Ghana’s first president, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, had no sympathy for former Prime Minister Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia after he was overthrown on January 13, 1972, by Lieutenant Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong.
In a letter to Busia, Nkrumah mocked the former prime minister, asserting that he deserved the coup that had removed him from power.
Ghana’s first president recalled how Busia had relentlessly criticized him without justification while he was in office, fabricating stories about his government, which ultimately contributed to Nkrumah’s overthrow in 1966.
“I am sure that you now realize that those who criticize others without bothering to assign good reasons for their criticisms eventually end up as victims of their own circumstances.
“You will also appreciate the fact that those who sow the wind reap the whirlwind. After you have finished spoiling others, you will be surprised to find out that you have spoiled yourself,” Nkrumah wrote.
He went on to highlight the achievements of his administration, which governed Ghana for about 15 years.
“There is evidence of some of my achievements in Ghana, which you, of all people, can’t pretend to deny the fact that I made Ghana what you found it when the same army overthrew my regime. It would serve no useful purpose for me to recount some of these achievements, but suffice it to say that Akosombo Dam, Tema Harbour, Tema Oil Refinery, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, VALCO, to mention only a few, are all my handiwork.”
Nkrumah also emphasized that his most significant contribution was his leadership in Africa’s liberation movement.
He lamented that while he was celebrated across the African continent, people in his own country, including Busia, had worked to discredit and destroy him.
“Today, throughout the African world, many countries have attained political emancipation as a result of the torchlight I lit in Ghana which my own people, including you (Kofi Abrefa Busia), did not appreciate. Thus my government and I were accused of a host of unprintable evils which sought to discredit me and to pave the way for you to establish yourself as a successful leader on the African political scene,” Nkrumah wrote in the letter,”
Finally, he bluntly told Busia that he had failed completely in his three years as prime minister.
“It might be a good idea if we were to meet face to face as we did in Monrovia last year; then I would have told you: “KOFI, I TOLD YOU THAT YOU WOULD BE A COMPLETE FAILURE ON THE POLITICAL SCENE.”
Read the full letter below:
BAI/MA
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