Hundreds coming for the celebration (Pg 3) 18-09-09

Story: Kofi Yeboah

HUNDREDS of people from across Africa, America, Europe, The Caribbean, Pacific and other parts of the world are trooping down to Ghana to celebrate the centenary birthday of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, which falls on Monday, September 21, 2009.
The centres of attraction will be Nkroful in the Western Region, the birthplace of Dr Nkrumah, and the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum in Accra, where his mortal remains are presently accommodated.
The day has been declared by President Mills as statutory public holiday in honour of Dr Nkrumah, one of the most revered black freedom fighters in the world.
Apart from the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and Nkroful, places and projects like the Akosombo Dam, the Peduase Lodge, Achimota School and the Volta Aluminium Company Limited (VALCO), which strike fond memories of Dr Nkrumah, are expected to attract enthusiastic crowds from far and near.
Last week Friday, the Vice President, Mr John Mahama, launched activities for the centenary celebration, which would be climaxed on African Union (AU) Day on May 25, 2010, when the whole of Africa is expected to celebrate him.
At the 13th AU Summit in Sirte, Libya, this year, African leaders unanimously voted to adopt the centenary birthday of Dr Nkrumah as an AU activity.
The decision followed an appeal made to that effect by President Mills when he addressed the summit.
Activities to commemorate the occasion, include lectures, symposia, exhibitions and cultural performances.
Acknowledged by the BBC as the African of the Millennium, Dr Nkrumah touched the lives of thousands of freedom-loving people in Africa and beyond after leading Ghana to attain political independence from British colonial rule in 1957 and, thereafter, taking a frontline role in the African liberation struggle.
A visionary leader, he was considered by many as peerless and decades ahead of his generation.
According to a former Chairman of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Dr Edmund N. Delle, the difference between Nkrumah and his peers was universality of his person and the manner his messages touched the lives of the suffering and oppressed throughout the world.
“The others also had messages but they (messages) were not drummed home into the souls of the people. Nkrumah could see his future in history,” he remarked.