First president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah (62), dies in Bucharest.

Date: 27 Apr 1972
Updated: 25 Apr 2021

Kwame Nkrumah became the first prime minister and president of Ghana in 1957 until 1966.Ghana (formerly known as The Gold Coast) gained its independence and became a republic in 1960. Nkrumah was a founder of the Convention People’s Party. Nkrumah experienced several assassination attempts. The first assassination attempt on Nkrumah took place in October 1962. Presumably the assassination attempts were precipitated by Nkrumah’s announcement to ban opposition parties in 1960. Consequently opposition to his governance grew and led to several militants’ arrests. In 1966 while Nkrumah was on a visit to China, he was deposed by the police and military. He spent his later years in exile in Bucharest, Romania. Kwame Nkrumah died on 27 April 1972.

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How we know this

01BBC, ‘Kwame Nkrumah’s Vision of Africa’, from the BBC News, [online], Available at www.bbc.co.uk [Accessed: 07 April 2014]
02Addo O.E., ‘Kwame Nkrumah (1997,1999): A Case Study of Religion and Politics in Ghana’, (University Press of America),pp.1-4
03Ghana History, ‘Ghana, A living History’, from Ghana History, [online], Available at ghanahistory.wordpress.com [Accessed: 07 April 2014]

Last updated · 25 Apr 2021

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2012, April 23). First president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah (62), dies in Bucharest. . South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0082277

South African History Online (2012) 'First president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah (62), dies in Bucharest. ', South African History Online, 23 April. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0082277 (Accessed: 25 July 2026).

South African History Online, First president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah (62), dies in Bucharest. [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0082277, (accessed 25 July 2026).

"First president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah (62), dies in Bucharest. ." South African History Online, 23 Apr. 2012, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0082277. Accessed 25 July 2026.

South African History Online. "First president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah (62), dies in Bucharest. ." South African History Online. April 23, 2012. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0082277.