Introducing Sekou Nkrumah……
Tell us about your early years and when you first realized you were the progeny of Ghana’s most famous citizen. How did it make you feel and how has it shaped your life over the years?
I don’t remember my first two years in Ghana, so my early years that I remember would be in Cairo, Egypt. Those were the ten years in exile after the 1966 coup. I was academically an average student but in those elementary school days, I was a great sportsman. I loved soccer and at that early age had ambitions of playing professional soccer. But my greatest success was in the 100 meters dash. I became national champion (under 12) with a record of 13.4 seconds! I was also interested in reading adventure stories. When I ran out of them, I would write my own stories using favorite characters.
It was only when we returned to Ghana that I became aware of being Nkrumah’s son. I guess it was because of being in the public spotlight there. So I started reading books about him. I still remember my first book on Nkrumah (‘A myth is broken’) written by one of the guys involved in the 1966 coup, referred to in the book as “operation cold chop”. From that time, I became very objective when it related to Nkrumah’s political life. I saw the good and the bad in him. Although I did not know him as a person and was not emotionally connected to him, I came to appreciate his life struggle. I believe my interest in politics has everything to do with the Legendary Kwame Nkrumah!
What are your memories from your first year at Achimota School?
My memories from my first year at Achimota School are mostly unpleasant. I was completely lost as I could not speak English and was also not very grounded culturally. I remember in class when I was asked to read and could not, kids would laugh at me, which did not help matters. But I was still playing soccer, and I still remember the first game I played for my house (among the form one students). I scored four goals and we won 7-0! Then my brother got sick. They took us out of the boarding school and made us day students. Sadly, that did not help.
You spent some time in Romania during your tertiary education. How was the experience and were there any difficulties in learning the language and adapting to the culture?
I spent eight years in Romania between 1981 to 1989. I was 17 years old when I got there, so I did a lot of growing up in many different ways. The first year, I learnt the language, which although was easy, was a bit of a struggle because of the difficulties in the classroom I experienced earlier in secondary school. Adopting to the culture was not really a problem for many of us as there were many foreign students, and we really stuck together. We studied hard and played hard!
I remember meeting my first wife (a Romanian – she was also a student at the University of Bucharest) during one of our wild parties then! We had a son together in 1985. Romania, under a communist regime, was an interesting experience but we had outlets. We could listen to radio “Free Europe” from Berlin, although the reception was always poor, and we could read Newsweek or Time for alternative views. But in all, I would say I enjoyed Europe a lot, as I had the opportunity to travel across the continent. Among all the European cities I visited, I had great memories in Belgrade. Brussels is also another city I enjoyed.
