The Member of Parliament for Ellembelle, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has launched the 2025 edition of his annual remembrance festival for Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

Dubbed NkrumahFest, the yearly event celebrates Nkrumah’s ideology, philosophy, and impact as a leading voice of Pan-Africanism.

Launching this year’s celebrations at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum on Saturday, 2 August 2025, the MP noted that the life and work of Nkrumah must be continuously preserved because of his unparalleled contributions to leadership in Ghana, across the continent, and on the global stage.

According to him, the legacy of Nkrumah must be told across generations, hence the need for an event like NkrumahFest to preserve the memories of Ghana’s founder.

“Kwame Nkrumah did not merely seek independence; he redefined it. It was not just a political struggle but a revolution of the mind. As he famously declared: ‘We face neither East nor West; we face forward.’

His unyielding defiance against colonial oppression was not without cost. He faced imprisonment, betrayal, and relentless opposition. Yet, through it all, he stood unshaken, because he understood that freedom is never given; it is taken by the bold,” Armah-Kofi Buah stressed.

“This annual celebration of Ghana’s founder has been a key priority in my routines as a politician, and I am glad that in our shared appreciation of the great Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, whose name is not only etched in stone but woven into the very soul of our nation, we can stand on his shoulders and celebrate him,” the MP added.

This year’s launch attracted a long list of MPs and government appointees, including the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Creative Arts, Honourable Abla Dzifa Gomashie (MP for Ketu South); Deputy Transport Minister, Honourable Dorcas Affo-Toffey (MP for Jomoro); Deputy Health Minister, Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah (MP for Essikado-Ketan); GIPC Board Chairman, Akwasi Opong-Fosu; Deputy CEO of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Gilbert Abeiku Santana Aggrey; Corporate Affairs Manager at Ghana Gas, Richard Kirk-Mensah; and Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Development Company, Professor Kobby Mensah.

MPs for Evalue-Gwira, Kwesimentsim, Wassa East, Sekondi, and Amenfi West were also present, along with queenmothers, chiefs, and distinguished personalities from the diaspora. Notable attendees included the Western Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Nelson; renowned Ghanaian historian and Nkrumahist, Dr Yaw Anokye Frimpong; Founder of TV Africa and the Bisa Abrewa Museum, Kwaw Ansah; journalist and Nkrumahist, Comrade Kwesi Pratt; former CPP General Secretary and now Presidential Staffer at the Jubilee House, Nana Yaa Jantuah; and President of the Western Regional House of Chiefs, Nana Kobina Nketsia V, who chaired the function.

The event also featured a moving performance by gospel musician Nacee, officially setting the stage for the month-long celebrations ahead.

The 2025 edition of NkrumahFest will take place from Monday, 15 September, to Sunday, 21 September 2025.

Activities will begin with a community clean-up in Nkroful on Monday, 15 September, continuing on Tuesday, 16 September. This will be followed by a football competition dubbed the Osagyefo Soccer Cup on Wednesday, 17 September.

On Thursday, 18 September, an NkrumahFest symposium will be held for senior high school students. Festivities on Friday, 19 September, will include a street carnival, a tour of Osagyefo’s Mausoleum, and an all-pink dress code to honour Nkrumah’s favourite colour.

From Saturday night through to the early hours of Sunday, 21 September, there will be a candlelight procession and the ceremonial cutting of a cake to mark Nkrumah’s 116th birthday. The celebrations will conclude with a special Thanksgiving service on Sunday morning at the NASS School Park, followed by a grand musical concert in the evening.

Touching on this year’s festival, Honourable Armah-Kofi Buah stated:

“Next month, we will walk the paths he once walked, stand beneath the skies that once filled his young mind with visions of freedom, and gather in his birthplace to mark his 116th birthday.”