Politics has divided our family – Sekou Nkrumah cries out to his siblings

One of the sons of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Sekou Nkrumah is accusing his siblings, Gamal and Samia Nkrumah, of allowing politics to divide them as a family.

In a post on Facebook which seeks to explain circumstances surrounding the death of his son, Alin, Sekou blamed his sister Samia for influencing his son to return to Ghana from London, a decision that led to Alin’s untimely death.

Dr. Nkrumah who is obviously in pain over Alin’s demise, further questioned why his siblings did not send his son to Italy or Egypt where they both lived respectively instead of Ghana if they truly cared about his welfare as they claimed.

“The simple fact is that had my sister not decided to return to Ghana and enter politics she would have been in no position to influence Alin’s return to Ghana! After all, if they cared so much about him why did they not send him to Italy when (and where) my sister lived for many years or even to Egypt where my brother still lives?” Sekou Nkrumah wrote.

Sekou Nkrumah was responding to claims by an aide to Samia Nkrumah, Pierre Bandana, that he (Sekou) neglected his fatherly duties which made his late son slept on the streets of London until the intervention of Samia.

Dr. Nkrumah explains that he did not want his son to return to Ghana and go through the same struggle he was subjected to when he returned into the country in 1989.

“I returned to Ghana in 1989, I was the same age as when Alin came to Ghana for a second time! Unfortunately, he did not even survive a year while I made it to my 50s! But if I know one thing for sure it is that I would have been terribly sad to see him go through the life I went through!” Sekou’s Facebook post reads further.

He noted that, “Many friends have told me that I sound totally crazy every time I raise this subject, but my plea is that if you don’t understand the history leading to that point you will not appreciate my position or sometimes firm or harsh stand on the subject particularly relating to my brother and sister involved!”

Sekou in the post pointed out that he returned to Ghana from Romania in 1989 with his wife and son, Alin, but after a couple of months, his wife returned to Romania with their 5-year old son, a decision that broke his heart.

He said he was in touch with his son via emails and even sent him birthday cards whenever it was his birthday but due to the distance between them, he couldn’t meaningfully contribute much to the progress of his son.

“Alin eventually ended up in the UK and was trying to find himself there and at some point made some intentions to come to Ghana, but I was against it and did not encourage him as I figured out he will have a hard time adjusting in Ghana! Also, I was aware of the difficulties he had in Romania that prompted his departure! Not a pleasant experience that I will not disclose here,” Sekou recounted.

Sekou Nkrumah in the post stated that amidst all the difficulties he faced in his attempt to survive in his fatherland, his political opponents mocked him and called him all kinds of names like “homeless hustler”.

“It was much later that I first had my first public office experience as executive director of the DuBois memorial center for Pan African culture! Before that, I had taken back our family house from government! Then I got into my third marriage and moved to the US for two years!” Sekou’s post reads on.

Read Sekou's full post below