Historian Kwaku Darko Ankrah has criticised President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s selection of August 4 as Founders’ Day.
Mr Ankrah has said the President erred, adding the decision was totally wrong.
He explained that, August 4 marks the formation of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) and does not represent the entirety of Ghana’s founding efforts.
“The President was totally wrong when he selected August 4, you state August 4, it means that you are truncating the work others have done….the significance of August 4, is the formation of UGCC, it’s a political party. Never, how can you use a political party’s formation as the foundation of Gold Coast?” he quizzed in an interview on Accra-based Channel One TV.
He added, “Then we should go back to about March 8, 1897, as the formation of Gold Coast, because that is where the Aborigines’ Rights Protection Society (ARPS) was founded to save the lands of this country. For me, I don’t understand the August 4.”
Parliament in 2019 established August 4 as Founders’ Day to honour the collective efforts of those who contributed to Ghana’s independence struggle, while designating September 21 as Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day.
However, Mr Ankrah’s comment comes in the wake of the new debate surrounding the celebration of Founders Day.
In Akufo-Addo’s 2024 Founders’ Day address, he rejected the notion that Ghana was founded by a single individual, disagreeing with claims that Kwame Nkrumah single-handedly founded Ghana.
He highlighted the collective efforts of various individuals in attaining Ghana’s independence.
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