Quite often, some people fail to cut their own identity. Such always thread in the shadows of a relative with an iconic stature; be it father, mother, uncle or others. It is the case of difficulty on the part of the pretenders to disengage themselves from the goodwill that such relatives enjoy even after their demise.
In the estimation of the struggling individuals, perhaps the only way to catch attention and be recognized as such is to clutch onto the often pleasant personality and goodwill that their relatives once enjoyed. The scenario painted seems a perfect description of the last born son of Ghana’s first president – Sekou Nkrumah.
Sekou had not been his own man since his return from Romania after his studies. Judging by the way he has faltered rather badly in many public offices he had been offered in the past, we can only deduce that he earned those positions not by merit or any competence, but through the wonderful goodwill of his late father and the fact that politicians also did that to court cheaply CPP supporters.
Sekou Nkrumah had been in the news in recent times and typical of his recognised trade mark, it is nothing short of lampooning the political establishment. Ironically, he is part of the establishment. In fact he rallied support for the NDC prior to the 2008 election.
He neglected his father’s CPP which he thought had lost the luster to win any major election in the country and instead urged the CPP to join the NDC, because he believed had similar ideological strand like the ruling party.
After less than a year, Sekou is at daggers with his adopted party, accusing President Mills of not being a leader enough to deal with the many problems affecting the country.
Ordinarily, Sekou should have been hailed for criticising his party in the open. But sorry we would not be party to such praise song. Our stance is informed by the very inconsistent and controversial disposition that Sekou had exhibited in the past and whether his current criticism of the NDC is not the usual vintage Sekou in motion.
Sekou have problems with almost everyone but himself. He failed woefully to execute effectively the job of managing the George Padmore Library when then President Kufuor offered him that job. It was a kind of reward for supporting the NPP to win the 2000 election.
Sekou has again showed his gross incompetence as the head of the National Youth Council. It certainly cannot be early days yet for anybody to hold brief for him. He is yet to put down any policy that will show that he has some good plans for that sector.
And government aide, Nii Lantey Vanderpuije, rightly put it to him in one of his encounters with Sekou. The fact that Sekou failed to offer any tangible explanation for his inaction at the National Youth Council shows how he had failed in that area.
Yet Sekou would be the first to nail the leadership of very party he belongs, forgetting that it is the effective running of such smaller sectors and units that add up to improve the overall performance of government.
The paper is not surprised at Sekou’s diatribes. This is a man who had been offered columns in some newspaper organisations in the past for a fee. These were done purely on humanitarian and ideological grounds. In the end Sekou blew those opportunities and rather resorted to vilification of such newspapers.
This is the albatross called Sekou Nkrumah, who sees nothing good in anybody; but in the end has proven to be a liability in any position he had held. Give us a break, Sekou!