"The wind of change is blowing through this continent. Whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact and we must take account of it."
British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's speech signalled the beginning of the independence of African nations in the 1950s.
It was a speech that he first made in The Gold Coast, the first black African country to break free from colonialism. It became Ghana under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah.
This two-part series recounts the dreams and the reality of Ghana's independence.
Part One: The Architect of Independence
Kwame Nkrumah had ambitious plans for this freshly-liberated country.
His aim was to develop Ghana as an industrialised, unitary socialist state. He also had dreams of a united Africa.
But early in his presidency, Nkrumah got parliament to agree that anyone who opposed his ideas could be detained. Later Ghana became a one-party state and the country's economy floundered.
No-one was surprised when the coup came in 1966.
But his ideas and achievements remain in the fabric of Ghana.
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