Onzy Nkrumah is Osagyefo’s son - Mrs Sinare

Mrs Souad Mohammed El Rouby Sinare, an 89-year-old Egyptian, on Thursday confirmed Dr Onzy Nathan Kwame Nkrumah, as son of the first President Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, emphasising that Osagyefo spoke about him.

“Onsy Nathan Kwame Nkrumah is a biological son of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana and he must be treated as such,” she said.

Addressing a news conference in Accra, Mrs Sinare, widow of Major Alhaji Saleh Said Sinare, first Chief Imam of Ghana Armed Forces said: “I want to use this occasion, to appeal, once again to the children of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the great friend of the Sinare Family, to be united and work hard to uphold the good name of their father and the legacy he left for Ghana, Africa and the world.”

Since the UK-based Dr Nathan Onzy Kwame Nkrumah made public pronouncements about his paternity, the issue had stroke controversy in the social media as well as the immediate family of the late president.

However in a rebuttal Nana Bulumia Twum, a nephew of Dr Nkrumah said at the news conference that it is on record that the late President had six children-Francis; Nasser; Sekou; Samia; Mrs Elizabeth Koranteng, and Dr Onzy Nathan Kwame Nkrumah.

Nana Twum said Dr Nkrumah often spoke about his son in Egypt and when Dr Nathan Onzy visited Ghana in June 2012, to introduce himself to the family; his physical presence was the replica of Osagyefo.

Mrs Sinare said Dr Onzy Nkrumah's mother, Isis Nashid, had a secret relationship with Dr Nkrumah when she visited the country, the then Gold Coast to work for the colonial establishment.

She said Madam Nashid became pregnant and was kept a secret due to Dr Nkrumah’s involvement in the independence struggle.

“Isis Nashid, unfortunately on arrival in Egypt, got married to an Egyptian man, in order to avoid the implications of having a child without a husband in a land governed by strict moral codes,” she said.

Mrs Sinare said Dr Nkrumah who was obsessed with the affairs of Ghana was encouraged by her late husband to take a wife and so he gave she and her partner the option to look for a woman for him.

She said the hunt led to Madam Fathia Nkrumah who was then Fathia Rizk.

“When we informed the Dr Nkrumah of our find of a bride, he was very happy that he also informed the President of Egypt, Gamel Abdul Nasser, who was happy that his friend…had decided to marry from his country.

“President Nasser, subsequently, paid the dowry to engage Madam Fathia to Dr Kwame Nkrumah, even when he had not yet seen his wife-to-be.

“I owe it a patriotic duty to the nation and to the memory of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah to make the facts known.

“My husband’s father the late Sheikh Said Sinare, was a very close friend of Madam Nyaniba, the mother of Dr Nkrumah “and so Dr Kwame Nkrumah, in his youth was like a son to my father-in-law and so Dr Kwame Nkrumah and my husband knew each other from childhood days.

Mrs Sinare said he informed former President John Agyekum Kufuor about the paternity of Dr Onzy Nkrumah to foster unity among the children of Dr Nkrumah” as a mother, and also to free my conscience from keeping a truth, which affects someone’s life secret”.

“In spite of this story I told the children about their brother Onsy Nkrumah, I still hear comments and statements from some social commentators and others, in the media, which challenged the legitimate claim of Onsy Kwame Nkrumah as the son of Dr Kwame Nkrumah.”

Mrs Sinare is the mother of Said Sinare, Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Nahid Said Sinare, widow of the late Colonel Benni, who was a member of the erstwhile National Redemption Council and Ambassador to Egypt from 1975-1981, Madam Amira Sinare-Delle, wife of Professor Edmund Delle, Director of Rabito Clinic and former Chairman of Convention Peoples Party.

The rest are Gamel Sinare, a businessman, Madam Nura Sinare, a fashion designer, Hajia Mariam Sinare, a leading member of National Democratic Congress and Captain Nasser Sinare, a pilot with African Service Mining.