Dr Kwame Nkrumah: Three Reasons Africa's Most Iconic President Will Be Re-Buried 50 Years After His Death

• The Convention People's Party is planning to hold a mammoth re-burial for Dr Kwame Nkrumah in November this year
• Prominent heads of state and pan-Africanists will be invited to the event in Ghana to mark 50 years of Nkrumah's passing
• The CPP has given three reasons to justify the plan to hold a reburial ceremony for one of Africa's iconic leaders

The political party founded by Ghana and Africa's most iconic president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the Convention People's Party (CPP), has given three reasons why it wants to re-bury him after 50 years.

CPP General Secretary, Nana Yaa Jantuah, has said the party would form a funeral planning committee to schedule a series of events that would be climaxed with a state burial in November this year.

She told Joy News that prominent people such as Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyetta would be on the guestlist for the national event.

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According to her, there are efforts to get President Nana Akufo-Addo to take a keen interest in the re-burial and make it a success.

“He [Akufo-Addo] is an Nkrumahist. He was a Young Pioneer, and during the coup [that overthrew Nkrumah], he ran from Legon to his home to hide. Look at the projects that he is doing; they are Nkrumahist projects. So we are going to call on him to help us.

Below are the three key reasons the CPP intends to give Dr Kwame Nkrumah a mammoth state burial.

1. Dr Nkrumah's soul is not resting because of how he was interred.

Giving a historical account of events leading to Nkrumah's burial, Nana Yaa Jantuah said the solemn Ghanaian tradition of sending a soul to the other world was not observed for Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

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She explained that Dr Nkrumah's soul is not resting because of that.

"Kwame Nkrumah wasn't sent away properly. Traditionally, when somebody dies, you do a funeral. His body was brought from Bucharest [Romania] to Guinea.

"He was exhumed from Guinea and brought to Ghana in 1974, and General [Kutu] Acheampong buried him in his hometown in Nkroful. So there was no proper funeral for him. We think that at this jubilee, it is time for this soul to rest," she explained during a live interview.

2. Kwame Nkrumah was not given the burial he deserved as an iconic president and pan-Africanist.

The CPP General Secretary further stated that Nkrumah's fight for Ghana and Africa's liberation from the claws of colonialism deserves better recognition in Ghana.

In her view, international and pan-Africanist institutions are hailing the vision of Nkrumah because they recognise that he is a true legend.

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She explained that a befitting state burial in Ghana is the least the country can do for his memory.

3. A mammoth re-burial will be a proper way to mark the Golden Jubilee anniversary of his death.

Golden Jubilee anniversaries – or anniversaries to 50 years of something – are usually marked in grand style. The CPP believes that while "Nkrumah never dies", any ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of his death must be done correctly.

The re-burial will also provide an excellent opportunity to give the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum a facelift befitting the former president's stature in the affairs of Ghana and the world.

"The world has immortalised him, and that is why they made him the Man of the Millenium…but we haven't. You can go and look at the state of the mausoleum. It is in a sorry state.

"A place like a mausoleum where Kwame Nkrumah lays…it is so lonely, so dirty. The water is not running. A man like Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, an icon of industrialisation, an icon of development, an icon of freedom…[deserves a facelift]," she stated.

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Nkrumah was overthrown in a coup in 1966 by the National Liberation Council military regime.

After efforts to rally friendly states to bring him back to power failed, Ghana’s first president lived the rest of his life in Guinea, where he was made honorary co-president. He died the Eastern European country of Romania.

Princess Fathia: Kwame Nkrumah's granddaughter warms hearts online with gorgeous photos

Princess Fathia Nkrumah, daughter of Dr Sekou Nkrumah and granddaughter of Dr Kwame Nkrumah has stunned social media with her photos.

The pretty lady took to her Instagram page to flaunt her beauty for all to see as she took part in a photo studio session.

In the photos sighted by YEN.com.gh, Princess Fathia Nkrumah was seen in a white dress as she looked away from the camera.

Source: YEN.com.gh