THE FOUNDER'S DAY DEBATE
Currently dominating discussions on the airwaves and the media landscape is the decision by the Ghana @ 60 Planning Committee to hold a memorial and thanksgiving service as well as a lecture Friday, August 4. On this day in 1897, the Aborigines Rights Protection Society, a group critical of colonial rule was formed in the then Gold Coast by traditional leaders and the educated elite to protest the Crown Lands Bill of 1896 and the Lands Bill of 1897 which threatened traditional land tenure. Also significant to note is August 4, 1947, when the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), the mother party from which the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was birthed, was formed. August 4, 2017 therefore marks the 70th anniversary of the UGCC. At Saltpond in the Central region, a thanksgiving and memorial service has been organised to commemorate the day.
Later at the National Theatre in Accra, there is going to be a lecture to be addressed by no less a person than the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Ocquaye. The topic is August 4 - Ghana's Day of Destiny, which a number of people are contesting.
It is significant to note that it was the leaders of the UGCC who brought down Ghana's founding President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to the then Gold Coast to fight for independence for the country. Nkrumah was then studying in Britain and the UGCC had to pay for his flight and other expenses down to the Gold Coast to become its General Secretary. It is equally important to understand that before Nkrumah was brought down, he was already actively engaged in and at the forefront of the struggle to end colonisation of Africa. In less than two years with the UGCC, Nkrumah and the other leaders of the UGCC fell out due to doctrinal differences leading to Nkrumah breaking away to form the Convention People's Party, CPP.
In a speech to commemorate Ghana's 60th Independence, President Akufo-Addo expressed his belief that the nation's founders chose March 6 as the date for Ghana's independence in order to repudiate the Bond of 6th March 1844, which led to the Gold Coast becoming a British colony. The Bond of 1844 was a peace agreement signed by Commander Hill on behalf of the British government and the people of Southern Ghana. President Akufo-Addo in his speech eulogised a group of our forebears who were moved in 1897 to start a campaign against the terms of the colonial relationship between the then Gold Coast and the United Kingdom.
In the words of the President, if the signing of the Bond marks the formal start of the Gold Coast colony, then the formation of the Aborigines Rights Protection Society in August 4, 1897 in Cape Coast marks the start for political independence. He described August 4 as sacred and seminal in the annals of the people of Ghana. The celebration of August 4 is good if it will not skew the history of the country. People need to be given their right place in history. Nobody can take away from Nkrumah his pride of place in Ghana and Africa at large.
Also, J.B. Danquah's place in the history of this country is and should be cast in stone. To make it clear, UGCC was a forerunner to the CPP which eventually led this country to attain independence. The lines are clear, CPP is a direct offshoot of the UGCC but their principles differ. Nkrumah's CPP wanted independence now whilst the UGCC was campaigning for independence within the shortest possible time. Nkrumah therefore used his oratory skills, styles, vision and his understanding of the political dynamics at the time to galvanise the people in the struggle for independence and self-determination.
Eventually, he was proved right and Ghana attained Independence. Apostle Paul in biblical time said ''I planted, Apollo watered but God gave the increase." History cannot be twisted. It is made up of two elements, facts and interpretation, no matter how hard people will interpret history, the fact still remains. Nkrumah has done his part, JB Danquah has equally done his, let us celebrate them both. Any elimination by substitution will be regressive and must be discarded. August 4 and September 21 are important days in the annals of the country and must be celebrated as such.
Posterity is the only judge. The hullabaloo must cease. One man alone cannot make history. People like Nelson Mandela, Patrice lumumba, Che Guvera, and Fidel Castro just to mention a few, have left footprints in world history. The Big six comprising, Ako Adjei, Edward Akufo-Addo , J.B. Danquah , Kwame Nkrumah , Obetsebi Lamptey and William Ofori Atta will also be remembered for their roles in bringing Ghana where it is now as the star of Africa in terms of democracy and good governance .
BY JUSTICE MINGLE, A JOURNALIST.
Later at the National Theatre in Accra, there is going to be a lecture to be addressed by no less a person than the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Ocquaye. The topic is August 4 - Ghana's Day of Destiny, which a number of people are contesting.
It is significant to note that it was the leaders of the UGCC who brought down Ghana's founding President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to the then Gold Coast to fight for independence for the country. Nkrumah was then studying in Britain and the UGCC had to pay for his flight and other expenses down to the Gold Coast to become its General Secretary. It is equally important to understand that before Nkrumah was brought down, he was already actively engaged in and at the forefront of the struggle to end colonisation of Africa. In less than two years with the UGCC, Nkrumah and the other leaders of the UGCC fell out due to doctrinal differences leading to Nkrumah breaking away to form the Convention People's Party, CPP.
In a speech to commemorate Ghana's 60th Independence, President Akufo-Addo expressed his belief that the nation's founders chose March 6 as the date for Ghana's independence in order to repudiate the Bond of 6th March 1844, which led to the Gold Coast becoming a British colony. The Bond of 1844 was a peace agreement signed by Commander Hill on behalf of the British government and the people of Southern Ghana. President Akufo-Addo in his speech eulogised a group of our forebears who were moved in 1897 to start a campaign against the terms of the colonial relationship between the then Gold Coast and the United Kingdom.
In the words of the President, if the signing of the Bond marks the formal start of the Gold Coast colony, then the formation of the Aborigines Rights Protection Society in August 4, 1897 in Cape Coast marks the start for political independence. He described August 4 as sacred and seminal in the annals of the people of Ghana. The celebration of August 4 is good if it will not skew the history of the country. People need to be given their right place in history. Nobody can take away from Nkrumah his pride of place in Ghana and Africa at large.
Also, J.B. Danquah's place in the history of this country is and should be cast in stone. To make it clear, UGCC was a forerunner to the CPP which eventually led this country to attain independence. The lines are clear, CPP is a direct offshoot of the UGCC but their principles differ. Nkrumah's CPP wanted independence now whilst the UGCC was campaigning for independence within the shortest possible time. Nkrumah therefore used his oratory skills, styles, vision and his understanding of the political dynamics at the time to galvanise the people in the struggle for independence and self-determination.
Eventually, he was proved right and Ghana attained Independence. Apostle Paul in biblical time said ''I planted, Apollo watered but God gave the increase." History cannot be twisted. It is made up of two elements, facts and interpretation, no matter how hard people will interpret history, the fact still remains. Nkrumah has done his part, JB Danquah has equally done his, let us celebrate them both. Any elimination by substitution will be regressive and must be discarded. August 4 and September 21 are important days in the annals of the country and must be celebrated as such.
Posterity is the only judge. The hullabaloo must cease. One man alone cannot make history. People like Nelson Mandela, Patrice lumumba, Che Guvera, and Fidel Castro just to mention a few, have left footprints in world history. The Big six comprising, Ako Adjei, Edward Akufo-Addo , J.B. Danquah , Kwame Nkrumah , Obetsebi Lamptey and William Ofori Atta will also be remembered for their roles in bringing Ghana where it is now as the star of Africa in terms of democracy and good governance .
BY JUSTICE MINGLE, A JOURNALIST.
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