“One of the things we have done very wrong in this country is to turn everything into sheer politicking, To the extent that whiles journalists say facts are sacred and comment is free, we think we can make facts free and comments scandalous. We cannot build a nation on half-truth and propaganda,” he said.
Speaking at the 60th Independence Anniversary Lecture in Accra, the current speaker of parliament lectured under the theme ‘4th August; Ghana’s day of destiny’ where he gave a detailed account of how the idea of Ghana’s independence was birthed.
Giving credit to the 21 known founders of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) as the ‘real’ founders of Ghana, Prof Mike Oquaye stressed the need for history to be told right, as most Ghanaians are of the view that Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was the mastermind of Ghanaian independence.
Prof Mike Ocquaye said he has great respect for Nkrumah, however, he disapproves of anyone suggesting that Dr.Nkrumah was the founding father of Ghana. He described that view as propaganda.
He mentioned how half-truths and propaganda have diluted the richness of our nation’s history, affecting our educational system.
"I have a great regard for Nkrumah but the truth is, he is not a Founder of Ghana.Those who met to fashion out independence did not include Nkrumah, though he came later and added significantly. Why do some people continue to propagandize this issue, we must put the truth right otherwise our children will be thought wrongly in our schools,” he added.
Prof Mike Ocquaye said August 4th is a date that will be forever celebrated in Ghanaian history as it was marked as a significant point in the struggle for independence. He described the date as Ghana’s day of destiny as the democracy, rule of law and the freedom of speech we freely have access to today, can be attributed to that day.
He encouraged all Ghanaians to celebrate the key political leaders such as Paa Grant, JB Danquah, Ako Adjei, Edward Akufo-Addo, Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey who worked tirelessly to fight for Ghana’s independence.
