“There will have to come a time where we all have to sit down in sobriety and see where we went wrong and try to virtually correct ourselves…
If we can all drop out deadly partisanship and think about Ghana, I believe it is possible”
These were the words of veteran journalist and political historian, Prof Nana Essilfie Conduah when asked about where Ghana stands as far as the legacy of Ghana’s first Prime Minister, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah was concerned.
During his tenure, he established several long-term projects, many of which are still being enjoyed by Ghanaians today. Some of the establishments include the Akosombo Dam, Tema metropolis, Tema Harbour, Adomi Bridge, Peduase Lodge, among many others.
Prof. Essilfie Conduah stressed that the country was still enjoying some of the developmental projects of the Convention People’s Party leader because he was more patriotic than partisan; an attribute he lamented was missing in the current political era.
He advised that there was a need for political parties to find the right balance between fulfilling party objectives and the national agenda.
“…I believe it is possible, but I believe also that the intransigence of the partisanship is disabling this but somehow we have got to be able to strike that balance between the need for country and the need for personal aggrandisement or political…” he added.
Dr Nkrumah was overthrown on February 24, 1966, by the National Liberation Council (NLC) in a military coup d'état while he was on a peace mission in Hanoi the capital of Vietnam at the invitation of the president, Ho Chi Minh to resolve the Vietnam War.
Lt-Gen Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, was one of the leading members of the NLC who staged the most talked about "Operation Cold Chop" coup.
“Fellow citizens of Ghana, I have come to inform you that the Military, in co-operation with the Ghana Police, have taken over the government of Ghana today. The myth surrounding Nkrumah has been broken. Parliament has been dissolved and Kwame Nkrumah has been dismissed from office. All ministers are also dismissed from office. The C.P.P. is disbanded with effect from now. It will be illegal for any person to belong to it,” Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka announced the successful overthrow of Kwame Nkrumah on Radio Ghana.
He would later be granted asylum in Guinea and later bestowed Head of State. He died on April 27, 1972, in Bucharest, Romania after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The country commemorated the 54th anniversary of the overthrow of Dr Kwame Nkrumah on Monday, February 24.
