Veep eulogises Kwame Nkrumah and says..GHANA WORTH DYING FOR (LEAD STORY, SEPT 21)

STORY: Kwame Asiedu Marfo & Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Nkroful

Vice-President John Dramani Mahama has stated that the government’s decision to celebrate the life of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, is a demonstration to the current generation that the country is worth dying for.
He noted that Dr Nkrumah might not have been alone in the struggle to attain independence for Ghana, “but in every struggle it is the ideals of an individual that bring the strands of the struggle to the intended climax”.
He said such was the case of Dr Nkrumah when he brought the dreams and aspirations of the nation to the expected end.
Speaking to the chiefs and people of Nkroful in the Ellembelle District as part of the centenary celebration of Dr Nkrumah’s birthday, Vice-President Mahama said it was within this context that the debate over whether it was prudent to celebrate Nkrumah alone ought to be conducted.
He said gone were the days when the possession of anything that had to do with Nkrumah was a crime, adding that Nkrumah’s place in history had been affirmed by his being voted the man of the century and being acclaimed worldwide.
The Vice-President said it was not in doubt that Kwame Nkrumah was at the forefront of the nationalist struggle for the country’s independence and self-determination for Africa’s liberation struggle.
“He laid a solid foundation by providing our nation with infrastructural facilities and social amenities which are still visible today and attest to the vision he had for Ghana,” he said.
“As we speak, a product of his vision, the Akosombo Dam, is still the contributor of the chunk of the country’s energy needs, and that is the man we are talking about and celebrating today,” he said.
The Vice-President said Nkrumah was not just an individual but an institution in Africa and to Africans in the Diaspora, saying “his contribution to African political thought and the dignity of Africans will remain lasting memories and legacies for generations yet unborn”.
“The schools, roads, ports, health facilities, the Akosombo hydro project and his vigorous industrialisation and agricultural programmes continue to form the foundation upon which successive governments have depended.”
He said it was against this backdrop that the ideals of Nkrumah should be immortalised.
A representative of the planning committee, Prof. Agyeman Badu Akosa, thanked the chiefs and people of Nzema for giving Ghana, Africa and the world such a great son.