Mugabe (L) once described Akufo-Addo (M) as embodying Kwame Nkrumah’s (R) spirit
Former Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe, once publicly expressed deep admiration for former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, describing him as a leader who embodied the spirit and ideals of Ghana’s first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
The moment came in March 2017 during Ghana’s 60th Independence Anniversary celebrations in Accra, where Mugabe was among several African leaders invited to the historic event at the Black Star Square.
Interacting with journalists shortly before his departure from Accra, Mugabe openly praised former President Akufo-Addo after listening to his independence anniversary address, saying, “Here is the man I could relate to.”
According to the late Zimbabwean leader, Akufo-Addo’s speech reflected the same revolutionary depth and historical consciousness associated with Dr Kwame Nkrumah, whose leadership led Ghana to independence in 1957.
After listening to him deliver his speech during the independence parade at the famous Black Star Square in Accra, Mugabe said he could not but tell President Akufo-Addo, ‘Thank you for making Nkrumah great.
Mugabe explained that Akufo-Addo’s references to Nkrumah during the address were not merely ceremonial but symbolic of genuine belief in the ideals of Ghana’s founding leader.
“It just struck me. That speech goes quite deep into history – the history Nkrumah used to tell us. When he was reading his speech, and there was a reference to Nkrumah… You don’t refer to Nkrumah if you don’t believe in him,” Mugabe said.
The remarks were widely interpreted as Mugabe’s way of suggesting that Akufo-Addo was walking in the ideological footsteps of Nkrumah, a significant compliment from a leader who had long admired Ghana’s role in Africa’s liberation struggle.
Mugabe also recalled his long-standing personal and political ties with Ghana, describing his relationship with the country as one of brotherhood.
He reflected on his time as a young student at Achimota School and recalled that he later married a Ghanaian woman, Sally Hayford, who was his first wife.
“I will come for fufu here. I’m carrying some yam, cassava, and plantain with me, and I’ve told my present wife to pound them,” Mugabe added, drawing laughter from the journalists.
At the time, Mugabe’s comments added to the symbolic significance of Ghana’s 60th anniversary.
It reinforced Ghana’s historical position in Africa’s liberation narrative and positioned the former president, Akufo-Addo, as a leader seen by some of his contemporaries as reviving Nkrumah’s Pan-African vision.
MAG/AE
