J.B. Danquah was a CIA assert

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`perscoba 10 years ago

ok FIRST WHAT KIND OF WORK DID JB PERFORM FOR THE CIA? Havee you guys not read of the various humanitarian supports the CIA/AMERICAN EMBASSIES GIVE TO THE POLITICAL OPPRESSED IN MANY PLACES OF THE WORLD?

Mind you you ...
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ok FIRST WHAT KIND OF WORK DID JB PERFORM FOR THE CIA? Havee you guys not read of the various humanitarian supports the CIA/AMERICAN EMBASSIES GIVE TO THE POLITICAL OPPRESSED IN MANY PLACES OF THE WORLD?

Mind you you must be careful of how you inteprete AMERICAN POLICIES.JB was denied his livlihood as rawlings did to Mr.Siaw and numeorus Kwahu businessmen and women so whats wrong even if JB was also helped?

Check this also did rawlings once asked for the USA to help him? wHICH American Offficial visited rawlings at his home? AKYIA PLEASE THINK BEFORE YOUSPEW NONSENSE NEXT TIME.
Ghanaba 10 years ago

The idiot Nana Akyea studied English and read the title of his article. Assert is not the word but asset.

Dumbass Odikro

The idiot Nana Akyea studied English and read the title of his article. Assert is not the word but asset.

Dumbass Odikro
"Tanii" Akyea Mensah 10 years ago

Ali Masmadi aka Akyea Mensah, you bloody "tanii" must shut up. How dare you call your "Tani" self NANA?

ALI MASMADI aka Akyea Mensah

Ali Masmadi aka Akyea Mensah, you bloody "tanii" must shut up. How dare you call your "Tani" self NANA?

ALI MASMADI aka Akyea Mensah
Mahmoud 10 years ago

The sycophant Mensah, Nana Akyea is a disgrace. How can any reasonable human being in his right mind justify communist dictatorship and tyranny? Nkrumah did not have any excuse for doing what he did, except that he was prepar ...
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The sycophant Mensah, Nana Akyea is a disgrace. How can any reasonable human being in his right mind justify communist dictatorship and tyranny? Nkrumah did not have any excuse for doing what he did, except that he was preparing the ground with series of unprovoked actions to create a one party state and declare himself president for life.

Communist ideology doesn't have a place for opposition in the system. Have you ever heard of a communist democratic country with an opposition to check excesses of the government? Nkrumah chose communism as a means of keeping himself in power forever. He therefore imposed the 'Detention without Trial Act' only to gag everybody in Ghana, create a communist dictatorship and turn himself into president for life. This is because, communists don't share power.
Mahmoud 10 years ago

If J.B Danquah hadn't been born at all patriotic Ghanaians would've still overthrow Nkrumah with or without the help of CIA because, his leftward tendencies had reached a point of no return. The guy was a red sickle communist ...
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If J.B Danquah hadn't been born at all patriotic Ghanaians would've still overthrow Nkrumah with or without the help of CIA because, his leftward tendencies had reached a point of no return. The guy was a red sickle communist of the Starling, Pol pot and Idi Amin type of human-being.

Every Ghanaian cursed the day that this dishonest, cunning man was invited to join the UGCC as its General Secretary, and he proved to be the mother of all traitors in Ghana. It was, therefore, legitimate and even desirable to get rid of that callous, one party state and president for life communist dictator. I congratulate Kotoka and his friends once again for securing our second independence and delivering us from the grips of Kwame Nkrumah; one of the most dangerous human beings that ever lived on the African continent.
KKO 10 years ago

Kwame Nkrumah's Attorney-General was English, his wife was Anglo-Egyptian, his personal secretary was MI6-screened English woman Jume Milner, his girlfriend, Genevive Marais was a Boer black-hater, his personal pilot Ana Reit ...
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Kwame Nkrumah's Attorney-General was English, his wife was Anglo-Egyptian, his personal secretary was MI6-screened English woman Jume Milner, his girlfriend, Genevive Marais was a Boer black-hater, his personal pilot Ana Reitch was a Nazi war criminal and fugitive, his personal security guards were Russian KGB.

So what does that make Kwame Nkrumah? Why don't you get a life, perhaps sort out the stench in the Musama Disco Christo witch cult?
Kofi Freeman A-D 10 years ago

These socialists have been discussing such moribund unintelligent infantile matters since their student days in 1970/80s. Ali has been circulating this tosh when he was SRC President in University of Cape Coast in 1983/84 (30 ...
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These socialists have been discussing such moribund unintelligent infantile matters since their student days in 1970/80s. Ali has been circulating this tosh when he was SRC President in University of Cape Coast in 1983/84 (30years ago). In the Universities our famous socialists won't ever attend lectures but stay in the SRC offices to propagate these malicious rumours. That is one of the major problems of Ghana. They never read their course books -bibliography - yet always wanted political power, and got political power but did nothingThey all grew up in cpp homes and like their fathers, always believed Ghana belongs to Nkrumaists alone. They consider non-Nkrumaists as aliens working against their possession - Ghana. To these empty headed ideologues, Only the Nkrumaists in the Socialist League must rule Ghana forever...P/NDC is full of them: Totobi Quakyi, Akata Pore, Chris Atim, Ato Dadzie, Kwamena Ahwoi, PV Obeng, Nana Konadu, Ayariga, Haruna Iddrisu, Cecilia Johnson, Ablakwa, Jehu Appiah, Yieleh Chiereh, Arhin, Twertwie Poku, Goosie Tanoh, etc etc...these people in the Nkrumaists fold have always ruled Ghana since 1951 They come and go with same Nkrumah stories yet the country remains as poor and bedraggled as the Musama Disco Cristo Church and it's confused congregation. Indeed, Nkrumaists have foisted backwardness on Ghana. I pity these old fashioned communista, devoid of any fresh ideas because they did not really learn anything much in the University except such stupid tales he narrates here with such vim. It's all hot air....fit for a sermon in Awoyo Church...
PROPHET 10 years ago

DANQUAH WAS IN BED WITH THE CIA AT A TIME WHEN THE CIA HAD THEIR FOOT ON THE NECKS OF MANDELA AND ALL THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA.
IT WAS THE SAME TIME THE CIA WAS AGAINST PEOPLE LIKE DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR, MA ...
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DANQUAH WAS IN BED WITH THE CIA AT A TIME WHEN THE CIA HAD THEIR FOOT ON THE NECKS OF MANDELA AND ALL THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA.
IT WAS THE SAME TIME THE CIA WAS AGAINST PEOPLE LIKE DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR, MALCOLM X, STOKELY CARMICHAEL, STEVE BIKO ETC.

THE CIA WAS AGAINST ALL THE AFRICAN FREEDOM FIGHTERS IN NAMIBIA, AZANIA, ANGOLA ETC. WHEREVER BLACKS WERE FIGHTING FOR THEIR FREEDOM THE CIA WAS AGAINST THEM.

THE CIA HELPED KILL STEVE BIKO AND OTHERS. DANQUAH WAS IN LEAGUE WITH THE CIA. THE MAN WAS A TRAITOR NOT ONLY TO GHANA, BUT TO MOTHER AFRICA AND ALL AFRICANS IN THE DIASPORA.

DANQUAH WAS A STOOGE AND A TRAITOR.
Bonso 10 years ago

Ose wara kohwinyi

Ose wara kohwinyi
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

Well, well!

This is a new one for me!

READ: "...Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., who has been sacked from the Danquah Institute as a member of its Governing Body Governing Body...".

Now I am paying attention to this almost ...
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Well, well!

This is a new one for me!

READ: "...Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., who has been sacked from the Danquah Institute as a member of its Governing Body Governing Body...".

Now I am paying attention to this almost pointless "discourse".

THEN THIS: "...In his article titled, "Danquah was a Great Patriot...Ochere-Darko's attempt to set the records straight, rather set out to bend the records. He would surreptitiously replace the CIA with the American Embassy as the source of the stipends...A very strange thing is happening. Just before writing this, I visited the site of Danquah Institute to check the link to the quote above, in which they attempted to rewrite Richard Mahoney's book by replacing the "CIA" with "the US Embassy".

OUR COMMENT: We believe the so-called Danquah letters from prison, the one extracted by Lawyer Adjei Sarfo and the other posted by the Danquah Institute, all on Ghanaweb, are not totally authentic, or genuine.

The first was edited by the lawyer, and we cannot trust the second either given what is developing as a pattern. In fact, Dr. Okoampa-Ahoofe complained last week on Ghanaweb - he wanted to know why the second document was not edited before it was posted using some fancy words could fool no one.

Earlier today, we searched the internet for PDF copies of the original letters. We did not find a copy of either, certainly not on the Danquah Institute's website.

Why, we ask?

Where are the copies on the actual letters?

When did the Danquah people have the letters tested from authenticity?

Do they expect reasonable people to just accept their "editorials" on the so-called Prison letters without authentication?

Prof Lungu 10 years ago

The first was edited by the lawyer, and we cannot trust the second either because...Dr. Okoampa-Ahoofe complained last week on Ghanaweb - he was mad the second letter/document was not edited before it was posted...by the Dan ...
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The first was edited by the lawyer, and we cannot trust the second either because...Dr. Okoampa-Ahoofe complained last week on Ghanaweb - he was mad the second letter/document was not edited before it was posted...by the Danquah Institute.

Now, we've just found - he's been fired from its Board.
Kwadwo 10 years ago

Stop drinking this cool aid or you will end up like the followers of Jim Jones of Guyana fame. Stop deceiving us that this is the first time you have seen this reposting of this so called Odikro piece.

Stop drinking this cool aid or you will end up like the followers of Jim Jones of Guyana fame. Stop deceiving us that this is the first time you have seen this reposting of this so called Odikro piece.
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

As we said. ...

This is a new one for me/us...Now We/I are/am paying attention to this almost pointless "discourse".

We've got the time resource!

As we said. ...

This is a new one for me/us...Now We/I are/am paying attention to this almost pointless "discourse".

We've got the time resource!
francis kwarteng 10 years ago

Dear Prof. Lungu,

Thanks for your thoughtful remarks. I never believed the authenticity of the letters myself. I still don't, unless I am given enough reasons to believe otherwise.

That said, I contacted the author of t ...
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Dear Prof. Lungu,

Thanks for your thoughtful remarks. I never believed the authenticity of the letters myself. I still don't, unless I am given enough reasons to believe otherwise.

That said, I contacted the author of this piece (Nana Akyea Mensah (Odikro) for his permission to have this critical article re-published. He agreed and I sent a copy to the editor of Ghanaweb today, hence the disclaimer. I even misspelled part of the title ("assert" instead of "asset") in my rush to proofread it.

Fortunately this piece goes a long way to buttress the Machiavellian revisionism of our political history that is going. I am glad you see through the revisionist gimmicks, Prof. Lungu.

I apologize for the misspelling.

Thanks.
Kwadwo 10 years ago

I knew what you were up to. Lol. I don't work for the CIA, but I know how to work a case for trial. How are you?

I knew what you were up to. Lol. I don't work for the CIA, but I know how to work a case for trial. How are you?
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

The Disclaimer was ok.

Over the years, we never paid attention to this pointless discourse. It was mostly from the guy in New York.

We only began paying attention recently, when we discovered one of the Danquah protag ...
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The Disclaimer was ok.

Over the years, we never paid attention to this pointless discourse. It was mostly from the guy in New York.

We only began paying attention recently, when we discovered one of the Danquah protagonists also graduated from the same University as us.

So, that spelling thing does not mean a thing to us.

But it would have been more appropriate if you had informed readers it was you who posted the essay, with permission, in the first place, given the role you are playing in this discourse.
francis kwarteng 10 years ago

Prof. Lungu,

I apologize.

I should have done exactly what you are suggesting. I will do the right thing next time.

Thank you.

Prof. Lungu,

I apologize.

I should have done exactly what you are suggesting. I will do the right thing next time.

Thank you.
KOLA, INSIDE LONDON. 10 years ago

We can't wait for your version to add to the realities of event pertaining Nkrumah on one side and the traitor, the scarab beatle, jb danquah.

We can't wait for your version to add to the realities of event pertaining Nkrumah on one side and the traitor, the scarab beatle, jb danquah.
francis kwarteng 10 years ago

Dear Brother KOLA, INSIDE LONDON,

How are you?

They are coming.

Stay tight, and have a great weekend!

Dear Brother KOLA, INSIDE LONDON,

How are you?

They are coming.

Stay tight, and have a great weekend!
ADJOA WANGARA 10 years ago

Francis Kwarteng is ready for anybody who needs any relevant information about both J.B. Danquah and Kwame Nkrumah, he has got all answers.

Just call Francis Kwarteng on 001-3012775871

His Address: 4203 Oglethorpe St. H ...
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Francis Kwarteng is ready for anybody who needs any relevant information about both J.B. Danquah and Kwame Nkrumah, he has got all answers.

Just call Francis Kwarteng on 001-3012775871

His Address: 4203 Oglethorpe St. Hyattsville, MD 20781 Maryland, USA

INXS 10 years ago

Lungu,

For the past week, Kwarteng has been "forcing" Odikro's piece on us all the time. He has been posting this piece in his comments to the discussions in the forum section. It looks like he thinks nobody is hearing him ...
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Lungu,

For the past week, Kwarteng has been "forcing" Odikro's piece on us all the time. He has been posting this piece in his comments to the discussions in the forum section. It looks like he thinks nobody is hearing him. So he decides to bring it up front.

I don't know why Kwarteng is forcing this particular piece on us. For one thing, this is just one of the pieces Odikro wrote against Okoampa, Danquah and the Akyem mafia. For some time in the past, Odikro wrote a series of articles on the topic. He seems to be well informed about it.

Personally, I don't think Kwarteng should have brought this piece up again. We've dealt with that part of the matter. There are more arguments to produce against the anti-Nkrumaists, especially of the SAS type, and there is no need re-hashing old articles.

Where were you all when the Odikro was posting his series of articles?

Lungu, perhaps that was the time you were angry and stopped visiting ghanaweb. It was during your Japan days.
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

INXS,
We treasure your Ghana-centeredness!

And francis kwarteng is doing a yeoman’s job producing his own pieces on Nkrumah, and directing attention to others in many corners, so they may learn also.

Our five prima ...
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INXS,
We treasure your Ghana-centeredness!

And francis kwarteng is doing a yeoman’s job producing his own pieces on Nkrumah, and directing attention to others in many corners, so they may learn also.

Our five primary policies on Ghanaweb:
1. Never assume another identity, or change our voice

2. Remain focused on public policy related matters that have a chance to improve the lives of the average Ghanaian

3. Use the moniker/name as written and accept as mostly honest, until forced to conclude otherwise

4. Be objective, helpful, and ready to learn for all

5. Keep Ghana-centeredness upfront, to the core!

YOUR: "...Where were you all when the Odikro was posting his series of articles?...Lungu, perhaps that was the time you were angry and stopped visiting ghanaweb..."

OUR RESPONSE: We never left Ghanaweb even when we were in Japan. It is just that when Ghanaweb changed their content format about 8 years ago, many contributors, like us, felt Ghanaweb had deserted essayists towards more commercial content. (Nothing bad there!).

Further, we believe that for the most part, Nkrumah's role in the history of mankind is already written. When Bob Marley sang "Africa Unite, Unite for the Benefit of Your People...of Your Children", he was really echoing Marcus Garvey and Nkrumah.

No Great People Ever United Through a Confederation.

So, as we've always believed, Nkrumah's story tells both camps, so to speak, what is not acceptable for a sovereign, democratic State pushing for stronger and vibrant Nation-Hood.

It all begins with sovereignty! And few reasonable, objective folks will disagree on this one.

And so, we never paid much attention to the serial Danquah-epistles from New York, and from other solitary individuals.

Except, we knew that Nana Akufo-Addo was never going to be President of Ghana if he entertained the sundry unbalanced, Danquah-doyen-worshipping sub-prelates. Further, that the Danquah Institute would never amount to anything in their past and orientation and direction.

So, to cut to the chase, we thought we'd pay attention when we discovered recently that we shared the same alma mater with another Ghanaweb contributor whose contributions are beginning to best the New York case in their tyrannical and absurdly partisan orientation, especially for a lawyer.

And so, as we go forward, we will continue paying some attention to this pointless discourse, when we have some time.

QUESTION: Does your moniker have a connection to the Rock Band from Down Under?
Mike Olongo, USA 10 years ago

Don't worry about the misspelled word. Any sensible reader should know that it was a typo. After all the word 'asset' appeared many more times, correctly spelled, in the text. I am sick and tired of the undeserved glorificati ...
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Don't worry about the misspelled word. Any sensible reader should know that it was a typo. After all the word 'asset' appeared many more times, correctly spelled, in the text. I am sick and tired of the undeserved glorification of the murderous Danquah by this infamous group that keep doctoring the records.
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

We agree!

A typo, or even poor spelling of an English word, ought not be the purpose of a comment, unless to respectfully inform.

The thing is, in an increasingly Global Village and against the developmental challenges ...
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We agree!

A typo, or even poor spelling of an English word, ought not be the purpose of a comment, unless to respectfully inform.

The thing is, in an increasingly Global Village and against the developmental challenges in Africa, Danquah may matter to a small clique in Ghana.

But Danquah will not matter globally, until Danquah-Deathknell-palanquin supporters find a way to make his legacy relevant for the entire world. Sadly, in 2015, we see that they have not even taken the first reasonable steps to doing that.
francis kwarteng 10 years ago

Bravo Prof. Lungu,

You have taken the words out of my mouth.

Simply brilliant!

Bravo Prof. Lungu,

You have taken the words out of my mouth.

Simply brilliant!
Kwadwo 10 years ago

What did Danquah ever "assert" to the CIA? Tell us Odikro. Or was this piece about the urgent message Francis Kwarteng wanted to discuss with you in response to your comment to Arthur Kennedy's piece on JB Danquah? You are fu ...
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What did Danquah ever "assert" to the CIA? Tell us Odikro. Or was this piece about the urgent message Francis Kwarteng wanted to discuss with you in response to your comment to Arthur Kennedy's piece on JB Danquah? You are funny.
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

When you only want to obfuscate, to misrepresent the record, you turn to finding words out of line!

When you only want to obfuscate, to misrepresent the record, you turn to finding words out of line!
Kwadwo 10 years ago

Lungu, for your information, I had earlier chastised Kwarteng for reposting this piece in response to a comment.. You guys are dancing in circles and if Odikro is your answer to this due process arbitross on Nkrumah's neck, ...
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Lungu, for your information, I had earlier chastised Kwarteng for reposting this piece in response to a comment.. You guys are dancing in circles and if Odikro is your answer to this due process arbitross on Nkrumah's neck, then you have failed misrably.
Kwabena Apuntuah 10 years ago

When I see articles like this, I expect to read scholastic pieces from colleagues to be enlightened NOT these stupid paragraphs hastily put together to fight a family.Why would I believe anything from a writer because his fat ...
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When I see articles like this, I expect to read scholastic pieces from colleagues to be enlightened NOT these stupid paragraphs hastily put together to fight a family.Why would I believe anything from a writer because his father was an Ambassador? If all the claims being cited to malign JBD is true, don't you as scholars believe we would have found the information in declassified CIA files? People, I was not born when Nkrumah was overthrown but "I do know he was a homosexual because my father was his partner". Well, my father was alive and a strong member of the CPP and a close friend of Nkrumah who knew his intimate secrets. I have a Ph.D. and I am also a lawyer from University of Michigan with LLM from Harvard. Is that alphabet soup good enough for me to make these statements. Nana Akyea Mensah or whatever you call yourself, I will join Gabby, stop this nonsense and sheer stupidity. CIA is not dead. Check the source and if it is true come back and let's have this discussion. If not, truly, stop this Nonsense and call your stupid followers like Omane Boamah and Kwesi Pratt, to speak on authentic documents NOT sheer innuendos.
francis kwarteng 10 years ago

Dear Readers,

A reader who goes by the moniker (Akwasi Prempeh) attached following information to Dr. Arthur Kobina Kennedy's article "The Villification of J.B. Danquah Continues" posted on Ghanaweb, February 11, 2015.

...
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Dear Readers,

A reader who goes by the moniker (Akwasi Prempeh) attached following information to Dr. Arthur Kobina Kennedy's article "The Villification of J.B. Danquah Continues" posted on Ghanaweb, February 11, 2015.

Here it goes:

........................................................................................................................................................
Dr Arthur Kennedy writes: “There is no record of either the CIA station chief or CIA Director ever confirming that the CIA ever paid any money to Danquah or that he was a spy. Added to that is the fact that Danquah was never in a position to provide any state secrets to anybody. In other words, there is no iota of evidence backing the charge that Danquah was a CIA agent.”

Mahoney’s book titled JFK: The Africa Ordea l lm Africa was by the son of a late former diplomat, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana.

This is what Professor Mahoney wrote in his book (pages 184 - 185):

"The matter concerned Dr. J.B. Danquah, Nkrumah's opponent in presidential elections of 1960, who was released from prison a few months after Mahoney's arrival as ambassador. Danquah paid a visit one November day to the embassy to ask Mahoney why the FUNDS [my caps]his family had been receiving during his imprisonment had been cut off after his release. This was the first time that Mahoney had heard of the arrangement. After Danquah left, he summoned the CIA chief of station to ask why he had not been advised of the agency's association with Danquah. Dissatisfied with the explanation, Mahoney flew to Washington two days later and personally informed Kennedy about the matter.

The President reacted sharply to the news and told Mahoney that he had sent a letter to all ambassadors in May 1961 making it clear that their authority extended to all phases of embassy decision making. Kennedy then telephoned CIA Director John McCone and told him that he was sending Mahoney over to CIA headquarters and wanted the matter resolved immediately. The understanding that emerged from the meeting at Langley was that 'no undertakings of any kind, even remotely involving our situation in Ghana, would either be continued or launched without the ambassador's knowledge and approval'"(Ref 149).

Ref 149: "This account is drawn from OHWPM [Oral history of William P. Mahoney], JFKL [John F. Kennedy Library] and William P. Mahoney Jr. to the author, July 21, 1977.

What work did Danquah do for the US Embassy in Ghana to receive funds that had been cut off about which he complained to Ambassador Mahoney?

Dr Kennedy you will be naïve to think that the CIA or its agent will confirm or deny paying any money to Danquah or anyone else in Ghana.

Documentary evidence reveals that the United States and Britain first discussed the possibility of a coup d'état in Ghana in the spring of 1961, prior to John F. Kennedy's June 29 letter that committed the United States to fund the VRP. The Kennedy Administration further explored the possibility in the fall of 1961, after Nkrumah's trip to the East and China, and the President's issuance of National Security Action Memorandum (NSAM) No. 96, stating his desire to review the decision to fund the VRP. During both of these periods, documents that make reference to a possible coup have been heavily censored, or removed from files, opening the possibility that the United States did far more than discuss the coup in theory. The Administration apparently hoped that their support for the Volta would provide assistance to the people of Ghana, and that the Nkrumah administration would soon be replaced. References to a coup continue throughout 1962-1963 during bilateral talks with the United Kingdom and in CIA assessments of the political climate in Ghana. In October 1962 an offhanded reference in a telegram from the British High Commission in Lome, Togo to the British Foreign Office in London notes contacts between Americans and Ghanaian exiles. Ghanaian exiles in such contacts included Obetsebi Lamptey and R. E. Amponsah among others.

Nkrumah always suspected CIA involvement with exiles in Lome, and the British were certainly aware of these contacts. Documents in 1962-1963 also attest to the meetings between the United States, Britain and exiled Ghanaians K.A. Gbedemah and K.A. Busia, both of whom sought Western aid for their ill-conceived plans to stage a coup in Ghana. The sum of these leads suggests a longer history of US attempts at subversion in Ghana than currently declassified documents reveal. The attempts at subversion included economic sabotage through, for example, US.UK and France led orchestrated rapid fall in the world price for cocoa, and US withholding of economic aid to Ghana.

In the Cold War atmosphere of the 1960s and the alleged growing Soviet influence in the newly independent African countries, the Volta River project was to be used by the U. S. with the help of British “Prime Minister Macmillan in attempting to turn Nkrumah in a reasonable course.” (Notes for Record: National Security Council Meeting on Volta Dam, The White House, 12/5/61, p. 1.) Irving L. Markovitz (Power and Class in Africa, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1977, p. 80.) writes that: “Since his pro-Algerian independence speech as a senator, President Kennedy has been considered as a friend of nationalist regimes. He pursued a foreign policy that was disguised by its sophistication from the crude Dulles-Eisenhower era. Yet he sent several missions to Ghana headed by men such as Henry McLoy, Head of the Chase Manhattan National Bank, to find out whether Nkrumah was or wasn’t a communist.”9 Following the Cuban missile crisis, Nkrumah was considered “a Castro” rather than “a Nasser,” and it was felt that if the U. S. “should go ahead [to fund the project] we ought to get something in return” (“Imperialism and the Volta Dam,” West Africa, 3/31/80, p.520).

Some African leaders like Liberia’s William Tubman, Ivory Coast’s Houphouet-Boigny, Nigeria’s Tafewa Balewa and Ghana’s K. A. Gbedemah and K. A. Busia lobbied against U. S. funding of the Volta scheme. Busia was the leader of opposition in the Ghana Parliament at the time Ghana was negotiating with the U. S. for funding. He testified before the U. S. Internal Security Sub-Committee against U. S. support for the project. His testimony was released with other documents under the title “Is U. S. Money Aiding Another Communist State?” with a three-page introduction by Senator Dodd on July 15, 1963. Busia became Prime Minister of Ghana (October 1969-January 1972) after the CIA-backed military coup overthrew Nkrumah’s government in February 1966. These African leaders were not opposed to the imperial design of the Volta scheme, they wanted Nkrumah chastised by U. S. withdrawal; otherwise, they “would feel indignant that Ghana had been accorded the priority in assistance which they believed they had earned.”11 But the U. S. reasoned that these African leaders who opposed Nkrumah “would have to realize that U. S. backing for the Volta project would be needed to counter-balance Ghana’s increasingly close relations with the {Soviet] Bloc.”12

It is evident from the above discussion that from the very inception of the Volta River project the industrialization of Ghana was not the concern of the British and U. S. governments and the aluminum companies involved. Britain was more interested in harnessing Ghana’s water and mineral resources to meet Britain’s aluminum needs. The U. S. government wanted a vehicle to carry out its Cold War against the Soviet Bloc. Ghana became a pawn in the hands of external forces (THE EYES OF THE WORLD WERE WATCHING: GHANA, GREAT BRITAIN, AND THE UNITED STATES, 1957-1966 by Mary E. Montgomery. Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2004).

Also, in a statement before the United States Committee on Foreign Affairs, then Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, G. Mennen Williams explained: "... it is our estimate that in the long run there are favorable factors that will prevail. This is an area where the British developed a very soundly based civil service, a well-trained military... I think when you put the thing in balance, that over the long run we could hope for a government which would at least be non-aligned" (Allen and Johnson, 1970, p. 263). What a prophecy! A month after power from the hydroelectric plant was switched on, Nkrumah's government was toppled by the "well-trained military."
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C.Y. ANDY-K 10 years ago

I must say both writers have presented us with well articulated and "interrogated" pieces backed by references. The latter day UP revisionists are truly exposed!

But one pint of query. I am not aware of K.A. Gbedemah oppo ...
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I must say both writers have presented us with well articulated and "interrogated" pieces backed by references. The latter day UP revisionists are truly exposed!

But one pint of query. I am not aware of K.A. Gbedemah opposing funding for the VRA project, being the main person who paved the way for the securing the interest of such a support way back in the late 1950s when on a visit to the US and was exposed to a racist incidence. This reached the papers and President Eisenhower invited him to the White House and KA took the opp. to inform him about the VRA Eisenhower then invited Kaiser and the rest is history.

If KA turned around to lobby against continuing US participation after going into exile in Oct. 1961, I am honestly not aware of that.

Andy-K
Kwadwo 10 years ago

You have summed up this hearsay nonsense beautifully.

You have summed up this hearsay nonsense beautifully.
francis kwarteng 10 years ago

Dear Readers,

A reader who goes by the moniker (Akwasi Prempeh) attached following information to Dr. Arthur Kobina Kennedy's article "The Villification of J.B. Danquah Continues" posted on Ghanaweb, February 11, 2015.

...
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Dear Readers,

A reader who goes by the moniker (Akwasi Prempeh) attached following information to Dr. Arthur Kobina Kennedy's article "The Villification of J.B. Danquah Continues" posted on Ghanaweb, February 11, 2015.

Here it goes:

........................................................................................................................................................
In 1959 Busia became a Professor of Sociology and Culture of Africa at the University of Leiden near the Hague, Netherlands. From 1962 until 1969 he was a Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford. During this period he was financially supported in secret by the racist Sir Roy Welensky and the government of the Central African Federation [now Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi], which paid him substantial sums through a London public relations consultancy named Voice & Vision (source: Frederic P. Miller, Agnes F. Vandome, John McBrewster, Ed. History of Ghana; Publisher: Alphascript Publishing, 2009).
........................................................................................................................................................
Kwadwo 10 years ago

Stop twisting in the wind. Can't you do better than this, my friend?

Stop twisting in the wind. Can't you do better than this, my friend?
Brother 10 years ago

One thing you should realise is that,no one so far has denied that, Nkrumah did what ever you people say he did. That is because for most of us, one will do same if somebody is trying to kill you. And since JB is a father,a k ...
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One thing you should realise is that,no one so far has denied that, Nkrumah did what ever you people say he did. That is because for most of us, one will do same if somebody is trying to kill you. And since JB is a father,a kins man,represents a group, we will expect you to feel bitter that, he was caught. Yes, you considered it his democratic right to overthrow Nkrumah considering that, he felt he was a dictator even though the people liked the dictator. But after deducting the good of Osagyefo and adding to JB, you cannot accept the facts as laid bare by classified documents, people's accepted theses and the accounts of the time that, those payments were not for legal services but treasonable ones. Explain to us why his family received stipends from the embassy? Who paid them and for what? Why was the ambassador not aware or you doubt the publication? When has the US embassy become a bank and a charity one at that. Ask Garby. I expected you people to rather be arguing that, he did so because he considered Nkrumah a dictator as you always sought to portray. Defend his action we expect not twisting of facts and running away from the truth. The so called democracies considered Nkrumah a dictator, Mandela a terrorist but Mabutu to them was a liberal and Apartheid was democracy. We expect nothing less not twisting about.
Kwadwo 10 years ago

Lungu, incidentally, I am beginning to find your gadfly demeanor very irritating. America should have thought you better unless you are an academic and you find condescending responses amusing as you only deal with students.

Lungu, incidentally, I am beginning to find your gadfly demeanor very irritating. America should have thought you better unless you are an academic and you find condescending responses amusing as you only deal with students.
Brother 10 years ago

Just as you dwell on trivialities, the word is taught not thought. Just as you knew the word assert is suppose to be asset.

Just as you dwell on trivialities, the word is taught not thought. Just as you knew the word assert is suppose to be asset.
Kofi 10 years ago

Glad you have put a bit of sense into Kwadwo"s American induced coma.He can continue where Palmer and McCarthy left to prove America taught him well.

Glad you have put a bit of sense into Kwadwo"s American induced coma.He can continue where Palmer and McCarthy left to prove America taught him well.
Sister Souljah 10 years ago

Kwadwo you wrote "America should have 'thought' you better.........", am sure you meant to say "taught" no wonder you think Lungu is condescending I will equally not take anyone who doesn't know the difference between 'though ...
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Kwadwo you wrote "America should have 'thought' you better.........", am sure you meant to say "taught" no wonder you think Lungu is condescending I will equally not take anyone who doesn't know the difference between 'thought' and 'taught' serious.
Kwadwo 10 years ago

I know and Francis certainly knows the difference between "assert" and "asset". That was why I made a joke of it. Blame it on a keyboard app. Atleast you got the gist of my comment

I know and Francis certainly knows the difference between "assert" and "asset". That was why I made a joke of it. Blame it on a keyboard app. Atleast you got the gist of my comment
NANA YAW 10 years ago

We are waiting for NAMI (Nana Akyea Mensah's Institute).
Not only to challenge the misinformation and disinformation put out by DI, but give us the facts, the analyses, and the policies going forward.

We are waiting for NAMI (Nana Akyea Mensah's Institute).
Not only to challenge the misinformation and disinformation put out by DI, but give us the facts, the analyses, and the policies going forward.
Emmanuel Adu Boahene 10 years ago

l have some burning questions for the writer of the article or the general public to help me with:
1.lf Dr Danqua was an asset to the cia why would they only pay his family members when he was in prison and cut off payment i ...
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l have some burning questions for the writer of the article or the general public to help me with:
1.lf Dr Danqua was an asset to the cia why would they only pay his family members when he was in prison and cut off payment immediately he was released?
2. why won't the cia continue to pay their so-called asset/agent after his release from detention when he would be most useful to them?
Finally are there proofs of any kind anywhere in the world the cia made payments to JB that the public need to know (from declassified cia documents) not innuedos and extrapulations of other writers/articles?
someone help with these questions please!!!
Brother 10 years ago

1. Will you pay for a worker you don't need anymore when especially he could be considered spent force, and dangerous to secrecy. 2.How will he be useful when the Ghana government had already identified him? 3. Ask yourself, ...
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1. Will you pay for a worker you don't need anymore when especially he could be considered spent force, and dangerous to secrecy. 2.How will he be useful when the Ghana government had already identified him? 3. Ask yourself, what stipends was being paid from the embassy and yet the ambassador did not know?
Agyeman 10 years ago

Because the US ambassador discovered this without his knowledge and complained.

Because the US ambassador discovered this without his knowledge and complained.
Kwame 10 years ago

Whenever there is a case of spying and subversion which are against international diplomatic norms, an ambassador, though being the superior to the C.I.A. station master must pretend that he or she does not know anything abou ...
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Whenever there is a case of spying and subversion which are against international diplomatic norms, an ambassador, though being the superior to the C.I.A. station master must pretend that he or she does not know anything about it.
Mr. Gabbey Okyere-Darko in an article sometime ago informed us that he was himself an informant for the British M5. An informer and agent are both the same because they both relay information, covert or overt to the security services of their country or another one. G. Okyere-Darko went on further to state that whiles a student in the U.K. he was involved in criminal activities and to compensate the British secret services for his former criminal deeds he decided to become their informer. So if there is a person in the Danquah Institute who should defend him that person should not be an agent of foreign secret services.
EDUARDO DOMINGO 10 years ago

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE DAMNING IF IT WAS AMERICAN EMBASSY PAYING, IT MAKES IT DEEPER THAN JUST THE CIA, CIA HAVE LOTS OF OPERATIVES, AND SOME OF THEM ARE NOT IN THE USA GOVT. 'S BOOKS, BECAUSE THEY ARE AUXILIARIES, BUT IF TH ...
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IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE DAMNING IF IT WAS AMERICAN EMBASSY PAYING, IT MAKES IT DEEPER THAN JUST THE CIA, CIA HAVE LOTS OF OPERATIVES, AND SOME OF THEM ARE NOT IN THE USA GOVT. 'S BOOKS, BECAUSE THEY ARE AUXILIARIES, BUT IF THE USA EMBASSY IT SELF IS PAYING, IT MAKE THE SUBJECT A MAJOR MAJOR AGENT!!!
FRANK 10 years ago

Instead of allowing bygones to be bygones, see the new shame Nana Addo and his apologists have brought to the memory of JB Dankwa. Like the CPP of today have realized, no amount of drumming up Nkrumah's name can win them elec ...
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Instead of allowing bygones to be bygones, see the new shame Nana Addo and his apologists have brought to the memory of JB Dankwa. Like the CPP of today have realized, no amount of drumming up Nkrumah's name can win them elections in Ghana. So Nana Addo better discover his own capabilities if any, his track record in Govt to point to. You cannot simply ride on the back of others for success.
Oheneba Adu 10 years ago

Eduardo,I salute you for your intelligent response.The Danquah apologists have lost the debate and they must be ashamed.Danquah was on CIA Payroll.NOTHING CAN CHANGE HISTORY

Eduardo,I salute you for your intelligent response.The Danquah apologists have lost the debate and they must be ashamed.Danquah was on CIA Payroll.NOTHING CAN CHANGE HISTORY
Oheneba Adu 10 years ago

DANQUAH APOLOGISTS MUST ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT NOTHING CAN CHANGE HISTORY.DANQUAH WAS ON CIA PAYROLL.

DANQUAH APOLOGISTS MUST ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT NOTHING CAN CHANGE HISTORY.DANQUAH WAS ON CIA PAYROLL.
Abeeku Mensah 10 years ago

A read through some of the submitted commentary shows the level of entrenched tribal and political party loyalties beyond principled people. There are those J.B. Danquah zealots, educated and uneducated alike, who have chosen ...
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A read through some of the submitted commentary shows the level of entrenched tribal and political party loyalties beyond principled people. There are those J.B. Danquah zealots, educated and uneducated alike, who have chosen to take on the role of English Grammar specialists to correct typing and or spelling mistakes in the article and those yet who would rather poopooh facts presented than to provide contrary factual assertions.

It is not only illogical but simple minded for anyone to assume that because Nkrumah chose to experiment with a blend of good socialist doctrine and democratic ideals he could have been an agent of the west and or communists governments. But the proof of why Ghanaians, especially those who are gung-ho about all things democratic, who subscribe to democracy or bust ideology, are mentally childish and incapable of learning new tricks is that they refuse to see world events for what they are. There has been no country vehemently antagonistic to communism than the United States of America and to a lesser extent most Western European democracies. Yet these are the very nations who over the last decade have embraced the achievements and progress in development of China, an unapologetic communist nation. Government and multi-national companies of Western developed and industrialize nations troop over to China to setup shop while China uses its new found wealth to buy every idle real estate property in Western nations the rich cannot afford.

So how could Ghana, a backward nation by any measure, except for those who accept mediocrity as progress, not move on from where we’ve been and seek new systems that fit in with the people and culture if it will bring productive efficiencies and real development?
This self inflicted reluctance can only be explained by either describing Ghanaians as incapable of learning from past mistakes thus making us foolish or too loyal to tribe and political party while we reserve our hatred for the country. Danquah ideologues must continue to choose to let their own eyes deceive them or wise up to be counted. Nkrumah was flawed but Danquah was a classroom educated dangerous hypocrite with much self hatred he would rather see Ghana continue in bondage than be free from colonial rule if he did not get to be the leader of a freed Ghana. In any other nation and language, J. B. Danquah is a traitor and it’s about time people get over him; he is nowhere to help Ghana neither is Nkrumah.
Paa Joe 10 years ago

ABEEKU MENSAH.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT.IN THE SIXIES WHEN NKRUMAH HAD DIPLOMATIC RELATION WITH CHINA, HE WAS HEAVILY CRITICICIZED BY THE WEST FOR HIS ECONOMIC TIES WITH CHINA.

WHAT FOLLOWED WAS,THERE WERE BOOKS LIKE-'''THE AFR ...
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ABEEKU MENSAH.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT.IN THE SIXIES WHEN NKRUMAH HAD DIPLOMATIC RELATION WITH CHINA, HE WAS HEAVILY CRITICICIZED BY THE WEST FOR HIS ECONOMIC TIES WITH CHINA.

WHAT FOLLOWED WAS,THERE WERE BOOKS LIKE-'''THE AFRICAN CHILD IN CHINA'' AND PROPAGANDA LEAFLETS, THAT WERE POSTED TO ADDDRESSES OF CIVIL SERVANTS AT THE PUBLIC SECTOR AND TO CÓNDEMN NKRUMAH'S DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH CHINA AND SCHOLARSHIPS THAT WERE OFFERED BY CHINA TO GHANAIAN STUDENTS.

NOT YEARS AFTER NKRUMAH'S FORCED EXIT BY ARMED CRIMINALS IN MILITARY UNIFORMS IN 1966,TTHE VERY WEST THAT HAD CONDEMNED NKRUMAH'S RELATIONSHIP WITH CHINA, TROOPED TO CHINA AND TO ESTABLISH ECONOMIC RELATIONS WITH THEM.

THE FIRST TO TRAVEL THERE WAS HENRY KISSINGER, FOLLOWED by NIXON AND POLITICAL LEADERS FROMN EUROPE.

IT IS RATHER UNFORTUNATE THAT, THESE FOLKS FROM THE CAMP OF DANQUAH, HIS ANTAGONISTS AND ANTIELEMENTS CONTINUE TO BE IGNORANT OF THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE GOLD COAST AND GHANA.

SAD WITHOUT FURTHER WORDS.
Wabee 10 years ago

Nana Akyea, if a black man is capable to mind his own afairs, then blackman should be capable to produce his own cars,capable to produce his own materials for his own use. Whatever Ghana did during Nkrumah time, we bought the ...
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Nana Akyea, if a black man is capable to mind his own afairs, then blackman should be capable to produce his own cars,capable to produce his own materials for his own use. Whatever Ghana did during Nkrumah time, we bought the materials from overseas nothing was made in Ghana. This is not what yopu can say you are managing your own affaires. Go to south and North Korea and see what is called managing our own affairs.
Abu 10 years ago

The same Americans helped set up all the infrastructure for the South Korean Dictator Park chung hee from 1961-1979.That is the hypocrisy of AMERICA.

The same Americans helped set up all the infrastructure for the South Korean Dictator Park chung hee from 1961-1979.That is the hypocrisy of AMERICA.

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J.B. Danquah was a CIA assert

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