A member of the National Communication Team of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Zeinab Alhassan has replied to former President John Agyekum Kufuor over his comments that Ghana’s first President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah lacks vision and planning hence Ghan’s current woes.
Former President Kufour has blamed Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s rush for industrialization for Ghana’s failing fortunes.
According to him, instead, if the country to plan after independence, the country under Kwame Nkrumah just zoomed into industrialization without any form of plan.
“When we gained independence we just zoomed into industrialization so we started building factories. If your memories serve you right, in the first republic there were several factories scattered across. That involved a lot of money. The money which was at the Bank of Ghana. That time we were 6 million people in Ghana and the reserves comparing it to now would have been billions because in 1957 it was about 450
Comparatively, countries that are now been used as an example of developed countries like Korea, China and others could not be compared to us at all. Just four years after independence and even before Ghana’s population got to ten million people, all the reserves were gone.
This was because we were running, we wanted to build factories. Shoe factory, leather factory. We didn’t take our time to plan and also make the treasury gain some interest in it. We just started chopping the capital. You don’t chop your capital. That is why the economy collapsed.”
For President Kufour, Those shouting Fix The Country should not present the picture as if the country was built by someone and another person had come to destroy it.
But NDC’s Zeinab took the former President to the cleaners reminding him that at the time Dr. Nkrumah was busily developing Ghana, his (Kufour) party members were busily throwing bombs.
“How on earth was Kufuor going to see Nkrumah’s vision when his party members were busily throwing bombs.” – She quized
Attacks on Dr. Nkrumah’s life:
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah during his rule as President of Ghana from 1957 till his over drown in 1966 survived some bomb attacks.
On August 1, 1962 at Kulungungu there was a bomb attack aimed at killing President Nkrumah which resulted in the deaths or wounding of several school children.
One individual was also killed in a bombing near the Flagstaff House in Accra on September 9, 1962.
Several individuals, including nine schoolchildren, were killed in a series of bombings in Accra on September 18-22, 1962.
President Nkrumah declared a state-of-emergency in Accra and Tema on September 22, 1962.
More than 20 individuals were killed in a bombing at a CPP rally in Accra on January 11, 1963.
President Nkrumah survived an attempted assassination in Accra on January 1, 1964, resulting in the death of a security guard.
Opposition leader, J. B. Danquah’s who is one of the foundation stones of President Kufour’s New Patriotic Party, was arrested and imprisoned in Nsawam Prison on January 8, 1964.
By: Efo Korsi Senyo / awakenewsroom.com
