50 Years Later Ghana Stands As Trailblazer for African Independence
Chicago Defender › August 19, 2009
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Summary
Educated elites had formed a political party they wanted [Kwame Nkrumah] to lead, but they were more interested in keeping what little power they had than gaining independence. He then launched his own party - the Convention People's Party, and with the rallying cry, "Independence now!," unified a nation. That brought him prison time, but it was too late for the colonial government to stifle the independence cry: It held elections, in which Nkrumah won by a landslide. In 1952, he was appointed prime minister, and, by 1957 Ghana came out from under the British Crown. But Nkrumah realized that Ghana's independence would have little meaning if the rest of Africa didn't follow suit.
Nkrumah also started industrialization in Ghana, which he believed vital to breaking the nation's economic dependence on the West, by building the costly Akosombo Dam and Tema Harbour - at the expense of the nation's cash crop - cocoa. seemingly authoritarian actions brought international sanctions that, coupled with a collapsing world cocoa market, undermined the country's economy, paving the way for a CIA-backed coup in 1966.See the full content of this document
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50 Years Later Ghana Stands As Trailblazer for African Independence
In early March, thousands of Ghanaians hit the streets of their West African nation to celebrate a truly momentous event - the 50th anniversary of its independence from Britain.
On M...See the full content of this document
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