Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama disclosed at the country’s 68th Independence Day celebration that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States of America (US) was responsible for the removal of the country’s first president, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
According to the president, declassified US intelligence documents show that the CIA “inspired and engineered” the overthrow of the late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah on February 24, 1966.
The US government is yet to respond to this disclosure by President Mahama. However, there might be reasons for the removal of Nkrumah, owing to this bold statement by the president.
Even though there certainly were Ghanaian collaborators who worked with the CIA, the US intelligence agency would not have “engineered” the coup against Nkrumah if it was not in the interest of their country.
Here are some of the reasons the CIA might have “inspired and engineered” the coup against Ghana’s first president.
Nkrumah’s fight for a United States of Africa:
One possible reason the US did not want Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in power was his quest for a United States of Africa.
Dr. Nkrumah strongly believed that Africa would only become prosperous if the continent was able to unite and become “one people and one nation.”
At every international forum he spoke at, including the United Nations, he proclaimed this belief.
Even at the declaration of Ghana’s independence, he stated that “the independence of Ghana would be meaningless unless it is tied to the liberation of the entire African continent.”
He stated at the founding of the OAU in Addis Ababa, on May 24, 1963, that Africa “must unite now or perish.” The unity he was talking about was not just a loose association of African states, as is the case today in the African Union (AU), but one nation – a United States of Africa.
His quest for a united Africa was not mere rhetoric but was backed by action, with him spending Ghana’s resources on other African countries, which drew criticisms from his political opponents in Ghana.
Imagine what a United States of Africa with all of its vast resources and manpower would mean for the US in an era where countries were fighting for superpower status?
Nkrumah’s book on neo-colonialism:
Another reason Nkrumah might have been removed by the CIA was a book he published on neo-colonialism in 1965, titled Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism.
Dr. Nkrumah, in the book, made the point that even though Ghana and other African countries had been liberated, colonialism and imperialism could come to the continent in a different guise, with people coming to steal the continent’s vast resources.
“Africa is a paradox which illustrates and highlights neo-colonialism. Her earth is rich, yet the products that come from above and below the soil continue to enrich, not Africans predominantly, but groups and individuals who operate to Africa’s impoverishment,” a portion of the book said.
The American government, according to reports, was not happy by the contents of the book.
They even stopped the then US First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, from coming to commission the Akosombo Dam with Nkrumah on January 22, 1966, because of the book.
Just a month after the commissioning of the Akosombo Dam, Nkrumah was removed.
Nkrumah’s ties with socialist countries:
Another reason Nkrumah might have stemmed from his ties with countries like the Soviet Union, now Russia, and Cuba during the height of the Cold War in the mid-20th century.
Nkrumah’s relationship with Russia and his securing of a nuclear reactor, which currently sits at the Atomic Energy Commission, did not sit well with the West.
Nkrumah’s bid to obtain a reactor provoked the wrath of the United States and other Western countries, including France and the United Kingdom, all of whom reportedly backed the coup d’état against him.
Nkrumah’s non-aligned stance:
Another reason the US might have championed the removal of Ghana’s first president was his non-aligned stance during the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Nkrumah, together with some African leaders, including Julius Nyerere from Tanzania, and Gamal Abdel Nasser from Egypt, refused to join any of the Cold War blocs – the Eastern Bloc, made up of the Soviet Union and its allies, and the Western Bloc, made up of the US and its allies.
Together, Nkrumah and leaders who were not part of the Cold War blocs formed the Non-Aligned Movement.
At the first summit of the movement in 1961, in Belgrade, Serbia, Nkrumah called for an end to colonialism and a reformed United Nations (UN) which would act as a “moral force” to avoid war between the Eastern and Western Blocs.
Nkrumah’s comments did not make him a favourite of the West.
Nkrumah becoming a symbol for freedom fighters:
Nkrumah gaining Ghana’s independence won him admiration across the world and made him a symbol for freedom fighters.
He became a symbol of hope for many countries in the world fighting for their independence, both in Africa and other parts of the world, and for Black Americans fighting for their freedoms.
A number of African and American freedom fighters, including the great Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Maya Angelou, admired him.
It was around the time Nkrumah gained independence for Ghana that the Civil Rights Movement was ongoing in America to abolish legalised racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement in the country.
Nkrumah’s liberation of Ghana would have certainly inspired civil rights activists.
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
