ANOTHER EMERGING GOVERNMENT SINKS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000600010007-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 3, 1999
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: March 1, 1966
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved SCIAT'&7
I
CPYRGHT
JOURNAL,
E. 25.528
biON: u~id RY, ALA.
MAR 1 1966
Another Emerging Government Sinks
IN GENERAL, the United States Nine years ago, Ghana loo e
is opposed to military coups, if for great. It had $700,000,000 in the
no larger reason than they harass .bank, its population was the most
the map-watchers changing the 'literate in black Africa. Agricultur-.
little colored pins. l al and mineral riches abounded.
In general, but there are excep- With incredible skill, Nkrumah,
tions. One is the army overthrow educated in this country, a pro-
of President Kwame Nkrumah, fessed admirer of democracy and
self-professed Redeemer of Ghana, of Washington, and Lincoln, suc-
which at the time of its indepen- needed in emptying the stores,
dence in 1957 was hailed as the b ringing industry to a virtual
"showcase of the New Africa. standstill and reducing the nation's
Even Dr. King, among other high solvency to shambles. Naturally, it
priests of the emerging peoples, wasn't his fault, but th the
was on hand to give his blessings. J.S., the "'qjj Bank t CI , ythe
Ghana, formerly the Gold Coast,' Peace Corps and, that m str''-
had been as- well prepared for in- ous evil spirit of all, "neo-colonial-
dependence as Britain could make --ism."
it. But the Redeemer quickly Thus the record in the New Af-
seized the power of a dictator, rica stands ominously at two gov.'
threw his opponents in prison or ernments 'overthrown by revolution
otherwise dispensed with opposi- in 1964, four last year and four al-
tion, and riveted his showcase to ready in less than two months of
Peking. Fittingly, his overthrow 1966.
came even as the Red Chinese It would appear that the State
claque was cheering him in Mao's Department, which c o i n e d the
slavedom. "emerging" label to flatter coun-
Ghana, if nothing else,' seemed tries with little hope of stable in-
certain to be solvent. Now it's dependence, should be replaced by
broke, or nearly so. The messianic another bdreaucratic euphemism.
Nkrumah, presumably well indoc- How about "culturally deprived"?
trinated with Western ideals, quick-. The hard t r u t h is that the
ly reverted to something close to "emerging" nations are not ready
ancient African witch doctor stat- to emerge and will not be for m,?riy
us'. in a palace instead of a .,hut. decades.
Approved For Release 1999/09/17 : CIA-RDP75-00149R000600010007-1