(Memo: 24 March, 1962)
Continuing…
We noted in Part I that Dr. Kwame Nkrumah understood there is public policy; there is partisan policy; and there are matters that are personal.
That is another important principle, if you care for any Nation!
Now, official records, this time from Ghana, show that under authority of the Unitary state, Kwame Nkrumah’s government addressed the question of members of the national Council who were perpetually absent from meetings and neglected their duties to the people/public who elected them as a result.
In 1958, about the same time as Busia was sending secret telegrams to Washington, the CPP government passed a law. That law provided that if a member of the national Council was absent from post more than 20 sittings without good reason, that member automatically lost their seat. The 1958 law applied directly to Busia, just as to any other councilor; to any member who would leave Ghana months-on-end; to anyone who failed to attend to their public duties for which they were compensated – for their own private gain and personal interest.
We imagine this was not pleasant to the ears of Kofi Abrefa Busia, the secret telegram aficionado!
Moreover, many of these same latter-day Nkrumah bashers conveniently “forget” that the British, the colonial authority, destooled many chiefs, even exiled them, before Unitary Ghana.
More directly related to the current matter, under authority of the Unitary state, Kwame Nkrumah’s government also laid down the policy on errant chiefs who, in further pursuit of their own personal matters, misused their authority and official position. When J. B. Danquah continued propagating confederate-matemeho propaganda to chiefs, among them Busia-NLM-sympathizer the Okyenhene of Akyem Abuakwa, while they rejected the authority of the Unitary state under a democratically elected government, the CPP government under Kwame Nkrumah acted swiftly. Among the CPP actions was removal of those errant chiefs; down-grading of recalcitrant paramount chiefs; the establishment of Regional Houses of Chiefs; establishment of the National House of Chief.
Those Houses of Chiefs exist practically as they were conceptualized and implemented by Kwame Nkrumah’s CPP.
“…Interestingly enough, the right to withdraw recognition from a chief, which Nkrumah had used to crush the chiefs, wasn’t abolished by the NLC regime and the following government under Busia…//…From 1969 to 1972, he (Edward Akufo‐ Addo) even became Ceremonial President of Ghana, alongside Busia, who held all the executive powers as Prime Minister. This means that the very clan who had fought fiercely against Nkrumah and for an independent Akyem Abuakwa under the Okyenhene Nana Ofori Atta II now ruled the country. Nana Ofori Atta II returned as the leader of the Akyem, whereas Edward Akufo‐Addo, the son‐in‐law of the former Okyenhene Nana Ofori Atta I, became President and Chairman of the Constitutional Commission. But even this set of circumstances didn’t lead to a reassertion of chieftaincy in national politics…”.
That is a neutral observer speaking, critically.
That is not Prof Lungu speaking!
Fact is, Busia and his NLC coup plotters destooled chiefs many more chiefs for political reasons. And the Chiefs they installed remained subservient to Unitary Ghana under their Johnson-CIA sponsored coup on Nkrumah’s Ghana.
So, under Unitary Ghana and the destoolment of Chief, who is trying to fool who, Okoampa-Ahoofe?
Hogwash!
Dear reader, there was also this other class of “chiefs” and “chief-wanna-bees” whose nefarious activities earned righteous outrage of Nkrumah’s CPP and thus public policy response under the same Unitary Ghana construct.
According to population records, there were approximately 219,000 living in the City of Kumasi in 1960. This compared to nearly 416,000 in urban dwellers in the Accra-Tema metropolitan area, compared to Sekondi-Takoradi (124,000), and Tamale (41,000).
At a civic luncheon 24 Mar 62 to formally designate Kumasi as a “City”, most likely on attainment of the 200,000 population threshold and significant progress with respect to infrastructural development, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah made the following Ghana-centered statement on the subject of errant “chiefs” with real or apparent connections to the CPP:
MEMO — READ WORDS & EXCERPTS FROM 1962 SPEECH BY DR. KWAME NKRUMAH IN KUMASI:
“….I am grateful for the address of welcome which has just been presented to me. I also thank you for this fine reception, and the many expressions of loyalty and confidence in the Party and Government which have been made.
I have listened with great interest to the history of this Municipality which has been recounted. The improvements and the development projects which have taken place in Kumasi in recent years, represent a magnificent record, and bear testimony to the dynamism of our great Party.
Everybody knows of the horrible atrocities and treacherous manoeuvres which took place in Kumasi and in many parts of Ashanti before, and even after our independence. You, Mr. Chairman, have declared in your address that there has been a change of heart in Ashanti. I accept this assurance. Indeed, the fact that I have come here today to declare Kumasi a City should be sufficient confirmation that the Party and the Government recognize this change of heart.
But Mr. Chairman and friends, at a time like this, when Kumasi assumes the great responsibility of a new and higher status, it is of the utmost importance that we should all place our cards on the table face upwards, and do some plain speaking on matters that might operate to obstruct the success, not only of this new city, but indeed of the country as a whole.
I must say that I personally am disturbed by certain tendencies on the part of some Party comrades and councillors. Here in Ashanti, and to some extent, in other parts of the country, matters relating to chieftaincy are causing a great deal of unrest and strife in our Party. This is an unfortunate position and must be corrected promptly.
Here and there a chief’s stool becomes vacant. Two Party comrades contest for enstoolment. One succeeds. Immediately, the loser of the stool contest becomes aggrieved and turns against the Party and Government. Not only that, he at once sets out to undermine the successful comrade who has been enstooled. Both of them have supporters on their sides so unnecessary strife ensues and the Party splits over this issue of chieftaincy.
In future, the Party and Government will take a very serious view of such matters and adopt very drastic measures to correct this state of affairs in our towns and villages. Government will for instance quickly remove any person from a traditional area who indulges in such disruptive activities and thereby tends to undermine not only the progress and prosperity of the villages and towns but also, the solidarity of the Party….
And now, it gives me great pleasure to declare formally, the elevation of Kumasi to the honourable status of a City. I am confident that the Council and the citizens of this City will prove themselves worthy of the high honour and distinction conferred on them today…,” (Kwame Nkrumah, 24 Mar 62).
Period!
End!
So you have it, dear reader: The public policy of the CPP with respect to wayward NLM sympathizers pretending to be chiefs and members of the CPP who would attempt to bring the name of the chieftaincy institution into disrepute and disrupt public order, by assuming stools to which they had no connections.
Now, tell us Dr. Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, how many chiefs were destooled by Kwame Nkrumah, not Busia, and how many were re-enstooled by Kofi Abrefa Busia in 1969 and given the same authority they used to have, when Busia had all the power in Unitary Ghana?
Data-deficient hogwash (DDH)!
Truly!
NOTES/SOURCES:
1. Prof Lungu. Kwame Nkrumah destooled chiefs in his own immortal words, (Part 2), ModernGhana, (www.modernghana.com/news/737383/kwame-nkrumah-destooled-chiefs-in-his-own-immortal-words.html).
3. Danquah-Busia-Dumbo confederates should apologize for plunging Ghana in chaos, Nkrumah Was Not Prepared To Govern For Dummies: The Essentials! A 2015 Founder’s Day, 25 Sep 15. (https://www.newsghana.com.gh/danquah-busia-dumbo-confederates-should-apologize-for-plunging-ghana-in-chaos/).
5. Knierzinger, Johannes, 2011: Chieftaincy and Development in Ghana: From Political Intermediaries to Neotraditional Development Brokers. Arbeitspapiere des Instituts für Ethnologie und Afrikastudien der Johannes GutenbergUniversität Mainz (Working Papers of the Department of Anthropology and African Studies of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz).
SUBJ: 1962 Memo — Kwame Nkrumah destooled chiefs in his own immortal words, (Part 2), by Prof. Lungu.