the mind of kwame nkrumah

255 Pages·2016·2.56 MB·English

THE MIND OF KWAME NKRUMAH
MANUAL FOR THE STUDY OF CONSCIENCISM
KWAME NKRUMAH
Lang T. K. A. Nubuor
Marxist-Nkrumaist Series
Centre for Consciencist Studies and Analyses
(CENCSA)
THE MIND OF KWAME NKRUMAH

Manual for the Study of Consciencism

Lang T.K.A. Nubuor

SECOND STANDARD EDITION

Copyright © 2011, 2016 Lang T.K.A. Nubuor
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by
any information storage retrieval system, without the permis-
sion, in writing, of the publisher.

Centre for Consciencist Studies and Analyses

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Dedicated
To
Eki Gbinigie who suggested the idea of a manual in place of a
review
Explo Nani-Kofi who encouraged the idea
Beatrice Dedo Mate-Kole who remained with me when all had
abandoned me
Patricia Teiko Nubuor who never forgot a brother
And the Great
Alhaji Ali Anum-Yemoh whose wonderful friendship sustains my
hope in humanity.

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Acknowledgement

This manual has been written within very difficult circumstanc-
es. That it has been completed at all appears to be a miracle.
That is why I express my heart-felt gratitude to goodness in the
first instance for the courage that sustained me over the fifteen-
month period that it took to commence writing and to complete
it. For the four-year period that occupied me in preparations
and writing, Beatrice Dedo Mate-Kole proved the most tolerant
and helpful. Without her support, the assistance of Eki Gbinigie,
Explo Nani-Kofi, Kwesi Pratt, Jnr, and Alhaji Ali Anum-Yemoh
would have been in vain.

Encouraging comments from promising young men like Kosi
Dedey, Duke Tagoe, Kwaku Dadzie and Abraham Allotey urged
me on in no small measure. Kwaku Dadzie and Richard Abonie
would rather this manual were presented in a direct book form.
That was the extent of the enthusiasm of these gentlemen. It is
my hope that explanations offered to them will satisfy them in
the time being.

Ama Adumea Ohene made me feel that this manual had been
awaited for decades. Her positive comments on the uncomplet-
ed manuscript assured me that sophisticated readers like her
would likewise be pleased that at long last the younger genera-
tion would find Consciencism accessible.

For all the material assistance, like Explo Nani-Kofi’s purchase
of the copy of Consciencism used for this writing, financial assis-
tance and spiritual support of all the above-mentioned persons I
remain forever grateful.

May goodness always be their lot.

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Vladimir Ilyich Lenin on the eve of the victory of the Great Oc-
tober Socialist Revolution in Russia was compelled to re-state
and defend the philosophy of Marxism, i.e. dialectical material-
ism, against the attempts of some Russian intellectuals who
falsely claimed that they had revised and perfected Marxism.

Bankole Akpata (March 28th 1964).

For Marx, the doom of the capitalist system was axiomatic, but
the nature of its successor depended on far more than a change
in the mode of production. The revolutionaries had to know
what they were doing, or the state would not wither away. And
unless the state withered away, the real history of humanity
would not begin.

For Lenin, however, the heresy-hunt for idealists and metaphy-
sicians in the ranks of the revolutionary socialists became a
matter of supreme importance, for achieving the revolution it-
self. Accusing Bukhanin, Zinoviev, Trotsky and other leading
theoreticians in his party of God-seeking, he was prepared to
break with them utterly unless they renounced their views.

The First World War proved Lenin to be right. Only the tem-
pered dialectical materialists of his own party could withstand
the full blast of imperialist duress and propaganda. All the other
socialist parties voted war credits for their governments and led
the workers to the slaughter.

But the understanding of reality cannot spread as fast as illusion
and error in human societies …

Socialists who differ philosophically about the nature of reality
may travel a long way together politically. But part they must,
eventually, and the bitterness in which they part will bear a di-
rect ratio to the length of time during which their differences
have been concealed. In philosophy as in war the sudden strife
between kinsfolk can be the most destructive, and therefore the
socialist movement should remain in continuous philosophical
debate.

Even the point of revolt against capitalism need not necessarily
be the point of parting between socialists who accept an ideal-
istic or materialistic explanation of reality; but the first essay in
building the new society will bring irreconcilable conflicts to the
surface. The gods which die in every revolution will not lie qui-
etly in the grave. The believers who wait for their resurrection
will contend with the unbelievers who want to burn the remains
and scatter the ashes.
H.M. Basner (April 2, 1964).

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CONTENTS

Dedication 2

Acknowledgement 3

Briefing on The Mind of Kwame Nkrumah 6

To The Younger Reader 9

Foreword 11

Preface 17

ON THE INTRODUCTION TO CONSCIENCISM 23

CHAPTER ONE: On Philosophy in Retrospect 28

CHAPTER TWO: On Philosophy and Society 46

CHAPTER THREE: On Society and Ideology 65

CHAPTER FOUR: On Consciencism 75

CHAPTER FIVE: Consciencist Flights in Cyberspace 100

Postscript 132

Appendix: Kwame Nkrumah, Consciencism: Philosophy and Ide-
ology for De-Colonisation 133

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BRIEFING ON THE MIND OF KWAME NKRUMAH
C
ertainly a new wind is blowing over Africa. The spirit of
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah is awakened. This renewed pres-
ence is acknowledged across the continents. Not only
are academicians and intellectuals reviving their interest in Dr.
Nkrumah. They have also questioned and are questioning the
decades of neglect in the study of the ideas of the man. Agita-
tions are on foot at centres of learning to incorporate such stud-
ies into the curriculum of university studies in Africa. The agita-
tions do not resist the continued studies of Western philoso-
phers like Thales, Plato, Aristotle and others. They make a just
and positive demand that Dr. Nkrumah be added to them.
In the politics of Ghana today the spirit of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah
looms large. Political parties which were even opposed to the
policies of the man today seek a certain accommodation with
his commitments. Not only does the current President remain
unambiguous in his ideological commitment to the ideals of Dr.
Nkrumah but also the flag bearer of the main opposition party
has stated his commitment to the Pan-African project of the
foremost Pan-African Proponent, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. No
longer are the old folks of that opposition secure in their age-
old condemnations of the Man of African Destiny in the face of
the rising and increasing youth acknowledgement of that man
in their own ranks.
This renewed and wide spreading interest in Dr. Nkrumah has
occasioned discomfort, however, in the being of certain per-
sons who have taken the strategic option of attacking the very
intellectual foundations of the man in the name of the man. This
transparent mission to distort and revise Dr. Nkrumah’s funda-
mental ideas and commitments in favour of what he stands
against is targeted at the youth of Africa and of the Diaspora. But
the spirit of Dr. Nkrumah, awakened by this wicked design of
low political spirits, has invoked a quick response in The Mind
Of Kwame Nkrumah: Manual For The Study Of Consciencism.
This manual does not only try to simplify the reading and un-
derstanding of the statement of Dr. Nkrumah’s fundamental ide-
as in his book, Consciencism: Philosophy and Ideology for De-
Colonisation, through guiding the reader over its pages, chap-
ter by chapter. It as well engages in a radical and militant com-
bat of that distortionist and revisionist trend promoted by fifth
columnists who have taken positions within what Kwame Afful
calls the Nkrumah movement. Addressed to the youth of Africa
and the Diaspora, this manual is the first of its kind in an attempt
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to breakdown the technical philosophical language of Dr.
Nkrumah to easily accessible terms of ordinary language. It is
to be read alongside the book, Consciencism, itself.
In its opening pages, the Manual addresses the youth and ex-
plains the necessity of reading Dr. Nkrumah’s book in the flesh
rather than the second hand or interpretative versions of it. The
Foreword traces a brief history of attitudes towards philosophy
in general and particularly towards Consciencism within the
public domain as well as within the intelligentsia. These are atti-
tudes that have not facilitated the appreciation of the profundity
of Dr. Nkrumah’s thought and practice. In the Preface, vital con-
cepts of the book are explained prior to the in-depth treatment
of the chapters.
This is followed with guiding the reader through the Introduc-
tion of the book, Consciencism. In this respect, a portion of Dr.
Nkrumah’s quotation from Friedrich Engels’ letter that he leaves
out is recalled to provide a better understanding of what he
says. The importance of the Introduction rests in the fact of its
revealing Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s anxiety to quicken the libera-
tion and reconstruction of Africa through the conscious use or
application of principles of thought to understand the dynamics
of society in scientific terms in order to effectively change it.
This special feature in Dr. Nkrumah’s intellectual attitude is well
understood in comparison to the physical scientist’s attitude to-
wards applicable research.
In the first chapter, this Manual explains the difficulties of Dr.
Kwame Nkrumah’s presentation style and devices a strategy for
following the presentation easily. In this way, it leads the reader
along the themes that he explores in his development of the his-
tory of Western intellectual thought. It identifies the main
themes and then the sub-themes. The reader is then led to follow
the development of themes and sub-themes individually all
over the chapter and shows how they are connected with each
other in a logical flow. This interesting pursuit of themes and
sub-themes in the pages of the book is in the nature of hunting
an animal and the unforgettable experience of landing at the
catch makes the idea stick and memorable.
But if the first chapter explores the history of abstract thought in
Western intellectual history, the second chapter shows the im-
mediate concrete nature of those thoughts through illustrations
of their social content. So that what had hitherto appeared as
mind-splitting about nothing immediately comes alive with pas-
sions being aroused in this to that direction. Here, the themes
and sub-themes are again in display. Themes such as the con-
ceptualisation of ‘egalitarianism’ and ‘revolution’ are portrayed
in their evolution within the demands of the struggles to free
man from clerical restrictions and then from the clergy-oligarch
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diarchy that compromised increased socio-economic produc-
tion and freedom for the human spirit.
Chapter three then takes the reader through and focuses their
attention on the role of ideology in the pursuit of the perfect so-
ciety and, therefore, in the everyday life of the individual and
society. The definition of ideology offered is innovative. Every
society exhibits one or more. This Manual simplifies the expla-
nation and, ideology, in Dr. Nkrumah’s terms, is understood not
essentially as a written statement but as the total set of values,
written and largely unwritten, that man develops for the conduct
and direction of all for the freedom and fulfilment of society and
the individual. The need for such an ideology out of the histori-
cally-conditioned conflicting ideologies in Africa is then advo-
cated.
The details of that ideology are outlined in chapter four. With
the understanding that an ideology is displayed in and perme-
ates every sphere of the socio-political life of a society and is
exhibited in the philosophical system and theories in all stud-
ies, the Manual systematically shows those outlines. The book
Consciencism finally emerges as a philosophical statement that
elucidates and theoretically defends scientific socialist ideology
to guide the African Revolution. The Manual, in this portrayal of
Consciencism, sees consciencism not as solely concerned with
the fusion of the three dominant strands of African culture but as
a complete thought system for every socio-political purpose.
The final chapter of this Manual portrays the combat against
contemporary revisionism and neglect conducted in cyber-
space. It is a defence of the principles of consciencism by the
author of the Manual against the revisionism and neglect of cer-
tain elements in the Nkrumaist and Pan-African movement. The
featured characters are Christian Kwame Agbodza, a self-
appointed Professor of Consciencism, and Prof. Chinweizu
Chinweizu, respectively.
To render easy access of the reader to the text of Dr. Kwame
Nkrumah’s book Consciencism - Philosophy and Ideology for De-
colonisation this edition of the Manual adds the book as an ap-
pendix.
The author of this manual is Lang T.K.A. Nubuor, the General
Secretary of the erstwhile People’s Revolutionary League of
Ghana and a member of the National Defence Committee that
attempted to build an alternative State to replace the neo-
colonial state structure through a system of People’s and Work-
ers’ Defence Committees upon the inception of the December
31, 1981 coup d’état in Ghana. He is currently the Director of
the Centre for Consciencist Studies and Analyses (CENCSA).

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TO THE YOUNGER READER

WHY YOU MUST STUDY CONSCIENCISM

I would … ask you to study this theory from its original
sources and not at second-hand; it is really much easi-
er. Marx hardly wrote anything in which it did not play
a part.
Friedrich Engels
A
dapting this quote to consciencism and Dr. Kwame
Nkrumah, we would ask you to study consciencism from
its original sources and not at second-hand; it is really
much reliable. Dr. Nkrumah hardly wrote anything in which it did
not play a part.

In the light of some disturbing publications on Consciencism in
recent times it is deemed of utmost importance that we go to the
text of its statement in the original form. In the appreciated ef-
fort to show the continued relevance of the 1964 publication,
some rather less careful writers have tried to revise it. The es-
sence of the current revision is the rejection of the book’s
mono- ideological thrust in favour of an ideological mishmash.

The danger is that some people, who have clearly not read the
book or failed to read it entirely, are taking in the revisionist’s
stuff. The inevitable consequence is that these people are
bound to be ideological liabilities unto themselves in the
worldwide effort to eliminate neo-colonialism, the last stage of
imperialism. This is certainly what they would not wish for
themselves but are slowly and surely becoming.

Experience has shown that even great writers sometimes misin-
terpret their forebears. It is for this reason that it could take new
theories decades or even centuries to be understood and ac-
cepted. It is also for this reason that reading an original text
from a secondary source without the consideration of the origi-
nal text itself is not only injurious to the academic or intellectual
health of the victim but also portrays that victim as one big bun-
dle of laziness.

This author once had the opportunity of critically commenting
on a friend’s draft doctoral thesis. He found that the entire work
done thus far was not only based on inaccurate secondary
sources but more seriously the friend had never gone to the
original texts that had been misinterpreted so badly. Upon
heeding the advice to study the original texts he came out with
a new draft that refreshingly reflected the texts.
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