By Noah Nelson
“We shall measure our progress by the improvement in the health of our people; by the number of children in school, and by the quality of their education; by the availability of water and electricity in our towns and villages, and by the happiness which our people take in being able to manage their own affairs.”—Kwame Nkrumah
Ghana’s story is one of colonial rule, Pan-African revolution, and nation-building that is incomplete. The nation’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, had a profound vision for the state, leading it as the first free African nation post colonialism. However, just six years into his reign, he was ousted by a military coup and forced to live the rest of his life exiled from the country. He died in 1972, and 20 years later, his body was exhumed and moved to Kwame Nkrumah National Park in Accra.
We travelled to this park on Sunday, June 29.
Nkrumah’s memorial in his national park represents the stump of a tree, symbolizing the foundation he built, while acknowledging the vision he never achieved. Throughout our time so far in Ghana, I have seen several manifestations of what Nkrumah’s memorial communicates.
First-class resorts costing 400 cedis a night next to fishing villages with rooms for 300 cedis a month. Internationally elite hospitals within cities of people struggling with malaria and yellow fever. High schools and colleges reserved for upper class students with parents that can pay. Deteriorating roads, trash-littered streets, and polluted waterways that no human should have to drink, all next to our air conditioned, indoor plumbing, potable-water-having clean apartment in the upper class area of east Legon.
It makes one grateful for the life they have, angry at those who ousted Nkrumah, and hopeful for a future where a revolutionary leader can continue to build on the legacy Nkrumah had begun to build in Ghana.
In speaking with a Cape Coast local, Sunny, I learned not only his story, but the story of many Ghanaians’ disillusionment with their government. Sunny’s parents both passed away within the past few years, and in the time since, he has been taking care of his six younger siblings. Because of this, he was unable to complete High School, claiming that he must instead, “Hustle and start [his] business.”
Sunny told me that the same is true for many individuals. Either they must support their family, many as early as 15, or they cannot afford to attend further education, citing class disparity as a limiter. This is not the vision for Ghana that Nkrumah had in mind. He said, “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” Despite this, only about 35% of Ghanaians graduate from Secondary Education, or what Americans would call High School.
Sunny said that many Ghanaians don’t vote in elections because they often fear politicians have their own self interest ahead of the interest of the state; in the 2024 presidential election, there was only 63.9% voter turnout, down from 79% in 2020. We discussed how this mindset leads to a state’s stagnation as he threw the wrapper from his beef stick into the communal trash pile.
Despite the pain that many endure, and the legacy of its greatest leader left unfulfilled, Ghana is an incredibly beautiful nation with some of the kindest people I’ve ever met.
It awaits a leader to take up Nkrumah’s legacy and build a more equitable state. A champion of Ghana and Pan-Africanism. One who can take the tree that Nkrumah planted and water it until it flourishes.
But until that leader arrives, the vision that Nkrumah communicated falls further into memory, and its realization feels more unrealistic. One hopes that it can be achieved.