Danquah-Nkrumah Media Kerfuffle- Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

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Ghanaman 10 years ago

It is that simple

It is that simple
ADJOA WANGARA 10 years ago

Francis Kwarteng is ready to lecture you detailed on Danquah and Nkrumah. Simply call or Skype him on 001-301 277 5871.
His Address is: 4203 Oglethorpe Str. Hyattsville MD 20781 Maryland USA

Francis Kwarteng is ready to lecture you detailed on Danquah and Nkrumah. Simply call or Skype him on 001-301 277 5871.
His Address is: 4203 Oglethorpe Str. Hyattsville MD 20781 Maryland USA
INXS 10 years ago

I think this debate must continue. Indeed, this thing started before the 50th year remembrance of Danquah's death which only inflamed it. Since 24th February is just around the corner, we should continue discussing this thing ...
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I think this debate must continue. Indeed, this thing started before the 50th year remembrance of Danquah's death which only inflamed it. Since 24th February is just around the corner, we should continue discussing this thing till beyond the 49th anniversary of the coup that overthrew Nkrumah. It's only 7 days away.

The discussion may be heated but it's not as if it's developing into a sanguinary feud. The harshest words haven't killed anybody and won't do so on ghanaweb. There's no need to call for a truce...

But, most importantly, we need to discuss our history critically. We can't run away from it. We need it to understand where we're coming from so as to see better where we are heading. One thing which impresses(?) me about this discussion is that most of the protagonists were not born (or were too young) when the things that we are discussing happened. It shows how important our history is to our youth. We need to tell them what happened and how things actually were in those days, especially about those things that don't get into the history books and academic treatesis.

Another reason why we should continue discussing the issue is that some people are using it for their present day political goals. Akufo-Addo's Danquah day speech was clearly in that vein. He wouldn't have said the things he said if he were not frantically looking for votes. Even SAS's arguments have a political edge to it - one that is aimed at securing votes for NPP. That's why he makes such one-sided arguments.

Kwesi Sakyi, people like you should be counted on to set the records straight. You are an academic and you were in middle school when Nkrumah was overthrown. Your knowledge of the man's rule is not just from books. We should count on you to tell us an impartial tale. Instead, you fueled the controversy by your biased article which you presented as a tribute to Danquah. Now you're calling for a truce?

What we need are good arguments from both sides. We need fact based arguments devoid of insults. A few people are providing these. More should do so, especially those with advanced academic qualifications. Our children are watching...

Next year will be 50 years since Nkrumah was overthrown. Sakyi, you and I remember that day like yesterday...
francis kwarteng 10 years ago

INXS,

How are you?

The debate is only just "beginning."

I am with you on that one. I believe you have spoken well.

Thanks.

INXS,

How are you?

The debate is only just "beginning."

I am with you on that one. I believe you have spoken well.

Thanks.
Fifi Blankson 10 years ago

Nkrumah ruled Ghana with iron fist with no Vice President, no cabinet and everything from the office of the President. Nkrumah declared himself President for life which is being copied by Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Yaya Jammeh of th ...
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Nkrumah ruled Ghana with iron fist with no Vice President, no cabinet and everything from the office of the President. Nkrumah declared himself President for life which is being copied by Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Yaya Jammeh of the Gambia, Kabila of Congo and Museveni of Uganda. Eyadema copied Nkrumah.

Nkrumah killed all opposition members in the Nsawam prison and his own CPP men could not bear the unparalell tyranny and decided to kill him at Kulungugu. The Kulungugu bomb was planted by CPP led by Tawiah Adamafio.
mensah abrampa 10 years ago

I was a student at Mfantsipim when Nkrumah was overthrown. For the first and only time in my life I met Danquah face to face in his house by old Tip Toe Garden on the day he was released from Nsawam Medium Security Prison. T ...
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I was a student at Mfantsipim when Nkrumah was overthrown. For the first and only time in my life I met Danquah face to face in his house by old Tip Toe Garden on the day he was released from Nsawam Medium Security Prison. The truth that the Nkrumaists don't want to be told is that Nkrumah was a brutal dictator who oppressed any Ghanaian who voiced any dissent against his tyrannical rule. Even Arko Adjei and Tawiah Adamafio, prominent members of the CPP were jailed by Nkrumah on charges of subversive activities. It was Nkrumah who introduced the culture of silence in Ghana. Ghana was a police state at the time of his overthrow. Kwesi Atta Sekyi gives me the impression he is an Nkrumaist and very economical with the truth. There are so many things that happened in those days that will not be tolerated in Ghana today. Let the truth be told because we need to know our real history in order to avoid repeating them. I believe in reconciliation and healing old wounds but it can not be achieved when the truth is distorted. We have to forgive one another but let the truth be told.
Kojo T 10 years ago

Well Jb died a year earlier. Let us write about what JB achieved as opposed to what Nkrumah achieved.J B killed his relative .JB like Nana Bin Lado was a waste of space

Well Jb died a year earlier. Let us write about what JB achieved as opposed to what Nkrumah achieved.J B killed his relative .JB like Nana Bin Lado was a waste of space
Abrampa, the best 10 years ago

You are filled with so much hatred you can"t even tell the truth.J B Traitor Danquah died on 4 Feb 1965. Nkrumah was overthrown on 24 feb 1966. So you met Danquah face to face, one year 20 days after his death.Wow! What a re ...
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You are filled with so much hatred you can"t even tell the truth.J B Traitor Danquah died on 4 Feb 1965. Nkrumah was overthrown on 24 feb 1966. So you met Danquah face to face, one year 20 days after his death.Wow! What a remarkable encounter. To make it worse,you went to a top school like MFANTSIPIM. To your credit...I can confirm you are not the only "UNBALANCED" disciple of Danquah who cannot count to 3 without taking their shoes off. Debate? I have no relish for it.Thanks ever so much for your "brutal lies".Sadly,your kids will believe you.
KKO 10 years ago

Does that change the fact that Kwame Nkrumah wanted Nyerere killed in 1967, just as he got Danquah murdered in 1965?

We need to learn the lessons of our history, so we do not continue to repeat them. That is what has land ...
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Does that change the fact that Kwame Nkrumah wanted Nyerere killed in 1967, just as he got Danquah murdered in 1965?

We need to learn the lessons of our history, so we do not continue to repeat them. That is what has landed us in our current position where we are at the butt of the cruellest jokes around the world!
Abrampa,the best 10 years ago

Cut the crap and move on.Murder is what happened to Krobo Edusei"s pregnant sister at the hands of your UP/NLM democrats. Move on!

Cut the crap and move on.Murder is what happened to Krobo Edusei"s pregnant sister at the hands of your UP/NLM democrats. Move on!

Kojo T 10 years ago

NPP i sa party of the past and has NOTHING to offer Ghana That is why they write long essays about Kwame The Golden Show boy Nkrumah . J B cannot even tie his shoe laces. Nkrumah was a gem . Where are the books J B wrote? Who ...
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NPP i sa party of the past and has NOTHING to offer Ghana That is why they write long essays about Kwame The Golden Show boy Nkrumah . J B cannot even tie his shoe laces. Nkrumah was a gem . Where are the books J B wrote? Who knew of JB in the UK and uSA .Leave Nkrumah alone
INXS 10 years ago

Kojo Tamakloe,

Tell us, were you a member of the Ghana Young Pioneers?

C'mon, don't hide it. Be proud of it!

Kojo Tamakloe,

Tell us, were you a member of the Ghana Young Pioneers?

C'mon, don't hide it. Be proud of it!
francis kwarteng 10 years ago

???,

Good day.

I may have to respectively disagree with you on Rwanda. Rwandans have moved on and still discussing the Rwanda Genocide. In fact, Rwandans cannot live without the ghosts of the genocide. It has become par ...
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???,

Good day.

I may have to respectively disagree with you on Rwanda. Rwandans have moved on and still discussing the Rwanda Genocide. In fact, Rwandans cannot live without the ghosts of the genocide. It has become part and parcel of their national existence, daily discourse. Even Paul Kagame revisits this sordid past when the international media grant him interviews. I have read and listened to most of these!

It is why the skeletons from the ashes of the genocide are still on display for public (international) viewing. World leaders and ordinary citizens of the world, including Rwandans themselves, visit these public displays on daily basis to find answers, to memorialize loves ones, and to come to terms with their past (I mean Rwandans).

Also the debate is ongoing with Paul Kagame constantly charging the French to admit their culpability for being behind the genocide.

Kagame's friction with the French with regard to the latter's role in the genocide is one of the major reasons why he suddenly adopted English as an official (beside Kinyarwanda and French) to spite the French.

The only problem is Kagame's convenient use of his "genocide ideology" to stifle opposition to his Tsutsi-led government and to drive away, assassinate and or imprison those who have alternative narratives on the causes of the genocide.

What is more, Americans (the West in general) continue to visit their past, including the Civil War and War of Independence, etc., which are shown on History channels, asking where they went wrong, how they could better contemporary society using the past as a guidepost, and what they could have been done better if given another chance in the past, among others.

Asians, particularly the Japanese, are also asking questions about their martial past and thinking of innovative ways to revise their pacifist past given China's growing belligerence and growing military expenditure. This has brought on board the Filipinos and others in Asia (even including the West) who are threatened by Chinese growing military power. South Africans have not thrown away Apartheid. It's continuing impact on contemporary society is still being discussed.

Jews have not stopped talking about the Holocaust and what others did to them thousands of years ago. African Americans have not stopped discussing slavery, Jim Crowism, etc., so too are Australian Aborigines and Native Americans.

Therefore, this debate should continue. We can still continue to debate these questions without neglecting Ghana's development economics. The fact of Jews, African Americans, Native Americans, and Australian Aborigines debating their past have not prevented America, Germany, Australia, and Israel from being counted among the best in the world.

Thanks.
Frank Oteng 10 years ago

This Atta Sakyi guy seems to be a hypocrite but only fooling his own self with his childish way to blindfold grown up Readers.

This Atta Sakyi guy seems to be a hypocrite but only fooling his own self with his childish way to blindfold grown up Readers.
C.K. Man 10 years ago

Kwesi you whole write up is a total garbage, do you have to write such nonsense to seek attention simply because other are debating the last time on Danquah and Nkrumah, or you are getting confused?

Kwesi you whole write up is a total garbage, do you have to write such nonsense to seek attention simply because other are debating the last time on Danquah and Nkrumah, or you are getting confused?
Kwadwo 10 years ago

As an Nkrumaist and your influence, I suggest you advise Prof Lungu, Kwarteng and others to present balanced pieces on the "greatness " of Nkrumah instead of fouling the air with their praises of the man. Because If they ke ...
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As an Nkrumaist and your influence, I suggest you advise Prof Lungu, Kwarteng and others to present balanced pieces on the "greatness " of Nkrumah instead of fouling the air with their praises of the man. Because If they keep this up, others will also unearth the skeletons in Nkrumah's rule as rebuttal. This is exactly what is going on.
Additionaly, the death of Danquah in prison is a tragic and sensitive subject, and if Nkrumah actually cried when he learned of his death, I am surprised some Nkumaists treat Danquah with such a disdain and even seem to enjoy pissing on his grave. This is apalling and must stop. If we are unable to debate politics without expletives and being vile, then we are not going anywhere as a country. We should learn from African Americans who have been able to secure respectable places for militant Malcolm X and non violent Marthin Luther King Jr.
francis kwarteng 10 years ago

Kwadwo,

Nkrumah did not send Danquah to prison under the PDA. The security did.

Nkrumah was not the warden of the Danquah was sent to.

Nkrumah did not sign the PDA into law, the law of the land and an act of parlia ...
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Kwadwo,

Nkrumah did not send Danquah to prison under the PDA. The security did.

Nkrumah was not the warden of the Danquah was sent to.

Nkrumah did not sign the PDA into law, the law of the land and an act of parliament, the British (Queen's Governor-General Lord Listowell) did.

So, let's stop blaming Nkrumah for Danquah's evil deeds, crooked character, and political shortcomings, Kwadwo.

This debate will neither end today nor tomorrow, as long as keepers of the UP tradidion continue to churn out onetrains of unsubstantiated distortion after another. Some of us will not allow as long as we breath. You can tell your folks to do similarly.

And we are always ready. For your info, this is just the "beginning" of the crusade against conscious distortions. Thus, let us leave Nkrumah out of Danquah's imprisoned dilemma. Nkrumah had nothing to do with his imprisonment and death. Danquah brought it upon himself. This historical will not change with your revisionist distortions.

Thanks.
Kwadwo 10 years ago

Captain Ahab Francis Kwarteng, I know JB Danquah is your Moby Dick. Just be careful your obsession doesn't cause your vessel to capsize. We are ready for the debate from your end. How are you?

Captain Ahab Francis Kwarteng, I know JB Danquah is your Moby Dick. Just be careful your obsession doesn't cause your vessel to capsize. We are ready for the debate from your end. How are you?
francis kwarteng 10 years ago

Kwadwo,

I am not on any vessel. Hahahahahahah...

I am fine. How about you? I hope you are doing great!

Tell your folks to watch out for their sinking vessel!

Thanks.

Kwadwo,

I am not on any vessel. Hahahahahahah...

I am fine. How about you? I hope you are doing great!

Tell your folks to watch out for their sinking vessel!

Thanks.
Kwadwo 10 years ago

The next few days are going to heat up on this issue. Do you have anything sizzling on the grill? Bring it to the table when ready. Lol

The next few days are going to heat up on this issue. Do you have anything sizzling on the grill? Bring it to the table when ready. Lol

INXS 10 years ago

Francis, let's admit it. In 1965, Nkrumah could have influenced Danquah's fate. He may not have been the one who signed the PDA in 1958 but he was influential in having it passed. His party controlled parliament in which he s ...
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Francis, let's admit it. In 1965, Nkrumah could have influenced Danquah's fate. He may not have been the one who signed the PDA in 1958 but he was influential in having it passed. His party controlled parliament in which he sat himself, initiated the bill and voted it into law. Nkrumah needed it to deal with the disturbances in the country.

I don't believe it was Nkrumah's intention to let Danquah die in prison. In 1965, he was so powerful that he could have easily effected the end of his incarceration. And if the buck must end on his desk, he cannot be completely inculpable.

I don't know of the tears but the news may have come to him as an unpleasant surprise. Remember he may have been thinking of his international image too - something that was important to him. Danquah's death was unnecessary. There was no way he was going to win any elections against Nkrumah. He was old too and quite a spent force. His death rather made him a martyr to his supporters whereas if he had lived, he would've continued as nothing. As for his CIA connection, I don't know if it's true. But it may not be beyond him.

There were a few other things too which didn't put Nkrumah in quite a good light. But I don't think he was a "brutal dictator" especially if we consider what happened on the continent later on. People also forget that we were only then starting our life as a nation, experimenting on a few things. The Cold War was at its height.

And Nkrumah did a whole lot of good for Ghana. The British left us with virtually nothing. There were only a few sec schs, the two universities had only a few students, illiteracy was widespread. Nkrumah actively sought to bridge this and other gaps - and he did it.

Well, they said then you couldn't make an omelet without breaking eggs...

The discussion continues...
francis kwarteng 10 years ago

INXS,

How are you?

Nkrumah's CPP-parliament did not initiate the PDA bill. Let's be frank with ourselves, the deadly terrorism of the Danquah's and Busia's NLM (and other subversive activities carried out by the Opposit ...
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INXS,

How are you?

Nkrumah's CPP-parliament did not initiate the PDA bill. Let's be frank with ourselves, the deadly terrorism of the Danquah's and Busia's NLM (and other subversive activities carried out by the Opposition against the state, Nkrumah and members of his government, CPP members, children, and innocent men and women) initiated parliamentary secondment of the Bill. In fact, the British saw a need for it and passed it into law!

Terrorism gave birth to the birth, not the CPP or Nkrumah. On the other hand since Danquah was a respected leader and member of the NLM, he could have asked its members to stop terrorizing the country and using constitutional means to achieves its aims (unless he tried talking to the members of the NLM and they ignored him. I won't belabor this point because I have not come across any evidence supporting that theory!).

That said, Nkrumah was lenient to have left Danquah off the hook, I mean not hanging him or letting him face a firing squad given the evidence against Danquah. Also, remember the CIA/FBI censure books written by their former employees/agents before their being cleared for publication.

Therefore, as one leading and highly-connected Nkrumah scholar of high repute told me just today, this evening, there were a lot Richard Mahoney did not reveal in the book (Of course, though Richard Mahoney was not a CIA agent, we know his father was an American Ambassador to Ghana at the time and, as a matter of fact, his father had a lot to do with the CIA, John F. Kennedy, the CIA boss in America and the one stationed in Accra).

In that case Richard Mahoney could give us only what the CIA would approve. The same goes for John Stockwell's "In Search of Enemies: A CIA Story" and several other works that fall in this genre. In the end, it was not Nkrumah but Ghana's intelligence and security that placed Danquah in prison under the PDA.

Finally, you may also ask me why Busia, an advisor to and collaborator with the National Liberation Council (NLC), watched as the NLM renamed the PDA Preventive Custody Decree (PCD) and imprisoned more people that was the case under the PDA, in which three CPP members died. Recall that the PDA had a longer existence that the PCD!

I think Danquah's life was not important than the three CPP members who died under the PCD and the several victims of Danquah's and Busia's NLM.

Let us leave Nkrumah out if, for he had nothing to do with passage of the bill, Danquah's imprisonment under the PDA, and what have you. Danquah brought it upon himself. The least anybody could do in terms of apportioning blame is to question the integrities of the Queen’s Governor-General, of Ghana’s intelligence and security, and of Danquah! Nkrumah should be left alone.

How was your weekend?

Thanks.
Kwadwo 10 years ago

Francis, how can you absolve Nkrumah of total culpability of Danquah's death in prison under the PDA? The passage of the PDA by the CPP majority in parliament and signed by the then governor cannot excuse Nkrumah from any du ...
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Francis, how can you absolve Nkrumah of total culpability of Danquah's death in prison under the PDA? The passage of the PDA by the CPP majority in parliament and signed by the then governor cannot excuse Nkrumah from any due process violations under that law. It is akin to Hitler arguing that he is not responsible for the extermination or imprisonment of Jews by the Nazis because those laws were passed by the Reichstag.
It is indisputable that the laws were presented, passed and enforced by Nkrumah's government. Any consequences from the enforcement of that law rests exclusively with Nkrumah under respondeat superior. It is laughable to blame the security forces and prison officials for Danquah's prison death. You should know better than that.
Additionally, you also blame Danquah for creating the environment for the passage of the PDA. Even assuming what you are saying is true, why was he not charged and tried for subversion before he was imprisoned? Besides telling us to put his imprisonment in a "historical context" no sound reason has been provided by any Nkumaist to this fundamental due process question. The constant refrain is that he was a traitor and should have be hanged for his perceived subversive activities.
Well, when President Olympio of Togo was overthrown and killed in a coup,Nkrumah was suspected to be involved in the coup and his death because of the poor relations with Olympio. The Nigerian foreign Minister at the time even made it clear that if Ghanaian troops entered Togo in the crisis, Nigeria will intervene. Nkrumah promised a delegation from Dahomey that he would not intervene in the post coup crisis.
As Nkrumah was known for training and financing saboteurs to destabilize neighboring governments, will it be fair for one to draw a reasonable conclusion that Nkrumah engineered the coup and killing of Olympio?
There is no irrefutable evidence that Danquah attempted to kill or overthrow Nkrumah so he could not have been hanged as you are suggesting. But if you insist, then don't be offended if others also argue that Nkrumah, the advocate of Africa Unity, engineered the overthrow and the Killing of President Olympio of Togo.
RINGO 10 years ago

KWadwo,Danquah was on CIA payroll with the purpose of plotting the assassination of Nkrumah and overthrowing the newly independent Government.The evidence is overwhelming.It is written in stone.

KWadwo,Danquah was on CIA payroll with the purpose of plotting the assassination of Nkrumah and overthrowing the newly independent Government.The evidence is overwhelming.It is written in stone.
Kwadwo 10 years ago

Ringo, then Nkrumah masterminded the overthrow and the killing of President Olympio. Where is it written in stone that Danquah was on CIA payroll? Please show me, Ringo. Don't tell me the then 10 year old Richard Mahoney, the ...
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Ringo, then Nkrumah masterminded the overthrow and the killing of President Olympio. Where is it written in stone that Danquah was on CIA payroll? Please show me, Ringo. Don't tell me the then 10 year old Richard Mahoney, the son of the US Ambassador, wrote it later in a book.,
James 10 years ago

Remember,Mahoney wrote the book when he was a University professor and not ten year old.He wrote the book"JFK:Ordeal in Africa" after he had gathered all the necessary and relevant information,and authenticated the informatio ...
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Remember,Mahoney wrote the book when he was a University professor and not ten year old.He wrote the book"JFK:Ordeal in Africa" after he had gathered all the necessary and relevant information,and authenticated the information.Don't tell me because you were not born in the Nkrumah era,you cannot do your research and write a book on Nkrumah's political career.Why would Mahoney,an American scholar discredit Danquah who was spying for his own people(Americans),if he was not a CIA agent? Why didnt he mention any other name but Danquah.You anti-Nkrumah writers must stop beating about the bush and accept the plain thruth.Danquah was on CIA payroll.
Kwadwo 10 years ago

James, Nkrumah is a homosexual and my father, who was a top CPP official at the time, was Nkrumah's homosexual partner. I was 10 years old when I learned about my father's relationship with Nkrumah. I have a PHd in political ...
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James, Nkrumah is a homosexual and my father, who was a top CPP official at the time, was Nkrumah's homosexual partner. I was 10 years old when I learned about my father's relationship with Nkrumah. I have a PHd in political science from an Ivy League School and I have written about this homosexual relationship in a book titled " Softer Side of Nkrumah the Great". James, do you think I have provided irrefutable evidence that Nkrumah was gay? Consider Mahoney's book in this light before you start leaping to conclusions. So far there is nothing to prove that Danquah was a CIA agent but mere conjecture. If Nkrumah had any evidence, he would have certainly charged and tried him.
James 10 years ago

WHY NOT R.R. AMPONSAH,WHY NOT MODESTO APALOO BUT J.B.Danquah ? Why did Mahoney,an American,specify J.B.Danquah and nobody else ? Ph.D holder Kwadwo,I have an assignment for you..

WHY NOT R.R. AMPONSAH,WHY NOT MODESTO APALOO BUT J.B.Danquah ? Why did Mahoney,an American,specify J.B.Danquah and nobody else ? Ph.D holder Kwadwo,I have an assignment for you..
KKO 10 years ago

INXS,
Here is something about Kwame Nkrumah's activities in east Africa, wanting his "own friend Nyerere to be assassinated because he was in the way of his grandiose plans to rule the whole of Africa. Does this sound like s ...
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INXS,
Here is something about Kwame Nkrumah's activities in east Africa, wanting his "own friend Nyerere to be assassinated because he was in the way of his grandiose plans to rule the whole of Africa. Does this sound like someone who will be sad if JB Danquah were dead?

“Some, like Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, chastised Nkrumah for his interference. East Africa, Nyerere believed, could best contribute to continental unity by moving first towards regional unity. Although knowing little about East Africa, Nkrumah not only disagreed but actively interfered to obstruct the East African federation proposed by Nyerere.... It was one of Nkrumah’s worst mistakes.” - (Basil Davidson, Black Star: A View of the Life and Times of Kwame Nkrumah, Allen Lane, London, 1973, cited by Geoffrey Mmari, "The Legacy of Nyerere," in Colin Legum and Geoffrey Mmari, eds., Mwalimu: The Influence of Nyerere, Africa World Press, Trenton, New Jersey, 1995, pp. 179 - 180).

A few years later, Kambona devised a plan to overthrow Nyerere.

Therefore, Nkrumah's approval of Kambona's plan to overthrow Nyerere - Kambona wrote Nkrumah about it and Nkrumah knew Kambona also wanted to assassinate Nyerere - was one way of trying to get rid of a rival whom he considered to be the biggest threat to his ambition to rule Africa when he was president of Ghana, if African countries were to unite. Although he was no longer in power, and was living in exile in Conakry, Guinea, Nkrumah continued to entertain hopes that he would one day return to Ghana and regain the presidency. If he were to regain power, he felt he would continue to be a great African leader of continental stature he once was or that he perceived himself to be. And it was probably in 1967 - no longer after he had serious disagreements with Nyerere and Kawawa over the Arusha Declaration - when Kambona decided to overthrow Nyerere, about a year after Nkrumah was overthrown. During the OAU summit in Accra in 1965, which Nyerere attended, Nkrumah even had the rooms of the Tanzanian delegation bugged. It was said that officers of the Tanzanian intelligence service found the listening devices. The spying that was done by Ghana's intelligence service on the Tanzanian delegation is also one of the subjects addressed by W. Scott Thompson in his book, Ghana's Foreign Policy 1957 - 1966: Diplomacy, Ideology, and the New State (Princeton University Press,”
Nii Nai 10 years ago

Nyere confessed in Acrra 6march 1997 that Nkrumah was right all along.He said and I quote A new generation of self-respecting Africans should spit in the face of anybody who suggests that our continent should remain divided a ...
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Nyere confessed in Acrra 6march 1997 that Nkrumah was right all along.He said and I quote A new generation of self-respecting Africans should spit in the face of anybody who suggests that our continent should remain divided and fossilised in the shame of colonialism, in order to satisfy the national pride of our former colonial masters. Africa must unite! That was the title of one of Kwame Nkrumah’s books. That call is more urgent today than ever before.

INXS 10 years ago

KKO, they said he bugged all the hotel rooms of the visiting dignitaries, not only that of Nyerere.

You know, those days after his overthrow, there were so many stories about Nkrumah. Not all of them may have been true. Th ...
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KKO, they said he bugged all the hotel rooms of the visiting dignitaries, not only that of Nyerere.

You know, those days after his overthrow, there were so many stories about Nkrumah. Not all of them may have been true. The NLC orchestrated a huge campaign of vilification against him. Nkrumah may have done some things that were not very clean but they exaggerated his wrong doings to paint him very black. I don't think you should believe everything bad they said about him even if you read them in books.

For one thing, Nkrumah was a very strong personality who believed passionately in his own policies and programmes and he fought tooth and nail to achieve them. In the cut-throat world of politics, you can't chicken out and Nkrumah was no sissy or feint heart.

In Ghana, he nursed hopes of coming back to rule Ghana but I don't think he really believed it would happen. He was no fool and would have known the chances. How much more would he still then want to be the head of the whole Africa?

And if he was out of power, how then would he be planning to assassinate Nyerere. Nyerere was a socialist like Nkrumah and they had earlier on gotten on well. But Nyerere differed with him on certain things but still held him high. I remember after the coup, Nyerere broke off relations with Ghana in protest (?) and was one of the last African countries to re-establish relations with us. How then could Nkrumah want to assassinate such a person?

Nkrumah had his weaknesses, yes. He was ambitious and loved power (which politician doesn't) but not all the bad things they said about him were/are true. And he had his strengths too and had to fight many enemies - home and abroad.
KKO 10 years ago

You love to quote from the recollections of a ten ten year old Mahoney, but you don't like it when a Tanzanian says Nkrumah wanted Nyerere dead? That is the sum total of the Nkrumaist crusade!

You love to quote from the recollections of a ten ten year old Mahoney, but you don't like it when a Tanzanian says Nkrumah wanted Nyerere dead? That is the sum total of the Nkrumaist crusade!
INXS 10 years ago

KKO, I don't think you meant this for me because I've never quoted from any Mahoney book since I've not even read the book. And if I did, I wouldn't just believe everything/anything in it. Which is the point

KKO, I don't think you meant this for me because I've never quoted from any Mahoney book since I've not even read the book. And if I did, I wouldn't just believe everything/anything in it. Which is the point
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

Kwadwo,
Maybe we need a little amount of reality check!

Your comment here is not balanced, try as you may.

The disparaging of Nkrumah has been going on for month/years, at least on Ghanaweb. Recently, it's been going ...
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Kwadwo,
Maybe we need a little amount of reality check!

Your comment here is not balanced, try as you may.

The disparaging of Nkrumah has been going on for month/years, at least on Ghanaweb. Recently, it's been going on non-stop, article after article, a phenomenon some have now begun to characterize as a quest for votes, and positions in government.

What says you about that?

Or do you find fault with those who merely respond?

What "advice" do we need for a pithy 2 essays that sought to provide some background information on an essayist, and to put some items in the context of Ghana, given the drift of Human History?

Or are you not able to tell the difference between objective information and propaganda?

In order words, we hope you will find some time to provide some evidence where Prof Lungu has been "fouling the air with...praises of..." Nkrumah? Then balance that with the numerous serial anti-Nkrumah essays.
When you do, you can trust us to provide a response on those points for all to judge.

Our approach, we will inform you, should not be "appalling" to the objective mind. They are critiques meant to inspire others to be responsible, wise, and Ghana-centered.

But then, if you also have a rather low threshold for "apalling", as others have on other rather elementary facts, there is probably nothing we can do about that, prior to your "reformation".
KKO 10 years ago

Did you really read this article? You assume. Just as well yours is Man and not "Mann", as in the genius of a musician, to demean a wonderful name with such amazing lack of intelligence!

Did you really read this article? You assume. Just as well yours is Man and not "Mann", as in the genius of a musician, to demean a wonderful name with such amazing lack of intelligence!
Nii Nai 10 years ago

As an academic you write with a balance of the arguments in mind and to discuss the pros and cons of the subject in a dispassionate way to comply with the standard required for academic fairness.One can deduct his or her conc ...
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As an academic you write with a balance of the arguments in mind and to discuss the pros and cons of the subject in a dispassionate way to comply with the standard required for academic fairness.One can deduct his or her conclusion from what you have written without the aggressive language that had become the bane of the protagonist.

The inappropriate use of language and lack of civility by people who claim they are academics had diminished the academic standard leaving one wondering where the fault comes from.For reading some of these articles one is left with the feeling that some are doing a great disservice to academic scholarship and the insignificance of learning from some of these so called elites.

It had been argued that litigation is in the very nature of some of our cultures and therefore no matter how well educated we are it is ingrained so we carry it everywhere.But no amount of bad language can distort history as much as we try to revise the facts.All nations have history and and so do we.Nkrumah is a titan on the world arena and that is where his weight pitted.He stands like a colossus among the greatest in history but Danquah has his place in local folklore and that must as well be respected.
J.K.Amoah 10 years ago

The biased,non-factual and subjective anti-Nkrumah writers have lost the debate but they will not listen to these wise words.

The biased,non-factual and subjective anti-Nkrumah writers have lost the debate but they will not listen to these wise words.
Opium Wars 10 years ago

It is said: "Those who do not learn the lessons/mistakes of the past, are doomed to repeat it. " Or something to that effect.

Whereas it is true that, we must not dwell on the past, for by that we miss the opportunities o ...
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It is said: "Those who do not learn the lessons/mistakes of the past, are doomed to repeat it. " Or something to that effect.

Whereas it is true that, we must not dwell on the past, for by that we miss the opportunities of the present and future; it is also equally true that we must take time to dissect the lessons of the past, thereby gaining invaluable knowledge.

What we need to remember is that, Danquah and Nkrumah did not just spring up onto the scene out of the vacuum. They were following in the footsteps of a long line of Africans who have fought the "Hydra" for the Dignity and Justice for the African.

Therefore to have this war which is to uplift the African, implode in on itself, is a tragedy. It raises a lot of questions and offers much food for thought.

Any historian of the African people would tell you, in our struggles, though we all know what the aim is, or should be, there has always been problem with method. And this seems to be our downfall.

Danquah and Nkrumah are our heroes still. For Danquah, through his reseaches, was able to trace the African ancestry to Sumer. And to show that through migration etc., the people of present day Ghana, came from the ancient land of the same name. He was a philosopher of multifarious erudition. And as he himself says: "...drunk deep from the Pierien Springs.

Nkrumah, on the other hand, he believed strongly that the African was capable of governing him/herself and so led the way. Had it not been the people around him, who made it difficult to trust, a lot would have been otherwise.

We sometimes forget that we are dealing with a formidable enemy - whose method of conquering, is by dividing.

Having these then in view, let us always keep our eyes on the common goal - which is making the AFRICAN truly INDEPENDENT!

Danquah and Nkrumah have done their part. What part are you playing in the AFRICAN RENAISSAINCE?
francis kwarteng 10 years ago

Opium Wars,

Danquah was totally wrong. African ancestry never traced to Sumer. It depends on the chronology or periodization you are using.

You might want to go back and do some serious reading. Check out the works of ...
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Opium Wars,

Danquah was totally wrong. African ancestry never traced to Sumer. It depends on the chronology or periodization you are using.

You might want to go back and do some serious reading. Check out the works of L.S.B. Leakey, Cheikh Anta Diop, Josef Ben-Jochannan, Martin Bernal, Ivan Van Sertima, etc.

You need to go back and take a closer look at human geography, migration patterns and migration studies, evolution of DNA, comparative linguistics and linguistic pater familias, osteology, cosmogony, paleo-anthropology, speleology, archeology, population genetics, human genomics, etc. Make time to read “Louigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza’s “Genes, Peoples, and Languages.”

Current research makes Africa the home of humanity, and from there the spread of humanity. So how could Danquah have said African ancestry traced to Sumer when Africa is the home of humanity, including Africans? Sumer is a relatively recent place in the place of human evolution.

In other words, there were Africans living in Africa long before the oldest of Asian civilization, including Sumerian civilization, arose!

Of course, there Africans who lived in Sumer, Babylon, Mesopotamia, India, China, pre-Columbian America, Europe, etc (I am not talking about Africans who went to these places as on account of slavery; I am talking about Africans who were living in these place before the advent of Trans-Saharan Islamic/Arab Slave Trade/European (Transatlantic) Slave Trade).

Besides, much of the scholarly work Danquah may have relied on to draw his faulty conclusions in those days have been debunked. Development of new scientific tools and DNA technologies has brought new insights into these fields. Danquah lacked these latest developments in science and technology. These days you can't do "good" history without science and technology.

For instance, cutting-edge DNA technology has proved beyond all reasonable doubt that Egyptian mummies that were deemed "white" or Caucasian are "black," African, or biracial. You see what I am saying?

What genetic, anthropological, archeological, and scientific, linguistic evidence did Danquah present for his views given that Africans lived in Asia even before Sumer came into existence?

Even now there is convincing evidence that certain civilizations in South Africa might predate those in East Africa! And there are African civilizations/communities older than Sumer, as well as African civilizations that are older than Ancient Egyptian civilization, one of the world's oldest civilizations.

Remember that Ancient Egyptian civilization was merely one of "youngest" civilizations of Black Africa! Danquah did not have insights into what I am outing out here. What am I saying?

The American scholar Dr. Rudolph R. Windsor, author of "From Babylon to Timbuktu: A History of the Ancient Black Races including the Black Hebrews," essentially advanced a similar theory as Danquah's but that theory is no longer in vogue because it has no scientific basis in fact.

The new scientific theory that dismantles Danquah's theory is called "out-of-Africa." Even with the benefit of hindsight Danquah was way behind the times, Opium Wars. There have been ancient hominid skeletons discovered in South Africa that are older than Sumer. One study shows that there were human-like residents living in the area now called Johannesburg 3 million years ago (see the work of Prof. Philip Tobias). There are a number of NASA satellite pictures showing buried civilizations in Africa, civilizations older than Ancient Egypt.

And until new scientific evidence surfaces to challenge the “Out-of-Africa” theory, the home of humanity including Africans is Africa, East Africa to narrow it down.

In fact, Nkrumah's ideas on these questions were closer to scientific truths than Danquah's (Bernal Martin, Cheikh Anta Diop, and Kofi Kissi Dompere, to mention but three, have provided an array of scientific evidence validating most of the ideas Nkrumah advanced regarding these questions!

Here are a few books for you:

1) Black Genesis: The Prehistoric Origins of Ancient Egypt (Thomas Brophy/Robert Bauval)

2) Imhotep the African: Architect of the Cosmos (Thomas Brophy/Robert Bauval)

3) Break the Mirror of Heaven: The Conspiracy to Suppress the Voice of Ancient Egypt (Robert Bauval/Ahmed Osman)

4) The Vatican Heresy: Bernini and the Building of the Hermetic Temple of the Sun (Chiara Hohenzollern, Robert Bauval, Sandro Zicari)

5) African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality (Cheikh Anta Diop)

6) Civilization or Barbarism: An Authentic Anthropology (Cheikh Anta Diop)

7) Black Athena: The Afro-asiatic Roots of Classical Civilization (The Fabrication of Ancient Greece 1785-1985, Vol. 1; Martin Bernal)

8) Black Athena: The Afro-asiatic Roots of Classical Civilization (Archeological and Documentary Evidence, Vol. 2, Martin Bernal)

9) Black Athena: The Afro-asiatic Roots of Classical Civilization (The Linguistic Evidence, Vol. 3, Martin Bernal)

10) Black Athena Writes Back: Martin Bernal Responds to Critics (Martin Bernal/David Moore)

11) African Presence in Early Europe (Ivan Van Sertima)

12) Early America Revisited (Ivan Van Sertima)

13) African Presence in Early America (Ivan Van Sertima)

14) Egypt: Child of Africa (Ivan Van Sertima)

15) They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America (Ivan Van Sertima)

16) Ethiopic An African Writing System: Its History and Principles (Ayele Bekerie)

I hope this short list of scientific works suffices. Danquah was not only wrong, he was a million times wrong!

Thanks.
francis kwarteng 10 years ago

Opium Wars,

I forgot to mention the most important of all, Ivan Van Sertima's "AFRICAN PRESENCE IN EARLY ASIA."

This book has some very interesting facts for you. Danquah's thinking on what you attribute to him has no p ...
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Opium Wars,

I forgot to mention the most important of all, Ivan Van Sertima's "AFRICAN PRESENCE IN EARLY ASIA."

This book has some very interesting facts for you. Danquah's thinking on what you attribute to him has no place in modern scientific thinking. It is at best archaic, worthless, and useless. He could have learned a lot from Kwame Nkrumah in that regard!

Thanks.
Opium Wars 10 years ago

francis kwarteng,

Thank you so much for your learned and enlightening response. I am aware of most of the works you cite, if not all.

I am sure you would agree that science progresses by conjectures and refutations - ma ...
read full comment

francis kwarteng,

Thank you so much for your learned and enlightening response. I am aware of most of the works you cite, if not all.

I am sure you would agree that science progresses by conjectures and refutations - making bold assertions and putting these to the test, if they survive then they becomes theories. (K. Popper, Conjectures and Refutations)

In this, what sets an assertion apart from others as being scientific, is that they must be amenable to tests, (attempts at their falsification.) Hence when a an assertion which has gone through tests (Theory) is said to be scientific, what it simply means is that, it is the "best" that is available at present. It does not mean the said Theory cannot be disprove. For then it would not be scientific.

Secondly, that science like any other enterprise, is based on tradition. That is, it has its assumptions and "fashions." Hence one thing being in vogue today, may be swept into limbo tomorrow. (T. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolution.)Thus, the whole scientific enterprise is the attempt at gaining a proper understanding or knowledge of ourselves and the world in which we live.

The third point I which to make before proceeding is, I am sure you would agree that for every thesis there is an anti-thesis. Hence, if we are to be bogged down with these, we shall end up not making any progress. There is a time and a place for these too, that is why we applaud Danquah for setting up the Ghana Academy of Art and Science. This Institution was to direct the discourse. Yet when was the last time you read anything from the proceedings of this body?

The context of Danquah's work. Danquah was working at a time when the so-called "pontiffs of European academe" were making pronouncement ex-cathedra, that Africa had no history and was not part of "Spirit of Progress" in the world.

It was the attempts of the Danquahs which said: Africans have always been builders of great civilizations. Hence his theses of tracing Africans to Sumer is not to say, Africans are from Sumer but that the root of that civilization is African and that the word "Su ma" itself can be traced to the Akan language - which simply means "cry for" or "Empathy." Now, what do we know about Sumer and the Sumerian Civilization? Were we ever taught about Enki and Enlil, and the Great Anu?

I am sure, you would agree that this knowledge by itself, does not put soup on your fufu, nor add kose' to my porridge. However, it is heartening to know that Africans built all those great civilizations in the past. Contrary to what has been said about Africa. And if that is the case, then what is preventing us from doing so again today? These then are the context with which to see Danquah's work. And not whether he was right or wrong.

We do not say Isaac Newton was wrong because most of his theories were swept into limbo by Einstein.

The way put forward the "out of Africa" theory, you make it sound like it is a full gone conclusion but this is not so. I know and you know humanity came from Africa but tell that to the so-called "pontiffs of academe." Go and ask that fraudster, Hawas of the Egyptian Antiquities whether he thinks the ancient Egyptians were Africoid (Black)? Or Mary Lefkowitz whether humanity originated from Africa?

I wish to conclude by re-iterating my earlier point That Danquah and Nkrumah were following a long line of Africans who were fighting for the dignity and respect for the African family. In this, we may have our favourites, but our assessment of them must be based on the larger and common goal of the free and emancipated African, wherever he or she may be found on the globe. For in the work of the body, we cannot say the head is more useful than the torso. For the all work in concert to achieve a wholistic well being.
Opium Wars 10 years ago

Thank you so much for your learned and enlightening response. I am aware of most of the works you cite, if not all.

I am sure you would agree that science progresses by conjectures and refutations - making bold assertions ...
read full comment

Thank you so much for your learned and enlightening response. I am aware of most of the works you cite, if not all.

I am sure you would agree that science progresses by conjectures and refutations - making bold assertions and putting these to the test, if they survive then they become theories. (K. Popper, Conjectures and Refutations)

In this, what sets an assertion apart from others as being scientific, is that they must be amenable to tests, (attempts at their falsification.) Hence when an assertion which has gone through tests (Theory) is said to be scientific, what it simply means is that, it is the "best" that is available at present. It does not mean the said "theory" cannot be disproved. For then it would not be scientific.

Secondly, that science like any other enterprise, is based on traditions. That is, it has its assumptions and "fashions." Hence one thing being in vogue today, may be swept into limbo tomorrow. (T. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolution.)Thus, the whole scientific enterprise is the attempt at gaining a proper understanding or knowledge of ourselves and the world in which we live and not, as it were, infallibility.

The third point I wish to make before proceeding is, I am sure you would agree that for every thesis there is an anti-thesis. Hence, if we are to be bogged down with these, we shall end up not making any progress. There is a time and a place for this too. We therefore applaud Danquah for setting up the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences. This Institution was to direct the discourse. Yet when was the last time you read anything regarding the transactions and proceedings from this body?

Danquah work must be seen from the context of the so-called "pontiffs of European academe" making pronouncement ex-cathedra, that Africa had no history and was not a part of the "Spirit of Progress" in the world. (Hegel, Philosophy of History)

It was therefore the attempts of the Danquahs which said: Africans have always been builders of great civilizations. Hence his thesis of tracing Africans to Sumer is not to say, Africans are originated from Sumer but that the root of that civilization is African (and that the word "Su ma" itself can be traced to the Akan language - which simply means "cry for" or "Empathy." Empasis added)

Now, what do we know about Sumer and the Sumerian Civilization? Were we ever taught about Enki and Enlil, and the Great Anu?

I am sure, you would also agree that this knowledge by itself, does not put soup on your fufu, nor add kose' to my porridge. However, it is heartening to know that Africans built all those great civilizations in the past. Contrary to what has been said about Africa. And if that is the case, then what is preventing us from doing so again today? These then are the context with which to see Danquah's work. And not whether he was right or wrong.

We do not say Isaac Newton was wrong because most of his theories were swept into limbo by Einstein.

The way you put forward the "out of Africa" theory, you make it sound as if, it is a full gone conclusion which everyone accept, but this is not so. I know and you know humanity came from Africa but tell that to the so-called "pontiffs of the European academe." Go and ask that fraudster, Hawas of the Egyptian Antiquities whether he thinks the ancient Egyptians were Africoid (Black)? Or Mary Lefkowitz whether humanity originated from Africa? And see what they say.

I wish to conclude by re-iterating my earlier point that Danquah and Nkrumah were following a long line of Africans who were fighting for the dignity and respect for the African family. In this, we may have our favourites, but our assessment of them must be based on the larger and common goal of the free and emancipated African, wherever he or she may be found on the globe. For in the work of the body, we cannot say the head is more useful than the torso. For they all work in concert to achieve a wholistic well being.

It is now our turn. How can we contribute meaningful the growth of the African and African consciousness?
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

Kwesi Atta Sakyi,
You have written a lot to unpack. However, we will take a look at just a few items.

In general, we are not sure your approach and solution to the discourse is realistic, or necessary, even, given the wa ...
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Kwesi Atta Sakyi,
You have written a lot to unpack. However, we will take a look at just a few items.

In general, we are not sure your approach and solution to the discourse is realistic, or necessary, even, given the way things are.

The judgement of history 50 years past is with you, them, and I!

But we wish things were not as they are today!

To the point, we live in history, and create history.

History is recorded and recognized by those who care.

From country to country, different percentages of people can be expected to be interested in their national history. In the main, it ought to be about honoring the greatest among the great that helped form and move that particular country, forward, during periods of hard times. Traitors are identified, but never celebrated by the nation.

Yes, "History brings everybody and everything to an inexorable end." But that includes saints, as well as the shameful bunch you list!

The other problem with some aspects of your argument is, a lot of people in Ghana have not read about, or heard about, all the atrocities you cite, even if they could read, or had ears.

How are they supposed to know the true "balance and restraint" between what you yourself recognize as "sordid accounts...(of).... the brutalities", and those that are merely transient given the scale, duration, geography, and the direction of history?

And if you must call for "restraint", is it not important to identify the "few troublemakers in the Diaspora, who want to poison the political chalice in Ghana by writing irresponsible articles to inflame passions and mislead", and at the minimum, send a plea to them, directly?

Why must you lump everyone into the same bucket in expressing your anguish?

You are not saying "the CPPs on the other hand," are directly responsible for your anguish, are you?

Further, what is that coming directly from the corner of ex-President Kuffour, the Dombo-Matemeho camp", as you call them. Are they not the ones that created and saw through the "The Truth and Reconciliation Commission"?

What has been the policy of Mr. Kuffour's "Dombo-Matemeho camp" on these matters, lately? Did they forget about the "The Truth and Reconciliation Commission"?
Kobina Antobam, New York 10 years ago

Mr. Atta-Sakyi, did you really mean to equate Jerry Rawlings with Foday Sankoh and Charles Taylor? Really? What happened to Sierra Leone and Liberia after these characters?

I know you were citing examples of atrocities, b ...
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Mr. Atta-Sakyi, did you really mean to equate Jerry Rawlings with Foday Sankoh and Charles Taylor? Really? What happened to Sierra Leone and Liberia after these characters?

I know you were citing examples of atrocities, but to equate Foday Sankoh and Charles Taylor with Jerry Rawlings in that historical context, you completely lost me.

I know you live in Zambia, and wonder how many Zambians have come to you to ask you about J. B. Danquah.

Enough Said.
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 10 years ago

We are engaged in a national debate of gargantuan proportions to determine the cause of the misleadership in Ghana and Africa, and why must we stop?
Those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat its errors, and the ...
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We are engaged in a national debate of gargantuan proportions to determine the cause of the misleadership in Ghana and Africa, and why must we stop?
Those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat its errors, and the greatest lesson of history is that humankind has never learned from the lessons of history. Finally, the sleeping dog that constantly breaks the wind cannot be allowed to sleep in peace.....

We the people must closely analyze our leadership history to find out how it got so lopsided: why the oppressors are celebrated to the chagrin of the oppressed, why the martyrs are spurned for the traitors, and why treasonable adventurers have usurped the rights of the patriots to be celebrated.....

The historical distortions of our times must be straightened out if only for the guidance of posterity, and here, nobody will be a dog, and nobody will be asleep until the truth is known of the charlatans and mountebanks and their legacy of destructive politics!!
RINGO 10 years ago

Dr SAS,why can't you let "sleeping dogs lie"? The truth is out and Nkrumah has been vindicated.You can't turn a blind eye to the circumstances that led to the PDA.There is overwhelming evidence that barely a year after indepe ...
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Dr SAS,why can't you let "sleeping dogs lie"? The truth is out and Nkrumah has been vindicated.You can't turn a blind eye to the circumstances that led to the PDA.There is overwhelming evidence that barely a year after independence,J.B. Danquah was on CIA payroll plotting the assassination of Nkrumah and the overthrow of the newly independent Ghana.Detention of saboteurs was necessary to maintain stability and it was done by an act of Parliament,so why are you still ranting ?
ADJOA WANGARA 10 years ago

The only dog on the Forum is Francis kwarteng but can't be allowed to sleep because as a boot licker it is hie Obligation to be watching and licking for 24/7

The only dog on the Forum is Francis kwarteng but can't be allowed to sleep because as a boot licker it is hie Obligation to be watching and licking for 24/7
RINGO 10 years ago

Who has a better description for this homosexual called ADJOA WANGARA?

Who has a better description for this homosexual called ADJOA WANGARA?
Truth 10 years ago

U.P's stream of tears will soak up jumbo size towel after 2016 Election results if bleeding trumpet kept walking. Fame after hard work. Dust to dust. Strict and progressive not timid and emotional.

U.P's stream of tears will soak up jumbo size towel after 2016 Election results if bleeding trumpet kept walking. Fame after hard work. Dust to dust. Strict and progressive not timid and emotional.
J.K.Amoah 10 years ago

The message from Kwesi Atta Sakyi is simple and easy to understand.

The message from Kwesi Atta Sakyi is simple and easy to understand.
??? 10 years ago

Even in Rwanda where the most appalling and unimaginable human tragedy occurred,the people have rallied behind a dictator [Kagame] to rebuild their lives. Twenty years on they are doing fine without any futile debate.

Even in Rwanda where the most appalling and unimaginable human tragedy occurred,the people have rallied behind a dictator [Kagame] to rebuild their lives. Twenty years on they are doing fine without any futile debate.
francis kwarteng 10 years ago

Dear Triple Question Marks,

Good day.

I may have to respectively disagree with you on Rwanda. Rwandans have moved on and still discussing the Rwanda Genocide. In fact, Rwandans cannot live without the ghosts of the geno ...
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Dear Triple Question Marks,

Good day.

I may have to respectively disagree with you on Rwanda. Rwandans have moved on and still discussing the Rwanda Genocide. In fact, Rwandans cannot live without the ghosts of the genocide. It has become part and parcel of their national existence, daily discourse. Even Paul Kagame revisits this sordid past when the international media grant him interviews. I have read and listened to most of these!

It is why the skeletons from the ashes of the genocide are still on display for public (international) viewing. World leaders and ordinary citizens of the world, including Rwandans themselves, visit these public displays on daily basis to find answers, to memorialize loves ones, and to come to terms with their past (I mean Rwandans).

Also the debate is ongoing with Paul Kagame constantly charging the French to admit their culpability for being behind the genocide.

Kagame's friction with the French with regard to the latter's role in the genocide is one of the major reasons why he suddenly adopted English as an official (beside Kinyarwanda and French) to spite the French.

The only problem is Kagame's convenient use of his "genocide ideology" to stifle opposition to his Tsutsi-led government and to drive away, assassinate and or imprison those who have alternative narratives on the causes of the genocide.

What is more, Americans (the West in general) continue to visit their past, including the Civil War and War of Independence, etc., which are shown on History channels, asking where they went wrong, how they could better contemporary society using the past as a guidepost, and what they could have been done better if given another chance in the past, among others.

Asians, particularly the Japanese, are also asking questions about their martial past and thinking of innovative ways to revise their pacifist past given China's growing belligerence and growing military expenditure. This has brought on board the Filipinos and others in Asia (even including the West) who are threatened by Chinese growing military power. South Africans have not thrown away Apartheid. It's continuing impact on contemporary society is still being discussed.

Jews have not stopped talking about the Holocaust and what others did to them thousands of years ago. African Americans have not stopped discussing slavery, Jim Crowism, etc., so too are Australian Aborigines and Native Americans.

Therefore, this debate should continue. We can still continue to debate these questions without neglecting Ghana's development economics. The fact of Jews, African Americans, Native Americans, and Australian Aborigines debating their past have not prevented America, Germany, Australia, and Israel from being counted among the best in the world.

Thanks.
??? 10 years ago

All the instances cited by you constitute brutality.Nkrumah did not reign over mass killing of the people.There are no mass graves in Ghana. Spewing out sour grapes is pointless in a debate.Nobody can force us to accept their ...
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All the instances cited by you constitute brutality.Nkrumah did not reign over mass killing of the people.There are no mass graves in Ghana. Spewing out sour grapes is pointless in a debate.Nobody can force us to accept their version depicting Nkrumah as a brutal dictator.Brutal dictator..he was not.Full stop!
francis kwarteng 10 years ago

Mr. Question Marks,

What you are saying is beside the point. The subtext of my comments to you has nothing to do with mass graves and what have you!

It has everything to do with the importance of history to nation-buil ...
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Mr. Question Marks,

What you are saying is beside the point. The subtext of my comments to you has nothing to do with mass graves and what have you!

It has everything to do with the importance of history to nation-building. I wonder why you mentioned Rwanda in the first place.

But then again, you are also right to say Nkrumah was a brutal dictator. The hard facts of Ghana's political history say otherwise. The man was not even a dictator to start with.

The fact is that I am not paying any attention to those a-historical canards. More importantly, there are so many such lies being peddled on Ghanaweb that I don't pay them any attention, let alone read them, Mr. Question Mark.

I have critical works---very serious scientific, historical, and scholarly works on Nkrumah---here that I spend my times reading. It is here that I get my enlightenment. NO LIES CAN CHANGE THE PLACE OF KWAME NKRUMAH IN GHANAIAN, AFRICA, AND WORLD HISTORY. NO OTHER GHANAIAN COMES HAS THAT GLOBAL RECOGNITION, OR EVEN COMES REMOTELY CLOSE. Danquah's worshippers comprise a small yet insignificant clique of individuals. GO AROUND THE WORLD AND NKRUMAH IS ALL OVER.

Like I said before, I don't read canards about Nkrumah. Having said this, I still wonder what you meant by the Rwandan example. Again my Rwandan example had everything to do with the importance of history to nation-building, not with mass graves or whatever. Perhaps you may have to provide another context for mentioning the Rwandan example.

Thanks.
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

francis kwarteng,
A little comm./wire crossing, we think!

??? was simply concurring with J.K. Amoah’s terse comment, that "...message from...Sakyi is simple and easy to understand,' so let's move on! Particularly so, si ...
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francis kwarteng,
A little comm./wire crossing, we think!

??? was simply concurring with J.K. Amoah’s terse comment, that "...message from...Sakyi is simple and easy to understand,' so let's move on! Particularly so, since even Luanda, having seen what brutality actually is, “…most appalling and unimaginable human tragedy…have rallied behind a dictator [Kagame] to rebuild their lives.”

??? has answered the “brutality” question!

Which sadly, does not answer related question pertinent to the discourse:

A. Rally behind whom?

B. On, what development principles?

C. On, what governing principles?

D. What party? (if we can hold out that the “parties” are not merely “twins-triplets”, whatever, but actually have different VISIONS for Ghana and its Peoples)

E. And at least in Ghana itself (from your knowledge & observations), what significance Nkrumah and Danquah (and the others?), to the history and approaches to A through D.

Bottom-line: From our vantage point, ??? is being objective/reflective/realistic, etc., with respect to the "brutality-evil" question.
Koo 10 years ago

This is a healthy debate educating all of us. So why should we let it go. After all no one has drawn a dagger yet. Then again the problem in Ghana is that we let all "problems" go from Kulungugu, Turkish gold, burning of JJ's ...
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This is a healthy debate educating all of us. So why should we let it go. After all no one has drawn a dagger yet. Then again the problem in Ghana is that we let all "problems" go from Kulungugu, Turkish gold, burning of JJ's house, World Cup, Cocoaine cases, numerous corruption cases! You live in the UK, and you realize that they are progressing because they seek to solve all problems and their intellectual restore integrity to history by having vigorous discussions and debates.
Frank Appiah 10 years ago

Casting insults and refusing to accept the PLAIN TRUTH is not healthy debate.You can't ignore the circumstances that led to the PDA,call Nkrumah a 'BRUTAL DICTATOR',and call this a healthy debate.You also can't deny that J.B. ...
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Casting insults and refusing to accept the PLAIN TRUTH is not healthy debate.You can't ignore the circumstances that led to the PDA,call Nkrumah a 'BRUTAL DICTATOR',and call this a healthy debate.You also can't deny that J.B.Danquah was on CIA payroll with the sole purpose of plotting the assassination of Nkrumah and overthrowing the CPP government,when it has been proven,and call it a healthy debate.In any debate when one side becomes intransigent and refuse to accept naked FACTS,from the the standpoint of GOOD HUMAN RELATIONS,"you let sleeping dogs lie".This is what Kwesi Atta Sakyi want readers to understand.His article does not imply that we should ignore the sordid corruption of NDC and NPP parties.
BOY KOFI 10 years ago

Had it not been the matter of independence struggle,probably Nkrumah will not have known Danquah in his lifetime.If really we want our children to know the difference between the 2 gentlemen then we should be looking at what ...
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Had it not been the matter of independence struggle,probably Nkrumah will not have known Danquah in his lifetime.If really we want our children to know the difference between the 2 gentlemen then we should be looking at what they stood for.Danquah is older than Kwame Nkrumah by far,he had been in the political front since 1920s where Nkrumah was only a student.Remember that it was Casely Hayford who handed over the mantle of political leadership to Danquah in Cape Coast when he was sick and about to die.This occured in 1930,how old was Nkrumah in 1930?He was just 21 years old,can you imagine?This tells you that Danquah has more political influence and experience than Kwame Nkrumah,so to speak.So why did Danquah and the UGCC have to go to London and bring Nkrumah home to struggle for independence?I would like to know why Danquah could not attain independence for us with all his influence and experience thus needed Nkrumah for that matter.Thank you.
Kwame 10 years ago

Kufuor's reconciliation and the deceit therein. Did Kufuor reconcile Ghanaians when he send some of them who helped to make this country in some ways rich to prison, when he dismissed Ewhes from public and the civil service. ...
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Kufuor's reconciliation and the deceit therein. Did Kufuor reconcile Ghanaians when he send some of them who helped to make this country in some ways rich to prison, when he dismissed Ewhes from public and the civil service. It looks that when people are writing they look as leaders in the west who have been the cause of many of our problems as saints. Did Stalin for instance had an imperialist policy with regard to Africa and the same applies to Mao Tse Tung. Did those leaders in Eastern Europe had monopolies in Africa which interest they defended. Are they part of the western imperialist policies which still keep Africa backward? The west for instance said that the acceptance of homosexuality by Africans will be followed with financial inducement. Both China and Russia said that homosexuality is immoral and besides that they can not force any socioeconomic or sexuality on Africans.
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

BOY KOFI,
Your provide quite a bit of the details, leaving us only opportunity to hypothesize.

YOU ASK: "...why Danquah could not attain independence for us with all his influence and experience thus needed Nkrumah for ...
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BOY KOFI,
Your provide quite a bit of the details, leaving us only opportunity to hypothesize.

YOU ASK: "...why Danquah could not attain independence for us with all his influence and experience thus needed Nkrumah for that matter..."

OUR GUESS: Maybe when you are part of the system and plying you profession in/within proximity of the colonial masters and halls of power, and living well, "Independence", at any speed, certainly "Now", becomes a luxury you may want to manage/tame. It simply becomes too risky for you, and your profession.
BOY KOFI 10 years ago

The truth is that Danquah was better positioned than the unknown Nkrumah.In 1931 Danquah was running his own daily newspapers,he was a prominent lawyer cum politician compared to Nkrumah who was just an ordinary student.We ma ...
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The truth is that Danquah was better positioned than the unknown Nkrumah.In 1931 Danquah was running his own daily newspapers,he was a prominent lawyer cum politician compared to Nkrumah who was just an ordinary student.We may say Danquah was not honestly ready to seperate powers from the colonial masters or he did not believe the capacity of the colonised Gold Coasters.If you listen to the first few statement of Nkrumah on the eve of Independence Day,6th M arch,1957.Hip hip" Hurray!
"At long last,the battle has ended.Your beloved country,Ghana is free forever.The blackman is capable of managing his own affairs...the independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked to the total liberation of Africa"You can see that the vision of Nkrumah is quiet different from Danquah who has in no time mentioned the ability and potential of the blackman and Africa.This is the reason why I believe it doesn't make sense to compare the two on the same scale.Thank you.
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

BOY KOFI,

You have provided a very interesting perspective.

We are thinking any student of Political Science, Public Administration, Public Policy, Social Psychology, Urban Studies, or Sociology interested in these mat ...
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BOY KOFI,

You have provided a very interesting perspective.

We are thinking any student of Political Science, Public Administration, Public Policy, Social Psychology, Urban Studies, or Sociology interested in these matters could use what you've provided as outline for a thesis statement, for a Bachelors, Masters or Doctorate:

STATEMENT:
Utilizing the political statement delivered to the People of Ghana by Kwame Nkrumah "...on the eve of Independence Day,6th M arch,1957," as background, we will posit that the "...vision of Nkrumah is(was) quiet different from Danquah...(with respect to)...the ability and potential of the blackman and Africa...(that)...the two historic figures may be compared to the disadvantaged of the other using "...the same scale...", inter alia:

"'...Hip hip" Hurray!
"At long last,the battle has ended.Your beloved country,Ghana is free forever.The blackman is capable of managing his own affairs...the independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked to the total liberation of Africa..."

"You can see that the vision of Nkrumah is quiet different from Danquah who has in no time mentioned the ability and potential of the blackman and Africa.This is the reason why I believe it doesn't make sense to compare the two on the same scale..."

Thanks!
Kwesi Atta Sakyi 10 years ago

1. 'Towards good leadership model in Africa-Nkrumah and Danquah Compared and Contrasted'
2. 'Post-mortem of what was, what is, and what will be in Ghana- Diametrically opposed leadership styles compared and contrasted-The Ca ...
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1. 'Towards good leadership model in Africa-Nkrumah and Danquah Compared and Contrasted'
2. 'Post-mortem of what was, what is, and what will be in Ghana- Diametrically opposed leadership styles compared and contrasted-The Case of Danquah and Nkrumah'
3. 'The politico-philosophical underpinnings of present day Ghana politics- The impact and legacies of blaze-trailers, Nkrumah and Danquah in focus'
3. 'The Dilemma of a country in retrospect- Retrogression or regression of the Nkrumah-Danquah legacies?'
4. ' Lessons from history- an African country in the throes of catharsis- Danquah and Nkrumah traditions in post-Gold Coast politics'
5. 'Historical baggage of Ghana- an albatross, a powder-keg, or a catalyst for balkanisation?'
6. 'Gradualism versus radicalism- which pathway should Ghana have trod at independence?
5. ' The impact of proto-nationalists on nation-building- the impact and influence of Danquah and Nkrumah on the economic trajectory of Ghana'
Kwesi Atta Sakyi 10 years ago

1. Modernity and forwardness versus Tradico-constitutionalism- The Case of Danquah and Nkrumah in the shaping of Ghana's independence'

1. Modernity and forwardness versus Tradico-constitutionalism- The Case of Danquah and Nkrumah in the shaping of Ghana's independence'
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

Please see below!

Thanks.

Please see below!

Thanks.
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

Kwesi Atta Sakyi,
Hope you understand why we are with those who say this discourse must go on. You prove that some of us are probably more an expert and can help guide, if they so choose. In that sense, it is not really abou ...
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Kwesi Atta Sakyi,
Hope you understand why we are with those who say this discourse must go on. You prove that some of us are probably more an expert and can help guide, if they so choose. In that sense, it is not really about the discourse, but the tone.

If tone can be balanced, balanced/objective, information from any number of the titles you've posted (if completed works by others and/or you), those could be reduced to a level that can be understood and appreciated by individuals among us who do not have these privileges or good fortune to be so "educated". That will allow them also to make up their objective minds with fact, without regard to where they come from, in Ghana.

How we get the "scholarship" to the masses ought to be one of our tasks, at least for those who care about the history of Ghana for its own sake, and not for profit, status, or aggression towards others not their local-kind.

Finally, we will say that it is never too late for a fresh look at a topic already covered, if the new look provides a useful critique of existing, and as a results, accrets to the knowledge base.

Thanks.
francis kwarteng 10 years ago

Hello Boy Kofi,

That is the point.

The man Danquah did not have what it takes to get the Gold Coast independence. You have made some powerful points in that regard. We all wonder why it had to take Nkrumah to come all ...
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Hello Boy Kofi,

That is the point.

The man Danquah did not have what it takes to get the Gold Coast independence. You have made some powerful points in that regard. We all wonder why it had to take Nkrumah to come all the way to the Gold Coast to get the UGCC off the ground (when he was extremely busy in Britain at the time).

What were they all waiting for their political connections, political experience, money, etc., until Nkrumah's arrival? None of the members of the UGCC beside Nkrumah knew what to do exactly.

It was why Danquah had to say at two public rallies: "If UGCC fails you, Nkrumah will not fail." I wonder why he did not place his name where Nkrumah was. And yes, Casely Hayford mentored Danquah for 15 straight years. So what is all this noise about?

Thanks.
BOY KOFI 10 years ago

I will like to believe that Danquah was not very strategic.Let's take it from this perspective,the UGCC slogan was "Self government in the shortest time".You can see that it's not specific,a kind of diplomatic tactics or unde ...
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I will like to believe that Danquah was not very strategic.Let's take it from this perspective,the UGCC slogan was "Self government in the shortest time".You can see that it's not specific,a kind of diplomatic tactics or undefined campaign strategy.It could be a kind of slow but sure process,gradually but steady movement.Don't forget that some of the Gold Coasters and even Ghanaians today don't appreciate our independence.They prefere the British to stay much more longer.Nkrumah knew that the British have overstayed because some local of the local chiefs gave the British 100 years to trade in the Gold Coast,especially along the coastal areas.The British used their own veto to conquer some more interior lands,creating a lot of confusion.Remember also that we had this Indirect rule system where the local chiefs were still in control partially.I would like to share with you the history I heard from my mother.She said that Nkrumah attacked the British with the 100 years agreement signed between the British and some local chiefs in the 1840s during the administration of Captain George Maclean to pin them down.I cannot confirm the story anywhere but it seems to be credible.We will have to do some research on it but some historians have hinted that Maclean signed lot of different agreements with the local chiefs and was able to harbour peace.We are yet to know if Nkrumah took advantage of the 100 years trade agreement.Thank you.
Jojo 10 years ago

WHEN THE SO CALLED NOISY EDUCATED IN GHANA,DO NOT HAVE SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY TO PROPEL ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT TO ALLEVIATE EXTREME POVERTY, THE ONLY CHEAP ALTERNATIVE FOR THEM IS INLY EXERT THEIR ENERG ...
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WHEN THE SO CALLED NOISY EDUCATED IN GHANA,DO NOT HAVE SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY TO PROPEL ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT TO ALLEVIATE EXTREME POVERTY, THE ONLY CHEAP ALTERNATIVE FOR THEM IS INLY EXERT THEIR ENERGY ON SUCH IRRATIONAL ARTICLES, WHO WAS WHO, KWAME, DOMBO, BUSIA AND DANQUAH:

NOWEHERE IN THE DEVELOPED NATIONS DO THEIR CITIZENS CONCENTRATE ON PAST HISTORY OF THEIR LEADERS.

THE AIM OF THEIR CITIZENS HAVE BEEN TO BRING NEW INVENTIONS TO THE WORLD MARKTES,JUST LIKE BILL GATES AND STEVE JOBS HAVE DONE IN THEIR LIFE TIMES.

OPAYIN,LET ME INFORM YOU THAT, WE ARE INDEED STILL VERY SHAMEFUL AND DISGRACEFUL PEOPLE ON EARTH.
Fi 10 years ago

The projects undertaken by Nkrumah is unparalleled in Ghana.

The projects undertaken by Nkrumah is unparalleled in Ghana.

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Danquah-Nkrumah Media Kerfuffle- Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

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