"In the park's center is an eye-catching bronze statue of a larger-than-life Nkrumah, clad in royal kente cloth, with an outstretched hand pointing ahead and one foot in front of the other as if he were advancing forward. Erected on top of a pedestal at the spot where Nkrumah stood to declare Ghana's independence from Britain, it channels the slogan of Nkrumah's political party: 'Forward ever, backward never.'"
"Cast and designed by the Italian sculptor Nicola Cataudella, it is considerably older. Originally erected in 1958 at the Old Parliament House, it depicts Nkrumah in a fugu, a smock from the northern region of the country associated with the working class. Here, too, Nkrumah's right hand is extended, but instead of directing forward movement, it waves in greeting."
"In 1961, the statue was badly damaged in a bomb attack, and Cataudella was commissioned to replace it. Then, during the 1966 coup that unseated Nkrumah's government, it was toppled and beheaded. The severed and damaged pieces—Nkrumah's body, minus a right hand and a left arm, and his head—stand on two pedestals next to each other."
Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park in Accra contains two radically different monuments to Ghana's first prime minister, reflecting competing views of his legacy. The central bronze statue, erected in 1992, depicts Nkrumah in royal kente cloth with an outstretched hand symbolizing forward progress, embodying his political party's motto. A second statue by Italian sculptor Nicola Cataudella, originally placed in 1958, shows Nkrumah in a working-class fugu with a waving hand. This statue faced criticism as promoting a personality cult, was damaged in a 1961 bomb attack, and was toppled and beheaded during the 1966 coup. The severed pieces now stand as damaged monuments. These contrasting representations illustrate the enduring conflict over Nkrumah's historical significance and political legacy.
Read at The Nation
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