The General Secretary of the Socialist Movement of Ghana (SMG), Mr Kwesi Pratt Jnr., says the country has failed to build upon the legacies of Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
This, he said, was expressed in the country’s failure to control its own natural resources which was the cardinal objective of the first President of Ghana.
Mr Kwesi Pratt disclosed this in an interview with the Ghanaian Times during a placard parade by members of the movement along the John Evans Atta-Mills Street in Accra yesterday to mark the celebration of the Founder’s Day as well as the birth of Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
Clad in red attires, the members lined up along the Atta-Mills Street starting from the Black Star Square to the Bank of Ghana (BoG) headquarters holding placards with inscriptions such as “Nkrumah is like the sun, he cannot be covered,” “Petty jealousy against Kwame Nkrumah,” “It is purely an attempt to rehabilitate JB Danquah” and “Kwame Nkrumah; the true militant.”
“We are still nowhere near controlling our resources and exploiting these resources for the benefit of our own people that was the cardinal objective of Dr Kwame Nkrumah,” Mr Pratt said.
He also bemoaned the inclusion of other members of the Big Six such as J. B. Danquah and Edward Akuffo-Addo in the celebration of the Founder’s Day as he was of the view that they had a different vision and ideology in contrast to Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
Additionally, Mr Pratt explained that the decision by the government to introduce a freedom walk atthe Kwame Nkrumah Museum to feature personalities such as the late J.B. Danquah and Edward Akufo-Addo was “a deliberate attempt to denigrate the value of Dr Kwame Nkrumah.”
Mr Pratt, also lamented about the less recognition given to the celebration of the Republic Day which he said was the pinnacle of the country’s struggle to independence.
The movement, Mr Pratt said, would continue to lead the charge for a socialist ideology “until the people of Ghana are free from the yoke of colonialism and all that stages of imperialism.”
As part of activities to mark the celebration of the Founder’s Day, the SMG, Mr Pratt said, would organise a forum at its headquarters today with some prominent speakers from the academia expected to participate.
In a separate interview, the Accra Collective Organiser of the SMG, Comrade NajeebYahaya, noted that the ongoing renovation of the Kwame Nkrumah Museum was a waste of public resources considering the current economic situation of the country.
He, therefore, underscored the need for the country to achieve self-sufficiency, an idea which the late Dr Nkrumah advocated during his struggle for independence by controlling its own means of production.
BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY