Manasseh Azure Awuni an award-winning investigative journalist has reacted to people comparing the toppled statue of Akufo-Addo to the fall of Nkrumah’s statue to seek solace in the vindication of posterity.
According to Manasseh Azure, two people may suffer the same or similar fates, but those fates alone do not define their places in history.
Manasseh Azure Awuni noted that Nkrumah’s statue also fell, its head decapitated in the manner he was severed from the nation he toiled to build, like that of Akufo-Addo, some Ghanaians rejoiced over it.
He wrote on X, “ Some Ghanaians rejoiced over the fall of Nkrumah. As captured by the Daily Graphic, Nii Okai Pesemaku III of the Gbese Traditional Area sent a congratulatory message to the coup makers in which he described the fall of Nkrumah as “more spectacular than the fall of Satan.”
“Nearly six decades later, posterity–the acclaimed judge of human endeavours–continues to pass favourable verdicts on Nkrumah’s life and deeds”, he added.
He further revealed that Nkrumah was not a saint and the alcoholic content of power got into his head but he had no appetite for our money and with his absolute power, he did not transfer Ghana’s national wealth to his family as inheritance.
The investigative journalist added, “Nkrumah was not a saint. The alcoholic content of power got into his head, and he had little patience for those who opposed him. Some critics fault his policies and ideology”.
“But he was an honest man who dedicated his life to building his country. He was selflessness personified. He had no appetite for our money. With his absolute power, he did not transfer our national wealth to his family as inheritance (agyapadie). He did not steal our lands or leave chains of homes for his family. (His children say they did not inherit a single house or parcel of land from him.) Of all the propaganda against him, we have not heard that he stashed millions in foreign bank accounts.
So, today, if the statue of Akufo-Addo has been toppled and people are comparing it to the fall of Nkrumah’s statue to seek solace in the vindication of posterity, it is important to point this out. Two people may suffer the same or similar fates, but those fates alone do not define their places in history”, he added.
See his full post below:
In February 1966, OUR Kwame Nkrumah was toppled in a military coup. In an operation to wipe out his memory, the military regime targeted even the first borborbor band, seized its drums and arrested the founder of that music, Francis Nuatro of Kpando. Nkrumah had adopted the… pic.twitter.com/5hURoXy2Lw
— Manasseh Azure Awuni (@Manasseh_Azure) January 15, 2025
