A son of Ghana’s first president, Dr. Sekou Nkrumah has accused President Akufo-Addo of trying to manipulate Ghana’s history.
The comment comes after President Akufo-Addo, as part of his Founder’s Day message on Saturday August 3, 2024, said that he rejects suggestions that it was only Dr. Kwame Nkrumah who led the country’s independence fight and founded Ghana.
“I speak to you this evening, rejecting completely, the notion that Ghana was founded by one man. 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.
The comment has attracted criticism from many with Nkrumah’s party, the Convention People’s Party (CPP) rejecting that notion from President Akufo-Addo.
Other political historians have also come at the President for his comment.
President Akufo-Addo’s statement comes 5 years after Ghana’s Parliament passed a law instituting August 4 as Founders’ Day to honour the contributions of all who played a role in Ghana’s journey to independence.
In an interview with 3FM’s Beatrice Adu, Sekou Nkrumah said that, “we need to go back in history to try to figure out this situation that we are caught in now. We all know that the United God Coast Convention (which became UP) was the first political movement in Ghana that sort of opened the way for political independence…. we know he (Kwame Nkrumah) broke away and formed the CPP…so he changed the dynamics then.”
He added that the NPP government is still suffering from the pains of the past which is influencing it’s actions now.
“The president is still living in the emotions of the past and still unable to let go of what happened in the past. We all agree that Nkrumah led Ghana to independence. People would argue that others struggled with him. But the point is that he captured power. He led us to independence. So, let’s not take that away from him. Ghana is growing. We should be more mature in approaching these things. He (the President) is trying to manipulate our history,” Sekou stated.
Sekou Nkrumah added that “…we all accept the contribution that the others made. And actually, they even invited him to become the General Secretary of the UGCC. But at the same time, we don’t need to be petty. I think we should all rise above that and try to understand our history and the history is for all of us as Ghanaians.”
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