Long before Dr. Hilla Limann rose to become President of Ghana, his youthful days were filled with many inspiring moments.
And one of the ways he unconsciously prepared himself for the position of President of Ghana was by taking up low-hanging positions in his native community in the Sissala District.
According to excerpts of his autobiography, “Hilla Limann. Scholar, Diplomat, and Statesman” Ivan Addae-Mensah, who authored the book, described one momentous occasion when Limann rejected a job offer from none other than Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
In the accounts of the book in possession of GhanaWeb, Dr. Hilla Limann met Kwame Nkrumah in 1952, not long after he had left teacher training school.
Impressed by the performance of the young Limann, Nkrumah immediately made him a job offer, but this was outrightly rejected by the former.
“As a young teacher in a village, he was selected by his local people to act as interpreter for Dr. Kwame Nkrumah during a visit to that village in 1952 as part of his political campaign. It is said that Kwame Nkrumah was so impressed with Limann’s performance that before he left the rally grounds, he called Limann and asked him if he could take up the task of organizing the CPP in that district.
“Limann politely declined and told Nkrumah that he had only that year completed his certificate B Teachers course and was anxious to continue with his education. Nkrumah fully understood Limann’s wish since he himself had travelled a similar route, teaching for a while after his teacher at Achimota before going to the United States of America to continue with his education. He wished Limann well in his future endeavours,” excerpts of the book on page 11 said.
It continued that the news of Limann’s rejection of the job offer from Kwame Nkrumah spread around his community, so much so that his elders believed that he was the right person to lead them in council meetings.
“This story spread like wildfire throughout the Sissala District, and Limann’s friends and compatriots started putting pressure on him to get involved in the exciting politics of the time. His village elders eventually succeeded in convincing him to try to become a Local Councillor for the area.
“‘ Anybody who had been able to stand by Nkrumah and act as an interpreter should be able to represent the interest of the villages in higher counsels,’ they contended. He, therefore, contested the Local Council elections and was elected a member of the Local and District Councils in Tumu, the Sissala District Capital, in 1952, the sale years that he left college,” it added.
And as the story would go, after sojourning for long years, trying without end to get himself the best education, and then trying out his luck at political positions, he rose to become Ghana’s president in the third republic.
Although he was seen by many as a novice in politics, Limann, perhaps, shocked many by beating the more “popular” Victor Owusu of the Popular Front Party (PFP) in the run-off of the 1979 elections.
Limann polled 62 percent of the votes against 38 percent by Owusu. In the Parliamentary election, the PNP, Limann’s political party, won 71 seats against 42 by the PFP, 13 by the United National Convention, 10 by the Action Congress Party, three by the Social Democratic Front, and one by an independent candidate.
He was sworn into office as President of Ghana on September 24, 1979. One of Limann’s first acts as president was to replenish food stock, which had been depleted by the AFRC’s three-month rule.
His government also launched the Gold Endowment Fund to get investors to Ghana.
Source: Ghanaweb