Nkrumah memorial

Last Saturday I met two wonderful women who were visiting Ghana, one for work and the other a friend who came along for company. We went to the Nkrumah memorial and neighboring arts and craft colony. 

Kwame Nkrumah was a pivotal leader in the independence of Ghana. After achieving independence Nkrumah became the prime minister of Ghana. He supported Panafricanism, which is the push for the uniting of former African colonies, when put simply. He was educated in the United States at UPenn as well as spent time in Great Britain studying. He married an Egyptian woman, which is why his memorial is highly influenced by Egyptian architecture. 

During his time as prime minister there were many ups and downs. Throughout his tenure he succeeded in suppressing the opposition through questionable means and consolidated his power to become very powerful. Nkrumah’s was toppled in 1966 by the first of many military coup d’etat in the first few decades of Ghanaian self-rule. Nkrumah has been memorialized as a great leader in Ghana as well as in greater Africa. The memorial is one of the few tourist sites in Accra and I have to admit very beautiful. One strange thing is though, that it was the first time I had random Africans (not only Ghanaians) ask if we would take a photo with them.  We even took some pictures with a bride and groom. Woo hoo!

The art colony next door is a great place to buy hand-made tourist pieces. I even bought a ‘djemba’ a hand drum. I have had a very little bit of experience playing while in Italy, but I’ll need some lessons when I get back to the states. I’ll be in Ames, Iowa for the next year, if there is anyone who will give me some free lessons please shoot me a message!