WHAT TOOK NKRUMAH TO THE EAST: Ideology or Events? Nkrumah did try to operate a genuine non-aligned foreign policy. He believed that to be in the interest of Ghana. His major interest in the West was investment. He wanted Western investment to build the Volta dam. He knew that any strong-shift to the East would jeopardize his dream of industrialization. But, then came the independence of the Congo and the crisis which followed. Nkrumah had signed with Lumumba an agreement on a Union between Ghana and the Congo. He was therefore determined to help Lumumba. It was clear that the Americans were against Lumumba. The Russians naturally took the side of Lumumba. So, the interest of the Soviet Union and of Ghana coincided. Nkrumah cooperated with Soviet Union and Illuyshin planes carried Ghanaian envoys and soldiers to and from Congo. But, he didn’t support Russian’s Congo policy which he in fact opposed. He was against the cold war ‘penetrating into the African continent’. It was significant that President Eisenhower of US endorsed his non-alignment policy and praised Ghana for her role in the Congo. Then came the murder of Lumumba which incensed Nkrumah. President Brezhnev of the Soviet Union who was on a visit to Guinea at the time was invited to visit Ghana. The murder of Lumumba and the visit of Brezhnev marked the beginning of the turning point in Ghana’s East – West relations. But even then, there was a restraining influence. President John F. Kennedy’s African policy encouraged Nkrumah to believe that there were prospects of better relations and assistance. The visit to the Soviet Union and China and other countries of Eastern Europe in 1961 had a profound effect on Nkrumah. He became convinced that the Eastern type of development was what Ghana needed. There was a definite shift in policy. Ghana came to lean more to the East as the economic situation deteriorated. It was therefore, events, and not ideology, per se which moved Nkrumah’s policies towards the East.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 16:09:34 +0000
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