Jackson advocate. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1939-current, 1959-05-02

yours, but we understand perfect
ly what we are doing. Should ]
wait until I am assassinated be.
fore l defend myself? ?"
Less passionate adherents of Mr.
Nkrumah have other explanations
for the series of measures he has
taken. Why has he used the
sledgehammers of deportation and
preventive detention to crush the
gnat of opposition? One shrewd
observer close to the Prime Min
lister said: 81 do not believe he is
afraid. l think he has calculated
that stability in a new African
country requires the people to
know exactly who is master. His
methods are a deliberate show OF
force and power because that is
what his people respect. What ap-
pears to Westerners as unneces-
sary repression is really a display
by Nkrumah for internal purposes.
He calculates if he barks loudly
enough he will not have to bite so
hard"
Another, a non-Ghanaian pro-
fessional observer of the scene
said:
"Nkrumah is interested in pan
African leadership. He wants to
secure his own back yard quickly
while he is still covered with glory
as the man who achieved Ghanaian
independence.
an the past difficulties such as
the Ga tribal movement have
sprung up when he left the coun-
try. He wants to be able to leave
the cou ltr,' and travel extensively
without the fear of political diff
ficulties that will call him home
The question is: Have the repres-
sive measures he has taken done
more to discredit him than to help
him in the pan-African scene ?"
Another explanation is that most
revolutionaries even such mild
ones as Mr.. Nkrumah was-have
a haunting fear Of counter-revo-
luton because they know the ef-
ficacity of subversion and appeals
to mass emotions. So they crush
the opposition in the bud.
Despite legal and constitutional
evidence to the contrary Ghana
does not have the appearance of
a police state. The Accra folk
seem to be happy, indeed more
joyous than most Africans. There
has been negligible violence since
independence. The average Chan
alan has never been exposed to a
philosophy that says one must de-
fend ones enemy's right to say
what he thinks.
In Justice to Mr.. Nkrumah it
should be said that liberty Of ex-
preston is not completely stifled.
This correspondent was able to
visit X. Busia and ]. B. Danquah,
Opposition leaders, who spoke
freely and strongly, although they
referred to the risk they ran OF
being arrested for preventive dem
ton at the Governments will. A
small opposition newspaper, Ash
anti Pioneer, still appears reg
ularly in Kumasi.
What is the effect Of all this
on the other African nations :?
Mr.. Nkrumah still enjoys great
prestige as the chief Of the first
black African colony to achieve
independence. But the prestige
appears to vary with the distance
from Ghana.
French Togoland, about to be-
come Independent and once strong
" attracted by neighboring Ghana,
is no walking measures against be-
ing swallowed up" President
William s. Tubman Of Liberia re-
Gently rebuffed Mr.. Nkrumah po-
litely on the federation question.
Only newly independent Guinea,
where the Government of Marxist-
educated Sekou Toure proclaims
the principle Of monolithic party
rule, has come close to Mr.. Nkru-
nah in a nominal union. In re-
turn Ghana has been promised q
loan Of 100000 pounds $685.
600, 000) by Mr.. Nkrumah, whose
country is one of the richest in
Africa.