Evening star., 1961-12-25
Africa SeIf-RuIe Effort
Turns Sour in Ghono

ACCRA, Ghana, Dec. 25
(AP). His High Dedication,
President Kwame Nkrumah of
Ghana, is in big trouble.
Something has gone wrong
in the little West African ma
ton born with so much prom
ise and so much good will near
ly five years ago.
The showplace of African in
dependence is still bustling,
developing country Of friendly
people. But danger signals are
flying.
A fat treasury balance of
$3.50 million, left by the last
British colonial government for
the new nation in 1857, has
practically vanished. The ma
ton is on an auSterity budget.
Prices are up and take-home
wages are reduced.
Hundreds of Mr.. Nkrumah's
political opponents are in jail.
There are reported to be 5000
exiles In neighhoring Togoland.
The opposition has disappeared
from Parliament House and
there is a distinct order of to-
talitarianism in the humid air.
Radicals Taking Over
Mr.. Nkrumah is a world fig
ure, known in the capitals of
East and West and hailed by
his controlled press as the Re-
deemer, Messiah and Savoir.
But his people are unhappy
and there is no mistaking it.
Although trade unions are
government-controlled, there
have been strikes. They have
been suppressed and their lead
ers jailed. There is a grow
ing murmur of discomfort
among the poorly paid middle
and lower class workers. Even
the relatively well paid civil
servants, smartly trained by
the British, are complaining
about Mr.. Nkrumah's high
handed methods.
He has fired the moderate,
mostly pro-Western members
of his cabinet and is increas-
ingly inspired by such radical
anti-Western members as In
terror Minister Kwaku Boateng
and Information Minister Ia
via Adamafio. John Tettegah,
secretary general of the gov
ernment's puppet trades Union
Congress, is another influential
member Of the group close to
Mr.. Nkrumah.
Arrests and surveillance of
his political enemies continue
and the government has es-
tablished special courts to try
political opponents, with no
rights of appeal.
Russian Ties Growing
Mr.. Nkrumah has advocated
a socialist form for Ghana
from the beginning Of in
dependence. A good many
Ghanaians are unhappy about
his 10-week junket to the So
Wet Union and other Soviet
bloc states this summer.
On top Of this, a trade mis-
sion has just returned after
concluding trade agreements
with the Soviet Union. Poland,
Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East
Germany. Jugoslavia, Bulgaria,
Romania. Albania and Com
munist China. The bulk. of
Ghana's trade always has been
with the West, especially its
huge cocoa bean exports. more
than a quarter of the worlds
production.
More than 300 Russian and
Soviet bloc technicians already
are in Ghana drawing salaries
and more are expected under
the new trade agreements.
Without astute leadership,
Ghana could slip under Soviet
domination. Doubts about the
leadership are beginning to
trouble many of the seven mil
lion Ghanaians.
Mr.. Nkrumah has run a one
man show in Ghana from the
start. The forms of parliament
ary democracy were observed,
but to safeguard his position
he has made his convention
peoples party an all-powerful
organization on the Commun-
ist mode. The Trades Union
Congress cooperative move
ment and the Farmers Council
are all arms of the party. Party
cells are now being established
in churches. Sunday schools,
factories and youth organiza-
tions.
British Can't Be Blamed
The British, for all their CO.
lonial exploitation, gave Mr..
Nkrumah a well-trained civil
service, a small but efficient
army and police force. They
had also taken pains to educate
many Ghanaians, although the
country is still 80 per cent il
literate. Mr.. Nkrumah himself
was educated in the United
States and England.
With it's cocoa beans and
products, Ghana at independ-
ence had an unusually high
economic level for Africa. Per
capita income was $3.50 a year,
one of the highest on the
continent.
Now Ghana's economy has
slipped. Foreign exchange re-
serves have declined seriously
and are believed to be still
slipping. They were under $500
million in July. World cocoa
prices have declined 80 per cent
and it is believed this years
crop will be we'll under last
years 100000 tons.