Description (en)
This article looks at the years spent by Kwame Nkrumah in forced
exile after the military coup in Ghana 1966 ousted him from
power. Looking at his letters in combination with Nkrumah’s own
published writings of the time, the Conakry years turn out to be
pivotal moments in the evolution and maturation of Nkrumah’s
revolutionary philosophizing. Critical examination and analysis of
this phase provide clearer insights into the complexities and
ambiguities of Nkrumah’s thinking, and deeper understanding of
the blueprints he developed for Africa’s leadership of the global
struggles of oppressed humanity. The article is structured
according to the three themes which dominated Nkrumah’s
Conakry years: First, ideas about how to regain what was lost in
Ghana; second, mapping out blueprints and strategies for the
leadership role Africa would assume in the global revolution; and
third, responses to, and realigning with, the expanding and
problematic diaspora contexts of the struggle.