Former president Jerry Rawlings has taken a swipe at three of his successors for pretentious efforts to honour Ghana's founder Kwame Nkrumah.

"Mills, Mahama you all say you are Nkrumahists. You have chopped into the man's name" Rawlings gave free reins to his emotions in his characteristic boom speeches.

But he gave special mention and attention to his immediate successor, former President John Kufour whom he said demeaned the legacy of Ghana’s first Prime Minister by desecrating his grave.

He said Kufour did this when he buried Kwame Nkrumah' wife, Fathia Nkrumah, at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum in Accra, the same place her husband was buried.

Photo: The Mortal Remains Madam Fathia Nkrumah, wife of Ghana's First President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah arriving at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum its final resting place.

"That national monument became a family graveyard...do you see how his grave was desecrated?" he told Joy News during a visit.

Fathia died on 31 May 2007 at Badrawy Hospital in Cairo, Egypt, due to a stroke after a period of illness.

Fathia Nkrumah's bodily remains was flown to Ghana for a funeral at the State House in June 2007 following her "lifelong request", she was buried next to her husband.

Rawlings said the burial of Fathia Nkrumah saw her husband's enemies pay pretentious respects to the man who was overthrown in 1966 by the military.

"What did Kufuor do when Fathia Nkrumah died?. He pretended to be crying and we were all following him, saying, oh Kufuor has done well for Fathia".

"Then he took a shovel and dug a hole next to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and put her there...the compound is big, you could have dug 101 holes and put Madam Fathia also there".

" You did not have to do that under the same monument under which Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was. It fooled all of you", he said.

Photo: Former President Rawlings was at the state burial for Fathia Nkrumah

He said late President Mills who declared Nkrumah's birthday as a national holiday and former President Mahama also exploited Africa's man of the century for his personal gain.

The New Patriotic Party traces its ideological roots to the United Gold Coast Convention(UGCC) which was the political rival to Kwame Nkrumah's Convention Peoples' Party(CPP).

The rivalry in present day is playing out in an NPP-promoted debate over whether Ghana has only one founder or several founders.