A Multifaceted Image: Kwame Nkrumah's Extrinsic Rhetorical Strategies

Examination of ways in which symbolic gestures were used by K. Nkrumah, Prime Minister of Ghana, immediately after independence in 1957 to "interpret the soul & spirit of independence." These included the portrayal of Nkrumah as chief, leader, warrior, & a Christ-like figure. Newspaper articles, biographies of Nkrumah, Nkrumah's own writings, & interviews were used in the study. "Leader, chief, warrior, & god, Nkrumah was portrayed in all these roles. He was political leader, spiritual director, & teacher. Nkrumaism was to be Africa's philosophical response to the Western & Eastern philosophies. Through Operation Psychology, Nkrumah would be perceived in all of his symbolic roles, & the external rhetorical strategies that he employed in attempting to fulfill this task reflected an important aspect of his rhetorical personality." AA.