Establishing ethos and envisioning a new Africa: Kwame Nkrumah's invention at the 1958 All-African People's Conference

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Periodical article

Title:	Establishing ethos and envisioning a new Africa: Kwame Nkrumah's invention at the 1958 All-African People's Conference
Author:	Opoku Mensah, Eric
Year:	2015
Periodical:	Journal for Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (ISSN 2026-7215)
Volume:	4
Issue:	1
Pages:	103-115
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Ghana
Subjects:	heads of State conferences 1958 pan-Africanism decolonization speeches oratory
About person:	Francis Nwia Kofie Nkrumah (1909-1972)
Abstract:	In 1958, Kwame Nkrumah, the Prime Minister of Ghana, called for a conference of independent heads of state in Africa. It was a novelty in Africa. The conference was to provide a formal continental platform for political deliberation by Africans. This article examines Nkrumah's speech at the conference, with which he aimed to establish himself as a leading Pan-Africanist, from a rhetorical point of view. It also looks at the effects of his address. Nkrumah situated his political leadership in a pseudo-religious context, calling on those who had gathered in Accra to go out into the rest of Africa and spread the 'good news' of the decolonization of Africa. With this speech, Nkrumah demonstrated his rhetorical prowess and showed his ability to provide leadership to the freedom fighters ready to lead 'a final assault upon Imperialism and Colonialism.' Bibliogr., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract]