The Entire History of Ghana: From Nkrumah to Rawlings (Full Documentary)

From Kwame Nkrumah to Jerry John Rawlings, this video tells the full story of modern Ghana—how hope, power, coups, and economic crisis reshaped the nation across decades. We trace the big turning points: independence dreams, military takeovers, shifting ideologies, and the brutal political battles that defined an era. This video is for documentary and educational purposes. No images and footage shown are intended to shock the viewer. Everything is displayed in context and censored as much as possible without sacrificing the need to tell a compelling story with the actual footage. If you love our work, consider supporting the channel via Patreon: Patreon: bisimedia Become a Channel Member to get access to perks: @bisimedia Naira Account No: 7810120458, Wema Bank Buy Kema a Coffee: www.buymeacoffee.com/kema ***** Narration of this video was done with ElevenLabs Voice AI: https://try.elevenlabs.io/x5j4g8f8tkyz ***** Video Sources: Barbara Harrell-Bond (1978), Politics in Ghana, 1978 – Institute of Current World Affairs Reporticwa.orgicwa.org. GlobalSecurity.org – “Supreme Military Council (SMC-II) 1978” (John Pike, ed.)globalsecurity.orgglobalsecurity.org. Jeffrey Haynes (2025), Graphic Online – “Jerry John Rawlings: What is the legacy?”graphic.com.ghgraphic.com.gh. Jesse W. Shipley (2020), Africa Is a Country – “The passing of Jerry John Rawlings”africasacountry.comafricasacountry.com. Thaddeus Ulzen (2018), EA Ulzen Memorial Foundation Blog – “May 15, 1979: Flt. Lt. Jerry Rawlings arrested after failed military uprising”eaumf.orgeaumf.org. Latifa Carlos (2020), Public Agenda (Ghana) – “41 years after June 4 uprising: Any lessons learnt?”publicagenda.newspublicagenda.news. Kofi Tutu (2021), G-News Blog – “Rawlings’ speech while on trial after his failed coup on 15th May, 1979” (excerpt from Kojo Yankah’s The Trial of J.J. Rawlings)gnews24.news.bloggnews24.news.blog. Ghana: A Country Study (US Library of Congress, 1990) – Chapter on 1979 coupmarines.milmarines.mil. Wikipedia – “Jerry Rawlings” (Background on May 15 coup and June 4 uprising)en.wikipedia.orgen.wikipedia.org. Black Star–A View of the Life and Times of Kwame Nkrumah by Basil Davidson Kwame Nkrumah–Vision and Tragedy by David Rooney Kwame Nkrumah–Visions of Liberation by Jeffrey S. Ahlman The Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah by Kwame Nkrumah ***** Clips and Image credits: Getty Images: gettyimages AP Archive: aparchive British Pathe: @britishpathe Maps: https://www.freevectorflags.com www.vemaps.com https://davidrumsey.com Free Piks: https://www.freepik.com Adeyinka Makinde: @adeyinkamakinde6164 Neill McKee – CUSO in Ghana (1972) @neillmckee427 Music used https://share.epidemicsound.com/b3whp2 Music by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY - www.scottbuckley.com.au Lemmino Music: lemminomusic CC BY-SA 4.0 #Bisi #Ghana #Rawlings **** All materials in this video are used for educational purposes and fall within the fair use guidelines. No copyright infringement is intended. AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: There may be a few links in this description that, at no cost to you, will earn me a commission if you click them and purchase. Don’t worry; we only promote things that have genuinely helped us. Copyright © Bisi Media 2026