Personality Profiles

Kwame Nkrumah Profile:

Name

Nkrumah

Other Names

Kwame

Date of Birth

1905-10-21

Place

Nkroful, Western Reg

Detailed Biography

Father: Kofi Ngonloma of the Asona Clan
Mother: Elizabeth Nyanibah of the Anona Clan
Wife: Helena Ritz Fathia
Childhood Mentor: Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey (Assistant Vice Principal and the first African member of staff at the then Prince of Wales’ College at Achimota)Education & Career Pattern: Nkrumah was first named Francis Nwia-Kofi (the latter name, after a prominent family personality), but later changed his name to Kwame Nkrumah in 1945 in the UK - he was born on Saturday-. Attended Elementary School at Half Assini where father worked as a goldsmith. A German Roman Catholic priest by name George Fischer significantly influenced his elementary school education

• 1930: Obtained Teacher's Certificate from the Prince of Wales’ College at Achimota (Formerly Government Training College, Accra)
• 1931: Teacher, Roman Catholic School, Elmina (Central Region) and later, Head teacher, Roman Catholic junior School Axim (Western Region)
• 1932: Teacher, Roman Catholic Seminary, Amisano (Central Region)
• 1935: Entered Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, USA.
• 1939: Earned a BA (Lincoln University), USA
• 1942: Earned a BA (Theology), Lincoln University, USA
• 1943: M.Sc. Education, MA Philosophy, and completed course work / preliminary examination for a Ph. D. degree at the University of Pennsylvania, USA
• 1939 - 1945: Combined studies with part-time lectureship in Negro History. (During this period, he helped to found the African Studies Association and the African Students Association of America and Canada.)
• 1945: Voted "Most Outstanding Professor-Of-The-Year by "The Lincolnian"
• 1945(May): Arrived in London with the aim of studying Law and completing thesis for a Doctorate but met George Padmore. The two as Co-Political Secretaries helped to organize the Sixth Pan-African Congress in Manchester, England. After the Congress, Nkrumah continued work for de-colonization of Africa and became Vice-President of West African Students Union. He was also leader of "The Circle", the secret organization dedicated to the unity and independence of West Africa, in its struggle to create and maintain a Union of African Socialist Republics
• 1947: Wrote his first book, "Towards Colonial Freedom"
• 1947(December): Returned to Gold Coast and became General Secretary of United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC)
• 1948: Detained with Executive Members of UGCC known later as the "Big Six" following disturbances in the colony.
• 1948 (September): Established the "Accra Evening News which appeared on the news-stands the same day that he was dismissed as General Secretary of UGCC.
• 1949 (June): Formed Convention Peoples Party (CPP) with the Committee on Youth Organization (CYO).
• 1949 (December): Declared Positive Action to demand Independence.
• 1950 (January): Arrested, following riots resulting from declaration of Positive Action
• 1951 (February): Won the election while in prison with a vote of 22,780 from the 23,122 ballots cast, to take the Accra Central seat. He was released later from prison in the same month to form new Government.
• 1956: Won the elections leading to independence.· 1957 (6 March): Declared Ghana's Independence
• 1958 (April): Convened Conference of the existing independent African States (Ghana, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Morocco and Liberia). In December, He held an All-African Peoples Conference in Accra, the first Pan-African conference to be held on African soil. He took the first step towards African Unification by signing an agreement with Sekou Toure to unite Ghana and Guinea.
• 1958: Married Helena Ritz Fathia, an Egyptian Coptic and relative of President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt.Had three children with her - Gokeh, Sarmiah Yarba, and Sekou Ritz
• 1960: Declared Ghana a Republic.
• 1961: Nkrumah extended the Ghana - Guinea union to include Mali under Modibo Keita.
• 1962 (August): Target of an assassination attempt at Kulungugu in the Northern Region of Ghana.
• 1963 (May): Nkrumah organized a conference of the 32 independent African States in Addis Ababa. The Organization of African Unity (OAU) was formed at this conference with the purpose of working for the Unity, Freedom and Prosperity of the people of Africa.
• 1964: Established Ghana as a One Party State with himself as Life President.
• 1965: Nkrumah published his book " Neocolonialism". In this book he showed how foreign companies and governments were enriching themselves at the expense of the African people. This book drew harsh protest from the US government and consequently withdrew its economic aid of $35m previously earmarked for Ghana.
• 1966 (February 24th): Overthrown in a Military Coup d'etat while on trip to Hanoi, North Vietnam. He left for Conakry Guinea on being told of the overthrow. He lived in Conakry as Co –President of Guinea.
• 1972 (April 27th): Died of natural causes in a Romania
• 1972 (7 July): Buried in Ghana.

The Osagyefo, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah authored over 20 books and publications. (See http://www.panafbooks.com/ISBN.html for a list of his publications.) He is a lead authority on the Political theory and Practical Pan-Africanism. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah selflessly dedicated his life to show how future sons and daughters of Africa should prepare themselves as well as strive to unify Africa and harness its wealth for the benefit of all descendants of the continent.
Today, the African continent is beset with poverty and misery even as it is endowed with abundance of natural, climatic, strategic and human wealth. Sources: Forward Ever – Kwame Nkrumah
Ghana Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah - Kwame Nkrumah
Revolutionary Path – Kwame Nkrumah Network Computer Systems Ltd.



Name: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
Date of birth: 18/07/1918
Country: South Africa


Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa on July 18, 1918. His father was Chief Henry Mandela of the Tembu Tribe. Mandela himself was educated at University College of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand and qualified in law in 1942. He joined the African National Congress in 1944 and was engaged in resistance against the ruling National Party's apartheid policies after 1948. He went on trial for treason in 1956-1961 and was acquitted in 1961.

After the banning of the ANC in 1960, Nelson Mandela argued for the setting up of a military wing within the ANC. In June 1961, the ANC executive considered his proposal on the use of violent tactics and agreed that those members who wished to involve themselves in Mandela's campaign would not be stopped from doing so by the ANC. This led to the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe. Mandela was arrested in 1962 and sentenced to five years' imprisonment with hard labour. In 1963, when many fellow leaders of the ANC and the Umkhonto we Sizwe were arrested, Mandela was brought to stand trial with them for plotting to overthrow the government by violence. His statement from the dock received considerable international publicity. On June 12, 1964, eight of the accused, including Mandela, were sentenced to life imprisonment. From 1964 to 1982, he was incarcerated at Robben Island Prison, off Cape Town; thereafter, he was at Pollsmoor Prison, nearby on the mainland.

During his years in prison, Nelson Mandela's reputation grew steadily. He was widely accepted as the most significant black leader in South Africa and became a potent symbol of resistance as the anti-apartheid movement gathered strength. He consistently refused to compromise his political position to obtain his freedom.

Nelson Mandela was released on February 11, 1990. After his release, he plunged himself wholeheartedly into his life's work, striving to attain the goals he and others had set out almost four decades earlier. In 1991, at the first national conference of the ANC held inside South Africa after the organization had been banned in 1960, Mandela was elected President of the ANC while his lifelong friend and colleague, Oliver Tambo, became the organisation's National Chairperson.