Table Of ContentTHE PounCAl LEGACY OF
GItANA
KWAME NKRUMAH OF
If ClAaLEI ADoM loAn. .
THE POLITICAL LEGACY
OF KWAME NKRUMAH OF GHANA
Charles Adorn Boateng
African Studies
Volume 66
The Edwin Mellen Press
LewistonoQueenston· Lampeter
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Boateng, Charles Adorn.
The political legacy of K warne Nkrumah of Ghana / Charles Adorn Boateng.
p. cm. -- (African studies; v. 66)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-7734-6812-9
1. Nkrumah, Kwame, 1909-1 972--Political and social views. 2. Ghana--Politics and
govemment--1957-1979. 3. Pan-Africanism. I. Title. II. African studies (Lewiston, N.Y.)
; v. 66.
DT512.3.N57 B63 2003
966.705--dc21
2002191241
This is volume 66 in the continuing series
African Studies
Volume 66 ISBN 0-7734-6812-9
AS Series ISBN 0-88946-175-9
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library
Copyright © 2003 Charles Adorn Boateng
All rights reserved. For information contact
The Edwin Mellen Press The Edwin Mellen Press
Box 450 Box 67
Lewiston, New York Queenston, Ontario
USA 14092-0450 CANADA LOS I LO
The Edwin Mellen Press, Ltd.
Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales
UNITED KINGDOM SA48 8L T
Printed in the United States of America
For Maame Yaa Nsiah,
Opanin D.K. Adorn,
Daniel Boateng,
and Vera Pornaah Boateng
Table of Contents
1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 1
The Significance ofNkrumah .................................................................... 2
Theories of Dependency and Modernization ............................................ 5
Nkrumah's Charismatic Personality .......................................................... 8
Plan for the study .................................................................................... 11
Endnotes .................................................................................................. 14
2 Frameworks for Understanding Nkrumah .......................................... 17
Comparative Intellectual Tradition .......................................................... 18
Marx .................................................................................................. 18
Weber ................................................................................................ 20
The Dependency Perspective ............................................................ 21
The Structural Perspective .......................................................... 22
Internal Colonization. ................................................................... 23
New Dependency ........................................................................ 24
Criticisms .................................................................................... 25
Nkrumah's Notions of the
Global ContextlTheory of Development ................................................ 25
Neocolonialism, Dependency and Nkrumah ...................................... 26
Nkrumah's Views Related to the National Political
Responses to the Development Problem ............................................... .30
Series of Independence Waves .......................................................... 30
Necessity of Political Independence .................................................. 31
The Role of the Party as an Agent of Social Change ....................... .33
Nkrumah's Notion of the Class Question .......................................... 36
Socialism and Planned Economy ...................................................... 40
What is Socialism ....................................................................... .40
Third-World Perceptions on Socialism ....................................... .41
What Did Nkrumah mean by Socialism ...................................... 42
Nkrumah's Views on Pan-Africanism .......................................... 47
Summary and Conclusion .............................................. , .................. .49
Endnotes ............................................................................................ 51
3 Ghana and Nkrumab ............................................................................ 57
Political and Social Conditions ............................................................... .58
Economic Conditions .............................................................................. 59
The Life and Career ofNkrumah ............................................................ 62
Nkrumah's Rise to Power ........................................................................ 66
The United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) .................................... 66
Convention Peoples Party (CPP) ...................................................... 66
National Liberation Movement (NLM) ............................................ 66
United Party (UP) .............................................................................. 66
Sources of Influence ................................................................................ 74
Endnotes .................................................................................................. 81
4 Implementation ...................................................................................... 89
Domestic Policy ...................................................................................... 90
Administration and Government ........................................................ 90
The Chiefs .................................................................................... 91
The Bureaucracy .......................................................................... 93
Industrialization .................................................................................. 93
Agricultural Policy ............................................................................ 97
The Cocoa Marketing Board (CMB) .......................................... 97
The State Farms ........................................................................ 100
Social Policy .. , ................................................................................. 102
Free Education .......................................................................... 10 2
Free Health Services .................................................................. 103
Foreign Policy ........................................................................................ 104
Policy in Africa ................................................................................ 10 4
Policy Outside Africa ...................................................................... 10 7
The UN ...................................................................................... 107
The Commonwealth .................................................................. 10 8
Non-alignment .......................................................................... 10 8
African Presence ........................................................................ 10 9
Evaluation ofNkrumah's Regime Perfonnance .................................... 112
Endnotes ................................................................................................ 117
5 The Volta River Project (VRP) .......................................................... 123
The Background of the VRP .................................................................. 124
History of the VRP .......................................................................... 124
Financing of the VRP ...................................................................... 125
The Dam and the Distribution of Hydroelectric Power .................. 126
The Main Actors of the VRP ................................................................ 128
The United Kingdom ...................................................................... 129
The Nkrumah Government's Attitude .............................................. 129
The United States Government ........................................................ 130
The Kaiser Corporation .................................................................... 131
The World Bank .............................................................................. 131
The Ghanaian People ...................................................................... 132
Costs and Benefits of the VRP .............................................................. 133
Costs ................................................................................................ 133
Benefits ............................................................................................ 136
Dr. Gilbert White's Perception of the VRP ............................................ 138
Conclusion ............................................................................................ 140
Endnotes ................................................................................................ 141
6 The Problems Leading to Nkrumah's Decline .................................. 145
Internal Problems .................................................................................. 146
Nkrumah's Violation of Civil Rights and Liberties ........................ 146
Nkrumah's Inability to Abolish Social Inequalities ........................ 147
Wasting of Resources ...................................................................... 148
Corruption ........................................................................................ 149
Economic Problems ........................................................................ 150
Conflict with the Chiefs ................................................................. .152
External Problems .................................................................................. 153
His Communist Ties and Reliance on Foreign Aid .......................... 153
Pan-Africanism ................................................................................ 154
Summary and Conclusion ...................................................................... 155
Nkrumah, the Political Theorist ........................................................... .156
Nkrumah as a Policy-Maker .................................................................. 158
Summary Appraisal ofNkrumah's Regime Performance ...................... 160
Endnotes ................................................................................................ 162
Bibliography .......................................................................................... 165
Index ..................................................................................................... .1-1
List of Tables and Illustrations
1956 Election Results .............................................................................. 73
2 Educational Percentages in Ghana (1951-1961 ) ................................... .1 03
3 Consumer Price Index and Indices of Average
Nominal and Real Earnings of Skilled and Unskilled
Workers in Ghana (1964-1974) (1963=100) .......................................... 113
4 Sources of Financing for the Volta Dam ............................................... .126
Map of Volta River Dam ........................................................................ 127
5 Ghanaians Expectations ofthe CPP Governrnent .................................. 151
