The fate of Africa revisited
A review of the Book  by Martin Meredith “The Fate of Africa”

E. Ablorh-Odjidja

January 11, 2009

Cont'd / Page Two

Page One

 As said, writers like Martin Meredith would not allow contemporary truth to stand in the way of historical lies.

For example, when there is a heroic story to tell about Nkrumah, but Meredith avoids telling it, even to the detriment of his own scholarship.

Imagine Meredith devoting about 24 pages of his book to tell consecutively the story of the Congo, the UN, Lumumba and the era of the Congo crisis and not a word was said about Nkrumah's involvement with the Congo!

Nkrumah’s famous Broadcast on the Congo in 1960, which gave a clairvoyant view of what was to happen, is never highlighted.

The heroic example of Ghana being the first country to send soldiers to aid this troubled country is ignored.

Yet Meredith pretends to focus on leaders “whose character and careers had a decisive impact” on the fate of their countries and therefore the continent of Africa.

But forget the Congo, Meredith is also more than willing to neglect the impact of Nkrumah on Diasporan Africans. 

In 1957, at Ghana's independence, among the invited unofficial guests for the occasion was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Who knew at that time what Dr. King was destined to be and why Nkrumah had invited him to the celebration in Ghana? 

The answer could be a very informative, unless Meredith’s intention is to suppress the positive message. 

But that invitation becomes very significant if you were to examine its impact on the Civil Rights movement in America. 

It was in Ghana in 1957, that Dr. King got the chance to meet with then Vice President Nixon, which meeting led to an invitation by Nixon for Dr. King to visit President Eisenhower at the White House. 

 And that meeting led to the crafting of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

So, out of Ghana came a moment of understanding that brought Civil Rights issues into prominence, that some called the most significant legislation on race relations since the Reconstruction era in America. 

And also out of the Civil Right Act of 1957, essentially a voting right bill, came the Civil Right Act of 1964, that banned segregation in school and public places in America.

A lot of good has been done since in America. 

 And just a word of reference linking the invitation to this great racial issue in America and one event in Ghana, under the auspices of Nkrumah could have aligned the late President’s reputation to something good. 

But no, Meredith sees to it that Nkrumah is denied the honor.

There is the need to make this claim on Nkrumah's behalf, since, obviously Meredith wouldn't.

This is not to say that Nkrumah started the Civil Rights movement in America.  Call the meeting between Nixon and Dr. King a chance encounter or providential.  But there is no denying that Dr. King was in Ghana because of the special invitation by Nkrumah. 

Equally reckless is Meredith’s example of assigning blame for the construction of “prestigious” buildings in state capitals, in the post-colonial period, as one of the things that went wrong in Africa, to Nkrumah.

The most glaring example, he says, is the lavish spending on projects which occurred when African governments competed for the privilege of holding the first conference of the organization of African Unity.

Meredith says, “Nkrumah set the precedent in 1965 by building a palace containing sixty luxury suites and a banquet hall capable of seating 2000 guests” to serve the OAU.

Derisively, he states "twenty-eight out of thirty-six of the members of the OAU attended the meeting" during the opening, "but only thirteen were represented by heads of state.  No one supported his call for a union of Africa."

First, let's correct the impression of the building he calls “palace.” 

It was a sprawling structure called “The State House;” housing 60 suites or luxurious apartment meant for heads of African states and a conference hall fit for the deliberation of matters concerning Africa and the world.

Nkrumah's dream for a continental government was an ongoing process; that by 2005 when Meredith published his book, some 50 African states have become members of the AU (OAU). Nkrumah’s idea and dream were on their way, but he gets no praise from Meredith.

At least, if the idea for a continental government is not worthy in Meredith eyes, he shouldn’t pretend that the number of memberships supporting the idea has not grown. 

For blame for the low participation at the conference in 1965 that Meredith cites, he ought to have turned more attention on the political dwarfs surrounding Nkrumah at that time, of which his hero of the era, Houphouet-Boigny, was one.

The building Meredith derided as the "crowning folly of Nkrumah's regime," is now the seat of Ghana National Parliament.

By the way, the magnificent cathedrals of Europe, built centuries ago with scarce resources then, are almost empty on Sundays now and Buckingham Palace still houses one family.

In conclusion Meredith writes, “After decades of mismanagement and corruption, African states have become hollowed out. They are no longer instruments capable of serving the public good.”

True, but the statement sounds very reminiscent of the condition in some African states when the colonials left.

And in the case of Ghana, the statement became truer, especially after 1966, and gradually worse until very recent.

Meredith's book is a shoddy analysis of what went wrong in Ghana and on what brought Nkrumah down.  When he states "Nkrumah's downfall… came ... because of his fatal decision to interfere with the military,” he is clearly providing a diversion from what really went wrong.

The failure to notice the reason for Nkrumah’s ouster is not a product of a lack of intellectual ability or curiosity.  It is a complete denial of the obvious.

Long before Meredith wrote his book in 2005, the world knew who corrupted the armed forces of Ghana in order to overthrow Nkrumah and why.

As background to understanding Nkrumah and Ghana, I will recommend the book “Reap the Whirlwind,” by Geoffrey Bing, a former member of British Parliament, who served as Attorney General and a legal advisor to Nkrumah.

To finish off the quest, I will humbly invite Meredith and company to pay close attention to contemporary Africa.

They will see the rugged existence of some of Nkrumah's positive ideas.  Driving it all is a robust dynamism that can only be intentionally missed.  Nkrumah, to say the obvious, is not a god.  We ask only to see him as Meredith probably sees a Churchill, Roosevelt, Max, Mao or Lenin.

Not much to ask for, I should say. Being an African should not stand in the way.  But I doubt.

E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Publisher www.ghanadot.com, Washington, DC, January 11, 2009 

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