Nkrumah, Kwame
[key], 1909–72, African political leader, prime minister
(1957–60) and president (1960–66) of Ghana. The son of a
goldsmith, he was educated at mission schools in the Gold Coast (now Ghana)
and became a teacher. A brilliant student, he studied (1935–45) in
the United States and then went to London. While studying law there he held
important posts in African nationalist organizations, espousing Pan-Africanism. Returning to the Gold
Coast in 1947, he was made general secretary of the United Gold Coast
Convention party by its founder, Dr. J. B. Danquah, who was later jailed by
Nkrumah. In 1949, Nkrumah formed his own party, the Convention People's
party, and led a series of strikes and boycotts for self-government. He was
imprisoned (1950) by the British for sedition, but was released in 1951 when
his party swept the general election; he became prime minister in 1952.
Under his leadership the Gold Coast achieved (1957) independence and, in
1960, became the Republic of Ghana. Martin Luther Kingpraised Nkrumah's leadership and
commitment to nonviolent action. In a 1957 speech, King said of Ghana's
independence, "It reminds us of the fact that a nation or a people can break
loose from oppression without violence."
Probably the leading proponent of pan-Africanism, he effected a loose union
with Guinea (1959) and Mali (1960). Following a course of international
political neutrality, he secured economic and technical aid from the United
States and the Soviet Union. As president, Nkrumah suppressed political
opponents, and in 1961, after a series of strikes, made himself supreme
commander of the armed forces; he also assumed absolute control of the
Convention People's party. Several attempts were made on his life. He
increasingly isolated himself from the populace, meanwhile promoting a cult
of personality. In 1966, while he was on a trip to Beijing, Nkrumah was
removed from power in a coup led by the Ghanaian military and police. He
subsequently took refuge in Guinea.
See his autobiography (1957); biographies by G. Marais (1972), B. Davidson (1974), and D. Kellner
(1987); see also D. Rooney, Kwame Nkrumah: The Political Kingdom in
the Third World (1988), A. Biney, The Political and
Social Thought of Kwame Nkrumah (2011), J. S. Ahlman,
Kwame Nkrumah: Visions of Liberation (2021), and C. L.
R. James, Nkrumah and the Ghana Revolution (new ed.
2022).
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