How Kwame Nkrumah Liberated Ghana | African Founding Fathers. Ep. 1

Africa's founding fathers are the men that ushered their countries from the colonial era into independence. These men included princes, freedom fighters and soldiers, lawyers and intellectuals. This diverse group of men shared one vision of an independent and prosperous Africa. For this they surmoned incredible oaths to fight colonialism and established independent governments in their countries, championed the pan-African movement and helped the newly independent continent navigate the tense Cold War era after the World War II with non-alignment policies. Before we start, don't forget to like and subscribe to our channel for more uploads. Ring that bell to be notified of future uploads. After World War II, the process of decolonization of the continent gained momentum. The colonial powers had been weakened in the fight against Hitler's regime. They lacked the moral to fight the independence movement that were growing in Africa and in the rest of their empires. They needed all that they could spare to rebuild at home. This was especially true for the English who elected the Labour Party and not Winston Churchill's Conservative Party in their 1945 elections. He resigned and the Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee was sworn in. The Labour Party was not as invested in holding on to the British Empire. They focused on social programs at home and in 1947, India was first to gain independence. Many African independence activists saw an opportunity in this and began to push for self-rule. The 5th Pan-African Congress was held in October 1945 at Manchester in England. Celebrated African-American scholar and activist W.E.B. Dubois was the Congress's president here. African visionaries met to discuss the way forward now that the war was over. What was the future of the African continent in the embers of the British Empire? African leaders and intellectuals believed that if World War II had been fought in the name of freedom from fascism, then it was wrong that around the globe millions of people lived in poverty and under colonization by the British, French, Belgians and Holland. It was with this in mind that the 1945 Pan-African Congress was convened. The 5th Pan-African Congress was the most important because for the first time, it brought together African intellectuals and influential leaders from many African independence movements. For the first time since 1900, when the first Pan-African Congress was held, the participants made demands for an end to institutionalized colonialism and racial discrimination. More than that, it made Africans aware that their grievances were shared by their counterparts in other colonies and that the different independence movements could offer support to each other. At the Congress were young African leaders who would go back and lead their countries fight for freedom including future first presidents Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana. In today's video, we will focus on Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, a man shaped by Pan-Africanism and the call to unify Africa. Through him, Ghana was the first African colony south of the Sahara to gain independence in 1952. This was an inspiration to many African countries and gave them hope that they too would get their independence. Kwame Nkrumah was born on the 21st September in the Gold Coast which is present by day Ghana. The Gold Coast at the time was a British colony famous for being the world's largest cocoa purchaser, the proceeds of which inevitably went to Britain when its population wallowed in poverty. Nkrumah was born to a gold smith father and a retail trader. After finishing his education at a Roman Catholic missionary school, he trained as an elementary school teacher. After teaching for a few years, he was introduced to local politics in the Gold Coast. He was ambitious and so he left the colony to pursue his education in the United States. Through relative's contribution, he was able to leave the Gold Coast for New York in 1935. He arrived almost penniless and was hosted by other West African students in Harlem. Through a scholarship, he was admitted to Lincoln University on a scholarship. Lincoln University is the oldest black university in the United States and here he was introduced Unlike other African students who went abroad seeking to emulate the Europeans, Kwame forged relations with his fellow West African students and African Americans. He visited the churches in Harlem and Philadelphia where he was sometimes asked to preach. Here he cultivated his oratory skills that would prove instrumental in his life later. He got his two bachelor's degree in philosophy and theology in Lincoln University. He moved to the University of Pennsylvania to pursue a master's degree. Here he was elected president of the African Students Organization of the United States and Canada and that championed for unity for all peoples of African descent. In May 1945, he left the US for the UK where he helped organize the Fifth Pan-African Congress In 1947, India achieved independence from Britain and this inspired dreams of independence in other British colonies. They felt that if the jewel of the crown of the British Empire could gain independence then so could the rest of the colonies. When Krumah returned home in 1947, he found a burgeoning independence movement and joined the United Gold Coast Convention, a party that was seeking self-rule by constitutional means. He was elected as General Secretary of the party and began to hold self-rule by constitutional means. He was elected as General Secretary of the party and began to hold meetings to ramp up support for the party. Riots because of the people's anger towards the colonial government broke out in February 1948 and Krumah and the leaders of the UGCC were arrested. After release, he split with the more moderate UGCC to form the Convention of People's Party. The CPP appealed for support from the common voter as opposed to the UGCC that had focused on negotiating with the colonial government only. The CPP also pushed for general elections. In 1950, Krumah launched a campaign for self-governance in Ghana through non-violent positive action. This positive action involved non-violent protests, strikes and non-cooperation with colonial authorities. This strategy inspired Martin Luther King Jr. who would also use non-violent tactics in the fight for civil rights in the U.S. Because of the protests and strikes, Krumah was arrested again and sentenced to a year in prison. However, when the colony's first general elections were held in February 1951, CPP won majority of the seats in the parliament. Krumah was released from prison since he had been elected as representative for Accra in parliament. As leader of the CPP, he became leader of government business and in this position, he was a de facto prime minister in charge of internal government business and policy. Still full independence did not come easy for Ghana and Krumah and his counterpart never stopped pushing for it. It took five more years for the Gold Coast to become independent Ghana in 1957. Since Ghana was the first African country south of Sahara to become independent, its independence celebrations were the focus of world attention. Vice President Nixon Martin Luther King and a UN representative attended the celebrations. Ghanaians hailed him as Osagyefo meaning redeemer in the Akan language. In 1960, presidential elections were held alongside a constitutional referendum on whether to create an executive presidency. Ghanaians voted for an executive presidency and so Ghana became a republic and Krumah became president. The first year of independence were difficult. Krumah had never served in a government position and he had to learn on the job. He had great ambitions of lifting his country out of poverty at independence in 1957. Ghana was the world's largest cocoa producer and cocoa prices were high and the people were hopeful for a prosperous future. The optimistic new government focused on large infrastructure projects. The biggest one was the Volta River project. Ghana had large reserves of bauxite which gave it to the potential to export aluminum. The country did not have a smelting plant and the smelting plant would also need an electric plant to fit it. The electric plant would in turn support a national grid and this would jump-start industrialization and economic independence. And so Krumah's government began negotiations with the World Bank and the US for loan funding. This and many other infrastructure projects rapidly increased foreign debt. In 1962 he visited the Soviet Union and was impressed with its pace of industrialization. His icon's heel was his failure to realize that this space was not possible for Ghana which had just become independent. He came back with a seven-year plan for industrialization. He increased taxes on cocoa and farmers began sneaking their produce into neighboring countries where prices were better. This caused Ghana to lose its place as the world's largest cocoa producer and depleted its national reserves. The country became reliant on Soviet loans and the value of its currency plummeted. Opposition grew and there were several attempts on his life. He grew more isolated and withdrew from public life and later banned political parties in Ghana. Instead of listening to his opposition, he became more authoritarian in pursuing his goals for the country, believing his way as the best way. He focused on regional politics and pan-Africanism. He supported many nationalistic organizations in Africa and often held conferences for nationalistic organizations fighting for independence of other African countries. In 1960, a year later called the year of Africa because 17 African countries gained independence in that year, Krumah negotiated formation of the union of African state. He was also instrumental in the formation of the organization of African unity in 1963. Their organization was a predecessor of the African union that still exists today. Their organization was a predecessor of the African union that still exists today. Unfortunately, foreign policy was not enough to keep his presidency on 22 January 1966. He opened the Okosombo dam which he believed would jump start economic independence. Sadly, that job would not last when a month later on 24 February of the same year, while he in Burma on his way to China, the army and police in Ghana seized power. Krumah did not find out about the coup until he reached China. Later, he went into exile in Guinea and died of cancer in Bucharest, Romania in 1972. Ghana went through a period of unrest and coups that ended in 1991 when Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings seized power in 1981 and was later elected democratically as president. He broke precedence and allowed the peaceful transition of power in 2001. Krumah's influence is still felt in Ghana and the whole continent. He inspired African unity and nationalism. He also united the civil rights movement in the US with the nationalist movement in Africa. He formed a relationship with prominent civil rights activists Dubois and Kwame True because he believed that people of African descent needed to unite in their struggles for equality. He inspired younger leaders on the continent too, men like Tom Boyer who spearheaded the trade union movement in Kenya and Patrice Lumumba of Congo. Well, we've come to the end of our video. Don't forget to like and subscribe to our channel. See you in our next video on the founding father. Who do you think we should do next?