Professor Francis Nkrumah, aged 89, the eldest son of Ghana’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, has passed away. He died on Sunday, June 30, 2024.
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah fathered him with Madam Fanny Miller from Elmina, Central Region, whom he met while teaching at a Catholic middle school in Amisano, near Elmina.
Despite Nkrumah’s departure to study in the UK at Lincoln University, their relationship resulted in the birth of Professor Francis Nkrumah.
Upon Nkrumah’s return to Ghana and rise to leadership, young Francis, who excelled academically at St. Augustine’s College, lived with him in Accra New Town.
Nkrumah later secured a Cocobod scholarship for Francis to study medicine in Germany.
Professor Francis Nkrumah served as the longest-serving director of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) and was recognized for his pivotal role in eradicating poliomyelitis across Africa.
He was a founding member of the Pediatric Association of Ghana and the West African College of Physicians.
In October 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa Region honored him for his outstanding contributions to poliomyelitis eradication efforts in Africa, including his service on the Africa Regional Certification Committee (ARCC) and as chairman of the Regional Task Force on Immunization (TFI).
