Ghana: The Fruits of Redemption

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The people of Ghana went to the polls last week to vote away what little freedom they have left. Up for decision in a national referendum were two proposals put forth by President Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's "Osagyefo" (Redeemer). The first would empower him to fire any judge of the High Court or Supreme Court—which would abolish Ghana's technically independent judiciary. The second, and more important—copied almost verbatim from the Soviet constitution—would make Nkrumah's Convention People's Party the country's only legal political body and, like Russia's Communist Party, "the vanguard of the working people in their struggle to build a Socialist society."

There was little doubt of the results, though the voting will not end until this week. Except for a few dissenters, most citizens were expected to rubber-stamp the proposals. There was, after all, that sizable herd of Osagyefo-worshippers who received fresh inspiration from the Ghanaian Times writer who recently confessed: "I shudder when I think of the greatness of the Great One. And so let the world know, and the word go forth, that indeed we do have a miracle called Kwame Nkrumah who walks the face of Africa today."

For those who did not believe in miracles, more direct persuasion was needed. As the Ghanaian Times put it, "There must not be a single misused vote, for the people will know who stabbed the revolution in the back by not voting yes."