Slow Growth Of Economy Result Of Nkrumah�s Overthrow - Adae-Amoakoh

The National Organiser of the erstwhile People's National Party (PNP), Mr Samuel Adae-Amoakoh, has attributed the slow growth of the country to the overthrow of Dr Kwame Nkrumah in 1966. He said Nkrumah was selfless, did not amass wealth and was always working to transform the fortunes of Ghanaians. He insisted that if the trend had continued, Ghana would have experienced an accelerated economic growth. Speaking to the Daily Graphic on the occasion of the 48th anniversary of the overthrow of Dr Nkrumah, the 83-year-old man said Nkrumah had foresight, vision and above all he was a versatile leader who would have led the country to the �promised land�. He recalled that immediately after independence, President Nkrumah occupied the youth, who constituted about 35 per cent of the population, with skill training and knowledge acquisition by setting up the Workers Brigade. Mr Adae-Amoakoh noted that if subsequent governments had sustained such laudable social interventionist policies, the numerous challenges facing the nation would have been checked. He said Nkrumah was not only a socialist who was always in to alleviate the suffering of the ordinary people, the poor and the vulnerable but also an architect of Ghana's business and mobilisation of entrepreneurs. Mr Adae-Amoakoh said he set up the Timber Marketing Board through which he channelled money to timber merchants. He added that Nkrumah also set up the Ghana Educational Trust (GET) and built 20 secondary schools across the country and stressed that most of the people who were given contract to work on the projects were Ghanaians. Mr Adae-Amoakoh said the former president again set up industries to meet the consumer needs of the people. Mr Adae-Amoakoh pointed out that corruption was an �ill-wind that blows nobody good" and urged all Ghanaians to overcome the canker.