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KIA: Tear down this name! (Part 2)
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The first part of this article discussed how Ghana’s founding father, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, showed unprecedented leadership and urgency in his attempt to industrialise the country to fast-track its development.
Within a very short time, he completed a number of gigantic and strategic projects, including the Tema township and industrial area, Akosombo Hydro-Electric Dam, as well as the Ghana Atomic Energy Programme at Kwabenya, Accra.But the focus of last week’s article was on the Kotoka International Airport and its name. It is a misnomer. Let me explain.
It was Nkrumah who, in 1958, restructured a former British military base into an international airport as part of a master development plan employed to make Ghana a beacon for the rest of Africa. The facility was named the Accra International Airport. However, under very unjustifiable circumstances, the name was changed to Kotoka International Airport. And this is how.
Nkrumah’s stature was rising fast worldwide, but his alliance with communist China and the Soviet Union, as well as his vociferous and relentless anti-imperialist tirades against the Western powers, infuriated them so badly that they wanted to get rid of him, dead, or alive.
And so, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), America’s intelligence agency and the M16, their British counterparts, engineered a military cum police coup, led by Lt. Col Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, and ousted Nkrumah from office while he was away to North Vietnam on a peace mission.
In fact, the very day Nkrumah left, that is, February 21, 1966,Kotoka and his gang met and selected Lt. General J.A. Arthur, who had been forcefully retired by Nkrumah, as head of the junta, thus, the head of state. They successfully staged their coup on February 24, 1966; banned the CPP, Nkrumah’s party, and established a military cum police government called the National Liberation Council, (NLC).
The role of the US, and their Western allies, especially, Great Britain, has since been revealed in declassified documents. Some of the documents suggest that the US and the UK even discussed a plan “to induce a chain reaction eventually leading to Nkrumah’s downfall.”
In fact, Nkrumah was suspicious of the US and, on February 26, 1964, two years before the coup, wrote about his apprehensions to U.S. President Lyndon Johnson criticising “two conflicting (US) establishments” operating in Ghana.
Explaining his point, he wrote further: “There is the United States Embassy as a diplomatic institution doing formal diplomatic business with us; there is also the C.I.A. organisation which functions presumably within or outside this recognised body. This latter organisation, that is, the C.I.A., seems to devote all its attention to fomenting ill-will, misunderstanding and even clandestine and subversive activities among our people, to the impairment of the good relations which exist between our two Governments.”
And how true his observation proved to be! With the CIA’s help, the NLC did seize power. Kotoka delivered its maiden national broadcast, saying: “Fellow citizens of Ghana, I have come to inform you that the military, in cooperation with the Ghana Police, have taken over the Government of Ghana today. The myth surrounding Nkrumah has been broken. Parliament has been dissolved, and Kwame Nkrumah has been dismissed from office. All ministers are also dismissed from office. The CPP is disbanded with effect from now. It will be illegal for any person to belong to it.”
Urged on by their Western sponsors, the NLC immediately began a systematic programme to discredit Nkrumah, and everything he stood for. And they did that with unconscionable and ferocious glee!
In no time, the IMF whose prescriptions Nkrumah vehemently opposed as anti-African, came to Ghana to establish what they called “a very close collaboration” with the new government. But it turned out to be total control of the economy and austerity measures. With the novices in government unskilled in the affairs of state, things took a turn for the worse.
The CPP’s industrialisation drive was replaced with a mad rush for Ghana’s natural resources led by foreign companies and their Ghanaian cronies, including members of the military elite. Many state-run infrastructural projects, geared towards Nkrumah’s plan of competing globally, were abandoned just because they were carried out with a “communist” flavour.
Silos built for buffer stock were left in ruins. Viable projects like the State Farms were privatised or cancelled, causing newly purchased equipment to be discarded in fields to rust. A fleet of fishing vessels acquired for the State Fishing Corporation to boost Ghana’s fishing industry, was grounded and left weather-beaten.
The operators comprising 350 Soviet crew members and technicians, were all repatriated, effectively bringing the fishing industry to a screeching halt. Massive importation of fish, coupled with increase in food prices, ensued.
Just two-and-a-half years after the coup, the IMF supervised the dismissal of over 66,000 workers, constituting almost 10 per cent of the total wage-labour force, 36 per cent of these in the Accra area alone. Employment in the private commercial sector also fell by almost 50 per cent.”
Strikes became widespread and the military junta responded the way they knew best – in brute fashion – making incitement to general strike a crime punishable by 25+ years in prison, or by death.
Nkrumah introduced the dreaded Preventive Detention Act (PDA) under which people perceived to be anti-government, were incarcerated without trial. But Kotoka and his clique were no different. They reneged on their promise to “liberate” Ghanaians from oppression, and instead, enacted a similar draconian decree called the “Prohibition of Rumour Decree” in October 1966 only eight months in office.
The decree authorised 28 days of detention and up to three years in prison for journalists who might “cause alarm and despondency,” “disturb the public peace,” or “cause disaffection against the N.L.C,” ambiguous edicts whose interpretation the junta arrogated to itself. Under these provisions, four editors from three leading newspapers were fired for criticising the NLC.
While majority were suffering, the military, as well as the police, were exempted from taxation; given cash bonuses of undisclosed value, and entitled to various public amenities, such as free rent, electricity, and conservancy services. All these were part of a package for participating in the interruption of Ghana’s fledgling democracy deceptively labelled “liberation.”
The coup plotters promoted themselves to higher ranks such that eventually, all had become some sort of General. Afrifa became a general before he hit age 35. Between 1966 and 1969, military spending doubled.
This is the legacy of Kotoka, yet, his name is so conspicuously emblazoned across the façade of the airport But how come, when he contributed nothing to the airport? Worse still, when he lost all honour by betraying Ghana to foreign spies which is high treason?
It so happened that on April 17, 1967, he was killed in an abortive counter-coup, and his comrades-in-arms thought it fit to honour him by naming the airport after him. That is where the evil lies.
Have we ever paused to consider, that Nkrumah bequeathed to us a name and fame that continue to attract people from the diaspora to the country? And have we thought about how misplaced it is for Ghana’s premier airport to greet these visitors with the name of a traitor who betrayed the country they love to visit for Nkrumah’s sake? This is sickening.
Was Nkrumah an angel? No! Was he autocratic? Yes, we may say so. He even declared himself President-for-life. But he was a benevolent despot. His intention was to quash unnecessary opposition and create the space to pursue a rapid transformation of the country to enable it to stand toe-to-toe with the developed world.
Singapore’s first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, Nkrumah’s contemporary, was an autocrat who ruled for 31 years. But he proved how autocracy could be beneficial. At the end of his rule in 1990, he had transformed Singapore into the most developed country in South-East Asia, rivalled only by Hong Kong. Though autocratic, Lee was revered as a statesman because he used autocracy for the good of his people.
Mahathir Mohammed who ruled Malaysia with an iron fist for 24 years in two phases of 22 years and two years, is another example of an autocrat who transformed his country into a modern industrialised economy that produces its own automobiles fuelled by oil palm that it imported from Ghana.
But as the Bible declares, “a prophet is not acceptable in his own country.” Nkrumah was over 50 years ahead of his time, and we did not understand him. Soon after he left, the national cry became:“Me yere dada eeei, san b3ware me, foforo a cbaa y3 no, ade3 a ccy3 no maninngyeho koraa,” meaning, “My ex-wife, please come back and marry me because I am not pleased at all with the way the new one treats me.”That mournful tone has persisted until now.
The military are paid to defend us against external aggression, not to betray their nation. Kotoka reneged on his oath of allegiance. He did not defend Ghana, He betrayed us. So, KIA: Tear down this name!
Contact:teepeejubilee@yahoo.co.uk
By Tony Prempeh
Features
Confronting newborn abandonment in Ghana: When a cry for help is heard in a dustbin – Part 2
The root causes: It is never just one reason
My years of counselling at CPAC show me abandonment is rarely an act of malice. It is the tragic endpoint of seven overwhelming distresses:
1. Severe maternal mental illness —The hidden emergency
a) Clinical Postpartum Depression (PPD): This is far beyond “baby blues.” It is a severe mood disorder that can appear weeks to months after birth. Due to a massive drop in hormones, extreme sleep deprivation, and emotional exhaustion, the mother feels deep sadness, worthlessness, and complete emotional numbness towards her baby. Picture: A new mother sits by her bed all day, staring blankly. Her baby cries for hours, but she cannot lift her hands to carry the baby. She whispers, “This baby would be better off without me.” She does not hate the baby; she feels she has completely failed as a mother.
b) Peripartum Psychosis (Postpartum Psychosis): This is a psychiatric emergency. Rare but extremely dangerous, appearing suddenly within the first 2-3 weeks after delivery. The mother completely loses touch with reality. She hears commanding voices telling her to abandon the baby, or believes the baby is possessed by an evil spirit or is a “spirit child” who will bring a curse. Picture: A mother genuinely believes she heard a voice saying, “Leave this child at the crossroads at midnight or your family will die.” She abandons the baby not out of hatred, but because her broken mind believes she is obeying a higher spiritual order to save her family.
c) Pre-existing untreated Schizophrenia: This is a chronic, severe mental disorder that existed before the pregnancy. The stress of pregnancy and labour shatters her fragile coping. She suffers from paranoid delusions — believing people want to poison her and the baby — flat affect (zero facial expression), and grossly disorganised thinking, making it impossible to plan how to feed or clean a baby. Picture: A young woman whose family called her illness “spiritual attack” instead of taking her for medication wanders away after delivery, completely forgetting she even gave birth, leaving the infant behind.
2. Extreme socio-economic deprivation: For many girls in some parts of Ghana such as Kasoa, Madina, or Bekwai, poverty is not a statistic; it is a daily panic. No money for antenatal care, no money for hospital delivery, no money for baby diapers or formula. When a mother cannot feed herself, the thought of feeding another mouth feels impossible. Some mothers say, “I left her where someone richer would find her, because I could not watch her starve to death in my hands.” It is a distorted act of survival.
3. Intense societal stigma and shame: In Ghana, pregnancy outside marriage, teenage pregnancy, or pregnancy from rape can bring extreme family rejection. The girl is called “spoilt,” beaten, banned from church, or sacked from school. The fear of bringing shame to the family name is heavier than the fear of police. So she hides the pregnancy for 9 months, delivers alone, and abandons in secret to protect her family’s “honour.”
4. Paternal abandonment — The Man Who Ran Away: Behind almost every abandoned baby is a man who vanished. He says, “It is not mine,” or “Abort it,” and switches off his phone. The mother is left utterly isolated — no emotional, financial, or social support. She is criminalised alone, but the abandonment started with him. Psychological research shows paternal denial is one of the strongest predictors of maternal panic and newborn abandonment.
5. Substance abuse disorders: Alcohol, tramadol, and other drug addiction impair the brain’s executive functioning — the ability to plan, judge consequences, and process emotions. A mother struggling with addiction may give birth in a highly intoxicated or withdrawal state, unable to comprehend the needs of the newborn, leading to neglect and eventual abandonment.
6. The spirit child cultural phenomenon and superstition: In some remote pockets of Northern Ghana and even in few parts of Central and Ashanti regions, public health research shows babies born with congenital deformities, severe disabilities, or whose mothers die in childbirth are branded as “spirit children” or cursed. In extreme instances, families, under cultural pressure, mandate that such babies be exposed or abandoned at shrines or bushes. This is not mental illness, but a harmful cultural belief system that still kills.
The invisible wounds
On the baby: Risk of death from hypothermia, sepsis, and infection. Survivors suffer Anaclitic Depression and Failure to Thrive due to lack of touch. As adults, they battle Reactive Attachment Disorder, chronic mistrust, and identity crisis — “Why did my mother leave me in a dustbin?”
On the mother: Lifelong hidden grief, intense guilt, chronic PTSD, depression, and elevated suicide risk. A prison cell does not heal this.
On the nation: Overburdened orphanages like Osu Children’s Home, draining health budgets, and overworked Social Welfare officers.
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“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; no one seeks God. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe. For there is no difference; – Rom. 3:10, 21-22. (NIV)
Introduction
Dictionaries define righteousness as “behavior that is morally justifiable or right.” Such behavior is characterized by accepted standards of morality, justice, virtue, or uprightness. The Bible’s standard of human righteousness is God’s own perfection in every attribute, every attitude, every behavior, and every word. Thus, God’s laws, as given in the Bible, both describe His own character and constitute the plumb line by which He measures human righteousness.
The bad news is that true and perfect righteousness is not possible for man to attain on his own; the standard is simply too high. The good news is that true righteousness is possible for mankind, but only through the cleansing of sin by Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We have no ability to achieve righteousness in and of ourselves. But Christians possess the righteousness of Christ, because “ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21. This is an amazing truth. On the cross, Jesus exchanged our sin for His perfect righteousness so that we can one day stand before God and He will see not our sin, but the holy righteousness of the Lord Jesus.
Establishing our hearts in righteousness
“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” – Proverbs 4:23
According to the above verse in Proverbs, our heart is the source of our life. Our life flows from our heart. The Holy Spirit resides in the spirit of the born again Christian. So there is a strong influence of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the new-born Christian. But our heart is also comprised of our soul. As Christians we can choose to focus our soul on the Lord, or on evil things. If we focus on corrupt, immoral, and evil things our heart will be affected detrimentally. It will cause our heart to be crooked or wicked, instead of straight or righteous. So the Scripture says to keep, or guard, our heart. It is wise to protect our heart as what we allow to dominate our heart will inevitably become the fruit, or influence the outcome, of our lives.
One way to approach life is to continually ask the question, “How will this decision or action affect my heart?” Everything we do, every thought we entertain, everything we watch, read, or listen to, shapes our heart. Therefore, the future prosperity of our life will flow from how well we care for our heart.
Think of everything you do, every moment of time, as a seed. We have been given responsibility for choosing which seeds to plant in our heart. What will you grow in the garden of your heart? What seeds will you choose? Our heart is our garden, and our life is the fruit of our garden. So next time you are tempted to dwell on a bad thought, think, “Do I want this seed to grow and manifest in my life?” Next time you are tempted to indulge in a sinful action ask yourself, “Do I want the extension, or fruit, of this sinful action to be what I am known for?”
God gives us the freedom to plant whatever we like in our garden. God loves us regardless of the good or bad choices we may make in our lives. You may be reaping the fruit of some poor choices right now. And God is still saying, “I love you.” But He has wise advice for us; He desires we have a good life. He says, “Guard you heart with all diligence.” This Hebrew word translated ‘diligence’ conveys the meanings of: prison and guard (ibid). A superintendant of a prison is very particular as to what goes in and out of his prison. A prison has very tight security. Just as a superintendant watches over his prison, so we should also supervise our heart (our lives). We should exercise meticulous security with regards to what enters into our heart. Actually, even what comes out of it, as the Scripture says, “ Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” – James 1:19, as “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” –Matthew 12:34b.
If what goes into, and what comes out of, our heart determines the success of our lives, what is the first important principle to establish in our heart? “In righteousness you shall be established;” – Isaiah 54:14
Righteousness is the key foundational truth we need to first establish in our heart. Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” –Matthew 6:33. Notice Jesus said, “His righteousness”, not our own righteousness. We have to seek and understand God’s righteousness. Isaiah 54:14 says, “Their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.” God’s righteousness comes from God, not from within us. Humans cannot make themselves God’s righteousness, as all humans have sinned and are therefore inferior to God. God’s righteousness is a gift from God: “ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21
Righteousness, or right standing with God, has been attained for us through the exchange Jesus made on our behalf. Jesus took our sin and gave us His righteousness. God’s righteousness is imparted to us when we are made a new creature in Christ – 2 Corinthians 5:17. This righteousness is a gift from God and undeserved by us: “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”- Romans 5:17
Through our faith in Jesus’ blood, shed to remit our sins – Romans 3:25, God imparts righteousness to us by His grace. We actually become a new righteous creation, fully identifying in Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection and ascension. This is the foundational miracle we need to understand and have established in our heart. All the other miraculous promises of God come the same way, by God’s grace through faith. Righteousness must be established in our heart for us to truly have faith to receive our rich inheritance in Christ. Jesus has been made unto us righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). We are now “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us”. – 2 Corinthians 1:20
Establishing our minds in righteousness
God expects that, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will be radically changed. In Romans 12:2 He tells us, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
This transformation is to be a metamorphosis, of a magnitude at least comparable to that by which a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. He expects us to become totally different.
Scripture uses many different images to express the change that should occur: We become “a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.“ – 2 Cor 5:17. It is almost as if we become a new species. Scripture speaks of the “first Adam” who was earthly and fell into sin, and the “second Adam” (Jesus Christ) who was sinless and holy – Rom. 5:12-19; 1 Cor 15:44-49.
We are “made new in the attitude of our minds” – Eph. 4:23.
We “put off our old self” and “put on the new self” – Eph. 4:22,24; Col 3:9-10.
We “live by the Spirit” and not by the flesh – Gal. 5:16; Rom 8:13.
We become “instruments of righteousness” rather than “instruments of wickedness” – Rom. 6:13.
Each of these metaphors, in a different way, emphasizes the magnitude of the change that is expected. Each is dramatic and astonishing in itself; their cumulative effect is even more powerful. We are talking about a tremendous transformation. It should be visible to others, but its internal effect should be far greater than what others can perceive.
The goal of this transformation
What is the goal of this metamorphosis? Scripture states it in a number of different ways, which overlap and can be seen as different ways of expressing the same basic concept. Scripture often does this, because our minds are inadequate to comprehend, and our language inadequate to express, the full scope of God’s revelation to us.
To be continued!
Stay blessed!
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Email: saltnlightministries@gmail.com
Website: saltandlightministriesgh.org
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