CPP’S Headache; Professor Akosa Joins Useless Battle Over Who Nkrumah’s children May Be

Professor Agyemang Badu Akosa

By Ekow Mensah

Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa has challenged Dr Onsy Nathan Kwame Nkrumah’s claim to be one of Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s sons.

In an  article in the Daily Graphic on Monday, Dr Akorsah   said Onsy introduced himself to him under a different name but he later introduced himself as Dr Nkrumah’s son with a markedly receding frontal hairline, much like many potential flag bearers of the Conventions Peoples Party  who created a receding frontal hairline to create same resemblance to the Osagyefo.

 According to Dr Akosa, when he confronted Onsy for proof of his relationship to the  Osagyefo, Onsy answered that his mother was an Egyptian.

 Dr Akosa said Onsy’s response shocked him especially the implication that Nkrumah went after every Egyptian woman.

 Dr Akosa pointed out that even Fathia, the legitimate wife of Dr Nkrumah had not met with her husband before their marriage.

 In these assertions, Dr Akosah has become one more leading member of the CPP  to join the debate on claims of being Nkrumah’s  Children and how relevant  that may be in the choice of leadership of the CPP.

Professor Akosa’s article is published in full below;

WHO IS DR ONSY NATHAN KWAME NKRUMAH?
The name Nkrumah exudes so much that a middle aged man will begin the process of changing his identity completely a nd lure everybody else including Osagyefo's family members to accept him and drag them along in the process.

Nobody can question Prof Francis Nkrumah's parentage, very much the father's son and no one either can query the lineage of Gamel, Samia and Sekou, but from whence cometh the man Onsy.

I first met him in 2009 during the centenary celebration of Osagyefo's birth. He had come to the secretariat to desperately see the Chairman Prof Akilakpa Sawyer on what he could do to help. He introduced himself then as Onsy Anwar Nathan, an Egyptian, Pan-Africanist wanting to be part of the anniversary celebrations. He was unsuccessful but he invited me to support him in a programme organized by him at the Osu Children's home. Even though he had organized a party for the children, I realized that he was more interested in the publicity, the video that was being shot, than the party for the children.

Months later I started hearing the story that the said Onsy was claiming to be Osagyefo's son. When I next saw him he had created a receding frontal hairline which gave him a broader forehead. Many people have come to accept the receding forehead as likeness of Osagyefo. I know many potential and flag bearers of the Convention People's Party who had to create a receding frontal hairline to create some semblance to Osagyefo. I confronted him and asked for proof that he was Nkrumah's son. His answer shocked me. He told me but his mother was Egyptian, almost as if Osagyefo went after any Egyptian woman. We all know the story with his wife Fathia, they had not met before the marriage. I asked him then, why it had taken him 37 years after the death of Osagyefo to come claiming he is the man's son.

Change of name
Then I heard that this man Onsy, is a photographer in Tottenham, North London but he now appears as Dr Onsy Nkrumah, with a PhD in what? Photography, Philosophy or Economics, and now he has completely abandoned the name Anwar and has made the Nathan, his middle name and now calls himself, Dr Onsy Nathan Kwame Nkrumah.
There are many questions for this man to answer. What is his birthdate and was he born on a Saturday? That can easily be computed.

He has gone to Nkroful to plaster and paint a few areas of the family house, given little monies to family members and now with no proof other than Onsy's words, the family has come in support of him as a son of Osagyefo. The likes of Nana Bulumiatwum speaks and acts almost as if Osagyefo told him about this man. How a man who has worked in the African Studies Department for so many years can behave as if Onsy is God sent to the family I do not know, but suffice to think of what will happen if all this was false. I realize that times are hard and harsh in Ghana and many families could do with a little help or support but certainly not enough to grant this man any status especially as a citizen of Ghana through false declaration.

Questions
Nkrumah was overthrown in 1966 and died in 1972. Onsy who must be in his mid to late fifties must have at least been a teenager when Osagyefo died. Did he know then? If persons like Alhaji Sinare claim they knew, when was Onsy told and why did he not go to the Ghana Embassy to reveal his identity all these years.

Who is Souad Mohammed El Rouby Sinate and why should anybody take him seriously? How close is he really to the Nkrumah family that he could not have brought all the children together to break the news to them if it was true. Did Madam Fathia know that Nkrumah had had a child with another Egyptian? She would have told her children. For all the years that the children stayed in Egypt, how come they never had any snippet of this information.

There appears to be an orchestrated acceptance of this Onsy man. I read a full interview with a very senior journalist from Graphic Corporation giving some level of legitimacy to his story. Many persons it would appear have been recruited to create acceptance for this man Onsy with some even talking of a spiritual dimension. Why are we not prepared to ask him to take the ultimate scientific test that will settle the matter once and for all.

DNA intervention
I heard Sekou state clearly that if Onsy does a DNA test and it states that there is a greater than 95% certainty of the claim to be Osagyefo's son he will have no hesitation in accepting him as his brother. I have not heard Prof and Gamel speak on this issue but I know Samia agrees with Sekou but most certainly not before.
Why is Onsy not keen to get it over and done with.

DNA Technology has become a major landmark technology that is used to settle parentage issues and also to determine issues of genealogy. Many African Americans have traced their origins using this technology which can state the various ethnic groups that make up an individual's background. I listened to a lecture in Connecticut, USA in which an African American had traced his family tree to the 16th level where the first was his parents and in his background was Yoruba, Cameroon, Tunisia, Turkey, Iraq and British from the Livingstone family of Eleanor Roosevelt.

On a daily basis parents who want their children to join them in their countries of residence have to subject the family to DNA technology which incidentally has unearthed many discrepancies. When I first went to UK for my postgraduate training I was told in the blood group class that in the UK, there was a difference between husband and father. It was a statement that baffled an innocent young man from Ghana for a long while. It never dawned on me that, that same statement could be applicable to the Ghanaian society as well.

DNA technology is used every day and it can be the only proof of the issue we face today. Citizenship cannot be granted to anybody on hearsay.

Why in the midst of all the controversy should we be fed with speculations and innuendos, and this person said this and the other person said that and this person is a close family friend when all that is required, is a blood sample from Onsy and in this case because of the level of controversy, blood from Prof Francis Nkrumah, Gamel, Samia and Sekou to the Police Forensic laboratory headed by the consummate professional DCOP David Appeatu. In the absence of Osagyefo's DNA or is the man's DNA profile stored somewhere?, the four children would have all the essential domains that will make the results the genuine article. In no time the results will be out and all on the various sides of the divide will know whether Onsy is a fraudster as has been alledged or genuinely a son of the great Osagyefo.

As far as I am concerned and as an avowed Nkrumaist the results either way will not diminish the status and image of Osagyefo. He is larger than anything that can be smeared on him but my believe is that a serious untruth is being perpetuated against all of us as a people.

If he is the North London photographer turned PhD in Economics supposedly advising the many African Governments and wants to piggy back on Nkrumah-Nasser, Nkrumah-Fathia and Nkrumah-Egypt relationship to begin to claim Ghanaian citizenship and tomorrow as I have heard already, attempt to vie for high political office then we the true and bonafide citizens of this country must rise up and demand proper accountability.

Citizenship
Ghanaian citizenship cannot be obtained on hearsay even if the Sinare's behave as if they were present during the consummation and to also say that even when a husband and wife cohabit and have children, we have learnt painfully, that all the children somehow do not turn out to be the children of the man in the home.

Does Onsy have Ghanaian citizenship? If yes, what was the basis of it. Is it because the family of Nkrumah said so or because the so called friends of Nkrumah also said so. Who swore the affidavit on his behalf and do we just accept such flimsy reasons to assign citizenship? So why is everybody quiet, does all the issues raised not point to a greater conspiracy or malice in our society?

Established countries insist on definitive proof and for now that is DNA. If the DNA is done properly and I will have no reason to doubt it but in a contentious case such as this, the full battery of domains can be used to proof the results beyond protestation in order to avoid Onsy and his cohorts attempting to challenge the results.

I do really hope that he has not been offered citizenship and he does not use a Ghanaian passport. If he does the entire Government institutions, the Immigration Service, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Passport Office will have a case to answer.

The bottom line is that this matter must be proven beyond any reasonable doubt by DNA technology and all of us Ghanaians must be interested in the outcome. Ghanaians travel and have to go through so many difficulties to get legitimate papers to live and work in many countries and as for citizenship of those countries, the processes beg believe. Why should anybody take our citizenship for cheap. Is it any wonder we hear that many West Africans in particular our 'brothers' from Nigeria obtain and use Ghanaian passport? This is a matter that some of us will be prepared to go to court to save this country from the likes of Onsy Natham Kwame Nkrumah or is it Onsy Anwar Nathan.

Prove Akosa wrong and I will eat humble pie but beware, all those who have started cozying up to their new found salvation in Onsy and there are many in the CPP and the Council of Elders where Nana Bulumiatwum sits unjustifiably, it might turn into their worst nightmare.

The writer is Prof Agyeman Badu Akosa, an avowed Nkrumaist.

Editorial

Onzy What?

 Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, a former Presidential aspirant of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) has sufficiently demonstrated that being the son or daughter of Nkrumah cannot be a ticket to party or national  leadership in an article carried on the front page  of this issue .

 We endorse the views expressed by Professor Akosa and emphasise that all those who seek to lead the CPP must do so purely on merit and not on whom their parents may be.

 Onzy’s claims are very strange especially as it has been claimed that he once proposed marriage to Nkrumah ‘s daughter.

The point is that whether Onzy is Nkrumah ‘s son or not is not an important consideration in the choice of a leader for the CPP  and Ghana.

Let the Nkrumaist get on with the business of rebuilding the Convention Peoples party and end the foolishness of doing battle over who Nkrumah’s children may be. 

Deku’s Funeral; At The State House In Accra

Anthony K. Deku

By Ekow Mensah

The irony cannot be lost on historians

The funeral of Mr A.K  Deku, a former Commissioner of Police and leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) will be held at the forecourt of the State House in Accra today.

Mr Deku was amongst those who plotted and overthrew the Nkrumah Government on February 24,1966 for amongst other crimes building the State House which they described as a prestigious project.

That My Deku’s mortal remains will lie at the State House as an honour to him is a huge statement, 49 years after the overthrow of Nkrumah.

According to a family spokesperson a vigil was kept at Mr Deku’s residence on Thursday, August 27,2015.

He will be buried at the A.K. Deku Memorial cemetery at Woe Aklorbordzi near Keta in the Volta Region.

Before his death ,Mr  Deku  granted an interview to TV’3 current affairs program “Hot Issues “ and virtually apologized for his role in the coup sponsored by the Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) of the United states of America.

 He said then that Nkrumah was a good leader who worked hard for the development of Ghana and Africa.

Mr Deku said he participated in the Coup Plot only because if he hadn’t he could have been killed .

The holding of the funeral of Mr A.K Deku  at the forecourt of the State House is another vindication of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

Editorial

Uncle Kwamena is Gone

News broke out last Monday that Mr. Rudolf Kwamina Von Balmoss, has passed away after a domestic accident.

For many people Uncle Kwamina as he was affectionately called was the founder of the Provident Insurance Company but for those of us at The Insight, the Socialist Forum of Ghana and the Freedom Centre, he was more than that.

That we continue to be operational is partly the result of the sponsorship of and participation in our activities by Uncle Kwamina.

Over the last 10 years and more, Uncle Kwamina has been the most consistent advocate for the Insight urging all his friends and associates to patronize the newspaper.

On some occasions when he was unable to get “The Insight” from the news stand, he would come over to the office personally or send his driver to get a copy for him.

He and his beautiful wife were responsible for the renovation of the office of The Insight.

Uncle Kwamina also paid some of the bills of the Freedom Centre and provided financial support for many activities of the Socialist Forum of Ghana.

He was an unrepentant Nkrumaist, kind and gentle and up until his very last moments he was urging all Nkrumaist, to join the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) and to help rebuild it.

Uncle Kwamina’s death is a major blow to The Insight, the Socialist Forum of Ghana and the Freedom Centre.

We extend our condolences to the bereaved family.

PARTIES FACE BAN

Charlotte Osei, Ghana's Electoral Commissioner

By Ekow Mensah

Several political parties in Ghana may be on the road to extinction if the Electoral Commission (EC) carries out its threat of auditing them.

Sources at the EC say that the Commission is carrying out an audit to determine the continued qualification of the parties for registration.

Many of the registered political parties have failed to submit their audited accounts to the EC as is required by law.

Article 14 (a) of the 1992 Constitution says that “Political parties shall be required by law to declare to the public their revenue and assets and to publish to the public annually their audited accounts.”

The parties have also failed to meet the constitutional requirement of being active at least in two thirds of the districts of Ghana.

Article 7(b ) of the 1992 Constitution stipulates that the parties need to satisfy the EC that they have “branches in all the regions of Ghana and are, in addition organized in not less than two thirds of the districts in each region….”

The EC is said to have informed some of the political parties about its impending actions already.

Political parties which appear to be threatened by the intended actions of the EC include the Peoples National Convention (PNC), the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), the United Ghana Movement (UGM), the National Democratic Party (NDP), the National Reform Party (NRP) and the United Front Party (UFP).

EDITORIAL

VOTERS REGISTER

The noise about the compilation of a new voters register is difficult to understand.

If the New Patriotic Party (NPP) claims that it has come by some modern technology which can identify non- Ghanaians on the voters register, then we should just use that technology to clean up the register.

Why do we have to go through the long and expensive process of compiling a new register when we can just remove undesirable names.

 In any case, Ghana has had to virtually compile a new voter’s register after every election and that has not cured what the NPP calls the credibility problems of the register.

 The Insight believes that the compilation of a new voters’ register would not improve anything as past exercises have proven.

 The way forward lies in cleaning up the old register.

TWISTING BAWUMIA’S WORDS

Dr Mahamudu Bawumia

By Ekow Mensah

It is obvious that a large part of the Ghanaian media is deliberately setting up Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for attack and humiliation.

The content of his last Tuesday press conference have been twisted to make him sound illogical and sometimes confused.

Nowhere in the statement he made to the media, did Dr Bawumia claim that there are more than 70,000 Togolese on Ghana’s voters’ register.

What Dr Bawumia said was that an NPP sponsored team “set out to compare Ghana’s voters register with those of neighbouring countries and the results were astonishingly alarming”.

The Daily Graphic of Wednesday, August 19, 2015 quoted him as saying “… with copies of Togo’s voter’s register and that of Ghana, the team used biometric facial recognition technology and found potential matches of 76,286 names on both registers”.

Indeed what Bawumia says conclusively is that 76,286 persons on Togo’s electoral register look like the same number of people on Ghana’s register.

He does not say that those 76,286 people are also on Ghana’s voters register. All he says is that the two set of people look alike.

Dr Bawumiah does not also say that the 76,286 people are Togolese or Ghanaian.

 In any case, even if he said that they were Togolese there could not be any problem with that given the fact that the constitution of Ghana allows Ghanaian -Togolese to vote in national elections.

Article 8(1) of the 1992 constitution states that “ A citizen of Ghana may hold the citizenship of any other country in addition to his citizenship of Ghana”.

The only disqualification of Ghanaians with dual citizenship are spelt out in Article 8(2) which reads as follows,” without prejudice to article94 (2) of the constitution, no citizen of Ghana shall qualify to be appointed as a holder of any office specified in this clause if he holds the citizenship of any other country in addition to his citizenship of Ghana.

a)     Ambassador or High Commissioner

b)     Chief of Defence Staff or any Service Chief

c)      Secretary to the Cabinet

d)     Inspector General of Police

e)     Commissioner, Custom, Excise and Preventive Service

f)        Director of Immigration Service and

g)      Any office specified by an act of Parliament.

Ghana’s electoral process is not offended by people who look like Togolese or persons with dual citizenship registering in two countries.

In any case even if all that Dr Bawumia alleges are true, why can’t the Electoral Commission use its own methods to clean up the register?

Why should Ghana go through all the expense of compiling a new voter’s register when we can just simply clean up the old one?

Is there any guarantee that a new voter’s register will still not have the credibility problems which Dr Bawumia alleges?

There is something curious about the voters registers exhibited by Dr Bawumia.

The Ghana register has the names of voters, their identity numbers, ages and more.

 Strangely, the Togo register exhibited by Dr Bawumia has only the identity number of the voters. 

Did somebody remove the other details and why?

Editorial

ELECTORAL REFORMS

That it is the duty of every and any Ghanaian to ensure that the right of citizens to choose their leaders is not subverted cannot be over emphasized.

The 1992 constitution makes it the duty of all Ghanaians to uphold this fundamental right.

It is therefore appropriate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) or any other political party to make suggestions for improving the electoral process in Ghana.

However such endeavour ought to respect facts and provide cogent reasons for the reforms which are put forward.

In our view the NPP has failed to make a good case for the compilation of an entirely new voters register.

The claim that some Ghanaian voters may look like Togolese is not sufficient reason for compiling a new voters’ register.

IT IS A SIN TO IMPORT FOOD_Nunoo Mensah

Brigadier General Nunoo Mensah

By Christian Kpesese

A former National Security Advisor, Brigadier General Kwesi Nunoo Mensah has condemned the continues importation of food and stated that it is a sin for Ghana to keep importing food in the midst of its vast and fertile soil that can be used for constant food production.

According to the Human Security advisor to the President, every piece of land in Ghana is capable of supporting the growth of all kinds of plants for all year round as compared to other parts of the world hence it is a sin for the country to import food from elsewhere.

Brigadier Nunoo Mensah made the call on Accra based radio, Kasapa FM’s morning show last Monday.

He abhorred the general importation of almost everything into the country making the economy an import driven economy; a situation which he said can never make the national currency, the cedi stable.

The retired Army General stated categorically that the unfortunate overthrow of Ghana’s first President Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah marked the beginning of the problems of the country.

“This is where we lost our way’’ he laments.

Ghana he said has since the exit of the Osagyefo lacked the kind of a selfless and inspiring leader who has the ability to mobilise the masses for a course.

He eulogized the exceptional selfless and patriot quality of Nkrumah who he said did not own even a bedroom but lived and died for Ghana.

The lack of selflessness in the country in recent times he observed has been the cause of the chaotic situation the country finds itself in today.

“Selfishness is the bane of our chaotic state’’ he said.

He noted that it was a joy and a privilege to catch a glimpse of Nkrumah as it was with Jesus in those days, so like the Zaccheus, he had to climb a tree in order to see Nkrumah pass by in the midst of the masses.

Brigadier Nunoo Mensah praised the educational policy of the Osagyefo through the seven (7) year development plan which enabled him to have formal education.

The seven year development plan he noted is still relevant today as though it was drafted yesterday.

He decried the general lack of quality leadership at all levels of national life and emphasized the urgent need for dedicated and selfless leaders to help transform the fortunes of the country.

Ghana he noted is a wealthy nation and does not need an IMF loan to survive but committed leaders who can mobilize the masses to build a country that is comparable to other power houses of the world.

In the midst of strikes on the labour front, General Mensah said Ghana lacks patriots who are ready to die for their country.

EDITORIAL

PARTISANSHIP

Driving through Nsawam clearly shows the extent to which political partisanship is gradually but surely eating the very fabric of the Ghanaian society.

In Nsawam some bread is labeled NDC and other NPP.

Indeed the NPP travelers would usually buy bread which is labeled dressed in their party colours whiles NDC sympathizers and loyalist insists on buying bread only in their colours.

This is how far Ghana has come and it is exceedingly troubling.

Today nothing can be discussed in Ghana without a political partisan twist.

It is as if there are two truths all the time. The NDC truth and the NPP truth.

The Insight prays that the slide down this path is halted as quickly as possible to enable the people of Ghana discuss issues on proper merit.

The partisanship is making it impossible to set national standards for anything and everything.