How Kufuor And His Political Tradition Fought Against Ghana's Independence

Dear Sir,
Give me some space in your highly esteemed newspaper to remind Ghanaians about the recent past.

Somewhere in august 1971, the Progress Party government of Dr K.A. Busia passed a bill in parliament which sought among other things, to imprison any Ghanaian for not less than five years who was found to be displaying or distributing any photograph, portrait, effigy or any other pictorial or other representation of the leader or chairman of the CPP or any person or group of persons in a manner likely to make any reasonable person believe or conclude that the person is pushing for the revival of the said CPP or the restoration of its leader.

In September 1971, the late president Sekou Toure of the Republic of Guinea wrote to the progress party government that Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah was seriously sick of cancer and had expressed nostalgic desire to die in his land of birth which he founded. Imagine that Osagyefo lean on his sick bed at Villa in pain in faraway republic of Guinea- his thought coming across Africa and in particular Ghana. He had no companions with him except President Sekou Toure and a few loyal body guards.

Mr John Agyekum Kufuor then deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in charge of such schedules refused to grant Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah’s wish to come back home to die.

When on 27th April 1972, Radio Ghana announced that the former president of Ghana Dr Kwame Nkrumah was reported dead, the whole Progress Party ministers including J.A. Kufuor Jubilated.

Let posterity remember this.

Are those who are going to celebrate the 50th year of Ghana 's independence which was founded by Dr Kwame Nkrumah having any sense of shame? In Febuary 1966, the CPP government of Dr Kwame Nkrumah were violently overthrown by the forebears of the present New Patriotic Party (NPP). As a result of that Coup d'etat, everything initiated by Kwame Nkrumah was destroyed or completely abandoned.

Flagstaff house, the seat of government, was looted. Precious books were burnt to ashes. Members of the CPP were sent to prison. We cannot also forget the price tag which was placed on the head of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Boye Moses, alias Ndede, who hails from Benym in the Elembelle constituency in the Western region- he was put in a cage like a monkey, handcuffed and paraded through the streets of Accra .

Now the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is going to celebrate Ghana 's 50 years without shame. When Dr Nkrumah initiated the Akosombo Dam, the UP the father of NPP kicked against the idea. Anything good the CPP government initiated for Ghana was kicked against. Will the huge amount budgeted for the celebration be accounted for or will it be diverted into NPP funds?
Is the NPP government forcibly claiming the glory due to CPP, their arch enemy? The NPP did not see anything good in Kwame Nkrumah but now they are robbing the CPP of this magnificent glory in the celebration of the 50th year anniversary. The unaccountable donations pouring into the Ghana@50 account may also be taken away way by the NPP through the administrator who is incompetent. If the NPP government were to be transparent, they would have taken a cue from Queen Elizabeth’s visit by supplying the flags, anniversary cups etc, etc, free of charge to school children but not to sell anything in connection with the celebration to the public after the huge amount of $20 million voted and the unspecified billions of donations pouring in daily.
By their deeds they are now being exposed.
Fellow Ghanaians! Please ask yourselves if NPP cannot be likened to those hypocrites of Animal Farm fame? The CPP became a powerful force to reckon with and led the nation to freedom which the opposing group, UP/NPP fought against.
They never liked the idea of independence and claimed that Ghana was not ready to run its own affairs. Yet they are the people making happy praises about the golden jubilee today. No wonder that with all the whooping millions of dollars and sums of donations from various quarters, this government is still incapable of organizing a befitting anniversary celebration.

Kwaku Amoateng
New Tafo, Kumasi