General News of Monday, 24 September 2018
Source: Daniel Kaku
2018-09-24
First President of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah
The Nkroful Community Development Association (NCDA), an organization setup to propagate and sustain the legacy of the first President of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, has organized an annual lecture to commemorate his birthday.
The historic day, which fell on 21st September, was observed nationwide as a public holiday, and was marked with many social activities across the country, particularly, the capital city, Accra.
However, the major event which was organized in the hometown of Kwame Nkrumah was the lecture chaired by Professor Ivan Addai Mensah, former Vice Chancellor of University of Ghana.
Speakers at the event, chronicled the legacy of the greatest African and called for concerted effort to recognize the contribution of the first president in the development of the country.
He was eulogized for leading the campaign against imperialists, and masterminded the political structural instruments that earned Africa unconditional liberation from colonial rule.
Members of Parliament from Nzema, Hon. Emmanuel Armah Kofi-Buah and Hon. Catherine Afeku, were present to grace the solemn occasion.
Addressing the gathering, they explained why it was necessary for Ghanaians to continue to celebrate the African giant for the immense contribution he personally made to conscientize Africans against supremacists.
Speaking on the topic, “Tourism in Ghana: The role of Nkrumah’s legacy in national development” the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Hon. Catherine Afeku explained the development programs being churned out by the ministry to boost tourism and development in the Nzema area and many parts of the country.
Emmanuel Armah Kofi-Buah, who delivered the keynote address said it was necessary to celebrate the excellent legacy of the African hero considering its impact in the country.
“He was the first to change Ghana into a shining star of Africa. The foundation that he laid in Ghana had never been matched and would never ever be matched”, he emphasized.
He said, Kwame Nkrumah demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that he was capable of developing the country with his own God given ideologies because he was visionary. “He was a visionary. He was forever the first”
He catalogued the policies, programs and projects of the kingpin describing them as first of a kind in the continent of Africa.
These, he said spanned from education, airport, harbour, science and technology, infrastructure, industrialization, housing facilities, among other notable state assets that he rolled out for national development.
Aside that, the principles that underpinned the campaign Kwame Nkrumah waged before independence, after independence and subsequently his passing, all remain relevant today, he said.
He therefore appealed to Ghanaian leaders, and electorates to emulate the sacrificial shining example of the founder of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) to improve governance in the country.
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah broke away from the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) on ideological grounds and formed the CPP, which subsequently gave birth to Ghana’s independence in 1957.
For the youth of Ghana, he said they must endeavour to inculcate in themselves the habit of honesty, patriotism, and selflessness which were sensitively the remarkable traits in the freedom fighter and Pan Africanist who died outside the country when his administration was truncated and wickedly overthrown.
Nana Mintah Kumi, Western Regional Chairman of Convention Peoples Party (CPP) whose address centered on circumstances that led to the neglect of Nkroful, where Kwame Nkrumah was born, explained why Ghanaians must begin to embrace the farming community as one of the country’s domestic tourism stations.
Speaking on the topic “Returning to our root: A journey to Nkroful” the CPP Chairman described Nkroful as the Mecca of Ghana though abandoned by successive governments.
He called on Ghanaians to patronize the community and make it vibrant for migrants as done in Mecca by the Arabs in Saudi Arabia.
He wants Ghanaians to make Nkroful equally attractive to both locals and outsiders especially foreigners visiting the country on tourism grounds.
He believes doing that would make the historic town an important site for revenue mobilization particularly when increased tourists visitation begin to show results.