KWAME NKRUMAH'S EQUAL HAS NOT YET BEEN BORN!

Mrs Aboshie Sai Cofie, is reported to have recently said, that her (lame-duck) lord and master, was stating historical facts, in saying that it took Nkrumah 16 years "long" years, to source funds to build the Akosombo Dam. If Mrs. Oboshie Sai Cofie and the praise-singing hypocrites who surround her crowd, are going to make reference to history, then let them read the declassified CIA documents, which so clearly reveal the conspiracy by the imperialists (actively backed by their own political forebears - yesteryear's quislings: who ended up as well-paid CIA agents), to thwart Nkrumah's efforts at developing Ghana. For, it is only then, that we can all put the historical facts of Nkrumah's achievements, in their proper context.

The luck which today's haters of Nkrumah have had, is that although in all the years they were in the political wilderness for, they did not have a clue (because of the Albatross of our huge external debt, then), as to how they would ever fund the building of projects like Bui, China blossomed into an economic giant, desperate for raw materials, at just the right time for them - and is happy to spend money to acquire "most favoured nation" status, amongst clueless African leaders, ever keen to discover the easy way out, of every difficult situation: and forever sacrificing the long-term national interest, on the alter of short-term political expediency! And today, a nation that did not previously figure in their thought processes, has saved the bacon of politicians, who firmly believed, at a point in time, incredibly, that somehow, they could source money for Ghana's development, from hairdressing salons, in the backstreets, of some of the more seedier parts, of London.

And if such people think they are Nkrumah's equal, why should any patriotic and nationalistic Ghanaian not be outraged, I ask, dear reader?And why are we livid, dear reader? Nkrumah was a highly principled man, who, for example, would never have entertained self-seeking female carpetbaggers, like Gizzelle Yadzi or Julia Cotton. One walked away from our shores with 20 million US dollars of Ghana's money, and the other was purposefully given the title "special adviser" to Ghana's minister of finance, to give her "credibility" in the Middle East, in the hope that she would 'dribble' oil sheiks with her charms, in a part of the world, famous for its mouth-watering "kickbacks"; take her share, and hand over the rest to the "kickback specialists" - to buy hotels with, presumably.

The idea that politicians whose regimes were taken in by such female rogues, think they are equals of Nkrumah, is an insult to his memory - and some of us do not take kindly to that, in the slightest. It is time our leaders understood that not all Ghana's journalists are clueless or hungry for money: so some of us will continue to speak our minds freely - and it is of no consequence to us, whose ox is gored, in the process. For, we fear no evil - and are thus prepared to die for mother Ghana. Period. According to the Daily Guide (Thursday, 30th August-7th September 2007 edition), Mrs. Oboshie Sai Cofie also said: "For anybody, or group of persons to misconstrue the narration of those historical facts as a slight of (the) achievements of Dr. Nkrumah, could only be borne out of malice and mischief."

If the Daily Guide has quoted Mrs. Cofie accurately, then perhaps one ought to ask her, exactly what is malicious and mischievous, about patriotic and nationalistic Ghanaians, being irritated by politicians, who pretend, that somehow, it is yesterday's self-serving colonialists, whom we must thank, for the Akosombos and Buis? Reference to Governor Guggisberg, in case the well-spoken Mrs. Cofie is not au fait with the code language adopted by those in her crowd, who are determined to rewrite the history of our country, is simply a clever psychological device, intended to make ordinary people overlook the true significance, of Nkrumah's pivotal role, in the building of the modern African nation-state, called Ghana - which she and her crowd are busy turning into a hellish 21st century African version, of 19th century American capitalism, which was dominated by the infamous "robber barons", of old.

This was a period in America's history, dear reader, chronicled so well in the novel ,"The Jungle", by Upton Sinclair: which painted a grim portrait, of man's inhumanity to man, in the hellish milieu, of working class existence, in the slums of 19th century America. There men struggled to earn a precarious living, working (slaving, would probably be a more appropriate word, dear reader) in the Chicago meat-packing industry. It was an industry, in which human beings, were regularly exploited and dumped, like used rags, when they were no longer useful, to the wealthy and callous tycoons (the "robber barons"), who owned the meat-packing factories. Life then, for many of the immigrants, who worked in the industry, was nasty, short and brutish.

The message of this protest novel, is one that will resonate well, amongst most of Ghana's urban poor, were they to read it - especially the Kayayei of the many Agbogbloshi markets of urban Ghana: for, they would recognise the many similarities between the lives of the characters in the novel, and that of their own daily struggles to survive, in the hell-hole, that is the property-owning democracy of the Oboshie Sai Cofies, and their well-heeled and well-connected crowd.Our version of the robber barons of old, are today busy handing over Ghana's assets, built with the blood, sweat and tears of ordinary people, to greedy foreigners and their local lackeys - who know a good thing, when they see one. And we all know how the Scancems of this world, operate in Africa, do we not, dear reader? Do they not buy politicians all over Africa, to take over lucrative state-owned businesses, bled dry, by the incompetent front-men and women, of Africa's political elite?

Are there not some powerful people in Ghana today, for example, dear reader, who are said to have an eye on Intercity STC, and who apparently drool at the mouth, when they dream of the asset-stripping that will take place, when they finally succeed in finding a "strategic investor" (code for foreigners fronting for our greedy high net worth oligarchs!), to buy it - having made sure, in the meantime, that few members of the travelling public, who have used their services, have a good word to say about STC (a company that was once a by-word for reliability and safety, amongst the travelling public in Nkrumah's Ghana): and are consequently, unlikely to raise their voices in protest, when the day of reckoning comes, for the hapless workers of Intercity STC!

Let today's stooges for neo-colonialism understand clearly, that if China had become the economic giant it is today, in Nkrumah's time, Nkrumah would have had unlimited funds to turn Ghana, into a developed and prosperous nation (in which all the citizens, not just a wealthy, well-connected and powerful few, had a good quality of life), during his tenure - and we would be permanently free, of the many neo-colonialist predators, whom Mrs. Oboshie Sai Cofie's crowd, are eagerly helping, to gang-rape mother Ghana: by the political equivalent of pinning her down and spreading her legs!
Let her take a look around the filthy streets of Accra and the other urban areas in Ghana, and see how their warped philosophy of "each one for himself, and God for us all", has created a nation of lawless and selfish individuals, concerned only with their selfish concerns - typified by the large army of scrap metal "truck-pushers" (that has suddenly sprung up), who have turned pavements in urban Ghana, constructed at great expense to taxpayers, and designed to ensure the safety of pedestrians, in what is a nation with one of the highest vehicle accident rates in the whole wide world, into thriving scrap metal exchanges: where they buy and sell scrap metal, with impunity and total disregard, for city bye-laws; total contempt of pedestrians' right to use those pavements; and, on a daily basis, create environmental hazards, which constantly endanger the health, of law-abiding citizens, going about their lawful business!

And they are all getting away with their impunity, because scores of public officials across the land, taking their cue from those at the top, have put our nation on "auto-pilot", and are busy feathering their own nests, instead of building our homeland Ghana - work they are paid to do on mother Ghana's behalf. No civilised nation, has ever been built on a foundation of selfishness. And that is why a people who have such a total disregard for the laws and regulations, designed, to ensure the creation, continued existence and survival, of a civilised society, will never succeed in building a prosperous society - one in which the built-up public space, for example, is clean, well-maintained, safe and secure. In that sense, the regime, of which the well-spoken and cultured Mrs. Oboshie Sai Cofie, is apparently a much-favoured member, and such an eloquent apologist for, is the worst regime, which we have ever had the misfortune, of electing into office, in Ghana! And we must rid ourselves of it in December 2008. Period.

We have politicians, presiding over a nation, which cannot even deal with the relatively simple task, of the safe and efficient disposal of industrial and household waste, who can be so careless, that they are happy to sanction the building of a nuclear energy plant, waste from which, even the most advanced nations on earth, have not found a fool-proof and safe method of storage, for (and which will remain radioactive, and therefore dangerous, for thousands of years).

And these same politicians, in an era of global climate change, when the rest of humankind is actively seeking green solutions, to power generation, have, incredibly, apparently, also approved the building of a coal-fired power station in Ghana - no doubt, because it is politically expedient for them, to risk creating a terrible long-term human and environmental catastrophe of Apocalyptic proportions - unacceptable and callous cynicism, in both instances, which will deny coming generations of Ghanaians the possibility of a good quality of life, which is also sustainable: and lumber them with a permanent and dangerous environmental hazard, till the end of time, literally.

And we are seeing this irresponsible style of leadership, dear reader, simply because those future generations are not voters who could threaten the hold on power, of the cynics in power today.With respect, such politicians, are too ignorant for words - and must never ever think of comparing themselves to Nkrumah. In Nkrumah's time, humankind thought nuclear energy was a safe and limitless source of energy - and no one thought about the dangers of nuclear waste. Had he been in power today, Nkrumah would be decommissioning any nuclear plant he had built in the 1960's - not seeking to build more of them.

Do Mrs. Oboshie Sai Cofie and her crowd, not know, that in spite of the determination of the Western powers (who their political forebears actively colluded with to ruin Ghana's economy at the time) to frustrate him, Nkrumah succeeded in building a modern African nation-state, from scratch? How can such clueless politicians, who constantly look to self-serving foreigners to build Ghana, think they are Nkrumah's equals? How can politicians, who do not even understand, that in a nation of diverse ethnicity, it is dangerous to play favouritism with a particular set of traditional rulers, whiles treating the others with contempt - and that such an attitude is a recipe for future possible disaster, ever dream of being Nkrumah's equals?

Can you imagine a scenario, dear reader, for example, in which security service personnel, in today's Ghana, are detailed to protect any one, bulldozing a property, claimed by the favourite traditional rulers of some of our leaders, in a part of Ghana, which, according to the German DW-TV, is a sovereign state within Ghana (and the narrator of the programme ventured derisively, to make the analogy to viewers, that it was akin to a situation in which there was a sovereign Prussian kingdom within the modern federal Germany nation-state - and that it could only happen in Africa: where the visiting German president, had had to apparently suffer the indignity, in terms of protocol, of having to pay his respects, to this 'sovereign' feudal personage!)?

Yet not too long ago, a property occupied by the traditional ruler of Osu, along Accra's Independence Avenue, was bulldozed by a party protected by security service personnel! What, dear reader, is the difference between the claims of the Osu traditional ruler, whose predecessors gave it to Nkrumah's regime, and the lease for which has expired - and should therefore revert to the traditional ruler of Osu - and the claims of the favourite traditional rulers of some of our elected leaders - who are busy selling government-owned land in their part of Ghana, illegally?

Incidentally, dear reader, I have fond memories of that part of Accra. For, I lived there, as an eleven-year old boy, growing up, and attending boarding school, at Prempeh College.Today, that land, on which our home was situated, and on which I played many a prank, on the children of our French neighbour's, whose parents worked for the defunct SCOA, is now occupied by the Mormons - who now own it and have their temple and headquarters buildings, on it. So as you can see, dear reader, I learnt the devious ways of foreign carpetbaggers very early on, in my life. But I digress!

Do our leaders not understand, that Chiefs in a nation of ethnic diversity like ours, must never be encouraged to court political influence: for, the significance of traditional rulers, does not lie in the realm of politics. Indeed, their importance to society, lies in the fact, that they ought to serve as repositories and custodians, of the best aspects of our traditional way of life. Our elected leaders must rather encourage Chiefs (who, to be frank, are an anachronism, in any modern and progressive society), to become agents of change - and help rid our society, of the worst aspects, of our traditional way of life. Civilised people elect their rulers - and Ghana's traditional rulers (surprising though it might be to those of them with overweening political ambitions), were most definitely not born, with a Divine right, to rule over the citizens, of the Republic of Ghana. Period.

With respect, today's politicians (including the hero of June 4th 1979 - who, incredibly, apparently now thinks the traitor Kotoka, is a hero!) must never compare themselves to Nkrumah. Period Have we not sunk from being a nation in which water regularly flowed through taps in the homes of many ordinary Ghanaians; and in which the brightest children, from even the poorest families in the smallest hamlets, could attend universities and become doctors, lawyers, accountants , nurses, teachers etc.etc., if they had the aptitude to learn to tertiary level; to become a hell-hole, in which treated water, seldom flows through taps, in some of the kitchens in homes in some of the poshest residential areas in urban Ghana; and in which it is mostly the children of wealthy people, who can afford to get a university education (speaking of which, can you imagine, dear reader, what the hero of June 4th 1979, would have said and done to the Archeampongs and Afrifas, if they had had the temerity to tell the ARFC, that their wards' expensive education in the UK and Ireland, were being paid for, by "friends", of theirs?). Are we not frequently forced to sleep in darkness most nights now, dear reader? Ah, adeni, mu enferi adie, anaa? May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana always. Long live Ghana! Long live freedom! Kofi Thompson can be reached by email at: peakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text message on: (027) 745 3109.