On the Beach

As much as any African leader, Kwame Nkrumah relished the plush life that power can buy. The self-styled redeemer of Ghana nearly bankrupted his country by building palatial hotels, modernistic palaces and a cozy hideaway for his favorite mistress. Even after he was overthrown last February, it seemed likely that Nkrumah would continue to wield power and enjoy life as few exiles ever had. Guinea's President Sekou Toure gave Nkrumah a hero's welcome and startled the world by proclaiming that the visitor was coPresident. Said Toure: "Nkrumah belongs to all Africa, not just Ghana. His voice and my voice are one."

Nothing seemed to be too good for Nkrumah in Guinea. He was given a spacious villa by the sea for himself and his 100 Ghanian security guards. There was talk that he would represent Guinea at the United Nations in Manhattan. There was also talk that Guinea would launch an invasion of Ghana to put Nkrumah back in power. Guinea's radio stations broadcast Nkrumah's bellicose "I shall return" promises.

All that was months ago. By last week it was clear that Toure has changed his mind about his fellow Marxist. With

Nkrumah's years of misrule now fully exposed by Ghana's well-entrenched new military government, many Guinean officials consider his presence a distinct liability. As a result, he has been elbowed out of the political limelight; he is now kept under virtual house arrest in his high-walled villa. Nearly a dozen of his bodyguards have deserted and crossed the border to Sierra Leone to start a new life. His Egyptian wife Fathia, whom he shelved years ago for more comely playmates, has taken refuge in Cairo, refuses to rejoin him or even to allow his three children to visit him. Few visitors bother to call on him. An $18 million frigate that he ordered from a British shipyard in 1964 as a private "command ship" was launched last week on the Clyde River with neither name nor ceremony. Unable to afford such extravagances, Ghana's present government, which inherited the ship, is looking for a buyer.

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