Samia Yaba Nkrumah has rejected narratives suggesting that Ghanaians universally welcomed the overthrow of her father, Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, in 1966. Speaking at the 2026 NkrumahFest at Nkroful in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region, Samia described such accounts as part of what she considers negative narratives about Nkrumah’s legacy. She recalled the destruction of Nkrumah’s statue following the overthrow of his government, including the severing of the head of the statue that stood at what is now the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and Museum in Accra. According to her, the destruction of the monument and celebrations surrounding the overthrow should not be interpreted as representing the feelings of all Ghanaians. “That negative propaganda that Osagyefo when he left, Ghanaians were happy is not true,” she said.
