By P. K. Yankey
Nkroful (W/R), Sept. 23, GNA – Chiefs and people of the Eastern Nzema Traditional Area have climaxed the 2026 Kwame Nkrumah Festival at Nkroful, calling on Ghana and Africa to guard against neo-colonialism.
Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, Member of Parliament for Ellembelle and Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, made the call during the 117th birthday celebration of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President, at Nkroful in the Western Region.
Speaking on the theme, “Nkrumah @117: Celebrating His Enduring Legacy: Africa Must Unite or Perish,” Mr Buah said Dr Nkrumah’s vision of continental unity and a borderless Africa was yet to be actualised.
Dubbed “A Journey to Nkroful,” he said the celebration “was not a physical journey but of the mind and heart, of self-determination, Pan-Africanism, of innovation and of fearless dedication to a cause greater than ourselves.”
He called on Ghana and the continent to ensure that the African dream was transformed into one giant economy, bringing the vision of a United States of Africa into reality.
Mr Buah urged the nation to uphold Nkrumah’s vision of self-reliance and build the Ghana and Africa he envisioned – a Ghana where political actors would be “daring to imagine a future that is not a beggar but the builder.”
Prof Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba, Kenyan Pan-Africanist, said Africa had witnessed transformation since Dr Nkrumah entered politics, noting that although many African countries had attained independence, Nkrumah linked Ghana’s independence to the liberation of the continent.
He reiterated Nkrumah’s mantra of “Africa Unite” to prevent a return of colonialism.
“NkrumahFest is not an annual jamboree but a journey to conscientize Africans that the works of Dr Nkrumah remain incomplete if the colonizer is still in Africa,” Prof Lumumba said.
He said Africa remained a conflict zone, with many young people leaving the continent in search of greener pastures.
Madam Samia Yaba Nkrumah, daughter of Dr Nkrumah, thanked Mr Buah on behalf of the family for sustaining the annual Journey to Nkroful and pledged the family’s support.
She stressed the need to reintroduce Nkrumah’s ideologies to the younger generation and correct the impression that he was an isolationist.
“Kwame Nkrumah was not dogmatic but super-pragmatic and a strategist,” she said.
“Just as we become more interested in Osagyefo’s ideas, Ghana must be interested in industrialization,” she added.
Mr Joseph Nelson, Western Regional Minister, called for a united, confident and purposeful Ghana where national interest would override political differences.
He said NkrumahFest should recognise the sacrifices that shaped the nation and remind the younger generation of Ghana’s history, common aspirations and responsibility to future generations.
Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), congratulated Mr Buah for using NkrumahFest to address what he described as the country’s denigration of Dr Nkrumah, despite his recognition as African Man of the Millennium.
He said attempts to reduce Dr Nkrumah to a mere status could not work, as he remained the founder of Ghana.
Awulae Blay IX, Paramount Chief of the Eastern Nzema Traditional Area, said the chains of colonialism were broken by a son of Nzema and called for the celebration of that monumental achievement.
He described Nkrumah as the voice of the voiceless and said his slogan, “Africa Must Unite,” was an existential imperative for emancipation and development.
Nana Kobina Nketsia V, President of the Western Regional House of Chiefs and Paramount Chief of the Essikado Traditional Area, said Kwame Nkrumah’s consciousness would rise again in Africa.
“Without Nkrumah, we are nothing,” he said, calling for the compulsory study of Nkrumah’s legacies in universities.
Edited by Justina Hilda Paaga/Audrey Dekalu
Reporter: P. K. Yankey