Kwame Nkrumah. Vision and Tragedy

13. Lurch to the Left

13 LURCH TO THE LEFT A CLEAR AND COHERENT OUTLINE of Nkrumah’s socialist policies is difficult to achieve because, although his overall aim remained fairly constant, his views and attitudes often appear contradictory, paradoxical and almost schizophrenic. The contradictions are more apparent because of the weakness already noted by Sir Robert Jackson, that his brain appeared to be in watertight compartments, and what he said in one context bore little relation to what he might say in another. Up to Independence in 1957, the whole momentum of government and party had been geared to the independence struggle, and the battle cry ‘SG Now’ had made no demands on the niceties of policy. Nkrumah had foreseen the need to bolster support for his socialist aims by setting up, as early as 1956, among Ghanaian students in London, the National Association of Socialist Students Organizations, NASSO. Its first priorities were the study of scientific socialism and the increase of CPP influence among all Ghanaian students. Padmore lived in London at that time and played an active part in NASSO. He and Nkrumah also discussed the wider issues of socialist reconstruction, and the paucity of dedicated socialists among senior CPP members. Nkrumah then appointed Padmore as his personal adviser, in 236 order to swing the party towards effective socialist policies, and to convert those who were viewed as reactionary self-seeking capitalists. The development of socialist ideology was closely linked to the role that the CPP should play. Nkrumah saw the party as his main weapon, and he strongly backed the party on those fairly frequent occasions when there was a clash between the party on the one hand and the senior civil servants and the non-socialist members of the Cabinet on the other. To forward his argument, Nkrumah dismissed the concept of the supremacy of parliament as an imperialist myth, and maintained that sovereignty rested in the people – that is, the party. In June 1959, Nkrumah invited Tawia Adamafio to become General Secretary of the CPP. A bright young man who had studied law in London, and had been prominent in NASSO, Adamafio accepted reluctantly. His comment about the CPP at that time is interesting. I knew their intrigues and jealousies, the vicious whispering campaigns and the rumour mongering, the deliberate namesmearing and wicked mud slinging, the character assassination, the interminable inner party struggle, the incompetence and greed, the bribery and corruption.1 Adamafio used his senior position to ingratiate himself with Nkrumah, and soon became his closest confidant. He adopted Nkrumah’s left-wing philosophy and became its most fanatical supporter. Gradually he created an atmosphere of intrigue and mistrust and used this to advance his own ambitions. At the same time he had a close and apparently cordial relationship with Nkrumah. This is well illustrated in his book By Nkrumah’s Side which vividly recounts his story until the time of his arrest after the Kulungugu incident. Centered on Adamafio, Nkrumah gradually built up a group LURCH TO THE LEFT 237 238 KWAME NKRUMAH - VISION AND TRAGEDY of socialist activists with whom he discussed every facet of his socialist aims. This group included Heymann, Addison, Baffoe, Shardow, Tettegah and Amoako-Attah. In the early days of this group and before his death in 1959, Padmore had great influence. He was often involved in clashes with the civil service and the Cabinet. Robert Gardiner, one of the most distinguished Ghanaians of his age, said of Padmore that he only had one idea and that it was wrong a one. After 1959 Adamafio rapidly assumed Padmore’s mantle. Early in 1960 the pace of events quickened. The CPP Headquarters moved into an impressive building, the Accra Evening News was published with the slogan ‘The Party is Supreme’, and Adamafio and his close friend and colleague Tettegah were appointed by Nkrumah to the Cabinet. These events form the background to the setting up of the Republic. The CPP Government published a White Paper outlining the Republican Constitution early in 1960. Based very loosely on the US Constitution, it gave immense powers to the President who was both Head of State and Chief Executive. Elected for a five-year term, the President had the power of appointment and dismissal over the civil service, the armed forces and the judiciary. In addition, he had the power to refuse assent to bills, and to pass laws by legislative enactment. Nkrumah had never...