A former Speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Oquaye, has asserted that Ghanaians owe the freedom they enjoy today to the efforts of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He emphasised that the party, particularly through the contributions of its key historical figures, played a crucial role in embedding human rights into the nation’s constitutional framework.
Prof Oquaye claimed that during Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s tenure, there was minimal regard for the protection of human rights.
He suggested that, it was under the leadership of the NPP and its predecessors that significant advancements in human rights were made.
He expressed these views at a mentorship programme organized by the NPP Council of Elders.
The event, part of the 77th anniversary celebration of the formation of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), aimed to educate young patriots on the Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition and its contributions to Ghana’s political and social landscape.
Prof Oquaye highlighted that it was the late President Edward Akufo-Addo who first introduced a human rights chapter in the 1969 constitution.
According to him, this groundbreaking inclusion set the foundation for the protection of human rights, which has been carried forward and incorporated into subsequent constitutions.
“Our forebearers brought this kind of thing. Under Nkrumah, you could be detained almost indefinitely. Why? First of all, PDA [Preventive Detention Act] allowed your detention under the 1958 law for 5 years. When it got to 1964, he amended it and said after that, you could be given a renewal for another 5 years, almost indefinite.
“Nobody likes that today, nevertheless, they see a hero in the man who perpetrated it against the people of Ghana, it’s a contradiction. We must claim it, and we must know that if you love your freedom, you must love the NPP in Ghana today. Our people were developmental, selfless gentlemen, development-oriented and they spoke about it, all the time,” he stated.
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