Contradictions in Nkrumah's autobiography. An examination

Abstract or Introduction

This paper proposes to examine the issue of contradictions in Nkrumah's narrative. Among the many contradictions, emphasis will be placed on Nkrumah’s sudden admiration for the colonial master he has been fighting all this while, the essence of which is to look at the character of Nkrumah, his attitude in relation to his touted “messianic mission.”

The existing critical reception of the beautifully written personal account of Kwame Nkrumah, does appear to overlook the essentiality of the contradictions in his language use. The autobiographical ideology that, in fact, language has a way of betraying itself or giving itself a certain measure of truth and meaning is at the heart of autobiographical proper. The narrative of Nkrumah reflects both his life and his struggle for independence for Ghana. From the word go, Nkrumah creates an impression on the mind of the reader to consider either to detach himself with the truth of the narrative or to continue to identify with it.

Kwame Nkrumah was born on 21st September, 1909 in the village of Nkroful in Nzima-Ghana. Arguably, Nkrumah was seen as the founder of the then Gold Coast – Ghana. Through his efforts, Ghana attained independence from British Colonial Imperialism on the 6th of March, 1957. Nkrumah certainly became Ghana’s first president of the Republic having served as a prime minister un the British Monarchical Regime. The contributions of Nkrumah towards Ghana’s Independence cannot be overlooked. With much opposition from his people at the time, Nkrumah, through the Conventions People’s Party (CPP) formed the first government. Coincidentally, his autobiography was published on the same year Ghana attained her Independence. This was perhaps the more reason it was first titled: Ghana: The Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah.