Upon all his achievements as leader of Ghana’s independence struggle and subsequently, its first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah had one weakness which might have led to his overthrow, Second Deputy Speaker and Member of Parliament (MP) for Nadowli-Kaleo, Alban Bagbin has stated.
According to him, Dr Nkrumah’s management of dissenting views to his government was poor and could have been done better.
Though Dr Nkrumah is largely revered across the world for the pivotal role he played in the liberation of Africa from colonialism, same cannot be said in his home country where he was overthrown after nine years in charge.
His last years in office were characterised by many human rights abuses especially against members of the opposition who subsequently tagged him as a dictator.
Sharing his thoughts on Dr Nkrumah’s legacy on Starr FM’s personality profile Starr Chat on Wednesday, the seven-time MP stated that “he [Dr Nkrumah] actually failed in trying to manage opposition and that is my humble opinion”.
“As much as he tried, for example, to give positions to key opposition members [which] some graciously accepted like the father of the current president [Edward Akufo-Addo] when he appointed him to the Supreme Court but the likes of Dr J.B. Danquah rejected any such appointments ” and he failed to manage opposing views which led to him being tagged as a dictator, he said.
This nothwithstanding, Dr Nkrumah, for him, was still by far the most successful Ghanaian president.
“So far, he towers above all and it is not me saying. He was voted as the African of the Century. That is a fact and anywhere you go outside Ghana, they extol his virtues and his legacy. It is only here that we here these dissenting voices”, he said.
