It is not bad to remind ourselves of Nkrumah, but let’s not overstretch his legacy – NPP MP

Akwasi Owusu Afrifa-Mensa, Member of Parliament for Amasaman, stated that while it is not a terrible idea to remember the legacy of the late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, it is time to move on and find ways to make Ghana better.

He indicated that it does not matter whether the late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah did exceptionally well as a leader or performed poorly.

He argued that the most important thing for us as a nation should be how we can make the country thrive better than what successive governments have done.

He explained that it is not a bad idea for us to remind ourselves of our history; however, the focus should be on building on what we have and making it better.

He defended Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh over the latter’s claim that President Akufo-Addo is a better president than Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

The MP says the running mate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) should be understood and taken in context. He said it is important for us to move on and put the past behind us.

He opined that it was not the intention of the former energy minister to denigrate Kwame Nkrumah but to compare the records between President Akufo-Addo and the late Kwame Nkrumah.

To the Convention People’s Party (CPP), which keeps touting the achievements of their late leader, he advised them to remember that the past is gone and we must move forward.

Appearing on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, he said history is good, but we do not have to keep overstretching it. He said those making capital out of the issue should stop because it does not serve us well.

“How many years has it been since Kwame Nkrumah died? It has been about 60 years, so we have to move on as a nation. Whether he performed exceptionally well or poorly is neither here nor there.

"We have to forge ahead and think about what we have to do for the country to be better in the years ahead. We have to adopt measures to make Ghana better. The past is gone, and we can’t bring Kwame Nkrumah back. Even if he were alive, he would be old and would not have the skill or knowledge to manage the country,” he said.

NAPO compared two people, and in comparing, he appeared to have described President Akufo-Addo as a better president while acknowledging that the late Nkrumah did his part for Ghana.

“We must go on as a nation. It is a past we may revisit, but the issue remains: what have you done for the country? We can’t keep stretching the history. We can go over it again, but not too many times. We must find ways to move the country forward,” he emphasized.