Madam Deputy Speaker, I feel honoured to participate, and, in fact, to open this debate on Ghana's 50th independence anniversary, particularly because Ghana was my first country of exile in the late 1950s.
When Dr Nkrumah, who was born in 1912, which is the same year as the birth of the ANC, returned from abroad to the then Gold Coast colony to take up the responsibility as Secretary-General of an organisation called the United Gold Coast Convention, UGCC, promoted by political giants such as Dr J B Danquah, he brought with him not only his youthful vibrancy but also a considerable wealth of political understanding, experience and leadership - capabilities that proved decisive in propelling the then Gold Coast struggle to achieve independence as Ghana. The UGCC was later to become the CPP - the Convention People's Party - under Dr Nkrumah. Having stayed in America for ten years and about two to three years in England, partly studying to expand his knowledge, Dr Nkrumah had developed great interest in, and had interacted broadly with ideas of African Pan- Africanism as espoused by Afro-American leaders of political thought on Africa. These included such leaders as Marcus Garvey and Dr W E B du Bois. These and other ideas were propagated with great vigour by the CPP, leading to Ghana's attainment of independence at 12 midnight on 6 May 1957.
Madam Deputy Speaker, Ghana's independence ushered in a new epoch on the continent which was to restore the dignity of the African people, and firmly cut ties with a miserable past, characterised by centuries of slavery, persecution, exploitation, racial discrimination and negative perceptions, all advocated and practiced by colonial masters.
From the start Dr Nkrumah put Ghana positively on the world map as a country of full promise as he stood steadfastly for the overthrowing of colonialism and all its offshoots, not only in Ghana but elsewhere in the world and especially in Africa.
Because of the values Dr Nkrumah believed in and stood for, namely unity and solidarity, almost immediately after independence Ghana organised and hosted the All Africa Conference, the first conference of the then independent states attended by countries such as Egypt and Ethiopia. Delegates from liberation movements in Africa participated, including the ANC, which was led by the late ANC President O R Tambo; the PAC was there, KANU of Kenya, liberation movements from the then Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and Tanganyika, now Tanzania. The impact of African Pan-Africanism as propagated at that conference became clearly visible in policies subsequently pursued by such African leaders as Mwalimu Julius Nyerere of Tanzania and Dr Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia and is actually visible in our own country's foreign policy today.
Carrying out its obligations and fulfilling its promises to the people of Ghana, Dr Nkrumah's government quickly set out to remedy disparities entrenched by centuries of colonial rule. The challenge then was to fight poverty and underdevelopment. Dr Nkrumah had a clear vision as to where he wanted to take Ghana. He always proclaimed that the government wanted to see every Ghanaian liberated, even in the remotest areas of the country.
Thus the government wasted no time putting in place programmes that would not only give political or cultural independence but also economic independence. Putting up infrastructureF, such as roads, schools, including tertiary institutions that did not exist before, was made a priority. For example, in colonial days roads connecting the main cities in Ghana were very narrow, a mere strip of tar enabling only one car at a time to pass. Should there be an oncoming car, one of the cars had to give way to allow the other one to pass. Such was the state of road infrastructure passed on to Ghanaians by the British. But by 1960, only three years after independence, the government had succeeded in constructing a network of roads befitting any country proud of its independence.
School buildings of high quality started springing up, ensuring that every village in the rural area did not just have a primary school, but a high school as well. All high schools were of the same standard; it did not matter where they were located. I remember when we visited one of our friends who was teaching in a new school out in the bush and suddenly we came across this new high school with all the necessary infrastructure, including science laboratories, fully equipped libraries, though at that time there was still only one class, the Form 1 class. But since the school was to develop and go up to the sixth form, everything was already in place. And that is how Nkrumah built the schools, and such was the foresight and emphasis placed on education as the basis for development in Ghana.
In colonial times, there was only one university for the whole of English- speaking West Africa. That was Fouragh Bay located in Sierra Leone. But by 1959/1960 the Lagon University, the first in Ghana, had already been built. It was up and running and operating fully. A modern comprehensive technikon - also a first in Ghana - had been constructed and was located in Kumasi in central Ghana. New vocational training schools, putting emphasis on agricultural production and the fishing industry, were located in various villages throughout the country. This was an elaborate development programme aimed at absorbing the youth who did not make it to institutions of higher learning. In other words, it was also a way of preventing crime by ensuring that the youth were actually occupied, doing something.
Ghana's trade with overseas countries had been limited due to the lack of a deep harbour that could accommodate large ships. But, again, by 1960 the Tema Harbour at Accra was already functional, enabling easier transportation of Ghana's main export and foreign exchange-earning products such as cocoa, timber and gold.
To create more jobs and eradicate poverty, the Volta Dam Project was conceived. This was to be established for the large-scale exploitation and development of aluminium and the hydro-electric power in the Volta River. Through this ambitious project the government hoped that the whole area covering the Accra plains would fall under irrigation to boost agricultural production and that the country would be covered by an electric grid that would foster the development of large-scale industry to a great degree. The consequence of all these economic activities that were planned, as was envisaged, would be an increase in the national revenue. So, you can see a lot of thinking has gone into this planning.
But as we all know this project, in particular the Volta Dam project, was not to see the light of the day, not with the United Kingdom and Canada, as co-financiers developing cold feet and abandoning the Ghana government. However, the final nail to ensure that the project did not succeed was put in by an American-sponsored coup which deposed Dr Nkrumah in 1966, thus putting Ghana way back, where it had started.
As we celebrate the 50th independence anniversary of Ghana, it is imperative that we emphasise and appreciate Ghana's leadership and efforts to liberate both its people and those of Africa as a whole. Ghana's independence contributed much to sub-Saharan Africa's political struggle for freedom.
Some of these contributions can be summed up as follows: Firstly, Ghana led the way to prove in a concrete manner that colonies in Africa could attain independent statehood. Secondly, Ghana provided valuable stimulation on Pan- African ideas and goals, with Ghana under Dr Nkrumah being the propelling engine of those ideas. Thirdly, it reaffirmed the dignity of the African, giving a boost to his self-confidence and identity. Fourthly, Ghana's independence aroused African political consciousness more wildly and vigorously, with intense inspiration to the struggles for the attainment of freedom and statehood. Fifthly, Ghana's independence gave an impetus to ideas, concepts and efforts to promote African unity and solidarity. Sixthly, Ghana's independence prepared the way to the founding of the Organisation for African Unity, the OAU, which gave rise to today's African Union.
Today's Ghana, under the leadership of President John Kufuor continues to reclaim its leadership position and its leadership role in Africa. For example, Ghana was the first country to submit itself to the African Peer Review Mechanism, the APRM. They sometimes regard themselves as always the first. I think I agree. I thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. [Applause.]