Today would have marked her 93rd birthday if she were still alive.

Former First Lady Fathia Nkrumah holds a near-mythical place in postcolonial Ghanaian history. Her skin colour mattered as she was not a Black African.

Her native country mattered as Egypt is ancient, biblical, and mystical.

Yet, she is primarily known for one thing; being the wife of Ghana’s first president.

Read the full story originally published on June 15, 2024, by www.ghanaweb.com.

Without the light and glamour of her husband’s eminence, Fathia remains largely unknown to those who should know her. This is unsurprising, as Nkrumah towered over most who stood close to him.

Of course, there is also the age-old tradition in which women are expected to passively adorn and humanize their husbands, leaving their own stories untold.

But Fathia Halim Ritzk held her own. Born into a middle-class Egyptian family in 1932, she was raised by her widowed mother alongside four siblings. Her father, a clerk at a telephone company in Cairo, passed away when she was young.

Her family was Coptic. She attended Zeitoun’s Notre Dame des Apôtres (Our Lady of the Apostles), where she became fluent in French.

After school, Fathia briefly taught at her alma mater but found little enthusiasm for the job. Instead, she pursued work at a bank where fate and politics found her.

The path to becoming Mrs. Nkrumah

About 2,500 miles southwest of Egypt, a young intellectual was becoming a thorn in the side of the British colonial government in the Gold Coast.

Kwame Nkrumah had quickly established himself as the people’s man in the country he would later lead to independence. The colonial administrators were displeased.

When Nkrumah impregnated Isis Nashid, an Egyptian working for the colonial government, he had to keep it hidden.

In a little-known story revealed in 2015 by Souad El Rouby Sinare, Nashid had to leave Nkrumah and the Gold Coast, returning to Egypt, where she quickly married to avoid the shame of having a child out of wedlock.

Nkrumah, meanwhile, remained focused on the freedom struggle.

Shortly after the episode with Nashid, businessman and personal friend Said Saleh Sinare convinced Nkrumah to find a wife, preferably the woman who had borne his child in Egypt.

Instead of Nashid, however, they found Fathia, who was available and willing.

Souad Sinare recounted, “When we informed Dr. Nkrumah of our find of a bride-to-be, he was very happy. He even informed the President of Egypt, Gamel Abdel Nasser, who was pleased that his friend had decided to marry from his country.”

Fathia and Nkrumah had never met before. But she was excited even though her mother disapproved of the idea of marrying a foreigner.

Her brother had already married an English woman in the 1950s and moved away. Fathia tried to convince her mother that Nkrumah, like Nasser, was a freedom fighter. But the older woman would not be swayed.

Determined, Fathia traveled to Ghana in 1957 to marry a man she knew only by reputation. She arrived with only one uncle, without her family’s blessings.

A life in Ghana

Fathia’s first son, Gamel Nkrumah, later reflected on his mother’s isolation, “The new bride, who had cut herself off from her family and country by marrying Nkrumah, was isolated in more ways than one.”

She spoke little to no English, and Nkrumah spoke neither French nor Arabic. But she was determined that by the end of her first year in Ghana, she was delivering speeches in English.

Despite the initial language barrier, Fathia was happy not only in her marriage but also in Ghana. Unlike Egypt, Ghanaian society in the early 1960s was not as conservative.

The Ghanaian women she met were fiercely independent, educated, and wealthy. She endeared herself to a powerful group of “market women” who controlled the trade of wax prints and the famous traditionally woven kente cloth.

So influential were these women that they named a type of kente after her, “Fathia fata Nkrumah” Akan for “Fathia is perfect for Nkrumah.”

But before winning their admiration, she faced resentment. The women’s wing of Nkrumah’s own Convention People’s Party (CPP) was outraged that he was marrying a “white woman.”

They openly expressed their disappointment. Nkrumah had to reassure them that, despite her skin color, Fathia was African.

This tension mirrors modern debates about the Africanness of North Africans.

Some also questioned whether Nkrumah saw Fathia as a tool for his Pan-Africanist ambitions.

Gamel Nkrumah once wrote, “It was not meant to be a marriage made in heaven. It was a political union between Mediterranean-oriented North Africa and the rest of the continent, often pejoratively termed sub-Saharan or Black Africa.”

Carina Ray, writing in 2006, also noted, “The US State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) were rumored to be primarily concerned with whether the marriage was intended to create a political union between Egypt and Ghana.”

Whether she was a political pawn or a beloved wife, Fathia Nkrumah found purpose in her role and played it well.

Before traveling to Ghana, she had spoken to President Nasser, who wanted to ensure she truly wished to become the wife of a powerful man from a distant land.

The young woman reiterated her readiness perhaps naively.

Despite cultural shocks and Ghana’s vastly different climate, Fathia hosted some of the world’s most powerful leaders, acting as an unofficial envoy for her country.

Life after Kwame Nkrumah

In 1966, when Fathia’s eldest child was only seven, Nkrumah was overthrown in a coup. Fathia, then just 34, fled with her three children to Egypt once again an outsider looking in.

It is unclear if she ever saw Nkrumah again before his death in 1972.

Still, her ties to Ghana remained.

She was invited to return, and in 1979, she cradled Nkrumah’s mother, Nyaneba, in her arms as the 102-year-old matriarch passed away.

Feeling that those who truly loved her were gone, Fathia left Ghana again this time by choice.

She returned in 1997 for Ghana’s 40th independence anniversary.

In 2007, she passed away in Cairo at the age of 75.

Fathia had been a young woman with grand convictions but was also a victim of political machinations.

Above all, she had dared to follow her dreams and that is what likely matters most.

By Kingsley Mamore

Bitaba (O/R), Feb 22, GNA – In a gesture aimed at promoting educational development, Madam Paulina Magyam, the Oti Regional Women’s Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has donated 25 bicycles to students from the Bitaba community. 

Madam Magyam said the bicycles would facilitate daily movement for female students traveling from Bitaba to Kpassa, a distance of 10 kilometres, promoting regular attendance and academic progress. 

Madam Magyam, speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), emphasised the importance of addressing the challenges faced by students, including the high rate of teenage pregnancy in the community and Nkwanta North. 

Ms Magyam expressed appreciation to donors and partners for their support in empowering the next generation of women leaders. 

Madam Gbande Sarah, the Constituency Women Organiser, praised the women’s wing of Oti for their efforts in improving education in the community.  

Mr. Abel Nkumyul, the Headteacher of Bitaba R/C Primary School, expressed gratitude to the NDC and Madam Magyam for their enthusiasm in improving the educational system in the villages. 

He said the bicycles would greatly facilitate daily attendance, easing the challenges students face in commuting to school. 

GNA 

Gregory Afoko is being prosecuted over the murder of former NPP regional chairman Adams Mahama

Gregory Afoko’s lawyer, Nana Yaw Osei, has revealed the harrowing ordeal his client endured during his 10-year detention in prison.

According to a report by Citi Newsroom, Osei stated that Afoko, a brother of former NPP chairman Paul Afoko, who is being prosecuted for the murder of former NPP Upper East Regional Chairman Adams Mahama suffered severe mistreatment while in prison.

He explained that Afoko lived in constant fear of dying in prison due to a lack of adequate healthcare.

“He has been in continuous pain and is always unhappy because when he falls sick, he does not receive competent medical attention. The risk of dying in prison or custody constantly haunts him,” Osei said.

The lawyer further disclosed that Afoko developed a swollen arm while in prison, yet for over six years, he did not receive proper medical care.

“As we speak, he has a swollen upper arm. When he was taken into custody, he did not have that condition. The swelling has been there for the past five to six years,” Osei stated on Eyewitness News on Citi FM on Friday, February 21, 2025.

He added that his client would have sought the necessary medical treatment had he not been unjustly detained by the state for all these years.

Background:

The Accra High Court has granted Gregory Afoko bail set at GH¢500,000 with two sureties, following nearly ten years on remand for the murder of Adams Mahama, a former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Upper East Regional Chairman.

As part of the bail conditions, Afoko’s sureties must possess verified landed properties.

Additionally, he must report to the chief investigator, the regional crime officer in Accra, or the Director General of the CID every two weeks until the case is concluded.

Afoko and his co-defendant, Asabke, who was previously convicted and sentenced to death for conspiracy, are now facing a retrial for murder, with charges of conspiracy to commit murder and murder.

They are accused of pouring acid on Adams Mahama, leading to his death on May 20, 2015.

According to court documents, on May 14, 2015, Gregory Afoko’s brother, Paul Afoko, and then-NPP General Secretary Kwabena Agyepong traveled to Bolgatanga for a meeting.

The prosecution stated that Adams Mahama, angered by their presence, mobilized a group of thugs to attack them, disrupting their planned meeting at the Azumsolon Guest House.

Although the police restored order, Afoko, upset by the attack, confronted Mahama but was chased away by the thugs.

The prosecution further alleged that Gregory Afoko and Asabke later formed a youth group to protect individuals perceived to be against Nana Akufo-Addo’s presidential bid.

They reportedly held a series of meetings, and on May 20, 2015, they ambushed Mahama at his residence with a substance suspected to be acid.

That night, Mahama returned home around 11:10 p.m. in his pickup truck (registration number NR 761–14). As he parked in front of his house, the suspects approached and signaled him to roll down his window.

Recognizing them as party members, Mahama lowered his window to speak with them. Suddenly, the suspects poured the acid-like substance on his head, face, and body before fleeing on a motorbike.

Hearing his screams for help, Adams Mahama’s wife, Hajia Zenabu Adams, rushed to his aid and managed to pull him out of the vehicle. In the process, she sustained burns on the right side of her chest and breast.

When she asked what had happened, Mahama allegedly identified Gregory Afoko and Asabke as his attackers.

Adams Mahama later succumbed to his injuries while being airlifted to Accra for treatment.

BAI/MA

Meanwhile, you can also watch the latest compilation of Twi news below:

Also, watch some videos of GhanaWeb CEO’s interview with the Minister of Climate Change and Sustainability

Former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has issued a stark warning to President John Dramani Mahama, urging him to resist the influence of sycophants and prioritize substantive governance over political rhetoric.

Referencing a cautionary statement made years ago by the late economist Cadman Mills, Amidu criticized the culture of blind loyalty within Ghana’s political leadership, which he argued has historically derailed accountability and progress.

“When Cadman Mills called out sycophancy during your previous administration, your allies vilified him. But he was right—those who flatter without conscience will praise you into failure if you let them,” Amidu stated. His remarks underscored a recurring tension in Ghanaian politics, where critiques of leadership are often dismissed as disloyalty rather than constructive dissent.

Amidu further challenged Mahama to break from what he described as a cyclical pattern of governance marked by reliance on external loans and bailouts. He dismissed the president’s recent characterization of Ghana as an “economic crime scene” as a recycled justification for austerity measures, noting that successive governments since 2001 have employed similar narratives to rationalize borrowing or seeking relief programs like HIPC. “Ghanaians elected you to solve problems, not to condition them for another round of debt. Deliver on your promises—walk your pre-election can-do talk,” Amidu asserted.

The critique comes amid renewed public skepticism about political accountability. Amidu emphasized that voters are disillusioned with leaders who deflect responsibility by blaming predecessors. “Every government under the 1992 Constitution has played this blame game. The electorate isn’t naïve—they want to know what you are doing differently,” he said, calling for transparency and measurable reforms rather than “worn-out excuses.”

Political analysts suggest Amidu’s comments reflect broader frustrations over Ghana’s entrenched economic challenges and the perceived gap between campaign pledges and actionable policies. As Mahama navigates his administration’s priorities, observers note that the public’s patience for rhetorical pivots has worn thin, with demands for tangible solutions growing louder. The caution against sycophants, meanwhile, serves as a reminder of the risks of insulating leadership from critical voices—a dilemma that has plagued administrations across the political spectrum.

Amidu’s intervention highlights a pivotal test for Mahama: balancing political survival with the urgent need to address systemic issues, all while resisting the seductive ease of surrounding oneself with uncritical allies. For many Ghanaians, the stakes extend beyond partisan loyalty—they hinge on whether the government can translate self-awareness into meaningful change.

Minority Leader Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin clashed with renowned legal practitioner Martin Kpebu on live TV on Saturday, February 22, 2025.

Afenyo-Markin called into TV3’s The KeyPoints to refute an allegation made by the Majority Chief Whip, Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor, that he used to “drive around with a 50-military-vehicle convoy following him.”

“This is a figment of someone’s imagination. I have never had 50 military vehicles follow me,” Afenyo-Markin fired back.

The Minority Leader explained that, like other Majority Leaders before him, he had access to a police convoy while in office.

“Haruna Iddrisu and Benjamin Kumbuor, my predecessors, had the same access. It’s about efficiency, not extravagance,” he clarified.

However, Martin Kpebu was not convinced, accusing Afenyo-Markin of being untruthful.

Kpebu insisted that Afenyo-Markin had used a military convoy while serving as Majority Leader and even claimed he could provide the names of the soldiers who were part of it.

Challenging Afenyo-Markin to confront him directly, Kpebu said, “Let us set a date for next Saturday. Let Afenyo-Markin come here!”

The lawyer then read a message from his phone, stating, “It is true that Afenyo-Markin moved with a military convoy, and among the team of soldiers was my own cousin.”

He reiterated his challenge, saying, “Please, let him come here next week. What is this? Let him come here next Saturday, and we will show him the names.”

But Martin Kpebu’s remarks did not sit well with Afenyo-Markin, who accused him of being unfair and disrespectful.

“I thought we had put the matter to a peaceful rest… I don’t think that Mr. Martin Kpebu is being fair in the things he is saying about me.

“If he says he received a text message, is that where we are taking Ghana to? I’m saying it is a lie; it is not true,”* the Minority Leader fumed.

He then threatened legal action against both the media house and Martin Kpebu.

“TV3, either you call him to retract his statement on the program, or I will take legal action, and he will have to produce his evidence in court. This is getting out of hand,” he warned.

As Afenyo-Markin spoke, Kpebu could be heard dismissing the legal threat, insisting that he had proof that the former Majority Leader used a military convoy while in office.

Watch a video of the exchanges below:

Hehe 😂Afenyo Markin the leader of the mini Micro minority vrs Lawyer Martin Kpebu.

I thought NPP have boycotted Media General,Tv3, 3Fm,Onua Tv/Radio etc 🤦🏽. pic.twitter.com/sL8B0YMF0n

— Aristotlektv (@aristotledada) February 22, 2025

BAI/MA

Meanwhile, you can also watch the latest compilation of Twi news below:

Also, watch some videos of GhanaWeb CEO’s interview with the Minister of Climate Change and Sustainability

National Communications Director of the NPP, Richard Ahiagbah

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has criticized the recently announced 10% base pay increase for public sector workers, describing it as insufficient and a disservice to workers.

According to the party, the increment does not adequately address the rising cost of living and fails to reflect the hard work and dedication of public sector employees.

This criticism follows an agreement between the government and organized labour to implement a 10% base pay increase across the board for public sector workers.

Speaking to Starr News, the NPP’s National Communications Director, Richard Ahiagbah, stated that the increase falls short of what is needed to improve workers’ welfare.

“This is an attempt to persuade workers into accepting the government’s approach. Ghanaian workers deserve much better, especially from a government that relied heavily on rhetoric, claiming to have a ‘magic formula’ to turn the economy around. After making grand promises in exchange for votes, offering a mere 10% increase is an insult.”

“What we’ll hear moving forward is that the government will blame the previous Akufo-Addo administration without offering any meaningful change. The truth is, they don’t have a solid plan. Now, they are preparing for economic consultations to figure out what to do. One would expect that a government that spent the last eight years criticizing its predecessor would have come into power with a well-thought-out plan.”

“Ghanaians deserve better. If nothing else, the government should at least match the previous increase from July to December 2024, which was 25%. Why can’t they do the same, if not better? A 10% increase is a downgrade with no real progress. This is a disservice to workers and proves that the NDC government used empty promises and rhetoric to win power without a true plan to improve the lives of Ghanaians,” he added.