history and of historiography requires nothing short of the holistic appreciation of the aforementioned portfolios of idea" he should go on to explain the full Nkrumaist ideas and legacy that make his unprecedented tyranny upon the Ghanaian population justifiable. Exactly what is Nkrumah's legacy in the context of his arrant dictatorship? We are all ears to hear of his legacy within the prosopography of his tyranny! This is because we are missing that legacy in Prof. Kwarteng's fine article.
Souljah Man 9 years ago
Dr. SAS, attorney at law keep repeating the same old narrative that have made you lost any semblance of respect on Ghana. You stand the risk of sinking to level where no one else will ever take you serious on this forum, like ... read full comment
Dr. SAS, attorney at law keep repeating the same old narrative that have made you lost any semblance of respect on Ghana. You stand the risk of sinking to level where no one else will ever take you serious on this forum, like your arch enemy Okoampah. Are you by this post insinuating that Nkrumah never left any lasting legacies in Ghana? I am not surprise you couldn't acquire any doctorate but have to hide behind the equivalent of an LLB to mischievously and dishonestly claim the title of a doctorate holder. I will urge you to read G. K. Berko's post above and provide your readers with any authentic source to support your absurd claims about the great Nkrumah, you are a total disgrace to the law profession and all lawyers.
Kwadwo 9 years ago
Francis, can you please tell us what is so extraordinary or scientific about Nkrumah's brand of socialism he tried on Ghanaians? I thought he got the blue print from Soviet Union and China and the then Eastern European countr ... read full comment
Francis, can you please tell us what is so extraordinary or scientific about Nkrumah's brand of socialism he tried on Ghanaians? I thought he got the blue print from Soviet Union and China and the then Eastern European countries. I thought socialism failed in those countries and those that are doing being better have adopted market / capitalist economies. Please don't take refuge in Scandinavian countries because they are much closer to capitalism where the messiah was leading the country. Labeling what Nkrumaist attempted to do as "scientific " doesn't make it so.
kasapreko III 9 years ago
It is so painful when Africans, the race that has suffered most from the practice of the primitive 'survival of the fittest' ideology of capitalism, and the only race of people who continue to be humiliated as the most backwa ... read full comment
It is so painful when Africans, the race that has suffered most from the practice of the primitive 'survival of the fittest' ideology of capitalism, and the only race of people who continue to be humiliated as the most backward of all other races, keep on holding on to those evil principles that have enslaved us, colonized us and exploited us so badly that poverty, ignorance, humiliation and misery have become our lot in the world.
Kwadwo dont you think that we must get out of this vicious cycle? If what we see around us after over 500 years is all that the forces of capitalism can do for us, dont you think that we should at the very least try something else?
And have you also not noticed that the only time that Ghana and Africa earned some respect in the eyes of the world and achieved some meaningful development to boot - in less than 10 years, was at the time that Nkrumah borrowed and applied some principles of socialism to emancipate Africa from the death-trap of capitalism?
The world, including those who refer to themselves as advanced countries, is still a very backward place so dont discount the possibility that there will be a resurgence of socialism in the very near future. It is inevitable that this will happen. Three-quarters of the human race cannot continue to service the greedy whims of a few capitalist nations forever.
Without any doubt, socialism is not a very easy ideology to practice. The discipline involved in pursuing socialism is harsh but dedicated solely to mass development as against individual development. That is why the capitalists use this fact to propagandize against socialism and scare people who most need it away from it.
Socialism does not encourage slavery, colonialism and the exploitation of other vulnerable countries to build the economies of other capitalist countries and make things easy and better for their citizens. However, this truth is lost to the people of vulnerable countries, through the sheer weight of anti-socialist propaganda by the greedy capitalist nations whose survival is solely dependent on the exploitation of weaker economies.
You Kwadwo, I am sorry to say, are, like many Africans, a victim of this propaganda. You say that socialist countries that are doing better have adopted market/capitalist economies. You have been hoodwinked to think that socialist countries were doomed to be poor forever. As many of you have been brainwashed to think, the market economy is not a monopoly of capitalism. Socialist economies inevitably evolve into greater practices of market economy.
Communist China for instance, has evolved to the extent where its market is advancing at a pace which is far greater than the largest capitalist economy. This it achieved without millions of African slaves, many centuries of orgiastic looting of the resources of countries under colonial dictatorship and the exploitation of those same countries even after they had gained independence.
The pace of development of the Communist Peoples Republic of China has so scared the US that, last year, Obama in an encounter with the President of China, appealed to him to intervene to minimize the flooding of Chinese goods on the American market which is causing job losses and industry collapse. Ironically, the response of the Chinese Communist leader to him was that he, Obama, should allow the market forces to play itself out.
Perhaps this little write-up may help give you an insight as to what is scientific about socialism.
Kenneth 9 years ago
With SAS the more you rein on him to be temperate, balance and objective about Dr Nkrumah the more out control he gets.He has a fetish and a mindset poisoned by his exposure to the west and western education which makes him ... read full comment
With SAS the more you rein on him to be temperate, balance and objective about Dr Nkrumah the more out control he gets.He has a fetish and a mindset poisoned by his exposure to the west and western education which makes him hostile to his own culture and any advocate of the beauty in his culture and the ability for good in that culture.
His stance is that the African is already late and therefore it is in own own interest to absorb the white culture and make it his own because it is a civilize culture as oppose to our own which is primitive.From that stance anybody who would promote the African personality and its beauty is his enemy and he has made no secret of this.
It is therefore an exercise in futility by balanced scholars like Kwarteng and GK Berko to assume that any reasoning with SAS will change his view about Nkrumah who believes is the epitome and chief advocate of the African culture and his believe in the ability of the black man to succeed given equal opportunity.
If you should remind SAS that it is inherent in the beginning of everything new to face teething problems including the need for strong leadership which will give way eventually to democracy as we know it today, he will point to the western style and say we can not wait.His point is that our languages is not developed enough, buying into western propaganda, and therefore not rich enough for the competition of ideas.
His dislike of Nkrumah and anything Nkrumah is skin deep It is SAS cultural cringe against Nkrumah's patriotic fervour,you can not reason with him.
Tuskegee 9 years ago
Blessed are those who see the light and believe that Nkrumah was God's gift of a 'Moses' to African people.
There are still men of wisdom like Francis Kwarteng in the African diaspora. Thank God.
Blessed are those who see the light and believe that Nkrumah was God's gift of a 'Moses' to African people.
There are still men of wisdom like Francis Kwarteng in the African diaspora. Thank God.
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 9 years ago
Nkrumah was indeed the"Moses" of Ghana. The dictatorship/tyranny of Moses is exemplified in his use of poison gas to exterminate all who opposed him in the wilderness, all in the name of God. He promised to lead the people of ... read full comment
Nkrumah was indeed the"Moses" of Ghana. The dictatorship/tyranny of Moses is exemplified in his use of poison gas to exterminate all who opposed him in the wilderness, all in the name of God. He promised to lead the people of Israel out of bondage on to a land flowing with milk and honey, only to leave them sauntering in the desert without food or water. Whenever they complained, he plagued them with his poison gas and called his revenge God's punishment. For a full account of the Moses charade, read the Book of Numbers in the Bible.
Nkrumah is like Moses. He broached no challenge, and used the poison gas of PDA to exterminate his enemies, all in the name of national security.
Thank you for the nice comparison. I could not have done better.
G. K. Berko 9 years ago
Dr. SAS, you are inching dangerously to the precipice of infamy and mammoth attacks from the Judaic Messianic followers, especially from the Southern USA, where you live.
My Brother, please, stay with us, around your alleg ... read full comment
Dr. SAS, you are inching dangerously to the precipice of infamy and mammoth attacks from the Judaic Messianic followers, especially from the Southern USA, where you live.
My Brother, please, stay with us, around your alleged Nkrumah's 'derangement', and you would be secure. We would not harm you, just chastise you a bit. I hate to see you consumed by the religious predators whose assault might not reflect their magnanimous, forgiving sermons we see on the Television daily.
Meanwhile, I think you have offered a huge credit to Nkrumah that the Nkrumahist should be infinitely grateful to you for. Liking Nkrumah to Moses is the greatest complement the Nkrumahist could ever dream for their hero!
I would like to offer the following to benignly defend Moses. That might take some of the sting out of the venom that I fear others might come down on you with.
You see, Moses, risked his own life to ignite the spirit of liberation among his enslaved Jewish brethren. First, he fatally avenged a fellow Jew who was injudiciously brutalized by his Slave Overseer, and consequently had to flee for his life only to be recalled by Jehovah to return to lead his Jewish folks out of Egypt.
When Moses returned to Egypt it was not under his own power and will anymore. God imbued him with a greater sense of security and spiritual power to undertake the task. All through to the point of going to collect the ten Commandments, Moses depended on God to control the masses he was leading. The test of faith in God that the Jews failed in during many instances of near insurrection against Moses, was to portray the support of God for Moses in the Exodus of the Jews.
Yes, the freed Jews rebuked Moses when they reached the Red Sea on their march to the Land of Honey and Plenty, Canaan, and thought they would be overrun and slaughtered by the Egyptian Army pursuing them. Moses prevailed upon God to miraculously pull them to safety as the Sea split dry for them to pass, and collapse back upon the Egyptian pursuers to drown them. Again, when they were hungry and thirsty, Moses relied on Divine miracle to provide the agitated masses with food and drink.
So, in his human frailty, Moses had every right to be angry at the Jews that they still did not trust the Lord enough after all these miraculous instances of rescue. All the Jews had to show was a little fortitude to await the Lord's intervention.
In the end, it was Moses' own submission to anger against the Jews, not God, that led him to smash the tablets of Ten Commandments which he had wandered and stayed in the Wilderness for long to collect from God for the Jews, and cost him the denial of the privilege to set his feet on the Promised Land.
You couldn't have so inadvertently chosen Moses for exemplify the role of Nkrumah in the history of Ghanaians and Africans, in general. Bravo!!
Moses was determined to honor God and saw it necessary to harshly punish all his followers who blatantly, insolently and ungratefully rebelled against him. He thought of those as being gravely disobedient to God, not even him, Moses.
So, yes, in all pragmatism, people resort to measures dictated by their human limitations. Even if Moses did submit to such limitations, who are we to deny Nkrumah similar benefit, in your own estimation?
Oh, and thank you even more for your Mosaic comparison to Nkrumah.
Long Live Ghana!!!
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 9 years ago
I understand that if you are so naive as to believe in the fictional narrative of Moses as a liberator, you would believe in the fictional narrative of Nkrumah as a liberator.
My beef is with those Nkrumaist icons who will ... read full comment
I understand that if you are so naive as to believe in the fictional narrative of Moses as a liberator, you would believe in the fictional narrative of Nkrumah as a liberator.
My beef is with those Nkrumaist icons who will come here to wax eloquent about the fiction of Moses while imbibing the fiction of Kwame Nkrumah......people like Andy-K and Prof. Lungu who would not believe a thing about Moses or Jesus Christ but would believe everything about Nkrumah.
And thanks for your concern about my person. I can assure you that I don't fear the Christian Jehadist who will want to kill me. Think about how long the Nkrumaists have wished to harm me for my so-called blasphemy against Nkrumah, their only begotten god. But I am still here.
Paa Joe 9 years ago
OPAYIN EGYA KWARTENG,
DO YOU KNOW WHAT, THE PRESENT SO CALLED POLITICIANS IN THE NPP,WHO CONTINUE TO CRITICIZE NKRUMAH, WERE PEOPLE WHO WERE NOT ON EARTH, BABIES,PUPILS AND STUDENTS ATTENDING PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS ... read full comment
OPAYIN EGYA KWARTENG,
DO YOU KNOW WHAT, THE PRESENT SO CALLED POLITICIANS IN THE NPP,WHO CONTINUE TO CRITICIZE NKRUMAH, WERE PEOPLE WHO WERE NOT ON EARTH, BABIES,PUPILS AND STUDENTS ATTENDING PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THE GOLD COAST.
KUFFOUR AND KOFI ANNAN WERE STUDENTS IN FORM THREE AT PREMPEH COLLEGE AND MFANTSIPIM.
WITH ALL THEIR NOISY ATTACKS ON NKRUMAH, PLEASE,YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO ASK THESE ANTI-ELEMENTS AND ANTAGONISTS OF THEIR INNOVATIVE, TECHNOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC ROLES SINCE THE BRUTAL EXIT OF KWAME NKRUMAH FORRTY NINE YEARS AGO.
THE RESULTS HAVE ONLY BEEN,BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION,PLUNDER, MANIPULATION,EMBEZZLEMENT,STEALING FRAUD, UNDERDEVELOPMEMNT AND EXTREME POVERTY.
THEY SHOULD BE VERY DISGRACEFUL AND SHAMEFUL PEOPLE ON EARTH.
Compare the best of them and see the worst in each!
But, these are mostly men whose legacies remain as paramount edifices for what a visionary human being ought to be judged as - in comparison one, and to the other.
Ag ...
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There is no doubt that professional fools like francis kwarteng will always copy nonsense about Nkrumah and spread it just to make himself heard. A silly way of seeking public attention.
I wouldn't have read this piece if I knew it is loaded with this kind of crappy stuff, far from my expectation to read something about the so called Nkrumah's SCIENTIFIC THINKING. Check this out;
"It is also morally accept ...
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Again, We are particularly thankful that the lead up to this essay that compares legacies is about Mahatma Gandhi, and George Orwell's take. But even so, none of that takes away from Gandhi's legacy to the world.
What legacy, Lungu, did Gandhi bequeath to the world? He was an uncompromising and unrepentant racist who poured scorn and disdain on blacks describing them in coarse and distasteful terms.
You have a point, Mojingles!
With respect to Gandhi, we were only talking about the Non Violence Activism, and alternative form of resistance to oppression, by "government".
Another great attempt at justifying hot air "Talking big with no solid foundation at liberating your people"
Ghana became famous for producing cocoa and it was the indigenous farmer who produced that accolade.
Nkrumah's ans ...
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Your comment is meaningless
Nkrumah was a despot, dictator, megalomaniac, totalitarian and murderous tyrant who imprisoned opponents for life while he made himself President for life with no Vice President.
Communist Peoples Party (CPP) did not like ...
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I'm sorry, your point here is misplaced. It's a 'crying baby type of argument. My point is, even if you wish to argue that state farm was a failure. It was established with good intentions i.e. to mechanize and commercialize ...
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In every civilized industrialized nation mechanization, automation and mergers have displaced and replaced workers with machines not to mention the destruction of communities. Global community as it is called has ensured that ...
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A comprehensive essay that uses the apparent weaknesses of other great men and women as examples to demonstrate unimpeachably that Nkrumah, as a human being, had his deluge of moral, physical and spiritual weaknesses.
Kud ...
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You are reading something not said into all of it, Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law.
It is all about the legacies bequeathed, comparatively, despite the "deluges"!
If the one thing you could derive from the article was the imperfections of Nkrumah then you and the number of Nkrumah haters and worshipers of J.B. Danquah may want to prove to us all why your idol is a saint without fault. ...
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Gauntlet: "Danquah advocated that voting be reserved for the elite class in Ghana and I dare you to refute"!
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law, what says you?
If Osagyefo Dr. J.B. Danquah indeed advocated for the restriction of the universal adult suffrage, I would never say that he was right. We Danquists espouse only those values for which the Osagyefo the great Redeemer, J.B. Da ...
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In all seriousness, it seems to me that this SAS chap really needs some kind of help. I would not want to be in his shoes - or rather in his head.
SAS's evident extreme phobia of anything about Nkrumah, conjures the metaph ...
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At independence in 1957 we do not have Ghanaians and foreigners growing or cultivating staples in a large scale. The big farms were usually the cocoa farms that grew cocoa which are exported. As the process of industrializati ...
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I commend you for acknowledging Prof. Kwarteng's efforts in this Article, even though I sense your thinly veiled cynicism.
Using 'the apparent weaknesses of other great men and women as examples to demonstrate unimpeachab ...
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The problem with blackman is that, the whiteman can easily get us to hate our own kind. While the whiteman tries to glorify their own kind even though compelling evidence shows contrally, the blackman will join the whites to ...
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I simply see this Article as one of the best reasoned, conceding Nkrumah's fallibility unlike in any other leader among the World's modern historical giants, while emphasizing his general good deeds.
It is always humbling ...
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There are those who ask the rather simplistic question as to why we incessantly criticize Francis Kwame Kofi Nwia Ngoloma Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana. My answer is simply that many myths have shrouded his real perso ...
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Dr. SAS, attorney at law keep repeating the same old narrative that have made you lost any semblance of respect on Ghana. You stand the risk of sinking to level where no one else will ever take you serious on this forum, like ...
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Francis, can you please tell us what is so extraordinary or scientific about Nkrumah's brand of socialism he tried on Ghanaians? I thought he got the blue print from Soviet Union and China and the then Eastern European countr ...
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It is so painful when Africans, the race that has suffered most from the practice of the primitive 'survival of the fittest' ideology of capitalism, and the only race of people who continue to be humiliated as the most backwa ...
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With SAS the more you rein on him to be temperate, balance and objective about Dr Nkrumah the more out control he gets.He has a fetish and a mindset poisoned by his exposure to the west and western education which makes him ...
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Blessed are those who see the light and believe that Nkrumah was God's gift of a 'Moses' to African people.
There are still men of wisdom like Francis Kwarteng in the African diaspora. Thank God.
Nkrumah was indeed the"Moses" of Ghana. The dictatorship/tyranny of Moses is exemplified in his use of poison gas to exterminate all who opposed him in the wilderness, all in the name of God. He promised to lead the people of ...
read full comment
Dr. SAS, you are inching dangerously to the precipice of infamy and mammoth attacks from the Judaic Messianic followers, especially from the Southern USA, where you live.
My Brother, please, stay with us, around your alleg ...
read full comment
I understand that if you are so naive as to believe in the fictional narrative of Moses as a liberator, you would believe in the fictional narrative of Nkrumah as a liberator.
My beef is with those Nkrumaist icons who will ...
read full comment
OPAYIN EGYA KWARTENG,
DO YOU KNOW WHAT, THE PRESENT SO CALLED POLITICIANS IN THE NPP,WHO CONTINUE TO CRITICIZE NKRUMAH, WERE PEOPLE WHO WERE NOT ON EARTH, BABIES,PUPILS AND STUDENTS ATTENDING PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS ...
read full comment