Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana
The President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo is set to scrap the September 21 – the date of birth of Ghana’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah as Ghana’s Founder’s Day.
[ads1]This was contained in the statement signed by the Director of Communication at the Presidency, Mr. Eugene Arhin.
According to the statement, “the most appropriate way to honour them [founders] is to commemorate the day on which the two most significant events in our colonial political history, that led us to independence, occurred – 4th August.”
September 21 of every years was declared by Ghana’s late President Prof. John Evans Attah Mills in 2009 as Ghana’s founders day and has since been celebrated as observed as national holiday.
However, President Nana Akufo-Addo is of the view that the September 21 that was declared and being observed as founder’s day is historically inaccurate.
“It is unfortunate that, 60 years after independence, the history of the events leading to it continues to be embroiled in unnecessary controversy, due largely to partisan political considerations of the moment.
It is clear that successive generations of Ghanaians made vital contributions to the liberation of our country from imperialism and colonialism. It is, therefore, fitting that we honour them, as those who contributed to the founding of our nation.” –
According to him, 4th August which was the day the first political party, United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) was formed by indigenous people of the Gold Coast (Ghana) in 1947 led by Paa Grant should be observed as the founders day but not the birth date of Kwame Nkrumah.
“In a deliberate act in the continuum of Ghanaian history, exactly fifty years later, on 4th August, 1947, at Saltpond, the great nationalists of the time gathered to inaugurate the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), the first truly nationalist party of the Gold Coast, to demand the independence of our nation from British rule, at a gathering which included “paramount chiefs, clergymen, lawyers, entrepreneurs, teachers, traders and men and women from all walks of life in the Gold Coast”, according to an eye witness.”
Paa Grant (L) and J.B. Danquah (R)
Giving a historical perspective, the statement said “On that day, in 1897, the Aborigines Rights Protection Society (ARPS) was formed in Cape Coast. The Society did a great job to mobilise the chiefs and people to ward off the greedy hands of British imperialism to ensure that control of Ghanaian lands remained in Ghanaian hands. It represented the first monumental step towards the making of modern Ghana, enabling us to avoid the quagmire of land inheritance that our brothers and sisters in Southern and Eastern Africa continue to suffer, from the seizures of their lands by white minorities.”
The president however noted that, “It is equally clear that the first leader of independent Ghana, and the nation’s 1st President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, played an outstanding role in helping to bring to fruition the works of the earlier generations, and leading us to the promised land of national freedom and independence. It is entirely appropriate that we commemorate him for that role, by designating his birthday as the permanent day of his remembrance.”
“The President has, therefore, decided to propose legislation to Parliament to designate 4th August as FOUNDERS DAY, and 21st September as KWAME NKRUMAH MEMORIAL DAY, both of which will be observed as public holidays.” the statement said
In the meantime, the President has issued an Executive Instrument to commemorate this year’s celebration of KWAME NKRUMAH MEMORIAL DAY as a public holiday.
Source: AwakeAfrica.com | Efo Korsi Senyo | senyo@awakeafrica.com