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18.12.2014 Opinion

Was Nkrumah A Dictator?  

By Daily Guide
Was Nkrumah A Dictator?
18.12.2014 LISTEN

Yes. Simpliciter. And I will repeat what the learned Ali Mazrui said about him: 'Nkrumah started as a democrat, but ended as a dictator'. But why this question now? Now, that even die - hard 'socialistic-oriented Nkrumaists' are working hand - in - glove with the so called 'capitalist-oriented elitists', now that 'bourgois-capitalists' have demonstrated their readiness to provide succour to the down trodden in 'socialistic - oriented social intervention' policies like 'School - feeding',  'National Health Insurance', 'Free bus- ride for students' et cetera. Now, that people are forgetting their agonies in a healing process and adjusting to the 'democratic' times being enjoyed in Ghana.

Perhaps the question should have given the transformation of Nkrumah as a democratic agitator, invited by the UGCC in 1947 to fight for Ghana's independence, to the formation of the CPP in 1949, to the introduction of the Preventive Detention Act 1958, to the declaration of a one party state in 1965, to the fall in February, 1966.

K. B. Asante, on Monday, October 30, 2014 thinks people who do not wish 'to face facts or observe and think say that Nkrumah could have been the leader Ghana needed and needs but for his dictatorship', Asante deprecates the Preventive Detention Act, but argues that it 'was passed by the people's representative in Parliament and its application by Nkrumah was lawful.' Good, but why did we criticise Apartheid South Africa, since all the laws, were passed by the South African Parliament, including the Bantu Education Act of 1953 creating a separate education for blacks to prepare them for a working class since; the Passbook Law of March 1960, requiring blacks to carry 'passbooks'  wherever they went containing personal information: name, date of birth; photos and when protesters showed up at Sharpeville without them, police shot and killed 69 of these protesters.

I do not expect beneficiaries of Nkrumah's administration to adopt my position; indeed, I do not begrudge the 'Verandah Boys' who rose to become millionaires and wealthy ministers and District Commissioners owning many mansions.

But Nkrumah himself implicitly answers the question whether he was a dictator or not in his 'Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah' (Edinburgh, 1956). In the preface (page X), he states: 'Capitalism is too complicated a system for a newly independent nation, hence the need for a socialistic society. But even a system based on social justice and a democratic constitution may need backing up, during the period following independence by emergency measures of a totalitarian kind…' What are 'socialistic society'; 'social justice'; 'emergency measures'; 'a totalitarian kind'? Many dictionaries define 'totalitarian' as '…of or pertaining to an authoritarian system of government which tolerates only one political party, to which all other institutions are subordinated, and which usually demands the complete subservience of the individual to the state.' Asante chooses one definition of 'dictator' he likes: '… someone who tells people what to do and refuses to listen to their opinions'. The Oxford Concise Dictionary of Politics says this about dictatorship: '…In the twentieth century, the existence of a dictator has been a necessary and definitive component of totalitarian regimes: thus, Stalin's Russia, Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy were generally referred to as dictatorships. In the Soviet case, the very word and idea of dictatorship were legitimised by Marx's idea of the historical necessity of a dictatorship of the proletariat which would follow the revolution and eradicate the bourgeoisie.'  In contrast, Karl Popper defines 'democracy' in contrast to 'dictatorship' or 'tyranny', as one in which people control their leaders and oust them without the need for a revolution. Which leader will own up being a dictator? It is an assessment of one's administration by social scientists that will mark one out.

What are some of the characteristics of dictators? They usually rule autocracies and governments with single leaders and no governing body to check their power. They have totalitarian regimes, keeping their power through control of the mass media, ('Evening News' with 'His Messianic Dedication'). They use secret police, and personality cults with hero - worship where masses are fed propaganda, declaring their leaders as flawless or divine. 'Nkrumah never dies'; 'Nkrumah is our Messiah.'

'Festina Lente' a Latin expression meaning 'make haste slowly' is an oxymoron (two words implying each other's opposite). Tasks rushed through tend to result in mistakes, but to Nkrumah, there was no time to 'waste' on trivia - arguments over whether 'self - government now' meant 1952 when it was proclaimed or 'self-government at the appropriate time' meant 1957 when Ghana actually had its independence. Ghana had emerged from the Gold Coast, but the whole country had been 'colonised' differently: the Colonies of the south, as far back as 1844 with the signing of the Bond of 1844; Ashanti (including Brong - Ahafo) in 1902 after Ashantis defeat in the Fourth Anglo Ashanti War; the Northern Territories in 1902 annexed to ward off German and French infiltration; and Trans - Volta Togoland in 1919 after the defeat of the Germans in the First World War. Hence the introduction of 'Indirect Rule'

Perhaps the zeal in Nkrumah made it appear to him insensible to kowtow to the ideals and policies of the same colonialists who had enslaved and subjugated them and taken away their wealth (raw materials like gold, timber, cocoa, diamond). It was attractive to make a clean break– an alternative appeared to be the answer and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) with its Marxist-Leninism provided the answer. Nkrumah should have been alive to see the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990 and the death of Communism in Soviet Russia. Are you surprised to be called an 'imperialist stooge'? Well, what about those Ministers in Nkrumah's regime who called themselves 'gaping sycophants' at the Commission of Enquiry after the  Nkrumah's overthrow?.

In 1958, the Preventive Detention Act was enacted and there was a provision for the arrest without trial up to five (5) years. Political opponents were haunted for sedition and were hurled into Nsawam Prison; some, including Busia, escaped into 'voluntary exile'.

After a sham referendum in 1964 in which even school - children under sixteen voted, the CPP government won over 99% 'Yes' and the 'No' got less than 1%. So in 1965, Ghana was declared a one - party state and Nkrumah, President - for - life. In a Parliament of 104 MPs, controlled by 72 CPP elements the 32 opposition members, people were whipped into place by the introduction of one party. And K. B. Asante insists that 'Nkrumah went in for a one party state because he wanted to appoint the competent in the 'opposition' to key positions in the interest of national progress.' Asante says this, and he is an honourable man, so we shall grant him that opinion despite the irony, fallacy and the 'argumentum ad hominem'. So, a CPP flag was hoisted in Commonwealth Hall - of all halls in the University of Ghana - and this was removed by students, led by AKP Kludze and Okantey who were instantly arrested and put in Nsawam Prisons.

Nkrumah interfered in chieftaincy matters and carried out his threat of making chiefs 'run and leave their sandals behind' - removing some and installing others who could show their affiliation to CPP. The 200m legacy which the British left could have been better utilized even by Nkrumah himself if he had had his priorities right. He carried out his intentions of 'forcing' independence for the whole of Africa by training 'freedom fighters' and funding their campaigns. An erroneous impression is created as if the 'Opposition' would have folded their arms if they had got the mandate to rule.

Fundamental human rights? When Adamafio, Ako Adjei and Cofie Crabbe (all CPP members) were acquitted by a three-man judge headed by Sir Arku Korsah, Nkrumah used his constitutional prerogative to dismiss Arku Korsah and got a vote from Parliament for their re-trial. The judges re-tried them, found them guilty and sentenced them to death, commuted to 20 years' imprisonment.

Arthur Edgar Smith writes this on Wole Soyinka's book 'Kongi's Harvest': 'The presentation of Kongi and his henchmen is a biting satire of the modern dictators in Africa and elsewhere… The dictator, Kongi, maintains total control over all the instruments of coercion that are, in fact, the life - blood and modus operandum of all modern dictatorships.'

In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar', Marcus Brutus speaks on his murder of Caesar: 'Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were dead, to live all free men? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate. I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honour him; but as he was ambitious, I slew him.' Just like the Austrian - born German Hitler who tortured  6 million Jews in 'concentration camps' none of which he ever visited, Nkrumah threw political opponents into Nsawam Prisons, which he never visited, and Dr J.B. Danquah 'died like a dog' in Nsawam in 1965.

Africanus Owusu-Ansah
[email protected] 

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