Remembering Ghana’s 1st President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah @ 66

from GHANAIAN NEWS - FEBRUARY 2023

Ghana marks 66th Independence Day celebration at Ho, V/R

As Ghana celebrates its 66th independence anniversary, the memory of its founding father Kwame Nkrumah is back in the public limelight. But his legacy in Ghana and across Africa leaves much to be desired.

As Ghana celebrates the 60th anniversary of its independence on March 6, Kwame Nkrumah’s name will stir varied thoughts and emotions across the nation of 27 million. “Today, Kwame Nkrumah is a name clouded in mystery and controversy,” Atsu Aryee from the University of Ghana told DW.

That was different in the early days of his rule. When Ghana gained independence from Britain in 1957, Nkrumah was cheered on by masses of his supporters. “At long last, the battle has ended. Ghana, our beloved country is free forever,” Nkrumah declared to chants of “Viva” from the crowd.

Ghana celebrated her 66th independence anniversary on march 6th 2023. The event was co-hosted with the Adaklu District at the Volta Regional Youth Resource Centre at Adaklu.

The Volta Regional Coordinating Council worked feverishly to put the necessary arrangements in place to make this year’s celebration memorable since the announcement was made.

The theme for this year’s Event: Our Unity, Our Strength, Our Purpose. President Umaro Sissoco Embaló of Guinea Bissau, who is also the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is the Special Guest of Honour.

In the first years after independece, his government started an ambitious economic program aimed at industrializing the country which heavily depended on agriculture. The Volta River hydropower project is still a main electricity provider in Ghana. But many other projects have failed and the large state-owned enterprises he created amassed huge debts due to corruption and mismanagement.

Ghana’s public also soon saw the other side of the firebrand politican who had so strongly advocated for freedom. Nkrumah’s rule became increasingly authoritarian. In 1964, he turned Ghana into a one-party state and later declared himself president for life. Some 10,000 Ghanaians, many of them members of the countrie’s elite, sought refuge abroad. With the economy in free fall, simmering anger at his rule was growing. His government was finally toppled by soldiers while he was on a trip to China in 1966.