Kwame Nkrumah killed democracy in Ghana - Former President Kufuor
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has said that Ghana’s first
leader, Kwame Nkrumah, plunged the country into chaos and virtually
eradicated democracy.
Ex-President Kufuor, who was interacting with the leadership of the
International Democratic Union (IDU) which paid a courtesy call on him
at his office in Accra on Tuesday said Dr Nkrumah misused Ghana’s
resources and plunged the country into poverty.
Explaining further, he pointed out that by 1963, “our then President
Nkrumah, left of centre politician, moved the country into a one-party
state with a lot of intolerance; he built a whole prison just 22 miles
of Accra for detention of political opponents”.
He observed: “Democracy as we are espousing was virtually killed,”
and was quick to add that “by 1966 the country had had too much and it
was labouring under poverty it had never known before”.
Mr Kufuor, who served as president between 2001 and 2009, said the
country was “labouring under intolerance and people were not allowed to
express themselves [under President Nkrumah]…”
He indicated that it was after 1992 that the country became stable
and democracy was introduced and hopefully has been strengthened over
the years.
The IDU, of which the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is a member, is a
working association of over 80 Conservative, Christian Democrat and
like-minded political parties of the centre and centre right.
The NPP was able to join the IDU courtesy the intervention of Mr Kufuor when he was the president of the Republic of Ghana.
Therefore, the leadership of the Union deemed it fit to pay a
courtesy call on him before the commencement of a meeting by the IDU in
Accra.
Credit: Classfmonline
No comments
Your comments and Encouragement are welcome