Regeneration of Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah's nation building agenda

As the country heads towards an election on December 7, 2024, the birth of our great and illustrious son, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, 115 years ago has particular significance. We were blessed that we had Kwame Nkrumah who together with his compatriots not only fought for the independence of Ghana from colonial rule but put Ghana’s economy on the road towards a self-reliant integrated economy.

The Seven-Year Plan for National Reconstruction and Development (1963/64 – 1969/70) was designed to leapfrog Ghana into the league of rapidly developing middle-income countries at par or even more developed than Ghana’s peers

Singapore and Malaysia. Unfortunately, it was aborted when he was overthrown on the 24th of February 1966 after only 3 years of implementation. The orchestrators of the coup, America and Britain quickly realized that their neo-colonial control of the country would come to an end and did everything imaginable to terminate Nkrumah’s ambitious development plans.

Whereas others in our colonised world fought for independence and stepped into the shoes of the colonial masters with the primary objective of enriching themselves, Nkrumah was a nation builder and died penniless without any property of his own. His enthusiasm for rapid educational expansion led to a dramatic expansion of educational infrastructure nearly everywhere and in situations where infrastructure was not ready, teaching was done under trees. An adult literacy programme was introduced where adults, especially in the northern parts of the country, were encouraged to attend night classes after finishing their day’s work.

He built universities, training colleges, technical and vocational, and secondary schools to create the necessary infrastructure for the manpower needed to propel Ghana into an industrial country. He built roads and linked up the country in a manner designed to stimulate economic transformation. He ensured that health was free and of good quality and available to all. He built factories to provide employment for the youth and for the country’s development. He ensured that our mineral wealth was used primarily for the development of the country. He was particularly keen on bridging the unequal development legacy of colonialism where the north was kept as a reservoir of labour for the cocoa, mines, and railway construction of the southern export-oriented economy.

That is why Nkrumah as the founding father of Ghana is not only remembered in Ghana but across Africa and the world. He is held in high esteem by our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora. However, our ex-colonial masters and their local collaborators were not happy that Nkrumah wanted to develop Ghana for the betterment of Ghanaians and conspired and brought about his downfall with the coup of 24 th February 1966.

Fifty-eight (58) years on, Ghana is on a nose dive toward disaster. All governments with the notable exception of the Ignatius Kutu Acheampong regime who for a brief period championed and implemented “Capturing the commanding heights of the Economy,” Ghana’s developmental trajectory has generally been on the decline. The country is now on its knees with grave doubts about what the future holds for the teeming millions of unemployed youth.

The current state of Ghana’s economy and society shows we are in a crisis with the national debt forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 and expected to reach $102.32 billion U.S. dollars by 2029. We have had leaders who do not care about Ghana and are prepared to run the country down. We can no longer borrow from the international capitalist markets even at high interest rates. We are in danger of not getting water to drink if this mindless galamsey is not brought to an end now.

It is so bad that even the medical profession has joined organised labour

to call for a State of Emergency to address this alarming situation brought on by reckless galamsey driven by the greed of the political class and their collaborators. Our hospitals have become death camps and only those who have money can escape for medical treatment abroad. Our state educational system especially at the basic level has almost collapsed and even teachers teaching at these levels send their children to private schools. Our road networks in

certain parts of the country have become impassable.

Road construction is being abandoned in several parts of the country largely because the government has not paid contractors what they owe them. To crown it all, this limited democracy that Ghanaians wrestled from the Rawlings regime has

now been hijacked by money-bags who are determined to buy every single vote to continue with their pillage and mismanagement of our country. As we remember Nkrumah, we are reminded of the selfless leader who put Ghana first and was courageous enough to work towards the transformation of Ghana and Africa.

We are reminded that we must struggle to ensure that what he stood for does not die otherwise Ghana and Africa will continue on the road to self-destruction.

It is in this light that the SJMG has over the years struggled and called on Ghanaians inside and outside the country to get together and mobilize the people to continue the good works of the great Osagyefo. Our cries have not been in vain. We have come together with progressive organisations and individuals, especially the Concerned Nkrumaists of North America and Canada (CNNAA), and formed the Progressive Alliance for Ghana (PAG). The PAG is a registered political party and we are contesting some parliamentary seats across the country and in 2028 will fully participate in both the Parliamentary and Presidential elections.

The PAG believes in completing the tasks that Kwame Nkrumah set up to do that were aborted with the coup. The PAG stands for equitable distribution of our wealth and to ensure that no child is left behind. Unlike other parties, this is not empty rhetoric but a reflection of the real commitment of the leadership of PAG. Nkrumah did it, so we can follow his example and ensure that we develop this country for those living and those yet unborn. We must align with African

countries through Pan-African unity that will bring justice to Africans across Africa and the world.

We call on all Ghanaians to vote for the PAG. The PAG is your party for development and a party that will not negate what it stands for. We call especially on all progressive forces to team up with the PAG to remove this duopoly of NPP/NDC from power and bring about the only alternative that is needed for the advancement of Ghana.

We want to complete Nkrumah’s unfinished agenda and rise to new and forthcoming challenges facing Ghana and Africa. The PAG wants to transform Ghana into a self-sufficient and resilient strong economy that will take care of the needs of Ghanaians and support the transformation of Africa to the benefit of Africans and peoples of African descent.