Nkrumah’s policies should inform Ghana’s development

Prof Samuel Ntewusu, Director of African Studies at the University of Ghana, has called for a critical examination of Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s policies for lessons to address Ghana’s contemporary development challenges.

He said the 117th anniversary of Nkrumah’s birth should go beyond ceremonial activities to examine the relevance of his ideas to national and continental development.

‎Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the eve of the Founders’ Day celebrations, Prof..Ntewusu said that Nkrumah’s contribution should be considered beyond political affiliations and contemporary partisan debates, noting that Ghana’s political identity was “directly linked to the persona of Kwame Nkrumah”.

‎‎He said that although several people contributed to the independence struggle, Nkrumah’s strategies were central to its success.

‎‎“Celebration is not an event,” he said, arguing that the real measure of honouring Nkrumah was the extent to which his development ideas and policies were studied and applied.

‎Prof Ntewusu said Nkrumah’s thinking on economic independence, resource extraction, education, urbanisation, agriculture and energy provided areas for critical examination in addressing contemporary development challenges.

‎He said Nkrumah’s ideas on African unity and liberation should similarly be considered in the context of present-day Africa.

‎“I think that as we celebrate Nkrumah, all parties, all parties, I don’t care anybody of any political persuasion, let’s put that aside, look at Nkrumah’s policies critically and see the way in which we are able to mine some of his policies for the betterment of this country and then global Africa,” he said.

That reflection, he said, should encompass political, cultural and economic liberation, adding that Nkrumah’s vision of Africans advancing as a united front remained an important subject for study.

‎Ghanaians and Pan-Africans worldwide are today commemorating the 117th birthday of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President and a leading advocate of African unity and liberation.

‎The occasion, observed as Founder’s Day, is a public holiday following Parliament’s restoration of September 21 as Founder’s Day in 2025.

‎Dr Nkrumah was born on September 21, 1909, at Nkroful in the then Gold Coast. He became active in the independence movement after returning from abroad in 1947 and founded the Convention People’s Party (CPP) in 1949.

‎Following the CPP’s victory in the 1951 elections, he became Leader of Government Business and subsequently Prime Minister in 1952.

‎Under his leadership, the Gold Coast attained independence from Britain on March 6, 1957, becoming Ghana and the first sub-Saharan African country to gain independence from colonial rule.

‎Dr Nkrumah became Ghana’s first Prime Minister and, following the establishment of the republic in 1960, its first President.

‎His administration pursued programmes in education, industrialisation, infrastructure and social development, including the Volta River Project and the construction of the Akosombo Dam.

‎Beyond Ghana, Dr Nkrumah was a leading advocate of Pan-Africanism and played a key role in the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963, the precursor to the African Union.

‎Dr Nkrumah was overthrown in a military coup on February 24, 1966, while on a state visit abroad.

‎He spent his final years in Guinea and died in Bucharest, Romania, on April 27, 1972.