Tuesday, 25th February, 2025
Hon Richmond Edem Kofi Kpotosu
Ho Central
Mr Speaker, thank you for indulging me. I rise today on behalf of Ghanaians to solemnly acknowledge a dark and shameful moment in our nation’s history; The 59th anniversary of the overthrow of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah on 24th February, 1966. This day marks not just the removal of Ghana’s first President but a deliberate and orchestrated attack on the sovereignty, vision and progress of our country.
Dr Kwame Nkrumah was not just a Ghanaian leader; he was an African visionary, and a global statesman, and a relentless advocate, for the independence and sovereignty of the African continent, from the yoke of colonialism. His leadership saw Ghana take its place as the first sub-Saharan African nation to gain independence, inspiring a wave of liberation movements across the continent. His vision for economic independence, the creation of state industries, and the dream of a United States of Africa, threatened powerful global interests, leading to external interference in our affairs.
Mr Speaker, today we recall with clarity, the role of foreign forces particularly, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States of America as contained in the famous book The Great Deception in orchestrating the coup that toppled Dr Nkrumah’s Government. Declassified documents and history confirmed what many suspected all along that his removal was not merely an internal matter but a well calculated act of imperial subversion.
This betrayal was not just against Dr Nkrumah, but against the aspirations of all Ghanaians and Africans. The consequences of that coup were and are dire. It derailed Ghana’s industrial and infrastructural progress, reversed our trajectory towards economic self-reliance and left us vulnerable to cycles of instability and dependency. To this day, we continue to grapple with the remnant of that intervention in our economic structures, governance and national psyching.
Mr Speaker, as we reflect on this anniversary, let us do so with renewed determination and as representatives of the people, we owe it a duty to lead our people to reclaim the Dr Nkrumah project. Let this serve as a lesson on the need for vigilance, unity and commitment to Ghana’s sovereignty.We must learn from history and guard against external and internal forces that seek to divide us and derail our national aspirations. Dr Nkrumah's dream of a prosperous self-reliant Ghana and a united Africa remains relevant today.
It is our duty, as representatives of the people to champion policies that reflect his ideals of economic independence, Pan-African unity, and social justice. We must invest in industrialisation, protect our national resources, and prioritise the well-being of our people above all else. On this day, let us recommit ourselves to Ghana's progress, drawing inspiration from Osagyefo’s unwavering dedication to the African cause. Though he was overthrown, his vision remains unshaken and it is upon us to ensure that his legacy lives on.
Finally, Mr Speaker, I will like to request that through a Motion from this House and consistent with popular demands from the Ghanaian people, that each of the 16 Regions should have monuments, preferably libraries named after Dr Kwame Nkrumah as and when funds are available. May we always remember, and may we always strive, to build the Ghana that Nkrumah dreamed of. I thank you, Mr Speaker, for this opportunity.
Hon Isaac Boamah-Nyarko
Effia
Thank you very much Mr Speaker for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement made by my Hon Friend on the other Side.
Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, we all know, played an important role in the independence of this country and so, any day that we ought to celebrate the legacy of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, ordinarily is very fine and we all support. But on this day, the Statement read is in relation to the overthrow of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah. We all understand from history, right from 1947, when Dr Nkrumah came to Ghana, or the then Gold Coast, to support the independence struggle, his contribution to the independence struggle, which later culminated into his ascension as the President of Ghana. So, from the time that Dr Nkrumah became President, ordinarily the Constitution, the 1960 Constitution of Ghana, gave His Excellency Dr Kwame Nkrumah a mandate to rule for a four-year term. However, certain actions of the Government at the time, including trying to pass or make Ghana a one-party state, were some of the concerns that led people in that time to object and fight against those decisions of His Excellency Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
For me, it is important that we learn lessons from history. When we move forward or we fast forward to our current 1992 Constitution and its dispensation, we can clearly see that the lessons of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah—We as a political class or elite in this country ought to be careful, because our actions and inactions have the tendency to call on others who have problems with the politics that we do to also take certain actions that can affect the democracy that we all look forward to. So, in as much as it is very sad to see an overthrow of a constitutionally elected government, it is very important that in our dispensation, we protect the democracy with the actions that we take as a government.
Some of these actions include protecting the fundamental human rights of our citizenry. Issues we just discussed such as press freedom and broadcasting freedom are all avenues that allow the Ghanaian populace to be able to vent or air their views in this country, and so any attempt to curtail some of these things have the tendency of obstructing or bringing people who have hotheads to take certain decisions against our democracy.
So, on this day, I want to join hands with my Colleague in commending him for reminding this Chamber of the overthrow of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, but I believe that we all in this Parliament have to protect the democracy that we have established under the Fourth Constitutional Republic of this country. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity.
Hon Alhassan Tampuli Sulemana
Gushegu
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I rise to contribute to the Statement made to commemorate the anniversary of the overthrow of the first Prime Minister, and first President of the Republic of Ghana.
Mr Speaker, that overthrow, as well as subsequent overthrows, have brought blots on our nation, Ghana. It has been said and repeated, that the more things change, the more they remain the same. Things that happened after the overthrow of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, that we condemned, same things happened after the overthrow of Professor K. A. Busia, and more recently, the overthrow of the Hilla Limann Administration.
Mr Speaker, the flogging of women and putting things, excuse me to say, in their private parts continued after the 1981 overthrow of the Hilla Limann Administration. Very close by here, Makola women were stripped naked. Justice Park in Koforidua—
Mr Speaker, there is a litany of such examples across the country. The immediate speaker who made the commentary made reference to the fact that all the things that happened during the Kwame Nkrumah Administration were made pursuant to laws that were passed. Be that as it may, it is also true that every action that the nazi, Adolf Hitler, took was made pursuant to law. So, it is not about whether it is pursuant to law or absence of law. It is about the morality of the law.
Mr Speaker, when one makes reference to law, everything that we spoke about this morning is made pursuant to a certain law. Yes, indeed, we are not happy about military overthrows. There are excesses even in our democratic experiments, but it does not call for military interventions. We have had military interventions across the West African sub-region and one would have thought that in this day and age, military interventions would be things of the past. But we still have coupists taking the reins of power in Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, Gabon, and so on and so forth.
So, Mr Speaker, when we celebrate and commemorate days like this, it also reminds us that we must all roundly condemn coupists who are still in our midst even till date, and not give them room to operate. We do not have to give them the kind of recognition that we are giving them now, unless, of course, we are saying that what happened in 1966 is something that we are very proud of and happy about.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to make some short comments on the Statement.
Hon Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
North Tongu
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to this solemn Statement.
The 24th February, 1966 coup d’état was the first coup d’état recorded in Ghana, and, indeed, that is the coup that triggered a chain reaction of coups on the African continent. After the 24th February, 1966 coup, the jury returned that Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah is the best leader that this continent has ever seen, and, indeed, ranks very highly as one of the best leaders the whole world has ever known.
Mr Speaker, the maker of the Statement, my good Friend, the Hon MP for Ho, Hon Edem Kpotosu, has to be commended as a first-term Member of Parliament for commemorating this day. Indeed, I would like to encourage him to institutionalise this commemoration, so that every year we shall be reminded. All of us ought to remember that 24th February, 1966 is Ghana's day of shame. It marks the darkest hour in the history of our country.
By 24th February, 1966, what Dr Kwame Nkrumah had achieved in education, energy and in infrastructure, indeed, the analysis has been done, that a lot of the first world countries today, they were nowhere near Ghana in 1966. By the time Kwame Nkrumah commissioned our harbours, many European countries did not have the kind of harbour we had. By the time he commissioned the Tema Motorway, many in cosmopolitan Europe were waiting to have a motorway of that nature. By the time the Akosombo Dam was commissioned, there were many countries in Europe, in the Americas, and in Africa, who had absolutely no idea, they could not even conceptualise the vision, the technology that went into creating the world's biggest man-made lake at the time.
The Akosombo Dam was not created by Nkrumah to power just Ghana, but it was to create electricity for the sub-region and indeed, to industrialise and create jobs for our people. So, this is a man who— This is a man who was ahead of his peers, and he has been vindicated. When the international community was asked by the BBC at the beginning of the new millennium to vote for the man of the millennium, he competed with the likes of Nelson Mandela, Julius Nyerere, Sam Nujoma, Fidel Castro, and yet Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah emerged as the African of the millennium.
Mr Speaker, on this day, we should be reminded that those who staged that coup d’état with their Western collaborators, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) declassified files, had settled this matter beyond doubt, that that was not only a local orchestration. They had international support from those who thought that if they allowed Kwame Nkrumah to continue the way he was going, indeed, when you read the Ambassador at that time, Mahoney, as I conclude, in his own words, said that the kind of enlightenment that Kwame Nkrumah was bringing to the continent and liberating the minds of the African people, will serve as a threat to the progress of their continent.
And that is why they collaborated with fifth columnists to mastermind that coup d'etat.
But history has taught us that one can overthrow a government, one can kill a man, but one cannot kill his vision, his ideals and his legacy. That is why even after his overthrow, he is the only man in global history who was asked to come and be president in another country. Can you imagine that? Overthrown in Ghana, but he became the co-president in Guinea and was given a state burial. Nkrumah never dies, the legacy of Kwame Nkrumah will live on forever and ever.
Mr Speaker, I thank you very much.
Hon Kingsley Nyarko
Kwadaso
Mr Speaker, I thank you for your kind indulgence, for allowing me to contribute to the Statement ably made by our Colleague on the other Side, in commemorating the death of Kwame Nkrumah. I think that we have to be very careful in this country.
Nobody in this country, nor on this continent, can wish away the contributions of Kwame Nkrumah or better, his memory. He did contribute his quota to the advancement of this country. Somebody said that if a person could see far, he or she must thank those who helped them to see that far. Kwame Nkrumah rode on the back of individuals who saw that he could be an asset to the country. There were individuals who brought Kwame Nkrumah to the Gold Coast.
When we are praising Kwame Nkrumah, what I do not want us to do as intellectuals and as Members of Parliament is that we do not have to belittle others in our quest to promote others. We must all applaud all those who helped to make this country what it is right now. Kwame Nkrumah played his roles, but others also played their roles. Let us not, through our politicking, undermine the efforts of others. That is wrong and that will not help advance our democracy. We must stop that. We must stop this division that we are bringing into our politics and our country. It is not right. We must stop that.
Mr Speaker, no individual is perfect. All our leaders did some good and there were some wrongs as well. But in all our doings, we are looking for the best that they did and that should occupy our minds when we are making submissions. I will never, regardless of the mistakes or errors that Kwame Nkrumah made paint him black. I will never. Because he was a good man, and he did his best.
The same thing applies to J. B. Danquah and the others. When someone boldly says that Kwame Nkrumah is the founder of this country, I will not contest the person on that but I will tell the person that there were a lot of people who helped this country to obtain independence. There were founders who built this country. Let us praise all of them. Let us identify their unique strengths and let us stop the hypocrisy And let us stop the political hatred. It will not help anybody. Dr Murtala, it will not help anybody. Respect those who also helped this country. Respect J. B. Danquah, respect Arko Adjei, respect Paa Grant. Respect all of them. I, Kingsley Nyarko, I respect all our founders.
I respect J. J. Rawlings regardless of his wrongs. What is this? Let us build Ghana. Let us build one Ghana. We are one people. Let us be proud of Ghana. Mr Speaker, thank you. As I said earlier, you are a nice man and I like you so much. May God bless you and make you great. Thank you very much.
Hon Zuwera Mohammed Ibrahimah
Salaga South
Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement made by my Colleague on this very important subject of the coup d'etat of 24th February, 1966.
Mr Speaker, many a Ghanaian have held the view that, 24th February, 1966—It is your birthday? I will sing happy birthday to you when I am done. Remind me. Please remember that you have taken part of my time.
Mr Speaker, that day was a very sad day for humanity. This is because Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s vision and influence transcended the borders of this country and Africa, and it had impact on the Western world. But we woke up to that sad development. After 59 years, we are still reeling under the dire effect of that unfortunate situation.
Mr Speaker, self-introspection is a form of healing. So, when I hear some of my Colleagues contributing and advocating that some other people have to be recognised, it means they are still living in the past. It is so sad that we have come 59 years after this development that set our country and continent back. We as a people owe it to ourselves to speak the truth to one another and to look at where we went wrong. That is the only way we can correct such.
If we insist that we did right on the 24th February, 1966, then I am afraid to say that there is no light at the end of the tunnel for this country. I want to encourage all my Colleagues here that it is time for introspection. We do not have to look far.
Mr Speaker, on my way to Parliament this morning, I tuned into the Citi FM news, and the panel there was discussing this unfortunate day in our history. They made very serious observations that, at the time Dr Nkrumah was overthrown, most of the people he thought were his loyalists abandoned him. Some of them even joined the regime that had overthrown him, pledge their support and loyalty. I want to believe that even if those people are not alive today, their children and grandchildren are alive in this country, and they would appreciate the treachery of this group of people who worked with other civilisations to overthrow, so far, the best Government that this country has ever had.
Mr Speaker, on Sunday, I was celebrating my uncle’s 85th birthday, and Madam Peggy Donkor of Ghana Television (GTV) was there because my uncle, a retired colonel, was at Juba Villas with them. She made a very important point when we interacted. She said in the mid-80s, it was all right for her father, Col Donkor, and my uncle, Col Braimah, to bundle all the kids to Damongo Secondary School for their secondary education.
What was the reason? The reason was that Osagyefo Dr Nkrumah had ensured that there was a certain quality of education across the board in the whole country, and that it did not matter where we attended school. We did not have a grade A, B and C schools. We all attended schools and received quality education. His Ghana Education Trust is akin to H. E. John Dramani Mahama’s e-School projects that bring education to every community.
Mr Speaker, let me remind Ghanaians of one important virtue of Dr Nkrumah When we went to secondary school, you heard the Hon Minority Leader, Afenyo-Markin, speak the Ga language to my Sister here at the vetting yesterday. He was surprised that she could speak the Ga language. At another time, he spoke Twi to Hon Haruna Iddrisu, and he was surprised that he could also speak Twi. This is because we went to school as a unit, as Ghanaians first, before—And this is all thanks to Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
Thank you for the opportunity, Mr Speaker.
Hon Frank Annoh-Dompreh
Nsawam/Adoagyiri
Mr Speaker, let me commend the maker of the Statement for bringing this matter to the fore and also reminding the House on such an important day in the history of our country.
Mr Speaker, this is not the first time such a Statement is being made in this House. In times past, I realised that it plays out—It becomes a competition on who loves Dr Nkrumah most and who owns him most. Attempts are made to create the impression that they love Dr Nkrumah most and we are against him. I think that is most unfortunate. I would not yield to their temptation to respond to who did what and who did not do what. For me, that is unnecessary. Dr Nkrumah is dead and gone. It is up to us to build on what he built, not to unnecessarily make references, casting aspersions and making some statements which are totally unnecessary—
Mr Speaker, would he also listen to us? Mr Speaker, Dr Nkrumah’s sense of Pan-Africanism is known and respected globally; what he stood for, we all know it. We love Dr Nkrumah, as they also do. Let me also say that Dr Nkrumah was brought into this country by a certain Mr George Paa Grant, and that is part of the history—Often times, people have created the impression that it is we against them. Two sets of people who were blazing the trail in terms of building and developing our history as a country. “Independence in the shortest possible time, and independence now”.
How is it the case that it is only Dr Nkrumah who fought. It is not true. Let us depart from that argument. All of our torchbearers and icons contributed one way or the other. Of course, we salute Dr Nkrumah; he did so well, but there were other allies. When the history is being told, let us tell it in whole. Let us stop selecting and choosing. We pick and choose and say that Dr Nkrumah is the lone hero; it is not entirely true.
Mr Speaker, for instance, in recent, I know the Kwame Nkrumah Museum which had been abandoned for a very long time—The last resting place of a respected icon of this continent was abandoned. Go there now and look at it. Who did it? Under the former President Akufo-Addo’s tenure, it has been refurbished and has become a very important tourist centre. The main road leading to Nkroful, Dr Nkrumah’s hometown, who built it? It was the same NPP Government. Colleagues, let us get it right. We all celebrate Dr Nkrumah, and we all love him. But let us not mix up the history.
Mr Speaker, the building of history and the development of this fact must go hand in hand. The building of industries—Dr Nkrumah built over 300 industries and factories—I do not need to tell them. The history is clear; I would not tell them that it was at whose instance that all those factories were sold like tomatoes. These “tomatoes” were sold.
Mr Speaker, we want to get the history right. Let us all appreciate that Dr Nkrumah has done what he did.
So, if we had not sold these factories, now we will be building on these factories. Those on the Majority Side sold them; we sold them and now we want to play pious and say that we love Dr Nkrumah more than anybody. It is most unfortunate. Dr Nkrumah remains an icon of Africa and nobody can take that away, but I insist that there was a certain Paa Grant, a certain Mr J. B. Danquah, and a certain Mr Ako Adjei. All these people contributed to the development and emergence of Ghana.
Mr Speaker, the maker of the Statement also mentioned in passing, the need for us to build monuments for Dr Nkrumah. The best way we can remember Dr Nkrumah and celebrate him, and not just Dr Nkrumah but also other icons of this continent and this country, is to instil what they stood for in our schools and educational centres. The building of physical infrastructure and monuments is not enough; they will be destroyed over the passage of time. What did Dr Nkrumah stand for? PanAfricanism—
These are the things we should pay attention to, so that we can instil this into our school children, and get our younger generations to imbibe these lessons, and build a nation that we can all be proud of. It is important we celebrate Dr Nkrumah; however, we should not lose sight of the other icons like Paa Grant, Mr Ako Adjei; they all contributed to the building of modern Ghana now.
Mr Speaker, this should be the narrative. Anytime these Statements are made about icons, let us not let it degenerate to become partisan, for us to become we and them, the NPP and the NDC; this will not help us. When we speak like this, it will be more inclusive and it will help us in the development of our country. Mr Speaker, on this note, I thank you for the opportunity.
Hon James Agalga
Builsa North
Mr Speaker, I want to thank the maker of the Statement for putting together such a wonderful piece in memory of the darkest moment in our history.
Mr Speaker, I have taken pains to conduct some research to try to establish why Dr Kwame Nkrumah was overthrown. Whether or not the factors which may have accounted for his overthrow are justified is another matter for a thorough debate. However, Mr Speaker, my findings show that Dr Kwame Nkrumah was accused of being a dictator, and that is why the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) then decided to collaborate with people in this country whose forebears, whose ancestors are the likes of Mr J. B. Danquah, Mr Obetsebi Lamptey, and the names go on and on. :
Mr Speaker, Dr Kwame Nkrumah has been criticised wrongly as leading a dictatorial government, which made it practically impossible for Dr Kwame Nkrumah to be overthrown through the power of the thumb.
However, Mr Speaker, the history is very clear. Starting from 1951, after Kwame Nkrumah broke away from the UGCC and founded the CPP. The CPP led by Nkrumah routed the UGCC and its subsequent offshoots in successive elections. Starting from 1951, they were routed. In 1954, 1957 and 1960 they were routed.
Mr Speaker, they decided that it was time to say goodbye to elections and to engage in acts of terror with the hope that they could assassinate Nkrumah. Mr Speaker, if you read Nkrumah's autobiography, Dark Days in Ghana, Nkrumah recounts how six attempts were made to assassinate him. One of them was staged at Kulungugu. On another occasion, a police officer named Constable Seth Ametewee fired at Nkrumah at close range.
Mr Speaker, Dr Kwame Nkrumah personally, after he had been deserted by all his guards, personally wrestled Constable Ametewee to the floor and disarmed him. This is what Dr Kwame Nkrumah went through, and so when the Preventive Detention Act (PDA) was passed, it was a response to acts of terror.
Mr Speaker, after 9/11, we all know what the United States did. So, when acts of terror have been unleashed on the people, one does not talk about protection of fundamental human rights. When those terrorists attempted to kill Nkrumah, did they care a hoot about Nkrumah’s rights?
Mr Speaker, after 9/11, the United States Government, which is supposed to be the champion of democracy, adopted methods, some of which were very stringent, including the introduction of waterboarding, detention camps in Afghanistan—Waterboarding was one of the methods they used.
Mr Speaker, in conclusion, the point I am trying to make is that Kwame Nkrumah was not a dictator; he was overthrown because his Pan-African project, his quest to have Africa united, was a threat to Western interests. And that is why they elected to collaborate with dishonourable people in our own country, some of whom are now claiming to be elevated to the level of Kwame Nkrumah. Dr Kwame Nkrumah, rest in peace. May the good Lord bless your soul. You worked so hard for this country and we shall forever cherish and remember you. Amen.
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