Ghana’s President John Evans Atta Mills Monday led his countrymen in the celebration of the 100th birthday of the country’s first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, saying it should be the beginning of the building of a strong and united Ghana.

“Let this day be the beginning of the breathing of a new life into a strong and united nation. We should rekindle our sense of national pride and self-worth,” he said in a radio and television broadcast.

President Mills, who has declared the Dr Nkrumah’s birthday as the Founder’s Day and a public holiday, said the celebrations were in recognition of what Nkrumah gave to Ghana and Africa.

He said Dr Nkrumah, who died in 1972, was an embodiment of national unity who did not know the north, south, east or west.

President Mills said Dr Nkrumah was a star of Ghana and Africa, who projected Ghana as the “true Black Star”, adding that it should be the collective pride of Ghanaians to celebrate the birthday of the man who lit the blaze of the liberation struggle of Africa.

He called on Ghanaians to rededicate themselves to national unity and to care for one another, put away divisive tendencies and to hold on to things that held the nation together.

President Mills also advised the youth to work hard to realise their dreams and cautioned that there were no short-cuts to success.

He urged Ghanaians to arise to the vision of Dr. Nkrumah, saying, “Kwame Nkrumah built Ghana. Let us rise up to our duties and make the nation prosperous” .

The day was heralded by a candle light procession on Sunday night through the principal streets of Accra, amidst singing and dancing.

Dr Kwame Nkrumah was born on 21 September, 1909, at Nkroful in the Western Region of Ghana.

He attended the prestigious Achimota School and also trained as a teacher. He went to the United States in 1935 for advanced studies, receiving a B.A. from Lincoln University in 1939.

He also received an STB (Bachelor of Sacred Theology) in 1942, a Master of Science in education from the University of Pennsylvania in 1942, and a Master of Arts in Philosophy the following year.

While lecturing in political science at Lincoln, he was elected president of the African Students Organization of America and Canada.

Dr Nkrumah continued his schooling in England, where he helped to organise the Fifth Pan-African Congress in 1945. He then founded the West African National Secretariat to work for the decolonization of Africa. Nkrumah also served as Vice-President of the West African Students’ Union (WASU).

During his lifetime, Nkrumah was awarded honorary doctorates by Lincoln University, Moscow State University, Cairo University, Jagielloniaan University in Krakow, Poland, and Humboldt University in former East Germany.

Dr Nkrumah was invited to serve as the General Secretary to the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) under Dr Joseph Danquah.

He returned to Ghana in 1947 to take up the position but split from it in 1949 to form the Convention People’s party (CPP) and led the colony to independence as Ghana on 6 March, 1957.

A firm believer in African liberation, Nkrumah pursued a radical pan-African policy, playing a key role in the formation of the now defunct Organization of African Unity in 1963.

At home, he led a massive socio-economic development that saw the springing up of infrastructure across the country.

As time passed, he was accused of forming a dictatorship. In 1964, he formed a one-party state, with himself as president for life, and was accused of actively promoting a cult of his own personality.

Overthrown by the military in 1966, with the help of Western backing, he spent his last years in exile, dying in Bucharest, Romania, on 27 April 1972

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