The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has once again justified why Ghana’s former President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah cannot be held and honored as the Founder of Ghana, rejecting completely the notion that country was founded by a single individual.
In his instituted August 4 as “Founders’ Day”, Mr. Akufo-Addo addressed the nation on Saturday, August 3, stating his total disagreement with the claims that Kwame Nkrumah founded Ghana.
According to him, he recognized the immersed contribution of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in the independence of Ghana hence in 2019, Parliament passing a law establishing August 4 as Founders’ Day to honour the collective efforts of those who contributed to Ghana’s independence struggle, while designating September 21 (Nkrumah’s birthday) as Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day.
His decision in 2019 to change the Founder’s Day (observed on September 1) to Founders’ Day (August 4) sparked protests from some individuals and groups who strongly believe Nkrumah’s singular role led to the country founding hence independence in 1957.
Excepts of President Akufo-Addo’s speech:
“I speak to you this evening, rejecting completely, the notion that Ghana was founded by one man. While Kwame Nkrumah’s contributions to our independence are undeniable, it is important to acknowledge for ourselves that respect that the struggle for our nation’s freedom was a collective effort spanning several generations,” the president said in his broadcast.
He argued that groups including Joseph Casely Hayford and Thomas Hutton-Mills’ British West African Nation Congress and several others contributed to Ghana’s freedom and subsequent independence.
“The formation of the Aborigines Rights Protection, the British West African Nation Congress, the United Gold Coast Convention, the work of countless unsung heroes, and the tenacious spirit of our people all played vital parts in bringing us to freedom and independence.
“Kwame Nkrumah with his charismatic visionary leadership was undoubtedly a major actor in the final lap of our journey to independence and that is why despite the several unfortunate things that happened after independence under his watch, Parliament in 2019, decided to memorialise his date of birth as Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day, the only Ghanaian so far to be so honoured in our history.”
