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| NDC Throws Mud At Nkrumah’s Kids |
6/18/2007 |
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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) leadership has thrown mud at the children of Ghana’s first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, describing them as ingrates. The NDC and its founder, Jerry Rawlings, are embittered by the fact that Nkrumah’s children did not acknowledge them in their tribute during the state burial for their mother, Fathia.
Former President Jerry John Rawlings fumed at the eldest of Madam Fathia’s children, Gamel, reprimanding him for failing to acknowledge the role NDC played in keeping his father’s name alive.
Mr. Rawlings complained that upon all the recognition his government had given the first president of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, including the building of a mausoleum to house his remains, his children left him out in the tribute.
He was referring to the tribute read on behalf of Fathia’s children by their elder brother, Gamel Nkrumah, who is a journalist with an Egyptian newspaper, Al Ahram, during a state funeral for the former first lady at the forecourt of the State House last Tuesday.
Nkrumah’s children, he observed, had ignored the role his government played in “resurrecting, upholding and building that mausoleum in memory of their father.” Mr. Rawlings’ anger was conveyed on Hot FM, minutes after the funeral service of Madam Fathia.
According to him, but for his government, Dr. Nkrumah’s name would have died with history. The former President, who attended the state funeral service for the late former first lady, noted that the organizers should have asked him to lay a wreath in her memory. “We resurrected Dr. Nkrumah’s name and were not even acknowledged or invited to lay a wreath.
“The Kufuor government still has a problem in acknowledging the value of our government. They have to learn to be civil and acknowledge the work of every government,” he charged. Rawlings described as hypocritical, the glowing tribute paid to Madam Fathia by the government.
“I recall how badly they castigated Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s regime and today CPP and everybody who paid tributes allowed them to get away with it,” he fumed. The NDC has not been happy with what transpired at the funeral of Madam Fathia, using every platform to lash out at the children of the former first lady. A day after the state funeral, NDC apparatchiks including Ama Benyiwa-Doe, Women’s Organiser, went on air lambasting Nkrumah’s children, forgetting that one of them, Sekou, now dons their party colours.
According to him, the children erred when they failed to acknowledge the monument built for their father in Accra Central.
Madam Benyiwa-Doe stated that the NDC deserves commendation for allowing the Chinese Government to build the mausoleum, instead of the children singling out China for praise.
The NDC even went personal with their attacks on Gamel. In the column, “Taking It Easy With Uncle JB”, in Prof Mills’ mouthpiece, The Ghanaian Lens last Thursday, Gamel was virtually ‘torn to shreds’, with the writer calling him a disgrace to the Nkrumah family.
“I am not surprised that Gamel is thinking the way he is thinking because if in this day and age his hair can be as bushy as it is, then the guy has a problem.
“If only he would visit a barber and have a haircut, I am sure some air would blow through his thick brains for him to start reasoning like the son of Nkrumah ought to reason,” the columnist said.
However according to the children, the singular withdrawal of Fathia’s diplomatic passport by the Rawlings regime was a major pain nursed by her until she died. It would be recalled that the Chinese government built the Mausoleum in memory of Dr Nkrumah as a goodwill gesture.
D. Guide
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