Exilic Pan-Africanism: Refocusing Kwame Nkrumah’s Conakry Years, 1966–1971

Abstract

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.

Keywords