The Best Coup D’état in Ghana. Part Four

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Kweku Donsuro 11 years ago

It is very sad indeed for one who professes to be a Phd holder to sink so allow to be using diction which is infradig. The opening paragraph of this essay is full of unpardonable insults, unbecoming of one who is supposed to ...
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It is very sad indeed for one who professes to be a Phd holder to sink so allow to be using diction which is infradig. The opening paragraph of this essay is full of unpardonable insults, unbecoming of one who is supposed to be a beacon of hope and a light to others. How do some people in Ghana acquire their doctorates?
Even if you hold bitter sentiments against some ideology, is that how to write in such uncouth and unbalanced manner? I feel sorry for Dr Adjei and whoever his employer is. Such characters should not be entertained on ghanaweb because they are a big disgrace to academia and Ghana as a whole.
Tomi Makinnen, the race driver 11 years ago

Yes, his opening paragraph will put off so many people who, otherwise, will just want a fair debate. And yet he accuses those he describes as Nkrumah worshippers of using insulting language instead of argumentative logic base ...
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Yes, his opening paragraph will put off so many people who, otherwise, will just want a fair debate. And yet he accuses those he describes as Nkrumah worshippers of using insulting language instead of argumentative logic based on facts.

If his arguments were academic, rather than polemical, he would carefully sift through the evidence and balance Nkrumah's bad deeds with his good ones and leave the reader to make a judgment (even if he slyly points a finger one way). This is what academic historians and political scientists have been doing ever.

Not even Nkrumah's most vociferous admirers say he was a saint and did no wrong. Some try to account for those wrong deeds without claiming that they were justified. It is true that Nkrumah showed some dictatorial proclivities but the neutral analyser will try to examine the conditions that made such possible and the consequences rather than just condemning him. Even Nkrumah himself, in exile, examined his own rule and tried to see what he did wrong (where he went wrong). As for what Ghana could have become with alternative policies or personal characteristics, that is a matter of academic speculation. And there are so many theories...

There are so many angles to this thing. Why would so many people in Africa praise Nkrumah whereas some Ghanaians who lived under his rule castigate him? Why would so many people in the rest of Africa (Nigeria especially) think African countries need no-nonesense leaders like Rawlings whereas many Ghanaians who actually lived under his rule think Rawlings was the worst thing that happened to Ghana? And the discussion continues and if you accuse your opponents of using unfair language, you don't seek to prove to them that you can outdo them in the use of that unfair language.

What Sarfo-Adjei is doing here is polemics rather than impartial academic discussion. This will make even some people who may agree with some of his points turn away from him and his style.
william 11 years ago

You can go to university and come out literate with paper qualification but very uneducated.There are many like that, including this guy who says he is a Ph.D holder and a 'lawyer' in Austin! wHAT IS THE USE OF UNIVERSITY EDU ...
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You can go to university and come out literate with paper qualification but very uneducated.There are many like that, including this guy who says he is a Ph.D holder and a 'lawyer' in Austin! wHAT IS THE USE OF UNIVERSITY EDUCATION WHEN YOU CAN'T OR CHOOSE NOT TO BE ANALYTICAL AND OBJECTIVE. WHEN YOU CAN'T THINK!!!!THAT IS WHY WE STILL SUFFER IN AFRICA IN A CONTINENT DESTINED TO BE PARADISE!!!
Tomi Makinnen, the race driver 11 years ago

Mind you, Sarfo has not said he has a PhD. He has a Doctor Juris - a US degree in Law which goes as Doctor but which, as someone informed us here the other day, 99% of those in the US who have it don't address themselves as D ...
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Mind you, Sarfo has not said he has a PhD. He has a Doctor Juris - a US degree in Law which goes as Doctor but which, as someone informed us here the other day, 99% of those in the US who have it don't address themselves as Doctor of anything, including Obama who has the same degree. SAS chooses to belong to the 1% of people with that degree who call themselves Doctor. But he doesn't have PhD and he has never said he has a PhD either. We should grant him that.
James 11 years ago

Please,check his previous articles.He addresses himself as Doctor of Law(LL.D) which is the same as Ph.D

Please,check his previous articles.He addresses himself as Doctor of Law(LL.D) which is the same as Ph.D
Ako 11 years ago

SAS has an ordinary first degree like LLB BL in the US they call it Juris doctor.It is not the same as LLD or PHD.The proper designation is JD and not LLD.In fact he has been truthful with that at least.Google JD and it will ...
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SAS has an ordinary first degree like LLB BL in the US they call it Juris doctor.It is not the same as LLD or PHD.The proper designation is JD and not LLD.In fact he has been truthful with that at least.Google JD and it will be explained in details.From JD to LLM then to LLD.
Tomi Makinnen, the race driver 11 years ago

Ako, you're right. I don't remember seeing SAS addressing himself as LLD. He has always said Dr and Doctor of Law. He has argued that the academic work he did to get his JD is equal to that done for a PhD but he has never sai ...
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Ako, you're right. I don't remember seeing SAS addressing himself as LLD. He has always said Dr and Doctor of Law. He has argued that the academic work he did to get his JD is equal to that done for a PhD but he has never said he has a PhD - even more. I don't know about that, though.

But the point is that, the argument he makes here need not have anything to do with the kind of degree he has. He doesn't even need to write an academic paper on Nkrumah for ghanaweb. It can be a journalistic piece. The only requirement is that whatever argument he makes should be solid and balanced - and devoid of petty insults.
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 11 years ago

In the United States, the professional doctorate in law may be conferred in Latin or in English, as Juris Doctor, and at some law schools "Doctor of Law" (JD or J.D.), or Doctor of Jurisprudence (DJur or D.Jur.), respectively ...
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In the United States, the professional doctorate in law may be conferred in Latin or in English, as Juris Doctor, and at some law schools "Doctor of Law" (JD or J.D.), or Doctor of Jurisprudence (DJur or D.Jur.), respectively. "Juris Doctor" literally means "Teacher of Law", while the Latin for "Doctor of Jurisprudence"—Jurisprudentiae Doctor—literally means "Teacher of Legal Knowledge".

Invariably an earned doctorate, the J.D./D.Jur. is equivalent in academic rank to the Doctor of Laws or Legum Doctor (LLD or LL.D.). However, while the LL.D. remains an earned doctorate in Ireland and many Commonwealth countries, it is invariably an honorary degree in the United States.
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 11 years ago

As a professional doctorate, the Juris Doctor is a degree that prepares the recipient to enter the law profession (as does the M.D. in the medical profession). While the J.D. is the sole degree necessary to become a professor ...
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As a professional doctorate, the Juris Doctor is a degree that prepares the recipient to enter the law profession (as does the M.D. in the medical profession). While the J.D. is the sole degree necessary to become a professor of law or to obtain a license to practice law, it (like the M.D.) is not a "research degree". Research degrees in the study of law include the Master of Laws (LL.M.), which ordinarily requires the J.D. or LL.B. as a prerequisite,[129] and the Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D./J.S.D.), which ordinarily requires the LL.M. as a prerequisite. However, the American Bar Association has issued a Council Statement, advising law schools that the J.D. should be considered as being equivalent to the Ph.D. for educational employment purposes. Accordingly, while most law professors are required to conduct original writing and research in order to be awarded tenure, most only have a J.D.

The United States Department of Education and the National Science Foundation do not include the J.D. or other professional doctorates among the degrees that are equivalent to research doctorates. Among legal degrees, they accord this status only to the Doctor of Juridical Science degree. In Europe, the European Research Council follows a similar policy.
Nana Ansah 11 years ago

Shame on you SAS. To invoke ghost of the past and repeat the same lies and rumours and think that your lies could become true would not work because Nkrumah has been vindicated many times over and your primitive rant does not ...
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Shame on you SAS. To invoke ghost of the past and repeat the same lies and rumours and think that your lies could become true would not work because Nkrumah has been vindicated many times over and your primitive rant does not help either. Your rant smack of a frustrated pupil teacher we all know on Ghanaweb. To blow out your ass and think it eau de toillete can only come from one of this scholars from bum-fucked Egypt.

Up yours SAS! I am a dyed-in-the-wool Nkrumahist and yet enlightened like the sun as against you dead-end village folks who cannot tell the difference between facts and fiction.

Damn! Nkrumah made a mistake by giving you free education and free health care. Such monday quaterbacks like you who sit behind the tube and comment without going to the Stadium to live the real thing are like worthless pennies on the street.

Spreading speculations which is based on assumption is like telling it to the marines. What Nkrumah would have done etc is all speculations making rounds. I am still waiting to read a tangible line with respect to the circumstances which led to PDA etc but as usual it is way off the mark.

It is a shame to overthrown a democratically elected president per authoritive order signed by US president Johnson and guillible Ghanaians be told under a pretext that Nkrumah was a dictator. Nkrumah and Ghana was a victim of the COLD WAR. That was the big Picture.

You are way off SAS; go in depth and stop buying into the recycled trash from the Mate Mehu knaves like shortage of "essential commodities" and cut the BS stuff you have written.

NKRUMAH LIVES! LONG LIVE MAAME/DAAVI GHANA IN FREEDOM AND JUSTICE

Conventional Youth 11 years ago

Interesting CRID

Interesting CRID
mensah abrampa 11 years ago

What did you say to Professor Akosah who called Dr J.B.Danquah a terrorist? At least Dr Adjei was honest enough to admit Nkrumah's greatness and his achievements whilst as President. The criticism cannot be in good faith if y ...
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What did you say to Professor Akosah who called Dr J.B.Danquah a terrorist? At least Dr Adjei was honest enough to admit Nkrumah's greatness and his achievements whilst as President. The criticism cannot be in good faith if you turned a deaf ear to Akosah's vituperation and intellectual dishonesty.
KOLA,LONDON MAIN 11 years ago

I was quite struggling to get the import of this article and especially one written by someone who appear to have Doctorate in Law.

What I struggle to understand is his stance bellicose as his mind set was geared towards D ...
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I was quite struggling to get the import of this article and especially one written by someone who appear to have Doctorate in Law.

What I struggle to understand is his stance bellicose as his mind set was geared towards Danquah-Busia nonsense which he cleverly did not reveal as a proponent of the tribal political party which is today the Npp.

Then what this author did not mention which beats my understanding is his outright ignorance to have overlook the circumstance, conditions and the maturity of Ghanaians then to embrace 'democracy' rather than a stable Government that had all the policies right to develop Ghana and Ghanaians first in Education etc, as Nkrumah fought hard for all, poor, rich, destitute etc. and not just for only a few bigots as Busia wanted.

I think this author when careful trace of his forebeares, who they are, will reveal that they were those in the days in Ghana we refered to as 'Them and us'.Lucky he got educated to a Doctorate through plundering, Kalabule, at the expense of the majority poor of Ghanaians who continue to suffer because of their 'Doctorate' in Law........hahahah!!!!

Doctor In Law my Foot! Get Tsatsu Tsikata to educate you further.
CARDINAL 11 years ago

"When careful trace of his forebearers"

"What I struggle to understand is his stance bellicose"

You write like an illiterate you are. Do you even understand the word 'bellicose'?

Your grammar and sentence constructi ...
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"When careful trace of his forebearers"

"What I struggle to understand is his stance bellicose"

You write like an illiterate you are. Do you even understand the word 'bellicose'?

Your grammar and sentence construction need a lot of work.
Kwablagah Awudi 11 years ago

Is this the kind of person who will criticize what other columnists like Dr. Michael Bokor write?

A mere reading of his opening paragraph tells me that this so-called Attorney-at-Law, Samuel Adjei Sarfo, is a donkey withou ...
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Is this the kind of person who will criticize what other columnists like Dr. Michael Bokor write?

A mere reading of his opening paragraph tells me that this so-called Attorney-at-Law, Samuel Adjei Sarfo, is a donkey without any tail. A celebrated fool to be discounted.

Such a character has no idea how writers write to hook the attention of their audiences or even arouse and sustain interest in their work. He is damn stupid, to say the least.

Here is the nauseating opening paragraph:

":By Dr. Samuel Adjei Sarfo

The consistent braying, bleating and barking of the Nkrumahist donkeys, sheep and dogs comprise one further indication of the brain atrophy of these cultic mongers and ideological monsters. Thus apart from their usual apoplectic tantrums, none can point out any lie in my articles nor coherently debate any salient issue I have so far raised."

Every reasonable writer knows how to lure his reader into his text with a good, captivating, introductory paragraph, not this gibberish from this stupid Samuel Adjei Sarfo.

And he calls himself an Attorney-at-Law? Which law did this fool study at all?
Kwablagah Awudi 11 years ago

And one can tell from just this part of his writing that this Samuel Adjei Sarfo is an empty braggart:

"... invoking dark curses from Kankan Nyame, ruing the glorious days of PDA, days of incarceration without trial, when ...
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And one can tell from just this part of his writing that this Samuel Adjei Sarfo is an empty braggart:

"... invoking dark curses from Kankan Nyame, ruing the glorious days of PDA, days of incarceration without trial, when the Fountain of Honor's word was law..."

What is this word "ruing"? or the expression"Fountain of Honor"?

Oh, empty braggart!! The idiom is "fount of honour (or "honor", American spelling).

Such characters as this Samuel Adjei Sarfo who come here to boast of their Engl;isj proficiency are a disgrace unto themselves and the institutions that trained them. Pride always precedes their mighty fall.
Kwablagah Awudi 11 years ago

The word is "English" and not "Engl;isj" as I quickly posted because of time. All the same, it doesn't discount the truth of my point against this empty braggart, Samuel Adjei Sarfo.

The word is "English" and not "Engl;isj" as I quickly posted because of time. All the same, it doesn't discount the truth of my point against this empty braggart, Samuel Adjei Sarfo.
CARDINAL 11 years ago

Dumbass, ruing is an English word meaning to feel remorse. Ruing is a transitive verb for rue.

There is nothing wrong with the idiom, fountain of honour or fountain of justice meaning the same thing.

Dumbass, ruing is an English word meaning to feel remorse. Ruing is a transitive verb for rue.

There is nothing wrong with the idiom, fountain of honour or fountain of justice meaning the same thing.
Trinitrotoluene. 11 years ago

What is a transitive verb, Sarpong? Rue and Ruing are the same verb so how could the second be transitive verb for the first?
Ruing is just conjugation of the verb in infinity, in which case it could be gerund etc.

The v ...
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What is a transitive verb, Sarpong? Rue and Ruing are the same verb so how could the second be transitive verb for the first?
Ruing is just conjugation of the verb in infinity, in which case it could be gerund etc.

The verb Rue can only be transitive since it has object.
KOLA,LONDON MAIN 11 years ago

Please Know that Sarpong is an illiterate. Probably he checked the dictionary but still got it all wrong.

Sarpong is Chartered at 'ILLITERACY'.. A SYTO GRADUATE IN TEXAS doing watchman work at the Texas Fertilzer Factory.. ...
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Please Know that Sarpong is an illiterate. Probably he checked the dictionary but still got it all wrong.

Sarpong is Chartered at 'ILLITERACY'.. A SYTO GRADUATE IN TEXAS doing watchman work at the Texas Fertilzer Factory...hahahaha!!!

CARDINAL 11 years ago

Illiterate idiot, I who told you dumb illiterate that ruing cannot be transitive verb because rue is a transitive verb. I bet you've never even heard of transitive verb before like the first guy questioning whether there is a ...
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Illiterate idiot, I who told you dumb illiterate that ruing cannot be transitive verb because rue is a transitive verb. I bet you've never even heard of transitive verb before like the first guy questioning whether there is a word like "ruing"

Illiterate fool, can you even look yourself in the mirror since you demean the kind of job you do. A watchman at National Health Service buildings in London.

You are the only Ghanaian who believe CHILDRENS IS A GROUP OF CHILDREN
kosoko 11 years ago

Three days ago I stated on this platform that none of Sarfon's work on Ghanaweb can be said to be a scientific paper. If one examines his work form a scholarly lens, he has no clue of the issues he discusses. What he does is ...
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Three days ago I stated on this platform that none of Sarfon's work on Ghanaweb can be said to be a scientific paper. If one examines his work form a scholarly lens, he has no clue of the issues he discusses. What he does is to borrow phases and thanks to thesaurus pick some fancy words to articular his emotions. He then hides behind his JD degree to called himself 'Doctor' and to give the impression that he is a heavyweight scholar who writes papers that Nkrumah ideologues and Afrocentrists cannot challenge.
LONTO-BOY 11 years ago

I should have thought you, Dr.SAS, obviously intelligent and very well educated and with some enlightening experience of life, surely, would know that such demonstrative spite, derogatory name-calling isn't the civilised way ...
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I should have thought you, Dr.SAS, obviously intelligent and very well educated and with some enlightening experience of life, surely, would know that such demonstrative spite, derogatory name-calling isn't the civilised way of responding to criticism of your previous post. This will not help intelligent debate/argument.

By implying that all those who disagreed with your post as an exercise in historical revisionism are "Nkrumahists", is ultimately wrong and outrageously ridiculous.
Conventional Youth 11 years ago

Sadly mad development.

Sadly mad development.
mensah abrampa 11 years ago

Dr Sarfo, you have eloquently expressed what have always been my opinions and thoughts about Dr Nkrumah's legacy. The title initially put me off but I'm glad I read the entire piece. The doctor's article will not put to rest ...
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Dr Sarfo, you have eloquently expressed what have always been my opinions and thoughts about Dr Nkrumah's legacy. The title initially put me off but I'm glad I read the entire piece. The doctor's article will not put to rest the raging debate about Nkrumah's political legacy but what good purpose does it serve us if we cannot separate truth from error.
What impresses me most is the writer's recognition of Dr Nkrumah's landmark achievements during his political career. Most Nkrumah critics harp on his dictatorial tendencies and ignore his achievements whilst his loyalists simply ignore his oppressive rule. I agree with the writer that Nkrumah is the greatest president Ghanaians have ever had but we can't ignore or make excuses for his dictatorship and inhuman treatment of fellow citizens. No nation deserves a dictator, no matter how benevolent or well-intentioned that person is. How in God's name can we reject and replace British colonialists rule with dictatorship made in Ghana? Dictatorship is evil and it's never of God. Even God the creator made us agents unto ourselves and gifted us with our moral agency. There's no reason or excuse for any form of dictatorship.
Tomi Makinnen, the race driver 11 years ago

You wrote

"What impresses me most is the writer's recognition of Dr Nkrumah's landmark achievements during his political career."

This was forced on the writer by the reactions to his earlier articles in the series. He ...
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You wrote

"What impresses me most is the writer's recognition of Dr Nkrumah's landmark achievements during his political career."

This was forced on the writer by the reactions to his earlier articles in the series. He has put that in only to achieve a semblance of balance. If he were playing fair and square, that would be part of his argument all along and not something thrown in as an afterthought.
kosoko 11 years ago

But in any serious discussion, you cannot ignore the political milieu at time that led to such dictatorial tendencies and bash him as if he was a common criminal or a mentally unable person. On the other hand, if Sarfo wants ...
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But in any serious discussion, you cannot ignore the political milieu at time that led to such dictatorial tendencies and bash him as if he was a common criminal or a mentally unable person. On the other hand, if Sarfo wants to define Nkrumah in such terms, he should do so and make his case. Peter Omar was the first scholar to do this type of pettiness and it didn't win him any fame the scholarly world.
KAKABO 11 years ago

All coups cannot be bad. I support the writer in his assertion that the 1966 coup was a good coup. My reason is that Nkrumah at the time had made it impossible for divergent views to find expression in a democratic way. The P ...
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All coups cannot be bad. I support the writer in his assertion that the 1966 coup was a good coup. My reason is that Nkrumah at the time had made it impossible for divergent views to find expression in a democratic way. The PDA, One party state life president etc. The PDA,the one party state and life president declaration by Nkrumah were good enough grounds for his overthrow. As to whether the coup was instigated by the KGB CIA or what, it still remains a moot question. The 1966 coup was God-sent. We all thank God for that because our fathers could not have fought so hard against colonialism just to replace it with black dictatorship.
Akadu Mensema 11 years ago

Did someone say that you are a mad man?

"The consistent braying, bleating and barking of the Nkrumahist donkeys, sheep and dogs comprise one further indication of the brain atrophy of these cultic mongers and ideological m ...
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Did someone say that you are a mad man?

"The consistent braying, bleating and barking of the Nkrumahist donkeys, sheep and dogs comprise one further indication of the brain atrophy of these cultic mongers and ideological monsters. Thus apart from their usual apoplectic tantrums, none can point out any lie in my articles nor coherently debate any salient issue I have so far raised."
SAS impression of Akadu 11 years ago

This is Sarfo's impression of you Akadu and others.

"And by the way, if you think so-called African studies and epistemology serve any intellectual purpose, consider that both Akadu Mensema and Okoampa-Ahoofe have Ph.Ds i ...
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This is Sarfo's impression of you Akadu and others.

"And by the way, if you think so-called African studies and epistemology serve any intellectual purpose, consider that both Akadu Mensema and Okoampa-Ahoofe have Ph.Ds in the area, and yet are the most intellectually bankrupt bigots here! So the question is, what purpose is served by imbibing theories that produce failed scholars like Akadu Mansema and Okoampa-Ahoofe?"

Ritewing 11 years ago

I have read most of the responses from the writer,s critics. But none has been able to debunk what he has said about Nkrumah. He has dared you people, prove him wrong. And do not dance around the issues the writer raised.
Nk ...
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I have read most of the responses from the writer,s critics. But none has been able to debunk what he has said about Nkrumah. He has dared you people, prove him wrong. And do not dance around the issues the writer raised.
Nkrumah created a big following, no doubt about this. But what are we seeing in our country,s politics currently? Did Nkrumah ask them not to form a political party to contest elections after he was gone?
I dare them to not only talk about Nkrumah in hollow terms, they should go ahead and promote one-party state, PDA, life presidency, young pioneers, workers brigade and the pet projects of their great leader.
James 11 years ago

Dr SAS lied in his previous articles that the time of the 1966 coup Ghana was facing massive unemployment.This a blatsant lie.With Nkrumah's Seven Year Development in full force,there were projects under construction all over ...
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Dr SAS lied in his previous articles that the time of the 1966 coup Ghana was facing massive unemployment.This a blatsant lie.With Nkrumah's Seven Year Development in full force,there were projects under construction all over the country sand there was no scarcity of jobs.Unemployment was ZERO.Please don't dont defend this biased MATEMEHO descendant who was only three years old in 1966.i was 12 years old and I recall everything.
James 11 years ago

Dr SAS lied in his previous articles that at the time of the 1966 coup,Ghana was facing massive unemployment.This is a blatsant lie.With Nkrumah's Seven Year Development Plan in full force,there were projects under constructi ...
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Dr SAS lied in his previous articles that at the time of the 1966 coup,Ghana was facing massive unemployment.This is a blatsant lie.With Nkrumah's Seven Year Development Plan in full force,there were projects under construction all over the countrry and there was no scarcity of jobs.There were rather massive lay-offs after the coup which caused the massive unemployment.In fact,unemployment was zero before the coup.Please don't defend this biased MATEMEHO descendant who was only three years old in 1966.I recall everything that took place before the coup.
CARDINAL 11 years ago

You really have to be an economic illiterate to say there was zero unemployment in Ghana in 1966. No country has ever recorded zero unemployment because of what is known as frictional unemployment. We refer to a state of near ...
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You really have to be an economic illiterate to say there was zero unemployment in Ghana in 1966. No country has ever recorded zero unemployment because of what is known as frictional unemployment. We refer to a state of near zero unemployment as full employment where anybody who wants a job can get one. The reason we don't have zero unemployment is that, no matter what the situation is, there are still going to e people who will not work or people transition from one job to the other.

You are lying about zero unemployment in Ghana in 1966 because there was a massive unemployment when Nkrumah was overthrown.

READ BELOW THE ECONOMIC SITUATION IN GHANA IN 1966

"When Nkrumah took office as Prime Minister on 6 March, 1957, there was every indication that the above very noble activities could be successfully undertaken on a sustained basis. Cocoa prices were stable and at a near high, providing a steady and seemingly reliable source of foreign exchange.

In addition, and most importantly, Ghana was united behind her leader, succumbing to his extraordinary oratory, glib rhetoric and zeal. There was a vibrant national passion for development and self-reliance. Throughout the nation, in every region, in every Chiefdom, the population was enthusiastically and earnestly engaged in Nkrumah sponsored and supported self-help schemes; building schools, clinics, village and town centers, roads, drains and irrigation systems. Ghana of 1957-1959 experienced a massive outpouring of productive energy and was being keenly observed by the international community as the development model for emerging African nations.

So what went wrong? How and why did the brilliant, charismatic Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the outspoken Marxist/Communist, Pan-African Founding Father of Ghana, begin his political slide and ultimate ignominious fall from power?

The list of reasons is lengthy and complex but it is safe to say, that Nkrumah's decline began in early 1960. Until then, the population, because he had lead them to Independence from Britain, was generally willing to overlook Nkrumah's Marxist/Communist ideological pronouncements, his costly demands for pomp and splendor and his assumption of more and more power, in many cases, usurping elected and Traditional Authority.

However, beginning in mid-1960, at about the time that he assumed the Presidency and approved the new Republican Constitution, the economic fallibility of Ghana clearly manifested itself and materially effected the lives of all Ghanaians. From 1960 to 1965, world cocoa prices plummeted, and the enormous development spending begun by Nkrumah four years earlier, severely impacted the country's economy. Foreign exchange and government's reserves shrank and disappeared. Unemployment rose dramatically. Food prices skyrocketed up over 250% from 1957 levels and up a phenomenal 66% in 1965. Eventually, there were massive food and essentials shortages effecting every area, sector and individual in Ghana. Econmic growth, which had ranged from 9% to 12% per annum until 1960, dropped to 2% to 3%, insufficient to sustain a population expanding at almost 3% per year.

Nkrumah's response was an austere socialist budget which imposed flawed Marxist concepts of economic resuscitation on the population, primarily through harsh and unrealistic taxation. Financial mismanagement and economic chaos increased and the country was eventually poised at the brink of national bankruptcy and international disgrace."
CARDINAL 11 years ago

Don't get me wrong though. I don't believe any government should be removed by coup because of economic conditions. As long as the people are afford to vote every four years or whatever the length of time is, there is no need ...
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Don't get me wrong though. I don't believe any government should be removed by coup because of economic conditions. As long as the people are afford to vote every four years or whatever the length of time is, there is no need to forcifully remove any government through a military coup.

What makes 1966 coup unique and necessary was that, Nkrumah has taken away the right of Ghanaians to vote him out if they so desire by making himself President for life which left the army as the only avenue for change.
Ken Ababio 11 years ago

James may be an economic illiterate but that doesn't change his point.You don't expect everybody to be an economist,right? I lived in Kumasi all my life and I was twelve years old in 1966.I can testify that nearly everbody wa ...
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James may be an economic illiterate but that doesn't change his point.You don't expect everybody to be an economist,right? I lived in Kumasi all my life and I was twelve years old in 1966.I can testify that nearly everbody was working in Kumasi.People were working in the Jute Bag factory,Shoe factory,City hotel,Workers Brigade State farms,State Construction company,State Housing,University of Science and Technology etc. Unfortunately you were not born at that time so you are only relying on Western propaganda in your defence.The report on the economic situation in Ghana is not entirely true.This is a misleading paper from the West.
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 11 years ago

I never touched on unemployment in any of my articles. Don't put words in my mouth.

I never touched on unemployment in any of my articles. Don't put words in my mouth.
Franco 11 years ago

Which of Nkrumah's projets were " pet projects"

Which of Nkrumah's projets were " pet projects"
Akadu Mensema 11 years ago

Did someone say that you are a mad man?

"The consistent braying, bleating and barking of the Nkrumahist donkeys, sheep and dogs comprise one further indication of the brain atrophy of these cultic mongers and ideological m ...
read full comment

Did someone say that you are a mad man?

"The consistent braying, bleating and barking of the Nkrumahist donkeys, sheep and dogs comprise one further indication of the brain atrophy of these cultic mongers and ideological monsters. Thus apart from their usual apoplectic tantrums, none can point out any lie in my articles nor coherently debate any salient issue I have so far raised."
Akadu Mensema 11 years ago

Did someone say that you are a mad man?

"The consistent braying, bleating and barking of the Nkrumahist donkeys, sheep and dogs comprise one further indication of the brain atrophy of these cultic mongers and ideological m ...
read full comment

Did someone say that you are a mad man?

"The consistent braying, bleating and barking of the Nkrumahist donkeys, sheep and dogs comprise one further indication of the brain atrophy of these cultic mongers and ideological monsters. Thus apart from their usual apoplectic tantrums, none can point out any lie in my articles nor coherently debate any salient issue I have so far raised."
kwarningNJ 11 years ago

There is no such thing as "best coup". All coups brought Ghana back in years. I did not like Nkrumah but coups are negative to the development of the nation,

There is no such thing as "best coup". All coups brought Ghana back in years. I did not like Nkrumah but coups are negative to the development of the nation,
Ako 11 years ago

This man Dr SAS is a foul mouth vulgar buffoon.Very arrogant and obviously has a mental problem.It is unnecessary to take a huge chunk of the ideological block of the population in this way.If his points have been intellectua ...
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This man Dr SAS is a foul mouth vulgar buffoon.Very arrogant and obviously has a mental problem.It is unnecessary to take a huge chunk of the ideological block of the population in this way.If his points have been intellectually mooted in a dispassionate way, one will understand but this man's purpose was to provoke that other school of thought or block for what reasons can only be explained as coming from some with a depressive character.

Thoughtful scholars provoke dispassionate academic debates but not just hurl insults for the sake of it just to provoke.If any one had become a liability to the academic class then surely This man is.He is disgracing this class and lowering their prestige in the eyes of discerning Ghanians.

I have no respect for him and would not take him serious as a serious contributer on this forum.What ever he boast about in his article, the truth of the matter is that the whole article was intellectually empty and lacks analyzed facts.Hardly any reasonable analysis to waste one's time on and he should not assume that ignoring his stupidity means he has triumphed and succeeded with his palpable nonsense.We ignore it because that is what it deserves.
CARDINAL 11 years ago

You want to ignore it because you cannot debate him on the facts presented. Nkrumah declared himself President for life, is that not a fact?

You Nkrumah acolytes have been defending Nkrumah PDA policy insisting that it wa ...
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You want to ignore it because you cannot debate him on the facts presented. Nkrumah declared himself President for life, is that not a fact?

You Nkrumah acolytes have been defending Nkrumah PDA policy insisting that it was passed to stem the spate of assassination attempts on Nkrumah's life but the PDA was passed in 1958 when no attempt of assassination has been made on him.
Ako 11 years ago

You can only answer that question intellectually only after the analysis - that is why was it so and what were the circumstances.It is only after the pros and the cons of the argument through analysis had been dispassionately ...
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You can only answer that question intellectually only after the analysis - that is why was it so and what were the circumstances.It is only after the pros and the cons of the argument through analysis had been dispassionately discharged that one can make an informed judgement by giving it a deserved value in the conclusion.Any other thing will be an exercise in futility.
SPIDER IN HIS WEB 11 years ago

Please read Arnold Toynbee's A STUDY IN HISTORY and the whole phenomenon of imperialism. Without that you may never appreciate Nkrumah.

Please read Arnold Toynbee's A STUDY IN HISTORY and the whole phenomenon of imperialism. Without that you may never appreciate Nkrumah.
CARDINAL 11 years ago

Nobody can deny the fact that Nkrumah did a lot for Ghana, he did. Nkrumah also was very patriotic but as human being, he also made some political mistakes which even some in CPP did not agree with and they too became his ene ...
read full comment

Nobody can deny the fact that Nkrumah did a lot for Ghana, he did. Nkrumah also was very patriotic but as human being, he also made some political mistakes which even some in CPP did not agree with and they too became his enemies.

His own mistakes led to his overthrow. Declaring himself President for life was a fatal mistake which made the coup necessary. Give me liberty or give me death by Patrick Henry shows how strong human beings treasure their freedom and the moment you trample on such God given right, people will fight back at the peril of death and Nkrumah made Ghanaians mental slaves in their own country by denying them liberty.

Nkrumah is now respected but he was feared and not respected during his brutal rule, that is a fact.
SPIDER IN HIS WEB 11 years ago

The last time I checked, Nkrumah was head of the government of Ghana for a total of 15 years from 1951 to 1966. Out of these 15 years, he was absolute ruler for only 3. Looking back we can clearly see that the transformation ...
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The last time I checked, Nkrumah was head of the government of Ghana for a total of 15 years from 1951 to 1966. Out of these 15 years, he was absolute ruler for only 3. Looking back we can clearly see that the transformation that he was about to launch needed an iron fist to ensure its success. The opposition was not a worthy one. His life was threatened by them beginning as early as 1958 simply because they could not get their way. The only peaceful and still negative thing the opposition did was to send delegations to Great Britain and the USA to try to dissuade their governments from giving technical assistance toward building the Akosombo dam. Any modernizer worth his salt would not countenance such opposition. They surely deserved the Preventive Detention Act. No question about that. And it was not only meant for the opposition. In my part of the country where cocoa farmers were always victims of fraudulent money lenders, the PDA was their protector. Today we have oil. Where is the patriotic, honest ruler to ensure that the common Ghanaian enjoys the benefits therefrom in terms of adequate medical care, meaningful education etc, etc. Yes we now have a democracy. But we also have a government that is incapable of even removing garbage and keeping our towns and cities clean. If Nkrumah said 'We prefer self-government in danger to servitude in tranquility', this is not what he meant.
KOLA,LONDON MAIN 11 years ago

Spider, don't stop pumping 'SENSE' into this wannebe who is a 'syto graduate' now in Texas and calls himself SARPONGKYI, speaks Sarpongese and wears a clown titled 'CARDINALESE'.....HAHAHAHA

Is he Lost?

Spider, don't stop pumping 'SENSE' into this wannebe who is a 'syto graduate' now in Texas and calls himself SARPONGKYI, speaks Sarpongese and wears a clown titled 'CARDINALESE'.....HAHAHAHA

Is he Lost?
THE SOLUTION MASTER 11 years ago

BRAGGING WORDBAGE ARTICLE SO BORING TO READ. YOUR ARE DESTROYING YOUR STUDENTS OR PUPIL WITH CRAP.

BRAGGING WORDBAGE ARTICLE SO BORING TO READ. YOUR ARE DESTROYING YOUR STUDENTS OR PUPIL WITH CRAP.
James 11 years ago

"Dr" SAS was 3 years old in 1966 and Justice Sarpong A.K.A.CARDINAL was not even born.These guys are the children of MATEMEHO subversionists,who prefer rather to worship the OTUMFUO and not criticise him but rather make sense ...
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"Dr" SAS was 3 years old in 1966 and Justice Sarpong A.K.A.CARDINAL was not even born.These guys are the children of MATEMEHO subversionists,who prefer rather to worship the OTUMFUO and not criticise him but rather make senseless accusations against the universally acknowledged AFRICA'S MAN OF THE MILLENIUM".
Nana Osei Yaw Agyekum 11 years ago

Black African countries are seriously in
trouble, because we foundations for growth. Not enough practical education,
no serious research in agriculture,in
medicine,early education,modern technical colleges,involvement in w ...
read full comment

Black African countries are seriously in
trouble, because we foundations for growth. Not enough practical education,
no serious research in agriculture,in
medicine,early education,modern technical colleges,involvement in world wide innovations to increase our exports of finished goods instead of our bright minds.
Nana Osei Yaw Agyekum 11 years ago

We need foundations to build on.
Sub-Sahara countries(black Africa has numerous problems:- of which, our tradition,mind-set,family structure,
the way we think,we do regard what we have very, We waste too money on funerals,n ...
read full comment

We need foundations to build on.
Sub-Sahara countries(black Africa has numerous problems:- of which, our tradition,mind-set,family structure,
the way we think,we do regard what we have very, We waste too money on funerals,no accountability, we do not enforce our laws.not much regard for everyone.
Frank Appiah 11 years ago

Nkrumah's name has gone down into history as AFRICA'S MAN OF THE MILLINIEUM.I wonder if the half-baked lawyer Dr SAS and the ill-educated Justice Sarpong(CARDINAL) know the significance of POLL.

Nkrumah's name has gone down into history as AFRICA'S MAN OF THE MILLINIEUM.I wonder if the half-baked lawyer Dr SAS and the ill-educated Justice Sarpong(CARDINAL) know the significance of POLL.
Okponglo Guy 11 years ago

SAS,
There is no question about the fact that Nkrumah was a bloody dictator. I share his pan-Africanism views as well and think that he had an excellent vision for the continent. He need not have been a dictator though.
...
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SAS,
There is no question about the fact that Nkrumah was a bloody dictator. I share his pan-Africanism views as well and think that he had an excellent vision for the continent. He need not have been a dictator though.

Folks, if Nkrumah could even jail Ako-Adjei, the man who introduced him to the UGCC leadership and helped him form the CPP, then, like Rawlings, these guys were true megalomaniacs and narcissists.

That said, SAS, cut out the Doctor thing. No JD is addressed as Doctor. Get an SJD if you want the title or a PhD.
Ofori 11 years ago

Hate him or love him, Nkrumah remains the greatest African leader in our time. I honestly believe Nkrumah would not have enacted those draconian laws had his many detractors not tried to eliminate him.Nkrumah would have achie ...
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Hate him or love him, Nkrumah remains the greatest African leader in our time. I honestly believe Nkrumah would not have enacted those draconian laws had his many detractors not tried to eliminate him.Nkrumah would have achieved most of the lofty agenda he set out to make Ghana a showpiece and the true Gateway to Africa. No doubt about it, Ghana would be like one of the Asian tigers:South Korea, Malaysia etc. We lost out, didn't we? Ouch, this hurts,huh!
G. K. Berko 11 years ago

It is such impudence and gross arrogance towards fellow Citizens that perpetuate our disunity for any National progress. How could Dr. 'SAS' lose it to dump such garbage on others who might disagree with him? What is the bas ...
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It is such impudence and gross arrogance towards fellow Citizens that perpetuate our disunity for any National progress. How could Dr. 'SAS' lose it to dump such garbage on others who might disagree with him? What is the basis for calling people dogs and donkeys and monsters, even if they are Nkrumahists?

This is the very type of egomaniacal, self-conceited, disrespectful scholars who would worship their village Odikros and Paramount Chiefs to death, obeying every single dictatorial orders of these animist-worshipping Traditional leaders to the letter without questioning, and yet have the audacity to dehumanize anyone who dares challenge even one of their numerous prejudiced claims against Nkrumah.

To such a pompous, impish scholar, anyone who dares to show even the least skepticism on his motives for conveniently leaving out facts that might justify, even slightly, any high-handed action Nkrumah took is a sub-human entity. He hears any such expression of doubt on his claims as some "braying, bleating and barking of the Nkrumahist donkeys, sheep and dogs"!

How can anyone find any credibility in someone like this? If this is the reaction of someone supposedly enlightened, who professes to be an ardent advocate of Democratic principles upon which he condemns Nkrumah's dictatorship, then why do we have to wonder why Nkrumah became dictatorial when he had to deal with similar folks? There shows the violent streak in this Dr. and his hallucinatory saintly ilk.

We ought to put things in the correct perspective even when criticizing the excesses of Nkrumah in his days. No one claims he was perfect. He made some grave errors. But so did the very folks who opposed him with incessant violence that would fit into current popular Western characterization of terrorism.

We also have to understand that even the Opposition's 'terrorist' violence had some lingering tail in our immediate past where the Colonial Masters themselves hardly ever governed us with any Democratic principles.

At the time of our Independence, Democracy was practiced in only a few Countries in the World. Even the good old USA whose Constitution existed as the beacon of Democratic governance, Democracy was offered only to the Whites, while the Colored suffered gross all-pervading institutionalized injustice and brutalities that dwarfs anything Nkrumah did to suppress us.

The very Political powers that blatantly denied their own folks equality and even the recognition as full human beings were the instant preachers of Democracy to inspire our Opposition to show Nkrumah as lacking in those democratic principles.

It is within this context of hypocrisy of our Political Masters from whom Nkrumah learnt his apprenticeship in Governance that the latter's dictatorial tendencies emerged. The World was not as sensitive to the democratic wishes of the people as it does now, despite the largely theoretical existence of Democracy as the best form of Governance.

It is interesting to note that at the very same period that Nkrumah was being paraded around the World as a Dictator 'extraodinaire' our Opposition was kowtowing to our Traditional leaders who were only interested in preserving their miniature imperial, aristocratic rule.

We should understand that the current wave of global clamor for Democracy is only a natural sequence to the very fundamental struggle of people like us ,in Ghana, to attain Independence. It is like the Onion peels. People had to gain control of their larger Political environment, which comprised the freedom of the Colonies, before digging deeper for more immediate democratic rights.

In the case of Nkrumah and others like him who led their Nations to gain Independence but turned dictatorial, evidence abound to show that they erroneously regarded their local Oppositions as only lingering operatives of the subjugating Colonial masters, intending to regain control of their Nations. The very obvious alliance of the Opposition with the former Western oppressors all the more confirmed such fears in the psyche of these leaders of the newly freed Colonies, and they reactively hardened their tolerance of the Opposition.

In Ghana, the interactions of the Opposition with the West were very conspicuous, and easily discernible as a coalition to interfere with or disrupt our Independence.

It is therefore very unfair and academically disingenuous to discount such context for Nkrumah's dictatorship. It would have been difficult to trust the commitment of the West to our newly gained Independence. Any paranoia Nkrumah had to indulge in the excesses he engaged in stemmed from the activities that the West was partnering the Opposition to perpetrate.

In the Mahoney expositions relating to the very first Coup this Dr. refers to as the best, it was clearly related that the American Diplomats simply played Nkrumah to make him believe America was empathetic to his cause, while she actively directed the next phase of the Coup preparations. The narrator of that particular episode described how the American Ambassador Nkrumah was conferring with went back to report to the US President they had succeeded to disorient Nkrumah, and yet he had no clue the Coup was right at the corner.

That account summarizes the context of uncertainty and distrust of the West, amidst all the violence the Opposition was also engaged in, that Nkrumah's Administration functioned in.

The dictatorial tendencies of Nkrumah's regime did not just sprout out of nothing. It originated from the very undemocratic attitude of the Opposition and its Western collaborators, as a wrong choice for self-preservation.

Meanwhile, Nkrumah was not the only or worst Dictator in our area. Yet, while the others who happened to be Western stooges fully enjoyed peace, Ghana was being torn apart with deepening conflict between the Opposition and Nkrumah.

Dr. 'SAS' therefore has to put things in the right perspective, if he wants to be seen as credible. We all must admit that with time and increasing depth of the animosity between Nkrumah and the Opposition, both sides escalated their undemocratic behavior that caused fatalities. So, Nkrumah might have been a monster, but the Opposition and the West were no less monstrous in their actions towards him and his Administration.

If this is what the Dr. calls 'braying and bleating and barking of the Nkrumahist dogs and donkeys, then so be it. I could not see him any more of a human, either.

Long Live Ghana!!!
Ken Ababio 11 years ago

Thank you for this excellent response.Yours is a masterpiece for those who have been brainwashed namely Dr SAS and Justice Sarpong(Cardinal to read over and over again) and make a sound impression about the man KWAME NKRUMAH.

Thank you for this excellent response.Yours is a masterpiece for those who have been brainwashed namely Dr SAS and Justice Sarpong(Cardinal to read over and over again) and make a sound impression about the man KWAME NKRUMAH.
Okponglo Guy 11 years ago

I enjoy your pieces but I also want you to give me a straight yes or no answer.

I enjoy your pieces but I also want you to give me a straight yes or no answer.
Conventional Youth 11 years ago

This Chap is sadly loosing it.

This Chap is sadly loosing it.

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The Best Coup D’état in Ghana. Part Four

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