Nkrumah Books: Too expensive

Ghana is yet to have a President whose interest in literature could match that of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

Even their autobiographies, which the next generation could rely on to know who they truly were, aren't in existence.

Fifty years on, Nkrumah keeps towering above them even in his death. He had documented

Read full articlealmost everything during his lifetime without leaving a title or jot.

When the 1966 coup reached a crescendo, and sympathizers were wondering about the ill-fate of Nkrumah, he was rather basking in literature, as seen on page 147 of 'Dark Days In Ghana'.

"I have been able to do so many things I longed to do but never had the time. I have been able to read as much as I like, to study the latest books on politics, history, literature, science, and philosophy, to step my writing, to reflect, and to prepare myself physically and mentally for the militant phase of the revolution."

If you're a Ghanaian and you've not read about Nkrumah, then you should consider his 'Autobiography' and 'Dark Days in Ghana'. The former is the genesis of his humble beginning, to becoming a political Jesus. And the latter discloses the bloody coup which toppled his government.

Nkrumah had thousands of manuscripts. As an avid reader and a prolific writer, he left us with (16) books. Two were published posthumously, Revolutionary Path (1973) and Rhodesia File (1976). There's no person dead or alive in Ghana who has had literature committed to him than Nkrumah.

Though his books are worth a king's ransom, one sad news is that they're too expensive. The average Ghanaian would struggle to buy unless book lovers who believe in the creed of Walter Cronkite that "Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation."

A book like 'Dark Days In Ghana' costs GH₵70. His 'Autobiography' is sold at GH₵180. Without forgetting 'Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism', which after its publication in 1965, led to a kerfuffle in the US State Department. Nkrumah was sent a sharp note of protest, leading to a prompt cancellation of the $25million of American "aid" to Ghana. It costs GH₵120.

Averagely, the average Ghanaian has to cough GH₵1500 if he wants to be abreast with all the Nkrumah books. Even if he had to buy them one at a time, he'd be thinking more of what he could do with GH₵180 than buying a book. Students could barely raise GH₵25 for curricula books, how much would they earmark for extracurricular books? This isn't normal!

The state has to understand that Dr. Kwame Nkrumah is the mother of Ghana politics. Thus, he has to be studied right from Junior high school to the university. This won't be achievable when his books are costly, and not available in most bookshops.

Panaf Books and Gamal Nkrumah own the copyright of his books, Government should liaise with them and get to own the copyright (if it's doable), so that the books get printed on a large scale, and subsidized for students and citizens to buy.

Inusah Mohammed had to lament about the normalization of citizens for not having read much of Nkrumah's books. He wrote an article (Which of Kwame Nkrumah's Books Have You Read As A Ghanaian?) two years ago. In the comments section, it's obvious that most of the citizens knew nothing about Nkrumah. Those with acidic comments had relied on the lies told by (NLC) and anti-nkrumaism, so they're hating him for hate's sake.

It was awash in the news that Kofi Adu (Agya Koo) asserted that Nkrumah "didn't accomplish anything." The President that gave Ghana a life didn't achieve anything? If he had read 'Dark Days In Ghana' or 'The Struggle Continues', it'd have been enough to cure his ignorance.

Many are out there with weird convictions about Nkrumah. Time has come to heal them: Nkrumah books are the medicines they need. But with their exorbitant prices, how would they buy, especially now that citizens are grappling with what to eat?

We don't want to reach a stage where reading is costly while ignorance is cheaper. Do we!?