The Rise and Fall of Kwame Nkrumah: A Study of Personal Rule in Africa

Bretton, Henry L.

Edité par Frederick A. Praeger, 1966

A propos de cet article

New York. 1966. Frederick A. Praeger. 1st Edition. Bookplate on Front Endpaper, Otherwise Very Good in Slightly Worn Dustjacket. 232 pages. hardcover. keywords: Africa Ghana History Biography. DESCRIPTION - A study of personal rule in Africa' a sound appraisal of the man himself and his politicsIn December, 1965, an editorial in The Spark - the ideological organ of Kwame Nkrumah's Convention People's Party - proclaimed: The charismatic personality of President Nkrumah is one of the props on which the new nation of Ghana is built. It is the most practical way of providing the new ship of state with a stable keel.' Barely two months later, in the early hours of February 24, 1966, the vaunted one-party state' had evaporated, leaving practically no trace. With Nkrumah in exile and the military in control, the people danced, demonstrated, and paraded in the streets. What were the reasons for the fall of this once all-powerful leader? And perhaps even more important, what did it indicate about the whole concept of personal rule'? Kwame Nkrumah held power in Ghana from 1951 until the coup that overthrew him. During much of that time, the author of this provocative study notes, he was the supreme - and virtually unchallenged - political boss,' the center of the political machine.' His dictum was a simple one: Seek ye first the political kingdom and all other things will be added unto you.' He held sway over every sphere of government and administration; and there remained only the surface vestiges of democracy - in deference to African public opinion. As a frequent visitor to Ghana during Nkrumah's years as head of government - and especially during an extended stay there in 1964 - 65 - Henry Bretton had an opportunity to view at first hand the Ghanaian leader's accession to power, his methods for consolidating it, and the factors that led to his overthrow. In THE RISE AND FALL OF KWAME NKRUMAH, he examines the operational aspects of the government and the nature and role of the sole political party and of ideology within Ghana. Above all, he appraises Nkrumah himself - a moderately capable, highly volatile and energetic, somewhat professional, somewhat amateurish leader.' Yet,' Mr. Bretton writes, like Stalin, Nkrumah cannot be denied some credit for achievement. When he left the Ghanaian scene as ruler, the landscape was dotted with an impressive array of 'monuments' to his vision, personal drive, initiative, and ambition, and to his dedication to the cause of liberating Africa from the shackles of colonialism.' There was the Volta River project at Akosombo, with its vast potential for industrial, commercial, and transportation uses; there was the money spent on education and on hospital beds, on miles of new roads, and on the installation of telephone lines. Unfortunately, what became immediately apparent on closer investigation was not what had been accomplished, but what might have been, considering Ghana's potential in human and material resources. For there were the other monuments - to Nkrumah's frivolity and lack of sound judgment, to his overbearing arrogance, and to his vanity, false pride, and social ignorance': a national debt fifteen times its size five years earlier, an industrialization program that was grinding to a halt, almost intolerable taxation, a cost of living that had risen 30 per cent in a year, and an unemployment situation that was becoming desperate. These, too, were the fruits of Nkrumah's personal rule.' For a variety of reasons,' Mr. Bretton notes, personal rule prefers to be called by another name.' In this perceptive assessment of the road Kwame Nkrumah followed - a road that led from personal rule to undisputed leadership to despotism - Mr. Bretton provides a classic case history of why personal rule is corrupt and why it corrupts.' THE AUTHOR: Henry L. Bretton is Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan. He has traveled extensively in West and East Africa, and was V.

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Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: The Rise and Fall of Kwame Nkrumah: A Study of Personal Rule in Africa
• Éditeur: Frederick A. Praeger
• Date de parution: 1966
• Reliure: hardcover
• Édition: First Edition.
• État de la jaquette: Good