The question that most pundits ask is how a leader like Osygafo Dr Kwame Nkrumah with a good vision for Africa would turn out to be an enemy to some people? Can the enemies of African progress be that mean?
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| Ghana's first independence hero Dr Kwame Nkrumah. |
Dr. Nkrumah was a Ghanaian freedom hero. He led Ghana to become the first African nation to gain independence in 1957. He was also a staunch supporter of Pan Africanism leading to the formation of the organization of African Unity (OAU).
As an African freedom fighter in the colonial era, the colonizers saw him as an enemy of their domination over Africa. The British were losing a colony that was abundantly blessed in gold and cocoa, this was not something that they would wish to ever happen!
Apart from the 1966 Ghana military coup de tat which overthrew his government, Hungarian author, Marika Sherwood speaks more on the fate of Nkrumah. In the YouTube documentary, 'The Political Rise and Fall of Dr Kwame Nkrumah', she said that the USA, France and British governments may have planned the overthrow of Nkrumah's government.
In 1964 after he adopted tough political measures in his administration, it also increased the number of his enemies in the country. His shift to the communist side during the events of the cold war also made the western nations feel like he was their enemy.
The 5 failed assassination attempts on Dr Kwame Nkrumah's life
#1. The 1956 bomb explosion in Dr Nkrumah's house
As a revolutionary who is fighting for his country's freedom, Nkrumah had to face enemies opposed to his approach to independence. He had broken out with the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) which he thought served the interests of the elites and not the Ghanaian masses.
Nkrumah formed the Convention People's Party (CPP) which would lead the country to independence. However, in a 1956 meeting with government ministers in his house, a bomb exploded but no one was injured.
#2. 1962 1st August Kulungugu bomb attack
On August 1,1962, another attempt on the life of Dr Nkrumah was made. This time, he was from a meeting with the then Burkinabe head of state, Maurice Yemeogo, when a bomb was thrown at the presidential convoy leaving to the death of several people.
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| A memorial stand on the Kulungugu bomb attack. |
A memorial stand was planted at the site of the attack in Upper Volta, the northern frontier of Ghana.
#3. 9th September 1962 bomb blast in Nkrumah's residence
This time Nrumah's official residence, flagstaff house, was filled with close to 2,000 people who were celebrating his escape from a previous bomb attack when another bomb attack occurred. Several people were blamed for the bomb blast.
The leading team was the Kumasi Command, they were people who opposed Nkrumah's administration which favoured a one-party state and scientific socialism. As a result, several militants were arrested in order to calm down the opposition against Dr. Nkrumah.
#4. The January 2, 1964 police constable attempted shooting at the president
According to Kwesi Pratt jr, an editor of the Insight Newspaper, a police constable attempted to shoot the president at close range but the president was able to save himself after wrestling with the assassin.
The incident happened when Nkrumah was leaving through the gate of his official house when the assassin attacked him. Kwesi Pratt added in an interview that Nkrumah was saved by his skills in martial arts where he was able to pin the gunman down before he could shoot him.
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| Nkrumah battles an assassin and wins. |
The assassin would later be identified as constable Ametewee, he was a newly assigned guard at the presidential house. The incident also led to the injury of one of Nkrumah's bodyguards, Salifu, who later died.
#5. Assassination attempt at 1964 independence day celebrations
It seemed that the enemies of 'the black star of Africa', Dr Nkrumah, could not rest until his ouster from power. In March 1964, as the Ghanaians were celebrating independence day, a bomb exploded at the function which left a lame young girl.
Elizabeth Asantewaa was only 13 years old when she was chosen to present a bouquet of flowers to the president not knowing that it contained a bomb. The bomb had been targeted to Kill Dr. Nkrumah but cost the poor girl's leg.
The president was saved by his bodyguard, Captain Samuel Buckman, who had to wrestle the president to the ground after hearing the time-ticking of the device.
Later in 1966, while on an official trip to Vietnam, Ghana's independence hero and the country's first president was overthrown in a coup de tat by members of his military. He was later forced to exile in the neighbouring country of Guinea.
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