Profile
Kwame Nkrumah: The Father of Ghanaian Independence
First prime minister and president of Ghana, born in Nkroful on 21 September 1909
Kwame Nkrumah was born in Nkroful, in the Gold Coast, on 21 September 1909. He trained as a teacher and then studied at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.
In 1947 he returned home and founded the Convention People's Party. Jailed by the British, he was released after his party won elections, and became the colony's leader.
He led Ghana to independence on 6 March 1957 and became president in 1960. He helped found the Organisation of African Unity. Overthrown in 1966, he died in exile in 1972.
Career highlights
- 1909Born in Nkroful, Gold Coast
- 1935Studies in the United States
- 1945Pan-African Congress: in Manchester
- 1949Convention People's Party: founded
- 1951Leader of government: after his release from prison
- 1957Ghana independence
- 1960President of Ghana
- 1963Organisation of African Unity: helps found it
- 1966Overthrown: while abroad
- 1972Dies in exile: in Romania
Did you know?His mausoleum in Accra stands on the site where he declared Ghana's independence in 1957.
