Bullet lodged in Nkrumah’s spine led to his death – Former security chief claims

• Kwame Nkrumah had a bullet lodged in his spine when he was deposed

• That bullet eventually contributed to his demise, a former security aide has disclosed

• Nkrumah died while seeking medical attention in Romania in 1972

Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah flew to Bucharest for medical treatment in August 1971 and died of prostate cancer in April 1972 at the age of 62 while in Romania, this is one of the known accounts of the cause of his death.

A new account has emerged explaining the exact cause of the cancer – a bullet pellet lodged in the spine.

According to the head of security in charge of operations at the presidency during Nkrumah’s era, Ghana’s first president got cancer as a result of a bullet lodged in his spine.

“Nkrumah had serious injuries (after an assassination attempt), some of the pellets were removed from the body but there was one that entered into his spinal cord and that could not be removed and that was the cause of the death of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah,” Major (rtd) Agbeko Sedziafa said on Accra-based Asaase radio.

“And you know grenades are poisonous, when it enters your body and is never removed, it brings in cancer, so Nkrumah died of cancer of the skin,” he added.

History mentions a number of attempts on Nkrumah’s life, especially through bombings. One of the often-mentioned incidents is the Kulungugu bombing, in the then Upper Region in August 1962.

Major (rtd) Sedziafa, appeared on the 21st September edition of Asaase Radio’s morning show programme to discuss the Nkrumah era from the perspective of an insider.

21st September is a day set aside to remember and honour Nkrumah and is observed as a public holiday.