If closely monitoring the major news bulletin for the day was such a herculean task to undertake at the expense of your lunch, then you may as well not have qualified to be a minister under Ghana\u2019s first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.<\/p>\n
The reason was that these ministers were only \u2018permitted\u2019 to do so after the major news bulletin at 1PM.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”5HfqL5EzVlWnlN0aWKZfsDTCE3Re6Gl7″]According to a former Diplomat who has worked with all successive governments since independence, Mr. K.B. Asante, some ministers were sacked from office during the news bulletin hence listening to the news was a matter of necessity rather than choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was believed that ministers did not take their lunch until after the 1 o\u2019clock news because they were sacked very often at the 1 o\u2019clock news without their knowledge, indeed some Ministers feared Nkrumah,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr. K.B. Asante who was speaking on leadership in Ghana on Time with Legends<\/strong> on the Citi Breakfast Show<\/strong> described the former President as a visionary person who worked to get results.<\/p>\n According to Mr. Asante, Kwame Nkrumah possessed great leadership qualities and skills that contributed to his success in reaching the level of economic development experienced during his nine years in office,<\/p>\n \u201cIf it means strength, character, he (Nkrumah) had it all, he also had a purpose and a vision. Kwame Nkrumah knew what he was doing, every morning when he came to the office, he had an idea and he will ask you to write a memo and within an hour he wants a draft to discuss,\u201d Mr. Asante said.<\/p>\n Although Professor Kofi Abrefa Busia was an equally good leader and someone who was naturally interested in strengthening the local institutions, the former Diplomat believes Busia\u2019s inclination to Western ideologies may have contributed to his overthrow.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026perhaps that was why there was a coup, his ideas were not as centered on Ghana as Nkrumah, he (Busia) being a scholar and democrat went by the Western methods,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Kutu Acheampong in Mr. Asante\u2019s view, was successful within the first three years of his governance as there were \u2018rules and a purpose\u2019 but declined moments after Ghana adopted models propounded by some international organizations like the IMF and subsequent lax in the economic policies.<\/p>\n Dr. Hilla Limann who in Mr. K.B. Asante\u2019s estimation was a principled leader however had limited time to implement major economic reforms. This was also coupled with the economic instability he (Limann) succeeded.\u201d<\/p>\n