Primary Source– Testimonial of key African Revolutionists

The works of other revolutionary African agents are considered primary where they speak of Nkrumah's influence upon their agency. Testimony from Ahmed Sékou Touré (1922-1984), Frantz Fanon (1925-1961), Robert Mugabe (1924), Ahmed Ben Bella (1918), Abd Al-Nasser (1918-1970), Malcolm X (1925-1964), Amilcar Cabral (1924-1973), Kwame Ture (1941-1998) and Mwalimu Julius Nyerere (1922-1999) proved pivotal.

Nkrumah's wife, Fathima Rizk, was an Egyptian of the Coptic 'ethnic'[1] group. Her marriage to Nkrumah is often seen as a political marriage sought to bind Egypt to Ghana (Smertin 1987). Nkrumah does not speak of it in such a manner but it is clear that the Egyptian connection assisted in saving her and her family's lives during the coup d' etat. In fact, Egypt sent a plane to rescue her and the family from the Egyptian Embassy. The tale of their escape was harrowing one.[2]

[1] The use of this term highlights the difficulty of using a culturally biased language that tends to denigrate the different cultural vantages. 'Ethnic' as a term addresses a group of people considered to be heathens or non-believers in the monotheistic view of 'Western' definers.

[2] The following quote is found on page 5 of Kwame Nkrumah the Conakry Years: His life and letters (1990)

Nkrumah's son Gamal Gorkeh Nkrumah, then aged seven, remembers every detail of that traumatic day. Before the fighting at Flagstaff House began, he had been woken early by the roaring of unfed lions in the zoo a short distance from the house. Soon, the whole family was awake. Gunfire from the direction of the airport was heard, and the broadcast of the coup leader, Colonel E. T. Kotoka announcing the coup. Fathia at once phoned the Egyptian Embassy telling them to contact Nasser to ask him to send an aircraft at once to Accra to rescue them. Her call was just in time. Minutes later, the telephone was cut off. The family took refuge in the Egyptian Embassy until the afternoon when the aircraft sent by Nasser arrived. On the drive to Accra airport their car was stopped by tanks and troops at an army roadblock. Fathia and her three young children were ordered out of the car at gunpoint. Fathia showed no fear, declaring her anger at the treatment of her husband who had done so much for them and for

Ghana. Clearly taken by surprise at being confronted with Nkrumah's family, the officer in charge was at a loss to know what action to take. With loaded guns still pointed at them, Fathia and the children waited at the roadside while the officer radioed for instructions. Eventually, the family was allowed to continue to the airport, and finally make their escape to Cairo. . . .