COURSE OUTLINE
HANDOUT 1
HANDOUT 2
GHANA UNDER NKRUMAHGHANA UNDER NKRUMAH
Economic policies and developments
Development Plans
• Nkrumah launched comprehensive development plans to for Ghana’s social
and economic development. These plans were:
1. Five-Year Development Plan (1952-1957) estimated at £100 million to
revamp educational, health and sanitation facilities, construct rural
electrification projects and small industries as well as conduct feasibility
studies on the construction of the Volta River Hydroelectric project.
2. Five-Year Development Plan (1959-1964) with an estimated £350 million
was to be spent on agriculture, improving education, constructing the
Volta River Hydroelectric project and the establishment of public
corporations.
3. The Seven-Year Development Plan (1963-2970) was to tackle
industrialization in the country but was terminated following the
overthrow of Nkrumah in 1966.
Trade Policy
• Initially, Nkrumah adopted a free trade policy, a policy which removed trade
barriers in order to boost trade and speed up development in the country.
• To this end, Nkrumah reduced corporate tax from 45% to 40% in 1958, granted tax
reliefs to new industries, exemptions from custom duties on raw materials and
semi-raw materials for manufacturing, and granting of interest-free loans expatriate
mining companies that were not making profits. The essence was to attract foreign
capital into Ghana for economic development.
• Tariff barriers were not erected to protect local infant industries. Both local and
foreign industries were given the same leverage to compete on the Ghanaian market.
• This policy was significant because it attracted huge foreign capital and
manufactured goods into Ghana.
• The policy gave Ghana a good image in the eyes of the West and the World, thus
paving the way for the country on liberal terms for his development projects.
• Adversely, the policy affected the growth of Ghanaian indigenous
industries as they could not compete with the giant foreign industries.
• The policy also led to loss of revenue for the country. It is estimated that
the country lost about £7 million annually from tax exemptions, interest
free loans, among others.
• After 1960, Nkrumah changed the free trade policy and imposed
restrictions on trade. The state but not individuals or capitalist took the
centre stage in economic activities.
• Nkrumah established the Ghana National Trading Corporation (GNTC) to
control retail trade in Ghana.
• Import licenses were also issued to control the importation of goods into
the country.
Marketing of Cocoa
• Nkrumah established the Farmers’ Co-operative Marketing and the Ghana
Co-operative Marketing Association, which were by 1960, bought 50% of
the cocoa in Ghana through licensed Ghanaian agents.
• By 1960 almost all the expatriate cocoa in Ghana had ceased to operate.
Financial Institutions
• In 1952, Nkrumah established the Ghana Commercial Bank.
• In 1957, Nkrumah established the Central Bank of Ghana with the sole
duty of issuing the currency in circulation in Ghana as well as performing
similar functions as performed by all Central Banks.
• From 1960 onwards, Nkrumah put in place measures to shift banking to the
Ghana Commercial Bank. For example, a civil servant could only get a car
loan if he/she had an account with the GCB. In addition, cocoa buying
agents could only buy and pay for cocoa through the GCB.
• The result was that by 1964 the shares of the GCB had increased to 50%
• In 1962, the State Insurance Corporation was established and by 1966 it
controlled by 50% of insurance transactions in Ghana.
Mining
• In 1961, the State Mining Corporation was established and took over 6 out of the 7 gold mines in Ghana.
• By 1965, the Ashanti Gold Field was the only foreign gold mining
company in Ghana.
• Nkrumah also established the State Diamond Corporation which took over
the prospecting of diamond from Ghanaian foreign companies with the
exception three foreign companies – CAST, AYCO and Akim Concessions.
The Volta Dam
• Nkrumah realized that the key to economic development was the provision
of cheap electricity. Therefore Nkrumah made the construction of
hydroelectric project his priority.
• He obtained a loan of £69 million from the USA, Britain and the World
Bank. The Government of Ghana and the Volta Aluminium Company
contributed £3.5 million and £12 million, respectively.
• The construction of the project began on 23 January 1962 and was
completed in 1966. It was commissioned on 22 January 1966, barely a month to his overthrow.
Industrialization
• Seeing industrialization as the backbone of Ghana’s economic development,
Nkrumah set out to establish industries.
• A number of state-owned and partly state-owned industries were established across
the country.
• The industries opened up the country for economic activities and provided
employment opportunities for Ghanaians.
• The strategic location of the factories stimulated economic activities across the
country. Industries such as Pwalugu Tomato Factory, the Komenda Sugar Industry,
the Bolga Leather Industry, Ceramics Factory at Saltpond, the Tema Food Complex,
Tema Oil Refinery, and the Kumasi Shoe Factory were located in areas where raw
materials or skills were available.
• Others such as the State Farms Corporation and Ghana National Trading
Corporation had branches all over the country, stimulating economic development
and providing employment.
• Nkrumah’s critics criticized claiming that the pace of industrialization in Ghana
under his regime was reckless.
• Nkrumah’s industries did not yield the expected results for a number of reasons:
1.
The industries generally were established without necessary pre-investment
feasibility surveys.
2.
The industries required skilled labour to manage them. However, due to
Nkrumah’s Africanization policy which was intended to Africanize the civil
service, there were few Ghanaians with the requisite managerial skills to run the
industries.
3.
The political landscape in Ghana during Nkrumah’s era affected the output of the
industries. The political antagonism between the CPP and the opposition and the
so-called Nkrumah’s political witch-hunting of his opponents did not allow the
opposition to cooperate with Nkrumah or bring their vast skilled labour to support
Nkrumah’s industrialization policy.
•
The result was that by 1965 there were visible poor results in the industrial sector
as many of them declared losses or operated below capacity.
•
Nkrumah’s critics argue that the reckless pace in the establishment of industries
by Nkrumah was the cause of the increase in Ghana’s external debts from £20
million at independence to £400 by February 1966.
• This criticism is far-fetched. There was no doubt that the huge capital investment in
the industrial sector invariably contributed in increasing Ghana’s external debts.
The total external debts were a product of the accumulation of capital investments
in all sectors of the economy.
• Given the unprecedented huge visible physical developments in the social and
economic fields in Ghana during Nkrumah’s era and given the fact that financial
capital for such projects was in the form of loans, it was quite inevitable that the
external debts of the country would increased significantly.
• If one made a quantitative analysis of projects such as the Volta River Hydroelectric
project, the construction of the Tema Motorway, construction of Tema township, the
Job 600, the establishment of University College of Education (Cape Coast), the
establishment of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the
establishment of medical school in Korle Bu, the opening up of the economy
through the construction of roads, railways, schools, communication lines, and
health facilities, among others, one would say that but for the judicious and
incorruptible use of the public purse, the external debts of Ghana under Nkrumah
would have been far higher than £400 million.
Agriculture
• Nkrumah boosted agriculture through a diversification policy by which
farmers were encouraged to venture into the cultivation of various crops.
• Mechanized farming was encouraged and fertilizers were distributed to
farmers at affordable prices.
• Nkrumah replaced the Agricultural Corporation with the State Farms
Corporation (SFC) in 1963.
• The SFC was tasked to engage in large-scale mechanized farming across
the country.
• Agricultural specialists were recruited to work in the various stations of the
SFC to ensure that it achieved its targets.
• By 1966, the SFC had 105 farms across the country and had acquired a
total of 405,000 hectares of land though only about 82,000 hectares of the
land were put into effective use Agbodeka (1992, 80) .
• Various cash crops such as oil palm, banana, coconut, kola nuts and food
crops were cultivated.
•
The establishment of the corporation was significant because:
1. It became a conduit through which information on agricultural
technology and methods was disseminated to farmers across the
country.
2. The farms of the corporation became models for farmers.
3. Agric officers of different professions were attached to the farms
of the corporation and therefore delivered the services of such
agric specialists to the doorpost of needing farmers.
•
To improve the technical base for agriculturalists, Nkrumah
expanded the facilities for the study of agriculture in the University
of Ghana and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and
Technology.
•
The Builders Brigade was renamed Workers Brigade and it was to
operate mainly in the agricultural sector.
Social developments
Education
• Education received a major focus of the Nkrumah government. Nkrumah
launched an educational plan to revamp education in the country.
1. By 1951 when the CPP came to power, there were only 1,083 Primary
Schools across the country. By 1957, the number had increased to 3,571.
2. The number of Middle Schools increased from 539 in 1951 to 2,277 in
1966.
3. The number of Universities increased from 1 to 3. The government also
established the Institute of Public Administration for professional
education.
4. The Research Council was established in 1958 to promote and co-
ordinate research and study of sciences in the country. There was also the
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
5. The National Council for Higher (Tertiary) Education was established in
1962 to supervise tertiary education in the country.
• Nkrumah established the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission at Kwabenya
was established tasked to acquire an atomic reactor to research into the use
of nuclear energy in food and seed preservation as well as insect control
measures.
• Nkrumah’s government facilitated the establishment of the West African
Examination Council (WAEC) and by 1960 WAEC had taken over from
the Cambridge University Local Examination Syndicate as a body
responsible for examination in British West Africa.
• Nkrumah established the Committee of Vernacular Literature Bureau to
consider the local languages for use on national radio. The committee
recommended the use of Akan (Fante and Twi), Ewe, Ga, Nzema, Hausa
and Dagbani.
• To promote Ghanaian culture, established the Arts Council. Various drama
troupes were formed to produce local entertainment packages.
• The Institute of African Studies was established to provide education on
African history, religion, music and culture.
Health Facilities
• Nkrumah constructed numerous health facilities across the country. The
notable ones were the Okomfo Anokye Hospital in Kumasi and the Efia-
Nkwanta Hospital in Sekondi.
• Nkrumah established the Medical School in Korle Bu to train medical
officers locally.
• Scholarships were given to medical students to study medicine abroad. By
1960, over 400 Ghanaians had benefited from the scholarship scheme.
Communication and Transport
• Nkrumah established a number of communication and transportation
networks in the form of roads and railways.
• Prominent among them were the Tema-Accra motorway, Kumasi-Accra
trunk road, Kumasi-Tamale road, Accra-Takoradi-Axim-Tarkwa road.
• The Atimpoku/Senchi and the Sogakope bridges were constructed on the
Volta River to connect trunk roads in the Volta Region and those in the
Southern part of the country.
• The Black Star Line (State Shipping Corporation) was established in 1958 to handle
all merchant shipping in the country.
• He established the Ghana Airways Corporation in 1958 to carry out air services in the country.
Political Policies
Rationale for Nkrumah’s Political Policies
The support base for the CPP
•
The CPP won a landslide victory by capturing 72 out of the 104 seats but it did
not get a landslide victory of the popular votes. It won 391817 out of 706,740,
representing 55.4% of the popular votes. The opposition parties won 314,923
representing 44.6% of popular votes.
•
In the 1956 elections, the CPP garnered 398,141 with the opposition getting
299,116 out of 697,257, giving a difference of only 99,025 votes.
•
The CPP’s slim popular votes over the opposition. Was worrisome and could be
challenged or eroded off in future elections. Nkrumah’s political policies were
therefore to weaken the opposition and increase the support base of the CPP.
The political situation in Ghana
• Since the formation of the NLM, Ghana witnessed acts of vandalism
and hooliganism.
• The NLM patronized beating, maiming and destruction of properties
of its opponents to entrench its support base and strength in its
strongholds, particularly in Kumasi. Through this method, it
succeeded in sacking CPP members from Kumasi.
• Violence, murders, bombings, which are today acts of terrorism,
were orchestrated in the country by the NLM.
• Nkrumah himself was not spared as many attempts were made on
his life.
• The political policies of Nkrumah were intended to put an end to the
culture of hooliganism or vandalism.
National Unity and sanctity
• Multi-party elections in Ghana polarized the country and created structures
for conflict.
• The reverence for chiefs began to wane as subjects took advantage of
political cleavages to undermine their authority.
• Politics in the country was ethnicized, regionalized and given religious
connotations.
• Immigrants hid behind politics and flouted Ghanaian laws and engaged in
all kinds of dubious business activities.
• The political policies of Nkrumah were intended build national unity,
identity and sanctity to pursue a common destiny as Ghanaians.
The position of the CPP in some regions
• The CPP was an unpopular in some regions, particularly in Ashanti and the
Northern Territories. Some of the political measures of the CPP were
intended to break the political monopoly of the opposition in their
strongholds.
Break the authority of the Regional Assemblies
• The Regional Assemblies had autonomous political jurisdiction over their
respective regions. Nkrumah wanted to reduce them to advisory bodies.
Political Measure
• The political measures initiated by Nkrumah included the following:
Destoolment of Chiefs
• As chiefs were the centre of traditional authority, Nkrumah sought to win
their allegiance to the CPP.
• Therefore, efforts were made to destool anti-CPP chiefs and committees
were set up to investigate them.
• In Akyem Abuakwa, the CPP moved the seat of government of the Akyem
to Old Tafo (a CPP town) in order to whittle down the anti-CPP ferment in
the Okyeni’s palace.
• In 1958, the Okyeman Council suspended Nana Kwabena Kena II,
Adontenhene who was pro-CPP. The CPP government set up a committee
to investigate the Okyehene, and he was found guilty of abusing his powers
• On 13 June 1958, the Okyehene was destooled and the Adontenhene was installed
in his place.
Deportation Act
• Passed in July 1957, the act empowered the CPP government to deport any alien
whose activities were detrimental to the political state of affairs in the state.
• The act was applied selectively – it was applied to deport aliens in support of the
opposition.
• Alhaji Baba Ahmadu and Alhaji Lalemi (two Nigerians) who financed the
opposition were deported under this act.
• On 28 January 1958 cabinet granted citizenship to CPP Secretary General Cecil
Forde, a Sierra Leone while at the same time Bankole Timothy (another Sierra
Leonean) who was editor of the Daily Graphic was deported from Ghana.
• The argument for the discriminatory use of the act was that it was beneficial to
Ghana if deserving persons are allowed to enjoyed Ghanaian citizenship if they
have shown that they were truly loyal to the Government.
• In essence, the act was used to cripple the opposition to shorn off the financial support and support of any kind it obtained from aliens
Avoidance of Discrimination Act
• The Act was passed in December 1957 with the objective of ensuring that all
political parties and associations were not organized along ethnic, regional and
religious lines.
• By this Act, almost all political parties in Ghana with the exception of the CPP were
made illegal.
• All the opposition parties responded to this Act for forming the United Party (UP)
under the leadership of Dr. K.A. Busia.
• Thus, instead of weakening the opposition parties, the Avoidance of Discrimination
Act rather strengthened them by bringing them together as one political party for
the first time in the 1950s.
Emergency Power Act
• The Act empowered Nkrumah with emergency powers to create new regions
without necessarily subjecting it for approval in a plebiscite.
• This Act was applied to the Ashanti Region for the creation of the Brong Ahafo
Region.
• On 4 April 1959, the Brong Ahafo Region was created by the Brong Ahafo Act No.
18 of 1959.
• The boundaries of the region were defined as consisting of the northern and western
parts of the Ashanti Region as well as the Yeji and Prang areas which were hitherto
part of the Northern Territories.
• In 1960, an Act was passed on 29 June 1960 to divide the Northern Territories into
two regions – Northern Region with its capital in Tamale, and Upper Region with
its capital at Bolgatanga.
Preventive Detention Act (PDA)
• The PDA which was passed in July 1958 empowered the CPP government to arrest
and detain without trial anybody suspected or found acting in a manner prejudicial
to the defence of Ghana, to her relations with other states and to state security.
• The PDA was passed due to the political insecurity in the country due to series
attacks and rumours of impeding attacks or possible overthrow of Nkrumah.
Through the barrel of the gun.
• It was rumoured that R.R. Amponsah, the Secretary-General of the UP, had had
bought some military equipment from London to destabilize Nkrumah’s govement.
• It was also rumoured that one Mr. Oppavor, an Austrian, had ordered the
shipment of 1000 tons of grenade into the country.
• It was also rumoured that the French Government had given £1 million to
Dr. K.A. Busia, the leader of the opposition, to help him carry out a coup
d'état.
• The PDA was used to arrest and detain many opposition figures including
J.B. Danquah, R.R. Amponsah, Victor Owusu, J. Kwesi Lamptey, and Fred
Sarpong.
• There were also former CPP members such as Fred P.K.K Quaidoo and
W.A. Wiafe.
• By 1960 there were 586 people in detention, and by 1966 the number of the
opposition in parliament had reduced from 32 to 16 as three were detained,
one was in exile and 12 had crossed carpet to the government side.
• Thus, the PDA effectively weakened the opposition both within and outside
parliament.
• As critics of the government in parliament and in the media were regarded were
arrested and detained without trial as they were branded as attempting to destabilize
the country, criticism of Nkrumah’s government within the boundaries of Ghana
reduced radically or ceased outright.
• Through the PDA, Nkrumah was said to have “terrorized” the opposition into
submission and created a culture of silence.
Rejection of the Independence Constitution
• Through a referendum characterized by irregularities and violence, Nkrumah
replaced the 1954 Constitution with a Republican Constitution.
• The referendum was held on 27 April 1960 to change the status of Ghana from a
Constitutional Monarchy with the Queen of England represented by an appointive
Governor-General as the Head of State to a presidential system of government.
• Presidential elections were held alongside the plebiscite.
• Two candidates and political parties contested the elections – Dr. Kwame Nkrumah
of the CPP and J.B. Danquah of the UP.
• Nkrumah won with a landslide victory and was sworn in as the president of Ghana
under the Republican Constitution on 1 July 1960, replacing Governor-General
William Hare.
(The 1960 Plebiscite)
Choice
Vote
For (YES)
1,008,740
88.47%
Against (NO)
131,425
11.53%
Total
1,140,165
100%
No. of Registered Voters
2,098,651
Voter Turn Out
(The 1960 Presidential Election)
Candidate
Party
Vote
Percentage
Kwame Nkrumah
CPP
1,016,076
89.07%
J.B. Danquah
UP
124,623
10.93%
Total
1,140,699
100%
Registered Voters
2,098,651
• In a 1964, amendments were made the Republican Constitution to make Ghana a
one-party state and increase the powers of Nkrumah.
•
A plebiscite was held to accept the amendments to the constitution.
•
A total of 2,773,930 (92.8%) voted Yes for the amendments while 4462 (7.2%)
voted No.
•
By this victory, all political parties in the country became illegal.
•
It made it almost impossible for Nkrumah to be voted out of power through the
ballot box. The obvious option was to remove him through the barrel of the gun.
Effects of Nkrumah’s Political Policies
1.
The policies restored an atmosphere of order and security in the country.
2.
The policies strengthened and entrenched the position and support base of the
CPP throughout Ghana.
3.
The policies weakened the opposition and drove them into political inactivity
while at the same time strengthened the powers of Nkrumah and made it almost
impossible for him to be removed from office legitimately through the ballot box.
The political policies set the stage for the removal of Nkrumah through the barrel
of the gun.
THE CIAAND THE FALL OF NKRUMAH
• The reasons that accounted for the CIA’s orchestration of the overthrow of Kwame
Nkrumah included the following:
1.
Kwame Nkrumah’s move away from a purely western orientation towards one
that was non-aligned and pan-Africanist, which moved his government too close
to communism, posed a threat to the democratic ideals of the US.
2.
Nkrumah’s dispatch of a large contingent of 2,340 soldiers, and 370 police to
assist the Congolese government of Kasavabu and Lumumba in the Congolese
civil war angered the US as the US Government was strongly opposed to
Lumumba who was seen as pro-Soviet and did not want him to consolidate any
power base in Congo.
3.
Nkrumah's position on all international platforms was strongly and consistently
anti-colonial and anti-imperial, which was similar to that of the USSR but at odds
with that of the US.
4.
The threat of a major US corporate project, the Kaiser Aluminum Smelter, being
nationalized compelled the US Government to welcome and support the military
coup that overthrew Nkrumah on 24 February 1966.
The CIA and the fall of Nkrumah
•
It would appear that the opposition began to contemplate on damaging Nkrumah since 1954. Soon
after losing the 15 June 1954 elections, Busia referred to Nkrumah as a “show boy” with inferior
intellect.
•
The worse was to come when Busia went to the New York City to testify before a subcommittee of
the Senate of the USA on 3 December 1962 against Nkrumah and the government of Ghana.
•
In his testimony, Busia pointed out that Nkrumah was a communist and a threat to world peace and
that the African Bureau of African Affairs of Nkrumah’s government was used for subversive
activities in other African countries.
•
In the words of Busia, “the situation in Ghana constitute a threat not only to liberty and democracy,
but to the whole continent of Africa. In the context of the East-West, the role of Ghana is a serious
threat to world peace.”
•
Testifying at a time that Nkrumah was negotiating with the US government for loans for the
construction of the Volta Hydroelectric project, Busia was asked whether it was feasible to grant the
loans to Nkrumah.
•
Busia had this to say: “ if it were to change the social structure, if it was going to mean increased
liberty for the people or the kind of democracy in the West, then that was not just there.”
•
By implication, Busia was of the view that it was not justified for the US government to grant loans
to Nkrumah’s government to construct the Volta hydroelectric project.
THE CIA AND THE FALL OF
NKRUMAH
• In all, there were three main reasons why the CIA orchestrated the coup which
overthrew Nkrumah. These were:
1.
The increase in Soviet influence in Ghana during the 1960s which turned Ghana
socialist in ideology.
2.
The fear that the Ghanaian government might nationalize a major US corporate
project, the Kaiser Aluminum Smelter, being built at the time.
3.
The increased hostility of the Government of Ghana to the US.
• The CIA was actively involved in the coup which overthrew Kwame Nkrumah.
1.
By 1965 CIA Director McCone, Ambassador Mahoney, and representatives of the
State Department were openly discussing the inevitability of a coup against
Nkrumah in the next year.
2.
Declassified US documents showed that there were close relations between the
coup plotters who overthrew Nkrumah and the intelligence services of the US as
the US government was being regularly updated by the coup plotters.
THE CIA AND THE FALL OF NKRUMAH
3. Official US documents show that the CIA had known about various coup plots
against Nkrumah for over a year, and that though the coup was postponed a number
of times, it was apparent to the US government as early as10 February 1965 that an
actual coup attempt against Nkrumah was going to be made sometime in the next
year or so.
4. By 17 February 1966 it was definitely known to the US government that a number of
important military and police officers were involved in preparing for a coup against
Nkrumah as soon as he left the country.
• The coup was orchestrated when Nkrumah was on 24 February 1966 when
Nkrumah was out of Ghana. He was at Peking (now Beijing in China) when news
of a coup reached him.
• He had travelled to Beijing en route to the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, to help end
the American war in Vietnam.
• The coup was code named Operation Cold Chop. After heavy fighting, Afrifa
succeeded in seizing the GBC and announced the overthrow of Nkrumah.
• Four great African leaders immediately offered invitation to Nkrumah for asylum.
They were Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Modibo Kaita of Mali, Sekou Toure of
Guinea, and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania.
THE CIA AND THE FALL OF NKRUMAH
• Eventually, Nkrumah decided to honour the invitation of the Guinean president for
two reasons:
1.
The two leaders shared a common Pan-Africanist objective from liberating Africa
from political and economic exploitation.
2.
There was economic co-operation between Ghana and Guinea. Nkrumah had
earlier given a loan of about £10 million to Guinea to support the country after the
French had taken their administrative machinery from the country when it gained
independence in 1958.
• Nkrumah arrived in Guinea on 2 March 1966, and upon his arrival, he was made a
co-president with Sekou Toure of the Guinean Government. This was after Sekou
Toure had earlier contemplated stepping down for Nkrumah as president of Guinea.
• Nkrumah died in Bucharest in Romania from cancer on 27 April 1972. There is,
however, a debate whether he died from skin cancer or prostrate cancer.
• Nkrumah was buried at his home town in Nkroful in the Western Region but later
his mortal remains were moved to the Nkrumah mausoleum for burial
• His casket was engraved “The Greatest African” and flown to Ghana for burial.
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