President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in his 2024 Founders’ Day address forcefully declared that the struggle for Ghana’s independence was a collective effort spanning several generations.
President Akufo-Addo expressed his disagreement with claims that Dr Kwame Nkrumah solely founded the nation, Ghana.
“I speak to you this evening, rejecting completely the notion that Ghana was founded by one man,” he stated.
While Kwame Nkrumah’s contributions to the nation’s independence are undeniable, the President said, “It is important to acknowledge that the struggle for our nation’s freedom was a collective effort spanning several generations.”
President Akufo-Addo highlighted the contributions of movements such as Joseph Casely Hayford and Thomas Hutton-Mills’ British West African National Congress, among others.
He said the formation of the Aborigines Rights Protection Society, the British West African National Congress, the United Gold Coast Convention, the work of countless unsung heroes and the tenacious spirit of other people played vital parts in bringing Ghanaians to freedom and independence.
“Kwame Nkrumah, with his charismatic and visionary leadership, was undoubtedly a major actor in the final lap of our journey to independence,” the President claimed.
“That is why, despite the unfortunate events that occurred after independence under his watch, Parliament decided in 2019 to memorialise his date of birth as Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day, the only Ghanaian so far to be so honoured in our history,” he stated.
In 2019, Parliament 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.
The decision by Parliament led to protests from some Nkrumaists and persons who believed in his singular role in the attainment of the country’s freedom.
President Akuffo-Addo in 2018 proposed amendments to the Public Holiday Act in 2018 to designate 4th August as a public holiday as part of a broader initiative to recognise unsung heroes in the pursuit of the country’s independence.
The Public Holidays Amendment Bill, 2018, led to the cancellation of three existing public holidays and introduced two new holidays.
As a result, Founders’ Day was designated on August 4, while September 21 was set aside as a memorial day for Ghana’s first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah in recognition of his significant role in the fight for Ghana’s independence on March 6.
The three holidays affected by this amendment were Republic Day, previously observed on July 1, African Union (AU) Day, observed on May 25, and Founders’ Day, which fell on Kwame Nkrumah’s birthday, September 21.
According to the bill’s explanation, August 4 was chosen to replace Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day because it holds historical significance as the day when Ghana’s independence movement began in 1947.
On this date, Ghanaian patriots such as George Alfred Grant, J.B. Danquah, R.A. Awoonor-Williams, Edward Akufo-Addo, Ebenezer Ako Adjei, and various chiefs formed the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC).
The UGCC was founded on the principles of the Fante Confederacy of 1868 and the Aboriginal Rights Protection Society of 1897, with a shared mission of achieving Ghana’s independence.
Two opposition political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Convention People’s Party (CPP), have indicated that they might consider scrapping the holiday if they come into power.
Rex Mainoo Yeboah, ISD
