DELLE’s PLEDGE; We Will Restore Nkrumah’s Works

Prof. Delle speaks after receiving donation of books from the legacy Project

By Ekow Mensah

Professor Edmund Delle, the National Chairman and leader of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) has made a solemn pledge to restore the works of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah and to make the party a viable organ of the masses.

He said “we have a responsibility to reorganize the CPP as the main vehicle for achieving the dreams of the Osagyefo of African unity and for ending under development.”

Professor Delle was speaking at a ceremony at which he received books by and about Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, First President of the Republic of Ghana.

The books were donated to the CPP by the Legacy Project of the 8th Pan African Congress.

The project is distributing more than 2000 such books to tertiary institutions, mass organizations, political parties and regional libraries across the country.

Professor Delle commended the Freedom Bookshop for bringing Nkrumah’s books into the country and the Legacy Project for circulating the ideas of Nkrumah in all corners of the country.

He said the ideas of Nkrumah are as relevant today as they were in the past.

In making the presentation, Comrade Kwesi Pratt, Jnr said Africa has no alternative to ensuring that its huge resources are owned by its people and are exploited for their own benefit.

He said the Legacy Project decided on the distribution of books by and about Nkrumah because they point to the path of development and prosperity for all oppressed peoples.

He said “the CPP can rise again and that is only possible if we correctly apply the ideas of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.”

Editorial

Making the legacy count

He is counted as a foremost liberation thinker and leader and he wrote of his time and for posterity, but Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s books have been rather difficult to find in the bookshops.

So, following from this year’s 8th Pan African Congress recommendation to promote the ideals of great Pan Africanists through the distribution of books and literature, the Legacy Project of the 8th PAC has acquired a number of books written by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and other pan-African writers.

Copies of the books, comprising of 19 titles and others have already been presented to the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, the Balme Library at Legon and the Convention Peoples Party, CPP.

Other organisations which would soon benefit from the Legacy Project include the Flagstaff House, Parliament House, Trades Union Congress, the Department of African Studies of the University of Ghana, Kofi Annan Peace Keeping Centre and others.

In all, 48 organisations, including 25 tertiary institutions spread throughout the 10 regions of the country have been selected as beneficiaries.

Already, positive feedback has been received from the first few recipients, especially with regard to the latter’s ability to satisfy their patrons’ to see the books.

So the Legacy Project’s aim of providing a forum and an engagement platform for issues relating to Africa to remain alive through the dissemination of books and works of leading pan- Africanists are on course by making the books accessible to as many people as possible.

It is the expectation of the Legacy Project that the books can easily be accessed as reference material by all. Some people have also expressed interest in owning personal copies. As of now, individual copies can be purchased at the Freedom Bookshop at Asylum Down.

SPREADING NKRUMAH’S IDEAS; A Start Made at The Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park

Kwesi Pratt Jnr donates books to Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum

By Ekow Duncan

Over 2000 copies of Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s books and books about Nkrumah are to be given to the country’s public libraries, universities and polytechnics by the Legacy Project of the 8^th Pan- African Congress held in March in Accra this year.

For a start, 30 of these books were presented to the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park yesterday by the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee of the 8^th PAC, Comrade Kwesi Pratt at a ceremony on Tuesday.

The books which were ordered directly from the publishers of the books, PANAF publishers in London because of their rarity on the local market, included titles such as “I speak of Freedom,” “Class Struggle in Africa,” “Neo-Colonialism -The Last Stage of Imperialism,” and “Africa Must Unite,” among others.

Making the presentation, Comrade Pratt explained that spreading Nkrumah’s ideas was a continuation of Nkrumah’s works especially in the struggle against poverty and illiteracy.

He said the Memorial Park could become the Mecca of Africans working for a stronger, wealthier and a united continent.

Towards this end, he called on the government and other progressive governments and organisations to support the creation of a Kwame Nkrumah Research Library at the Park.

Receiving the books, the Director of the Park, Alhaji Abubakar Osman said the books will help many including the staff of the Park to read and know more about Nkrumah’s ideas.

He added that the Park urgently needed a vehicle so it could take some of its exhibits to various parts of the country so that those outside Accra can also access the rich archives of the Park.

In an interview with the press after the ceremony, a member of the Socialist Forum and Secretary to the Local Organising Committee of the 8^th PAC, Comrade Justice Henaku said the Legacy Project is still expecting more of the books to arrive.

He added however that while the work of the Legacy Project will greatly help to make Nkrumah’s works accessible to many, more will be required to make the books accessible to even those in remote parts of the country.

Editorial

NKRUMAH’S IDEAS

Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah taught the people of Africa many important lessons which are still relevant for their development.

One of the most important lessons Nkrumah taught us is that Africans cannot be inferior to any other race and that we ought to shape our own destiny.

Nkrumah also insisted that colonial subjugation would not end with independence and that the colonized people need to continue to struggle to free themselves from the tentacles of the colonial metropolis.

The Insight believes that the application of these teachings would be so crucial in the struggle of the African peoples to take control of their resources and to overcome under- development and poverty.

It is in the light of this that we commend the 8th Pan African Congress and the Freedom Bookshop for donating more than 2000 books by or about Nkrumah to various public institutions.

It is our hope that these works will be put to good use and that they will be provided much needed guidance in our quest for development and prosperity.