Happy Birthday Nkrumah!

Note: Dr Kwame Nkrumah is a George Washington type figure in Ghanaian history. He helped Ghana gain independence from the yoke of British imperialism in the 1950's and went on to serve as the country's first president. Excerpted from allafrica.com

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, according to [the Ghanaian Vice-President], was the torchbearer, and undisputedly, for the independence struggle of our country, and should be regarded and recognised as such.

Making a direct reference to the self-sacrifice of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to advance his argument, His Excellency the Vice President pointed out, "This was a man who did not believe in property-owning democracy."

To him, the values, principles, ideals and ideas of Dr. Nkrumah should inspire the youth of Ghana to sacrifice and commit themselves towards making a positive impact on society, and overall national development.

According to him, Nkrumah laid a solid foundation for Ghana, which Ghanaians would continue to benefit from, even though he was no more, and cited the Akosombo Dam, which was still supplying over 50 percent of the country's energy, as some of the visible projects of the legend.

His vigorous infrastructural projects all over the country, he said, have remained visible, whilst in education, the scholarship programmes he initiated, helped many people, including northerners, to get an education.