Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was the first Prime Minister and President of independent Ghana. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah selflessly dedicated his life to show how future sons and daughters of Africa should prepare themselves as well as strive to unify Africa and harness its wealth for the benefit of all descendants of the continent. The author of over 20 books and publications, he is a lead authority on the Political theory and practical aspect of Pan-Africanism.
1909: Born in Nkroful, Ghana
1939: BA in Education
1942: BA in Theology
1943: M.Sc. Education; MA Philosophy; and completed course work / preliminary examination for a Ph. D. degree
1939 - 1945: Combined studies with part-time lectureship in "Negro History." (During this period, Nkrumah helped to found the African Studies Association and the African Students Association of America and Canada.)
1945: Voted "Most Outstanding Professor-Of-The-Year by "The Lincolnian" in Pennsylvania
1945: Helped organize the Sixth Pan-African Congress in Manchester, England.
1947: Wrote his first book, "Towards Colonial Freedom"
1947: Returned to Gold Coast (Ghana) and became General Secretary of United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC)
1949 (June): Formed Convention Peoples Party (CPP) with the Committee on Youth Organization (CYO)
1956: Won the elections leading to independence
1957 (6 March): Declared Ghana's Independence
1958 (April): Convened Conference of the existing independent African States (Ghana, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Morocco and Liberia). In December, Nkrumah held an All-African Peoples Conference in Accra, the first Pan-African conference to be held on African soil. He took the first step towards African Unification by signing an agreement with Sekou Toure to unite Ghana and Guinea.
1961: President Nkrumah extended the Ghana-Guinea union to include Mali under Modibo Keita.
1962 (August): Target of an assassination attempt at Kulungugu in the Northern Region of Ghana.
1963 (May): Nkrumah called for a conference of the 32 independent African States in Addis Ababa. The Organization of African Unity (OAU) was formed at this conference with the purpose of working for the Unity, Freedom and Prosperity of the people of Africa.
1965: Nkrumah published his book "Neocolonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism." In this book, he showed how foreign companies and governments were enriching themselves at the expense of the African people. This book drew harsh protest from the US government and Lyndon Johnson's administration consequently withdrew from an economic agreement with Ghana.
1966 (February 24th): Nkrumah was overthrown by a CIA-funded military coup d'etat