Kwame Nkrumah: an Intellectual Biography
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University of London School of Oriental and African Studies History Department Kwame Nkrumah: An Intellectual Biography By Ama Barbara Biney Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of London, April 2007 ProQuest Number: 10672987 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10672987 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 ABSTRACT ICwame Nkrumah remains a towering figure in African history. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent campaign of civil disobedience to achieve political ends, he led present-day Ghana to independence in 1957. Nkrumah made Ghana a beacon of hope for not only Ghanaians but also people of African descent throughout the world. Perhaps no other African leader of the 1950s and 1960s personified the dreams, principles and aspirations of this era. At the centre of my analysis of Nkrumalfs political, social and economic thought will be his own writings. I begin my re-examination of Nkrumalfs life and thought by focusing on the political discourse and controversies surrounding him. The focus of Chapter 1 is his sojourn in America, where he pursued his academic studies. Chapter 2 examines his period of political activism in London between 1945 to 1947 under the ideological guidance of George Padmore. This prepared him for the leadership of the new political party he foimded, the Convention People’s Party, following his return to the Gold Coast in 1947. In Chapter 3 ,1 focus on Nkrumalfs political performance, his relationship with the British colonial authorities in the period 1951 to 1957. Chapter 4 scrutinises his position on the federalist argument presented by his political enemy, the National Liberation Movement. Chapter 5 looks at politics in the post-independence period whilst Nkrumalfs economic and cultural policies are the focus of Chapter 6. While in office, Nkrumah documented his thought in several publications, which will be examined in Chapter 7. His foreign policy aimed at furthering African unity will be critically assessed via the various institutional mechanisms he set up to achieve this objective in Chapter 8. After the coup, which deposed him in February 1966, Nkrumah continued to develop his political and economic convictions and this is the focus of Chapter 9. The final chapter considers Nkrumalfs legacy in Ghana and on the wider Pan-African stage in contemporary Africa. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: I would like sincerely to thank my supervisors Richard Rathbone for his encouragement, his infectious enthusiasm and for passing me into the rigorous supervision of John Parker when he retired in 2003. To John: thank you for seeing me to the end of a long rewarding project. Whilst in Accra, the Director of the National Archives of Ghana, Mr Cletus Azangweo was always so welcoming and pleasant in his offers of afternoon tea and bottles of cold water; Mr Mensali, senior archivist; William Ashaley & Killian Onai were efficient and helpful. Winifred Hassan at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) Library, along with my line manager, Anna Byers at Kensington & Chelsea College, who permitted me to pursue scholarly activity, deserve special mention. To June Milne, thank you for your inspiration and support on many occasions. My gratitude also extends to the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) for a Research Student Fellowship and the Royal Historical Society that financially supported my field trips to Ghana in 1999 and 2002 respectively. A part- time researcher immensely appreciated these funds. Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, my adopted “senior brother” shared with me his thoughts, survived my badgering, and has been a source of immense strength and moral comfort when occasionally times were tough. A big thank you to my Mum for accompanying me on my 2002 trip to Ghana. To my Dad and cousin Kofi Ofori- Duodu - thank you for chasing some materials for me at Legon, as the request was last minute and as they say in Ghana “by force!” To my good friends and colleagues: Molara Solanke, Heather Gunter-Harewood, Gamal Nkrumah, Wassa Fatti, Iyiola Solanke, Kwesi Adabunu, Mohammed Umar, Marilyn Naden, Joseph Kingsley- Nyinah and Ivan Gibbons - your encouragement and the many times you listened and enquired of my progress are deeply appreciated. To Michelle and Tao at the SO AS IT Help Desk - thank you so much for the last minute technical assistance! Lastly, whilst I owe an enormous debt to others, the shortcomings in this work are my sole responsibility. CONTENTS: Abbreviations Introduction 1-19 Chapter 1: Nkrumalfs Intellectual Influences, 1927-1945 20 - 55 Chapter 2: From Activist to Leader of the CPP 56 - 90 Chapter 3: Nkrumah and the Diarchic Partnership, 1951-1957 91 - 123 Chapter 4: Nkrumah and the Opposition, 1954-1957 124 - 151 Chapter 5: Nkrumah’s Politics, 1958-1966 152 - 186 Chapter 6: Social, Economic & Cultural Policies, 1958 -1966 187-221 Chapter 7: Nkrumah’s Political Writings, 1958-1966 222 - 249 Chapter 8: Nkrumah’s Foreign Policy, 1958 - 1966 250 - 290 Chapter 9: Nkrumah in Exile, 1966-1972 291 - 325 Conclusion: Nkrumah in Retrospect 326 - 357 Bibliography 358 - 371 ABBREVIATIONS AAC African Affairs Centre AAS African Affairs Secretariat AAS Association of African Student AAPC All African People’s Conference AACPC All African Committee for Political Co-ordination ANC African National Congress AAPSP All African Socialist Party AAPRP All African People’s Revolutionary Party AAPRA All African People’s Revolutionary Army ARPS Aborigines Rights Protection Society AATUF All African Trade Union Federation AU African Union AYA Asante Youth Association AYA Asante Youth Association AYC African Youth Command BAA Bureau of African Affairs CA Constitutive Act CAA Council of African Affairs CIAS Conference of Independent African States CMB Cocoa Marketing Board CPC Cocoa Purchasing Company CPGB Communist Party of Great Britain CPP Convention People’s Party CYO Committee of Youth Organisations FLN Front de Liberacion Nacional /the National Liberation Front of Algeria GCP Ghana Congress Party GCCMB Gold Coast Marketing Board GCTUC Gold Coast Trade Union Congress GNTC Ghana National Trading Corporation GTUC Gold Coast Trade Union Congress GYPM Ghana Young Pioneer Movement ICFTU International Confederation of Free Trade Unions KNII Kwarne Nkrumah Ideological Institute KNWS Kwame Nkrumah Welfare Society LSE London School of Economics MAP Muslim Association Party MI Military Intelligence MNC Mouvement Nacional Congolais/Congolese National Movement NAG National Archive of Ghana NASSO National Association of Socialist Students NCBWA National Congress of British West Africa NDC National Democratic Congress NDP National Democratic Party NCGW National Council of Ghanaian Women NLC National Liberation Council NLM National Liberation Movement NPP Northern People’s Party NRC National Redemption Council NSC National Security Council NUG National Union of Ghanaian Students OAU Organisation of African Unity OCAM Organisation Commune Africaine et Malgache ONUC United Nations Operation in the Congo PA Positive Action PAC Pan-African Congress PAF Pan-African Federation PAIGC Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde Islands PANYMO Pan-African Youth Movement PDA Preventive Detention Act PDG Parti Democratique de Guinea PDD Presidential Detail Department PFA Parti de la Federation Aficaine POGR Presidential Own Guard Regiment PNDC Provisional National Defence Council PNP People’s National Party PPP People’s Progressive Party PVA’s Party Vanguard Activists TA Tactical Action TC Togo land Congress TUC Trades Union Congress UDI Universal Declaration of Independence UGCC United Gold Coast Convention UN United Nations UNIA Universal Negro Improvement Association UP United Party YRP Volta River Project UAR United Arab Republic WANS West African National Secretariat WASU West African Students Union WFTU World Federation of Trades Union YPM Young Pioneer Movement INTRODUCTION The Literature on Nkrumah Fundamentally, I do not believe in the great men theory of history, but I do think that so-called great men o f history merely personify the synthesis o f the tangled web o f the material and historical forces at play. This thesis seeks to analyse the political and cultural thought of'Kwame Nkrumah, one of twentieth-century Africa’s most important nationalist leaders. Nkrumah’s historical reputation is shrouded in considerable ambivalence and controversy. His performance as independent Ghana’s first leader and his policies on the domestic, African and international stage have continued to generate lively debate within African studies and in popular forums. African listeners to BBC Focus on Africa reflected the popularity of Nkrumah in a poll in December 1999. Nkrumah was voted as “Africa’s Man of the Millennium.” Charles Abugre suggests that Nkrumah’s legacy is far from monolithic. He writes: Dead politicians are different things to different people. Both their good and their wrong define the goal posts and hence the playing fields upon which the survivors take their positions in society. Their good is usurped, their failures exhumed and magnified as appropriate and in accordance with creed. It is in the nature of humanity to review the past, for in doing so we not only define our own essence but also seek to learn lessons if we genuinely desire to do so. Shakespeare wrote that “the evil that men do lives after them but the good is interred with their bones.” Of deceased political figures, Abdul-Raheem writes: “Politically, victims and beneficiaries remember both. It is the balance between the two [the good 1 K.