Ghana was not founded by Nkrumah – Akufo-Addo

President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has reiterated his stance on the shoulder(s) upon which Ghana was founded.

Whilst history has it that the nation’s first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, is the founder of Ghana, President Akufo-Addo, since assuming office in 2017, has objected to the notion.

According to him, Ghana was founded through the collective efforts of many men and not just one man.

His government, has since championed the promulgation of an Act rescinding a memorial day celebration which was commemorated in honour of the founder of the Convention People’s Party (CPP).

Parliament changed the hitherto Founder’s Day to Founders’ Day in an Act that was passed in 2019.

He, meanwhile, designated September 21, which is the birthday of Osagyefo as Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day, for what he terms his singular role in securing Ghana’s independence in the final lap of the struggle.

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.

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,” 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 President stated.