Samia Nkrumah

Samia Yaba Christina Nkrumah (born 23 June 1960)^[1] is a Ghanaian politician and chairperson of the Convention People's Party. In the 2008 parliamentary election, she won the Jomoro constituency seat at her first attempt and recently became the first female to chair a major political party in the country.

Early life and education

The daughter of the first president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, and his Coptic Egyptian wife Fathia Rizk, Samia Nkrumah was born at Aburi in the Eastern Region of Ghana in 1960.^[2] She was forced to leave Ghana with her mother and brothers on the day of the 1966 military coup that overthrew Kwame Nkrumah. The family were resettled in Egypt by the Egyptian government.^[3] She returned with her family in 1975 at the invitation of General Acheampong's National Redemption Council government and attended Achimota School. However, she left the country again when her mother decided to return to Egypt in the early 1980s. Samia proceeded to London, later completing her studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London in the United Kingdom, where she obtained the degree of Bachelor Arabic Studies in 1991. She also completed a Master's degree at the same institution in 1993.^[1]

Politics

She became the first woman to ever head a major political party in Ghana. Her victory, along with three other female members of the party, is hailed as marking the renaissance of the ailing CPP, and an affirmation of the party's long held tradition of promoting women's rights. In an article about her, entitled "The new Mandela is a woman", the Huffington Post describes and analyses her impact on Ghanaian and African politics. She is one of the founders of Africa Must Unite, which aims to promote Kwame Nkrumah's vision and political culture.^[4] As part of this philosophy, she decided to go into active politics in Ghana.^[5]

She contested the Jomoro constituency seat in the Western Region of Ghana and beat the incumbent MP, Lee Ocran of the National Democratic Congress with a majority of 6,571, winning about 50% of the total valid votes cast.^[6]

She was elected as the first woman chairperson of the Convention People's Party on Saturday, 10 September 2011. She won the poll with 1,191 votes, and her nearest contender, the incumbent, polled 353 votes. By this feat, she became the first woman to ever head a major political party in Ghana.

2012 elections

On 9 December 2012, Samia Yaaba Nkrumah lost her Jomoro parliamentary seat to the NDC contestant, Wing Commander Francis Anaman, a retired Officer of the Ghana Airforce.

Chairperson of CPP

The election of Hon. Samia Nkrumah, daughter of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President, as party chairperson has rekindled hopes for the CPP’s future transformation into a credible and formidable political force in Ghana. She holds a clear conviction in her charismatic father's ideology. This shared belief, coupled with her unique appeal to the youth and women within and across Ghana’s Nkrumahist faithful, makes her the ideal person to bring the positive change in Ghana.

Meeting between Hon. Samia Nkrumah and the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton at the Chicago, XII World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, on 23 April 2012.

When Nkrumah formed the CPP, he envisaged a socialist-based political machinery whose strength would be derived from the urban working class and rural peasantry. He believed this would enable him to undertake his state-led developmental programme and actualize his pan-African vision after independence. By 1957, Nkrumah’s charismatic appeal, effective organisational skills and connection with the masses had turned the CPP into a vibrant political force that delivered Sub-Saharan Africa’s first independence.

Following a coup in 1966, the military junta disbanded the CPP and its ancillary organisations. Under new legislation, the Elections and Public Officers Disqualification, many CPP functionaries were disqualified from holding any public offices. The systematic exclusion of the CPP in Ghana’s body politic persisted through subsequent civilian and military regimes until its revival in 1996 following years of legal wrangling which began when Ghana returned to constitutional rule in 1992.

Hon. Samia Nkrumah and Nobel Peace Laureate, Muhammad Yunus.

In 2008 she contested the Jomoro Constituency on the CPP’s ticket. Her victory was unique because for the first time the CPP won an election in Ghana’s legislature without any “special alliances” with other political parties.

In parliament, Samia has maintained an independent identity and voice for the CPP that has been uncharacteristic of previous CPP legislators. Indeed, she is one of just a few Ghanaian politicians who could be described as modest in thought but formidable in action.

Her strong showing in the race for the CPP chair, where she polled 1,151 votes against the combined 695 votes of three other candidates, attests to her strong endorsement within the party. Already, she has declared her intention to unite the various Nkrumahist elements and groups in Ghana under the umbrella of the CPP as a way of boosting the electoral fortunes of the party. In addition, she has instituted a Friday Freedom Forum initiative in which she hopes to build a lively policy platform that will make the CPP resemble a potential “government in waiting”.

Career

Samia Nkrumah started work as a bank clerk with the London branch of the Bank of India in 1984. She then worked with Al-Ahram as a journalist in various capacities starting from 1989.^[1]

Family

The second child of Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first President, and Fathia Nkrumah, Samia has three brothers: Gorkeh Gamal, Sekou Nkrumah and Nana Kwame Otuapemg Nkrumah. She also has an older half-brother, Professor Francis Nkrumah, a retired lecturer and consultant paediatrician. She is married to Michele Melega, an Italian-Danish man, and they have a son, Kwame Thomas Melega.

See also

• Kwame Nkrumah
• Fathia Nkrumah

References

External links

• Convention People Party.org: "Convention People Party.org". 
• The Huffingtonpost: "The new Mandela is Woman". 
• Financial Times: "Whatever the frustrations in Ghana, the region is at a tipping point". 
• Jeune Afrique: "Ces Africaines qui osent la présidentielle". 
• Ghanaweb:"Samia Nkrumah: Ghana’s Future President". 
• Ghana Broadcasting Corporation: "Samia Nkrumah As C.P.P Chairman". 
• Citifmonline: "Samia Nkrumah meets Nobel Peace Laureates in the USA". 
• Ghana to Ghana.com: "Samia Nkrumah to lead ‘big’ protest against relocation of Ghana’s $1.2b gas plant".