Dr Sekou Nkrumah, one of the sons of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah has admitted that all was not well with the marriage of his parents especially after Ghana gained her independence.
Though too young to understand what was going on, Dr Nkrumah says it wasn’t because his late father was a womanizer but rather, he had little time for his wife.
He also attributed the difficulty in their marriage to the age difference, thus, Osagyefo was 26 years older than his wife, Fathia.
Sekou Nkrumah indicated politics consumed Kwame Nkrumah’s time and mind.
Emma Florence Yaa Adinyira Amedahe, the lady-in-waiting to the then First Lady Fathia Nkrumah, in a recent interview with Accra-based Joy FM stated that she had a friendly relationship with the first family at the Flagstaff House.
The former staff of the first family said, the then First Lady related with her like her own sibling and had deeper conversations together.
“Madam [Fathia Nkrumah] took me to the children’s room the first day I reported for work, she hadn’t assigned me to anything yet. I bought storybooks for their two children, Gamal and Samia. By then, they had a nurse who was catering for the children. After one month, Fathia asked me to be in charge of her room, that’s cleaning. She started drawing me closer to herself. When her hairstylist came, she would call me to help him. Her
hairstylist was a man by the name of Joseph.
One day, Joseph finished styling her hair, but madam didn’t like it, she undid everything and later asked me to do it. She appreciated what I did and asked Joseph not to do her hair again because she liked it when I did it for her. She later asked Joseph to train me, he trained me for three months.”
Yaa Adinyira Amedahe recounted some interesting secrets the late Fathia Nkrumah shared with her.
“We used to talk, she even told me how her husband was treating her. I went to Egypt with her so I know a lot of her family members. Fathia saw me as a sister, and I was also like her sister. She once told me Osagyefo didn’t like her and that he was a womanizer,” she said.
Reacting to this, Dr Sekou Nkrumah wrote on his Facebook timeline:
“Fathia had a difficult marriage with Nkrumah, not because of him being a womanizer rather because he had very little time for her!
There was also a big difference in age between them! Nkrumah’s official birth is 1909, while that of Fathia is 1935!”
He added that, even though the marriage between Nkrumah and Fathia was an arranged one, Fathia was really in love with her Ghanaian iconic and pan-African leader.
Dr Nkrumah noted, his mother had dreams of having a romantic marriage with the man of her dreams, she had to learn the “hard way” especially when on their wedding night, Osagyefo was caught up with work and returned home very late to spend time with his wife.
“Although it was an arranged marriage, the young Fathia was really in love with Nkrumah, she idolized the iconic and charismatic African leader!
But she quickly learnt the hard way, when on their wedding night Osagyefo was caught up with work and returned home very late!
The young Fathia had dreams of a loving and romantic marriage but had to learn fast to accommodate and adapt to Nkrumah’s busy lifestyle. Simply put, politics consumed all his time and mind!” Dr Sekou Nkrumah stressed.
Source: TheBBCghana.Com
