Prof. Koryoe Anim-Wright: The unnecessary debate about Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah

This is not a political message.  

In the interest of full disclosure, I am not a card-carrying member of any political party in  Ghana. What I am, is a proud Ghanaian of Ga-Adangbe heritage, with a father from Odumase Krobo and a mother from Ga Abola.  

Here is my non-partisan message. 

On April 3, 2022, a friend sent me a picture of a handwritten note that had two columns labeled  “Commodity” and “Price Year”. That handwritten sheet listed prices of commodities such as cement, iron rods, fertilizers etc., in Ghana to illustrate rising prices. In my own unscientific way, I conducted an informal analysis of price increases since my return to Ghana in 2011. It was an eye-opener. 

After that informal, mind-bending analysis, and particularly knowing that salary increases have not been commensurate with the increases, I finally believe what I have heard most of my adult life — that Ghanaians are magicians. 

We are magicians because of the following: We know how to survive every situation. We know how to stretch the proverbial cedi and make every pesewa count. We know how to work two, three and four jobs simultaneously, during the same 24-hour period. We know how to finagle creative ways of setting up companies that provide professional services such as cleaning, laundry and catering, to the companies for which we work to make ends meet. 

Why? Because times — and things — are hard.  

I don’t intend to debate the “whys” or to give credence or otherwise to those who point to  external factors that may or may not have contributed to the current hardships. The hard truth is that times are hard everywhere, as we have observed with the happenings in countries such Kenya and, more recently, Nigeria.  

For most Ghanaians, what is necessary today is finding a way to make ends meet, especially when both ends keep moving farther and farther away from each other. What is necessary is to be able to afford the rising costs of just about everything. What is necessary is that college graduates find jobs after an investment in a university education. What is necessary is that when we fall sick, be it at 1 p.m. or 2 a.m., state hospitals have necessary medical equipment, with staff on duty to operate it and immediately provide the on-duty doctor with information needed to provide the emergency care that will save lives.  

In the midst of all these necessary things, what is not necessary are the headlines about Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president. Because, as my late mum would have said, it does not put food on the table. Or, in this context, it does not solve any of our current, pressing issues and challenges. 

Whether they completed their full tenure of office or not, presidents of Ghana have come to power, done their bit and, as a country, we have moved on. All presidents have dealt with unique circumstances that impacted how they governed and what they achieved during their time in office. And I think I speak for all Ghanaians when I say all our presidents have the gratitude of us all — because most Ghanaians know how treacherous and unforgiving the road to the Osu Castle, Flagstaff House, or Jubilee House can be for those who take up the challenge to become president of this our beloved nation. 

And it is in having the gratitude of Ghanaians — irrespective of how well or not they served during their tenure — that all presidents should, in turn, be grateful to all former presidents for their service. Because leadership is a continuum that mandates that all presidents build upon the successes and good of past administrations. 

So instead of discussing, debating and solving the critical issues that plague this country, we are engaged in debates about who founded Ghana. Frankly, for many of us, this is the last thing on our mind, because rising food costs means street food such as kenkey, coconut, Kofi broke man and waakye, are now beyond the reach of many. 

But just for the sake of probing the fixation on who founded Ghana further, allow me to borrow from Shakespeare and ask: “What’s in a name? Or in this case, What’s in a ‘word’?” 

In searching the internet, I found no article that referred to Nkrumah as the founder of Ghana, except articles from these recent debates. What I did find was a reference in Britannica.com that seemed to credit our first president not with the founding of Ghana, but with the founding of Ghana as a Republic — with their definition of Republic as a “form of government in which a state is ruled by representatives of the citizen body.” 

Anything new has a founding or inaugural leader. With that definition, even little ol’ me, during my varied but forgettable career, have at some point been referred to as a Founding Director and Founding Dean. It is therefore not much of a stretch for us to agree that as the first president of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah is our founding President. 

A line in our National Pledge states: “I pledge myself in all things to uphold and defend the good name of Ghana”. Whether we agree or not, the words ‘Ghana and Nkrumah’ are inextricably linked, making this debate appear tantamount to us tearing ourselves down, and in so doing, bringing down the good name of Ghana we pledged to defend. 

Our energies should be focused on resolving pressing matters such as galamsey, youth unemployment, reducing the pressure on public finances, and corruption. Matters, that when resolved, reduce our strain and stress and turn the fortunes of this our beloved country around.  

So, allow me to borrow from a popular Nkrumah quote, and say this: Let’s pledge to  “… face neither East nor West”. Let’s rather “…face forward,” and unite in our collective desire to focus on pressing matters that will move Ghana forward.  

Hopefully, this last sentence is something we all can agree on.

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by Prof. Koryoe Anim-Wright, Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Studies, University of Professional Studies, Accra

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