A viral video of Ghana’s first president Dr Kwame Nkrumah, lying in state in Guinea in May 1972, months after he died in Romania following his 1966 overthrow and exile, has surfaced on social media.
In the viral video, there was a Conakry ceremony, showing crowds and the flag-draped casket.
It will be recalled that Guinea provided refuge for Kwame Nkrumah after Ghana initially denied following his overthrow and exile.
Then, Guinea’s president, Sékou Touré honored Dr Kwame Nkrumah as his co-president amid Ghana’s rejection.
A netizen on X, who shared the video, stated, “There is a whole lot of confusion. If the first president of the land had been laid in state first at a country not his OWN, not where he even won independence for, because his own country rejected him and sought to kill him, then it’s a serious thing.
How could a different country lay the first president of another country to state before that country went for the body to later also lay him to state??? Eeeiiiii Ghana, or is there something I don’t know?”.
Other Ghanaians reacting to the video stated, “It’s simple, Nkrumah is a great leader, but his imperfections led to his overthrow. Ghanaians always want to speak about matters one-sided and leave the other side. He didn’t a lot better and a lot wrong. The reason I respect Mandela. He didn’t stay too long to become a villain”.
“Wild chapter in history. Nkrumah dying in exile, lying in state in Conakry while Ghanaians were still divided about bringing him home, says a lot about how polarising he remained even after 1966”, one Ghanaian added.
One more X user quizzed, “Real question: what exactly delayed the repatriation for months? Was it purely politics, logistics, or fear of unrest if he was brought back too soon? This part of the story always confuses me”.
A netizen added, “It really is confusing. When another country lays your first president in state before his own country does, it shows how complicated history and politics were at the time. There’s definitely more context behind it, because on the surface, it raises a lot of questions”.
Meanwhile, Retired Major General Kwamina Sam has said Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka was considered a HERO when he toppled Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
According to the retired Major General, he feels sad about plans to rename the Kotoka International Airport.
He stated Ghanaians have short memory, recounting that at the time Nkrumah fell, there were jubilations are Ghanaisn the could not be blamed for naming the Airport after Kotoka.
Speaking with Kafui Dey, in an interview, the retired General, when asked about the plans to change the name of Kotoka International Airport, stated, “I feel sad about it, because it is a question of history. Ghana, we have a very short memory at the time Nkrumah fell, if you were alive at saw what happened, you could not blame Ghanaians for naming the Airport after Kotoka; there was total jubilation”.
“It is only now that I have realised that part of the problem with Nkrumah was that he was not in sync with his collegues he meant well, but then he could not carry his people with him. The intelligencia did not follow him; they had been so brainwashed and didn’t see what Nkrumah was trying to do, so the Kotoka thing was a relief”.
“Somebody will take a bottle of whisky and pour it on the streets after the coup, thanking God for relieving Ghanaians from oppression, so there were extreme things, ban Nkrumah, ban his book, ban everything so naming the place after Kotoka was not difficult since he died at the Airport the champs that captured him, took him to the airport and shot him there”, he added.
Watch the throwback video below:
There is a whole lot of confusion, If the first president of the land had been laid in state first at a country not his OWN, not where he even won independence for because his own country rejected him and sought to kill him, then it’s a serious thing . How could a different… pic.twitter.com/DL2liyKYgk
— Aziz Remedy (@AzizRemedyGh) February 10, 2026