305. Telegram From the Embassy in Ghana to the Department of State 0

490. Department telegram 372.1 After I spoke to Kaiser along lines indicated in Embassy telegram 4182 he raised subject with Nkrumah who cited his “four stream” development speech October 9 (Embassy despatch 236).3

According to Calhoun4 Kaiser told Nkrumah that Nkrumah has nevertheless made bad impression by his conduct at UN and his October 18 speech here (Embassy telegram 468);5 that American bankers had to remain convinced Ghana is good political risk if they are to furnish required private financing for consortium smelter; that if Nkrumah had to say some nice things about USSR, he should at same time be equally complimentary of USA.

Embassy comment:

While Nkrumah’s October 9 speech is encouraging, I am not entirely satisfied he has definitely cured some of his powerful supporters of their desire to develop an economic system in which private enterprise would play no part. I intend to discuss this with President next time I see him. Meanwhile there is no denying fact there is growing feeling in Ghana, which Nkrumah shares, that USSR as well as USA can be friendly and helpful to Ghana and that best of both economic systems can be used in Ghana. While noting Ghana’s wide angle outlook on the world (Embassy telegram 283)6 I can detect no fundamental desire on Nkrumah’s part to desert the West for the East or even to become more friendly towards USSR than towards US.

Flake
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 745J.11/10–2560. Confidential.
  2. Document 304.
  3. Reference is apparently not to telegram 418 (Document 303) but to telegram 468 from Accra, October 19, which reported that Flake had complained to the Ghanaian Foreign Office about an October 18 speech by Nkrumah in which he had coupled favorable remarks about the Soviet Union with critical remarks about the Western powers; it stated that Flake had repeated his comments to Kaiser. (Department of State, Central Files, 745J.11/10–1960)
  4. Dated October 10; Nkrumah stated in his October 9 speech that Ghana was seeking to develop its own brand of socialism but that private capital was welcome. (Ibid., 745J.11/10–1060)
  5. Chad F. Calhoun, Vice President of Kaiser Industries Corporation.
  6. See footnote 3 above. Telegram 462 from Accra, October 19, reported the remarks in the speech which Flake criticized. (Department of State, Central Files, 745J.11/10–1960)
  7. Document 299.