The Chairperson of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Ms Samia Nkrumah, has been awarded the prestigious ‘’Pilosio Building Peace Award,’ which was held in Venice, Italy, on
September 12, this year.
The award was in recognition of her commitment to politics that had revived the ideals of a Pan-African Union in pursuit of modernity and development, as well as her work on the
Kwame Nkrumah Presidential Library.
The design of the four-storey library, developed in collaboration with architect Mario Cucinella and Ms Samia, is already out and has received public acclamation as a cultural project
and model of sustainable development.
The Pilosio Building Peace Awards is one of the most important events in Italy, which brings together professionals in the building industry from Europe, the Middle East and the
United States.
Madam Samia Nkrumah was deemed worthy of the award by her decision to follow the footsteps of her father in bringing peace to the world in general and Africa and Ghana in
particular.
Samia Nkrumah was born on June 23, 1960 at Aburi in the Eastern Region and in the 2008 Presidential and Parliamentary election, she won the Jomoro Constituency seat at her first
attempt and recently became the first female to chair a political party in the country.
She is considered presently as one of the most popular African women leaders and the reason some international newspapers who covered the award ceremony have declared that
the new “Mandela is a woman’’.
With the themes of Africa and peace being addressed, there could not have been a better personality than Mr Kofi Annan, a former Secretary-General of the United Nations and
winner of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize, to grace the occasion as the guest of honour.
Speaking after winning the award, Madam Samia Nkrumah said it was a great day not only for her but for all Ghanaians.
She explained that Ghana started the “We can do it’’ spirit as far back as in the 50s before President Obama took it up recently in the United States.
Ms Samia said the Kwame Nkrumah Presidential Library would seek to inculcate in the new generation of Ghanaians the spirit of ‘’we can do it’’ and of self-reliance.
She said the library could contribute immensely to the fight against illiteracy, poverty and ignorance and thereby help raise the standard of living of the people so that Ghanaians
could emerge strong and self-confident to fashion its own destiny instead of waiting on others.
