7 EVIL Things Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Did That You Probably Didn't Know–He "Hated" Ewes & Excluded Them From His Government

[caption id="attachment_72655" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Dr Kwame Nkrumah[/caption] Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was not only a brave Ghanaian politician, he was a scholar and a wheel of change. His political ideas and transformations went beyond the shores of Ghana--and saw the need to extend helping hands to others, especially other African countries as the right cause of action for the liberation of the African continent. As a freedom fighter and a key player in the struggle for Independence for Gold Coast, now Ghana, we literally owe our freedoms and existence partly to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. Beyond freedoms, it was under his rule that some of the biggest and still cherished developmental projects such as the Akosombo dam took place. Of course, Nkrumah was a unique hero--but he had his bad sides, something most people do not have a single idea about. He committed certain horrendous atrocities against his own political friends--and those who stood as his critics or against his ideological directions. Before we delve into our 7 evil things Kwame Nkrumah did that even his staunchest admirers would struggle to defend, let's look at the below quick intriguing facts about Ghana's forerunner of the Independence movement. Intriguing Facts: Kwame Nkrumah worked as a dishwasher during his first year studying in the United States as a way of making ends meet. He also once stowed away on a boat to Nigeria to meet an uncle to raise funds for his education. He earned a degree in theology from Lincoln University, Pennsylvania Flip to the next pages for "7 EVIL Things Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Did That You Probably Didn't Know" 1. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Was A Dictator Who Used the Preventive Detention Act (PDA) to Imprison Without Trial It's particularly ironic in the case of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah--as to how a freedom fighter of his nature soon became an aggressive oppressor of freedom. In 1958, just a year after Independence, the infamous Preventive Detention Act (PDA) was enacted, giving Nkrumah the power to put any citizen, especially those in opposition to him in prison without trial. That was not the end of it, Nkrumah "progressively tightened the noose of dictatorship around the country with further draconian laws." Ghanaian lawyer-Samuel Adjie Sarfo captures this as: "Eventually, no law existed in the country because Nkrumah became the law unto himself. He could imprison anybody without trial for as long as ten years. He could appoint and sack judges at will. He effectively abolished pluralistic democracy and made himself a life president with untrammelled powers to run the country as his personal property." 2. Dr. J. B. Danquah Was Detained At Nsawam Prison By Nkrumah Till He Died There Though it was by the invitation of Dr J. B. Danquah that Nkrumah became involved in Ghana's Independence struggle, ideological differences and Nkrumah's departure from the UGCC to form the CPP left Danquah at the other side of the struggle. Soon, the two friends became political foes. Dr. Joseph Boakye Danquah was later arrested and detained by his former good friend-Dr. Kwame Nkrumah who was then the president of Ghana under his legislative dictatorial tool, the Preventive Detention Act (PDA). J. B Danquah died after 13 months of being kept in prison—but before that and on his 4thmonth in prison, he wrote a letter to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah begging for a release which never happened. You can read excerpts from this letter from HERE. 3. Nkrumah Became A Demi-God And Was Promoted Around Ghana As An Immortal Being With a seemingly unfettered executive powers to detain, sack and do whatever he wanted, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was unaccountable to anyone--and was literally playing God in Ghana. It was not a case of just playing God, he was promoted around the country as one--Nkrumah's personality cult over the years became entrenched and he exercised powers that complimented his status. For instance, via a dawn radio broadcast in April 1961, Komla Gbedemah was dismissed from Nkrumah's government after he queried Nkrumah's lack of financial discipline. After this incident, the then General Secretary of the CPP-Tawia Adamafio and other staunched supporters of Nkrumah actively started promoting Nkrumah as being immortal and attacked anyone who challenged or queried the 'Nkrumah would live forever' "mantra." 4. Kwame Nkrumah Detained About 500 People Indefinitely And Without Trial After the August 1962 Bombing After a failed assassinated attempt on Nkrumah in 1962 and aided by his PDA, he arrested and detained about 500 people indefinitely. Dr. Nkrumah was of the personal view that Tawia Adamafio and a few others masterminded the assassination attempt and had them tried for treason. Fortunately for them and unfortunately for Nkrumah, they were not found guilty by the court. Nkrumah then became angry and sort of compelled Parliament to pass a law to enable him to set the verdict aside. Following this, new judges were appointed for a new trial and as you would expect, they were found guilty and sentenced to death. 5. Kwame Nkrumah Practised Insane Nepotism Nepotism was largely the wheel on which Dr. Nkrumah made his political and other high-ranking appointments. His government was less inclusive of other tribes. For instance, by 1965, no Ewe was in his cabinet of 18 members but there were 13 Akans, with three of these close to his home, Nzimah. Take note that, 13% of Ghana's population per the 2000 census are Ewe and just 1.2% are Nzimah. 6. Nkrumah Gave About 10 Million Pounds of Ghana's Money to Guinea When Ghana Needed It A newly Independent Ghana needed money to erect infrastructure and define its economic future. The British left Ghana with a good amount of cash but apart from allegations of Nkrumah himself being corrupt just as his Ministers, he took about 10 million pounds of Ghana's money and gave it out to Guinea when the country rebelled against France and lost its financial backing. Many historians and political scientists agree that this was a reckless decision by Nkrumah. £10 million pounds then would be about £500 million today, and if John Mahama took this and handed it out to any country, everyone would call his decision inappropriate. Such was Nkrumah's kind gesture. 7. Kwame Nkrumah Was Accused of Sponsoring A Failed Assassination On the President of Niger in 1965 Nkrumah was vigorously pushing for African Unity and the continent's acceptance of his socialist/communist ideas. Anyone who was against this was fairly an enemy. In April 1965, there was an assassination attempt on the president of Niger and Nkrumah was fingered as the key sponsor. Though Nkrumah denied this, the then president of Ivory Coast-Felix Houphouet-Boigny challenged Nkrumah's denial and released evidence of guerrilla training camps in Ghana staffed by Chinese Communist instructors, indicating that Nkrumah had a hand in the assassination attempt. At the Organization of African Unity meeting in June 1965, Niger's representatives further released evidence showing seven guerrilla training camps operating in Ghana with Chinese and East German instructors when Nkrumah through his representatives tried to shrug off criticism.

7 EVIL Things Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Did That You Probably Didn't Know–He "Hated" Ewes & Excluded Them From His Government

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7 EVIL Things Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Did That You Probably Didn't Know–He "Hated" Ewes & Excluded Them From His Government

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