biography
pronunciation:
[nkrooma]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1909–72)
|
| biography:
| Ghanaian statesman, prime minister (1957–60), and president (1960–6), born in Nkroful, SW Ghana (formerly Gold Coast). He studied in both the USA (Lincoln University) and the UK (London School of Economics), returning to the Gold Coast in 1947, and in 1949 formed the nationalist Convention People's Party. In 1950 he was imprisoned, but elected to parliament while still in jail. Released in 1951, he became leader of business in the Assembly, and then premier. Called ‘the Gandhi of Africa’, he was a significant leader both of the movement against white domination and of pan-African feeling. He was the moving spirit behind the Charter of African States (1961). Economic reforms led to political opposition and several attempts on his life, interference with the judiciary, and the formation of a one-party state in 1964. His regime was overthrown by a military coup during his absence in China, and he sought asylum in Guinea, where he was given the status of co-head of state. |
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