Nkrumah’s Ghana and the Armed Struggle in Southern Africa (1961–1966)

Building on newly available primary sources, this article describes Nkrumah’s role in the armed struggle in Southern Africa, including information about the establishment and running of military training camps in Ghana. Moreover, the article examines why Nkrumah’s influence over the liberation movements engaged in armed resistance diminished after 1963. This was the outcome of several factors operating concurrently. With the intensification of the armed struggle, Ghana’s geographical disadvantage and logistical difficulties in providing weapons to the frontline became evident, especially when compared to Tanzania. However, as the article argues, the crucial reason for its loss of influence in the region was political. Indeed, after 1963 it became increasingly clear that the priorities and strategies of Nkrumah’s Pan-African and liberation policies were not fully endorsed by the key protagonists of the armed struggle, and this ultimately affected their relationship with Ghana. As a result, the country that had led the liberation struggle on the continent between 1957 and 1963, ultimately lost its competition with other African and non-African actors in the region. Still, Nkrumah had an outstanding following among Southern African freedom fighters prior to the coup of February 1966, rooted in the ongoing support for the armed struggle by the Ghanaian government.