Under Nkrumah, Ghana played a leading role in African international relations during the decolonization period. It funded national industrial and energy projects, developed a strong national education system and promoted a pan-Africanist culture. His administration was primarily socialist as well as nationalist. In 1960, Ghanaians approved a new constitution and elected Nkrumah President. He became Prime Minister in 1952 and retained the position when Ghana declared independence from Britain in 1957.
He formed the Convention People's Party, which achieved rapid success through its unprecedented appeal to the common voter. Īfter twelve years abroad pursuing higher education, developing his political philosophy, and organizing with other diasporic pan-Africanists, Nkrumah returned to the Gold Coast to begin his political career as an advocate of national independence. An influential advocate of Pan-Africanism, Nkrumah was a founding member of the Organization of African Unity and winner of the Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet Union in 1962. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. Francis Kwame Nkrumah (21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary.
