Kwame
Nkrumah's contribution to the decolonisation process
in Africa
by Leslie
September 16, 2004
Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972)
Africa came under the direct jurisdiction of Europe
after the initial carving out of the continent referred
to as the 'Scramble for Africa'. This partition was
fulfilled at the Conference of Berlin 1884-85 resulting
in the political mapping of Africa. Thus, Africa facilitated
the extension of the European hegemonic powers overseas.
This colonization rendered the African continent the
play-toy of wealthy European imperialists who raked
the profits from the resource-rich territories.
The Collier's Dictionary defines a colony as any territory
that is economically, culturally and politically subordinate
to another. Thus, during the period of European imperialism,
Africa's social, economic and political administration
was controlled largely by these foreigners. The effect
of such actions was the absolute destruction of Africa's
traditional institutions, the massive re-organization
of its pre-colonial society, and the virtual rape of
the continent.
However, by the mid-20th century it was no longer
politically correct to persist with colonialism. One
by one, European powers began to pull out of Africa.
This does not mean to say that they left Africa to
its own devices. Rather, they now assumed a 'behind
the scenes' role on the continent by allowing the Africans
to govern while they, the Europeans, dominated Africa's
economic enterprises and resources.
Thus, the so-called decolonization process was realized
only when the European economic interests had a firm
standing on the continent. Despite Europe's true intentions,
African visionaries thought that decolonization would
be to Africa's advantage and that the people could
re-establish themselves in positions of power and authority
and attempt to preserve whatever remnants of their
culture that had remained. African intellectuals were
not naive about the European problem, but thought that
they could eliminate European influence from Africa.
Many of these visionaries were influenced by Pan-Africanism,
which rose from the African Diaspora. Pan-Africanism
was a philosophy that promoted African awareness and
pushed for the betterment of all Africans on the continent
and in the Diaspora. Kwame Nkrumah was influenced by
the West Indian born black nationalist, Marcus Garvey,
and decided to embark on a programme to systematically
rid Africa of colonialism and neo-colonialism. We shall
examine subsequently his contribution to the decolonialization
process in Africa and its result.
Nkrumah's ultimate way to the presidency of Ghana
was paved by his political activism in the United States
and the U.K. He returned to the Gold Coast, as it was
then called, on the 10th of December 1947, after a
12 year absence. Ghana at the time was still under
British imperial control and the pot was now brewing
for political sovereignty, a demand that was influenced
by the leftist, Wallace Johnson. The colonial government
deported Johnson in 1938 and suppressed other anti-colonial
and anti-tax movements. Kwame Nkrumah returned to the
Gold Coast as tensions were escalating rapidly. He
engaged in a series of discussions with the leadership
(headed by Dr. Joseph Danquah) of the United Gold Coast
Convention, (UGCC), to clamour for constitutional reform.
The stage had been set for political autonomy from
Great Britain.
Nkrumah went on to establish the Committee on Youth
Organization, which further popularized the Pan-African
activist. Many objected to the CYO because of its affiliation
with the grassroots elements in the society. In his
words, "They opposed [the CYO] because it was
composed of the less privileged, or radical section
of the people and voiced the economic, social and political
aspirations of the rank and file. It went completely
against their more conservative outlook." Nevertheless,
Nkrumah managed to gain overwhelming support throughout
the country, went on to rally for self-rule, and encouraged
the boycott of European goods. The Ghanaian population
expressed their support by engaging in labour strikes
and work slow-downs. The CYO, renamed the Convention
People's Party, decided to split with the UGCC and
created a new manifesto, which declared its determination
to attain self-government, to remove all forms of oppression,
to maintain unity among the different ethnic groups
in Ghana, and to encourage and support trade unionism.
The Coussey Committee Report was published in November
1949. It recommended the inclusion of Africans in government,
but to Nkrumah's disappointment, it failed to demand
self-governance. In response, Nkrumah formed the Ghana
Representative Council (GRC), which was specifically
formed for the purpose of initiating an appeal against
the report. He vigorously promoted the idea of internal
self-rule and further announced his nationwide Positive
Action strike, which began on New Years Day in 1950.
After being arrested for 'civil disturbances', Nkrumah
and the CPP still remained a political party and managed
to successfully capture thirty-four out of thirty-eight
seats in the first general election in 1951. The Bill
of Release was signed on 19 February by the new Governor,
Sir Noble Arden-Clarke, freeing Nkrumah and others
from prison after 13 months of detention. His release
marked a momentous occasion in the history of Gold
Coast. He was asked to form a government. He went on
to become the Leader of Government Business in the
first African-dominated government and by extension,
the National Assembly. Nkrumah took it upon himself
to request independence for the Gold Coast.
Nkrumah immediately began to make visible changes
within the Cabinet, acting in accordance with his promise
that he would not rest "until full self-government
within the Commonwealth was achieved". Thus, he
soon announced his first cabinet of seven Africans
and four Europeans.
Nkrumah increased his pressure for full Independence
and in 1956, the Secretary of State for the Colonies
announced that 6 March 1957 would mark the Independence
of the Gold Coast. The independent nation-state of
Ghana was born, named after the prosperous ancient
traditional Ghana Empire of West Africa. The British
government was extremely reluctant to lose Ghana, which
was one of her most valued territories. Nkrumah's success
was praised throughout the continent as it was yet
another 'piece of the pie' that was now in native African
hands.
Nkrumah remained committed to the liberation of Africa
from imperialist control accompanying his success in
Ghana. An example of this commitment was Nkrumah's
financial aid of 10 million pounds to Guinea after
her break with France in September 1958. Additionally,
he agreed to grant Mali a long-term loan after its
split with Senegal. Ghana established a political association
with the two countries in the hope of creating the
United States of Africa. Nkrumah also stood behind
Patrice Lumumba during the Congo crisis of 1960-61
and approached nine other African states to create
a joint High Command to provide assistance to any other
state that was found in a similar position to the one
that the Congo faced. He explained that, "until
the independent States of Africa are united in a single
nation, the exploitation of Africa by Europe will never
end. If Africa's sixty States are united politically,
they will find a way to their own economic emancipation
and to an African economic plan for the whole continent."
Nkrumah began to associate with Communist leaders
at a time when communism was attacked and despised
by the West. Nkrumah stated categorically that, "In
Ghana, we have embarked on the socialist path to progress.
We want to see full employment, good housing and equal
opportunity for education and cultural advancement
for all the people up to the highest level possible." He
was prepared to make enemies in the West. His fearless
and uncompromising stance brought new recognition to
Africa as well as deep-seated contempt for the rising
nation.
Kwame Nkrumah ascended to the Prime Ministership of
Ghana during a period of economic prosperity and continued
to further Ghana's development. Nkrumah, influenced
by the Pan-Africanist ideology of self-improvement,
undertook development projects such as road building,
the improvement of medical services, and the implementation
of the Volta River hydro-electric dam at Akosombo,
which all proved to be costly infrastructural development
schemes. Nkrumah endorsed and supported self-help schemes
such as the building of schools, roads, clinics, village
and town centers, drains and irrigation systems. In
addition, Nkrumah allotted much of the government's
fiscal resources to improve Ghana's export agricultural
base. His government established the Agricultural Development
Board to regulate marketing and trading transactions,
and to curb the dependency on cocoa by introducing
other cash crops on the export market.
This strategy displayed the brilliance of Nkrumah,
who acted with haste to correct the injustices of the
monopoly-based capitalist system. He observed that
the failure of the main export product would translate
into the failure of the economy as a whole. Thus, crop
diversification was rigorously implemented. He also
initiated The Industrial Development Corporation, The
Management Development and Productivity Institute and
The Ghanaian Business Bureau, to facilitate the growth
and prosperity of small and medium-sized African businesses.
Nkrumah also aspired to reduce Ghana's reliance on
foreign manufacturers to bring more balance to the
import- export trade. He encouraged the development
of industries to abolish the nations' position as a
supplier of raw materials. Ghana thus set an amazing
precedent on the African continent. Government undertook
all measures possible to avoid the monopoly of capital
by private and/or external business interests.
Nkrumah proposed in his Five Year Development Plan
his intentions of constructing 9 Teacher Training Colleges,
18 Secondary Schools and 31 Primary and Middle schools
which were in fact built, in addition to 10 new hospitals
in the Northern territories. Roads connecting major
cities were constructed.
Nkrumah's success began to wane by the mid-1960's
when he assumed the role of the presidency. This was
so because the population now felt the full brunt of
material hardships and was tired of waiting for improvements.
Between 1960 and 1965, world cocoa prices plummeted,
and the Ghanaian economy could no longer sustain the
huge spending on development projects. Foreign exchange
earnings dramatically fell and government financial
reserves were depleted. The unemployment that he had
worked so hard to eradicate rose dramatically. "Food
prices skyrocketed up over 250% from 1957 levels and
up a phenomenal 66% in 1965." Ghana now suffered
from food and essentials shortages that affected the
already devastated population. "Economic growth,
which had ranged from 9% to 12% per annum until 1960,
dropped to 2% to 3%, insufficient to sustain a population
expanding at almost 3% per year." Nkrumah was
no longer able to maintain the economic progress of
the country.
Nkrumah, responding to the downswing of the economy,
adopted a strict form of socialism to reconstruct the
national economy. He imposed his quasi- Marxist theories
on his government in order to save the population from
the endemic poverty that they were about to face. Despite
Nkrumah's genuine attempt to resuscitate Ghana's economy,
he made unrealistic demands such as overwhelming taxation.
Despite the fact that the government did better financially,
these harsh measures led to Nkrumah's decreasing popularity.
Nkrumah began to lose support within his own government,
despite his attempts to maintain unity. The CPP itself
was a coalition of different groups that often came
into conflict with each other. Soon, the political
in-fighting could no longer be contained and became
public knowledge. The project of forming coalitions
with conflicting groups was an ambitious one but was
extremely unrealistic. According to a 13 July edition
of The Times, "The president's most urgent task
is to reconcile all factions, even those that he no
longer trusts. Unfortunately, and dangerously, those
whom he does not trust, he rejects. The possibility
of revolution lies among the rejected, whoever they
turn out to be."
Nkrumah, to avoid corruption and the misappropriation
of the public purse, proclaimed that there would be
no businessmen in parliament. Thus, the government
was soon purged of business elements, and those that
remained abdicated investments that exceeded the accepted
amount for a government official. He also made it abundantly
clear that he was against any form of "military
trade unionism," which signaled his growing authoritarianism
and his almost complete turn in policy. Nkrumah was
a supporter of trade unionism before he attained power.
Nkrumah lost more support because of harsh measures
that he put in place to develop the country. His objective
was to attain a balance of 128 million pounds by the
end of the fiscal year(1960). He introduced a scheme
which required salary and wage earners to save five
per cent of their monthly wages on incomes over 10
pounds a month. Professional workers had twice as much
to contribute for Nkrumah's fiscal vision to be realized.
This measure led to a series of protests from port
and railway employees at Takoradi.
Nkrumah also arrested any opposition to his authority,
including members of his own party, who were reputedly
conspiring with members of the opposition United Party
to overthrow the government. Kwame Nkrumah, like Latin
American dictators during this epoch, decided to govern
Ghana with an iron fist to ensure that his rule was
perpetual and unchallenged. Nkrumah declared himself
President for Life in 1964 and in effect, banned all
opposition political parties. He held many political
prisoners. His leadership became even more domineering
after two assassination attempts. He became obsessed
with his personal safety and thus established the Secret
Security Service and the Presidential Guard under his
direct control. The army and police officers soon grew
weary of him. Much of his initial focus was now directed
to the preservation of his life rather than of his
country.
On 21 February 1966, President Kwame Nkrumah visited
the Democratic Republic of North Vietnam to hold diplomatic
talks with the President Ho Chi Minh. During his absence,
a coup d'etat erupted in Ghana. The armed rebels, in
cahoots with the National Police, took control of the
government. The coup was led by Colonel Emmanuel Kwasi
Kotoka, who was regarded a national hero for his participation
in the Ghana's United Nations Congo contingent in 1960-61.
Subsequently, the National Liberation Council was created
to run the affairs of state after the dissolution of
Parliament. The Convention People's Party (C.P.P.)
was henceforth banned and Nkrumah dethroned.
Nkrumah played a crucial role in the decolonization
process in Africa. He is remembered for his uncompromising
stance against the injustices meted out by colonial
and neo-colonial powers, and his brilliant economic
policies that benefited Ghana tremendously. Indeed,
it was a difficult process to develop a country that
had been run by foreign powers for so long. It would
take time and effort to improve the shortcomings of
the previous system and even more time for the population
to reap the benefits of the newly instituted programmes.
Everyone grew tired of waiting. His socialist stance
did not play well with the West, who equated it with
fascism or the "master race ideology." Nevertheless,
Nkrumah managed to gain widespread support for 'cleansing'
Ghana of whites from positions of control and authority.
He proved that with careful planning and perseverance,
the whole of Africa could be purged of European influence
and attain true liberation and independence. Although
we witnessed the mounting failures of his regime, we
must understand that all developing societies have
experienced some level of difficulty while trying to
achieve development against nearly impossible odds.
Nkrumah, like other socialists, fought to gain the
respect of the world by showcasing his political strengths.
This resulted in extreme policies to maintain the existing
system as well as his own power. Eventually, Ghana
felt the blow from his mistakes and suffered greatly
because of them. Authoritarianism was the only way
that he saw to maintain Ghana's success.
Kwame Nkrumah, despite his many errors, will always
be venerated for his contribution to the decolonization
process in Africa.
Source: AfricaSpeaks.com at www.africaspeaks.com.
Copyright � 2004 AfricaSpeaks.com, www.africaspeaks.com
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