President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has firmly rejected the notion that Ghana was founded by a single individual. In his 2024 Founders’ Day address on Saturday, August 3, the president stated his disagreement with claims that Kwame Nkrumah singlehandedly founded Ghana.
In 2019, Parliament passed a law establishing 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. This decision sparked protests from some individuals and groups who believe in Nkrumah’s singular role in the country’s founding.
“I speak to you this evening, rejecting completely, the notion that one man founded Ghana. While Kwame Nkrumah’s contributions to our independence are undeniable, it is important to acknowledge for ourselves that respect that the struggle for our nation’s freedom was a collective effort spanning several generations,” the president said in his broadcast.
He argued that groups including Joseph Casely Hayford and Thomas Hutton-Mills’ British West African Nation Congress and several others contributed to Ghana’s freedom and subsequent independence.
“The formation of the Aborigines Rights Protection, the British West African Nation Congress, the United Gold Coast Convention, the work of countless unsung heroes, and the tenacious spirit of our people all played vital parts in bringing us to freedom and independence.
“Kwame Nkrumah with his charismatic visionary leadership was undoubtedly a major actor in the final lap of our journey to independence and that is why despite the several unfortunate things that happened after independence under his watch, Parliament in 2019, decided to memorialise his date of birth as Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day, the only Ghanaian so far to be so honoured in our history.”
By: Kabah Atawoge
