File photo
By Charles Agbenu
The boring, lack luster and negative economic effects, about the celebration of Kwame Nkrumah birthday on 21st September in Ghana's calendar year has been highlighted elsewhere in a different write-up. That apart, the 21st September, which is even officially the Founder's day, dedicated to Kwame Nkrumah alone as the Founder of the nation, is unconvincing, dubious and hypocritical.
On this matter, I challenge and fault the CPP and ND, bathed in their fixed or one-plug and dead socialist political stock, who don't want to hear any other personalities mentioned in the forefront of Ghana's pre-independence political struggle apart from Nkrumah, who they conceptualize and rigidly hold out as Ghana's lonesome political adventurer.
Without hesitation I contend that, that idea is false, dirty and blatant distorted history. I don't seek to undermine the role of Kwame Nkrumah in the independence struggle but Ghana has to simply recognize the critical contributions of other great Ghana or Gold Coast nationalists. Even Nkrumah recognized the Big Six in his writings, as part of the bitter independence struggle.
Some names which come to mind are, Mensah Sarbah, Awoonor Williams, Dr. J B. Danquah, Ako Adjei, William Ofori Atta, Edward Akufo Ado, Obetsebi Lamptey and Paa Grant. These stalwarts were aggressive movers and shakers of the Gold coast political scene well before Nkrumah was invited to join. It must dawn on Ghanaians that, the unhealthy and polarized debate about the Nkrumah lonesome theory of Founder's day will never end and could thwart our developmental forward march as a nation untilthe proper Founders' Day is recognized.
I pray that NDC/CPP/PNC stop their 'ap?s?' ways on this matter and recognize that instituting Founders' Day (the s apostrophe) will be more appropriate and serve our efforts better rather than sticking unholily to the perverted lonesome and boring Founder's day ( the apostrophe s). Even at the last celebration, writers, commentators and newsreaders fumbled.
They were using Founder's day and Founders' day interchangeably in a confused manner. The other day, NPP Communications Director Nana Akomeah rightly called for a common position to resolve Ghana's bitter dichotomy about Founder's day or Founders' day. I hope the NDC authorities especially heard him well.
It is recalled that, at independence in 1980, Zimbabwe faced a similar problem and the leader and eventual frontliner at the time, Robert Mugabe rightly and magnanimously refused to be recognized as a lone adventurer in the political trenches. He faced reality. Mugabe led the way to institute 'THE HEROES ARCH' to honour all the independence fighters who were with him and those who preceded him, although he fell out with most of them at that critical time.
This arrangement calmed waters and gave Zimbabwe a solid front up till today. Since then, Zimbabwe has Heroes Day entrenched and celebrated yearly in their political calendar. The way Robert Mugabe is ruling now and the associated governance problems are beside the point.
Here in Ghana, in 1957, the leader at the time, Nkrumah conscripted all the political honour to himself despite the fact that he recognized the Big Six in some of his writings as part of the bitter independence struggle. We are about 60 years into our independence and we still have to contend with only Kwame Nkrumah as the hero and as the Founder of Ghana. The bitter dichotomy still continues. Why did Nkrumah not take the unifying initiative in 1957? Was he a greedy bastard? Ghana is the worse for that.
Reference
https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=474483&comment=13711539#com.