4th August Can Never Be Founders' Day

Founder’s Day had always been 21st September and not 4th August. His Excellency President Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo had now declared 4th August as Founders’ Day as well as a public holiday. So instead of Founder’s Day, now we should call it Founders’ Day. The basis of his declaration, in a revolutionary sense, actually a dictatorship though, is the fact that it took a collective work of various nationalists for the attainment of Ghana’s independence. He has attempted to alter the history of the nation by his whims and caprices. The argument put forward by the President was the need to put into consideration the collective work of Jacob Sey, Joseph Casely Hayford, John Mensah Sarbah, Kobina Sekyi, J. W. de Graft-Johnson, J. P. Brown and their colleagues in the Aborigines’ Rights Protection Society(ARPS) and that of Joseph Boakye Danquah, Emmanuel Obetsebi Lamptey, Edward Akuffo Addo, Ebenezer Ako Adjei, William Ofori-Atta, and Kwame Nkrumah in the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC).

“Government believes that the most appropriate way to honour them is to commemorate the day on which the two most significant events in our colonial political history, that led us to freedom and independence, occurred – 4th August…The formation of the Aborigines Rights Protection Society on 4th August, 1897, in Cape Coast, marked the start of the struggle for national independence…The second of the two significant events,… occurred on 4th August, 1947, exactly fifty years later to the day of the formation of the ARPS, i.e. the formation of the UGCC. The UGCC was the first to make a formal demand for independence, indeed, the first time any such demand was made in colonial Africa.”

Delivered by His Excellency President Nana Addo-Dankwa Akuffo Addo, at the luncheon for Senior Citizens, on the occasion of the celebration of Founders’ Day, at the Accra International Conference Centre, Accra.( www.presidency.gov.gh )

However, the President, His Ex. Nana Akuffo Addo, has forgotten to recognise the formation of the Convention People’s Party by Kwame Nkrumah and the Committee on Youth Organization on 12th June, 1949, two years after the formation of the UGCC. By so doing, he neglects Kwame Nkrumah as the founder of the Republic of Ghana.

Even though, we can admit the ARPS set the foundation for independence from British oppression, it is better we consider the most significant among them. The UGCC was never serious about the independence of Ghana. Kwame Nkrumah and the CPP, in the long, spearheaded the struggle for the true independence of Ghana. If we are to choose on the basis of collective work, then let’s reconsider 4th August and 12th June and their impact. Now let’s consider their contribution towards the independence struggle.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF ABORIGINES’ RIGHTS PROTECTION SOCIETY

The Gold Coast Aborigines’ Rights Protection Society (ARPS) was an African association critical of colonial rule, formed on 4th August, 1897. Originally established by traditional leaders and the educated elite to protest the Crown Lands Bill of 1896 and the Lands Bill of 1897, which threatened traditional land tenure, the Gold Coast ARPS became the main political organisation that led organised and sustained opposition against the colonial government in the Gold Coast at the time, laying the foundation for political action that would ultimately lead to Ghanaian independence. Its delegates were active in international organizations and at the 1945 Pan-African Congress, it gained support from Kwame Nkrumah, who later became the main leader of the independence movement. However, the middle-class intellectuals who supported the Society broke with Nkrumah because they were less committed to full-scale revolutionary effort. Consequently, the Society declined as a major political force.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE UNITED GOLD COAST CONVENTION

The United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) was a nationalist movement founded on 4th August, 1947 whose aim was to bring about Ghanaian independence from British colonial masters after the Second World War. The United Gold Coast Convention appointed its leaders to include Kwame Nkrumah, who was the Secretary General.

The other leaders of the UGCC found a conflicting interest with Kwame Nkrumah. As he wanted immediate self-government, they wanted self-government within the shortest possible time. Kwame Nkrumah wanted a Ghanaian to be the Head of State to serve the interest of the people immediately. On the contrary, the UGCC wanted the British Queen to remain the Head of State. However, upon allegation for plans against Nkrumah’s leadership as General Secretary, he was arrested and jailed. The UGCC leadership broke up and Kwame Nkrumah went on a separate way to set up the Convention People’s Party (CPP) for the purpose of true self-governance.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE CONVENTION PEOPLE’S PARTY

The Convention People’s Party was a socialist political party formed on 12th June, 1949 after Kwame Nkrumah broke away from the UGCC. Through Kwame Nkrumah’s leadership, the CPP organised a non-violent protest and strike (POSITIVE ACTION) for the purpose of self-government which took him to prison for a second time. He was released after winning a massive vote by the CPP, following the general election whilst he was in prison. The masses of the people supported and voted for Kwame Nkrumah overwhelmingly, as the CPP did active work by reaching out to the people. The CPP tabled the motion of Destiny which led to our independence. The CPP argued for the Northern territories to be part of the new nation. The CPP campaigned for the Volta territories to be part of Ghana. The CPP led by Nkrumah declared Ghana independent and became the first ruling political party.

The Convention People’s Party was a socialist political party formed on 12th June, 1949 after Kwame Nkrumah broke away from the UGCC. Through Kwame Nkrumah’s leadership, the CPP organised a non-violent protest and strike (POSITIVE ACTION) for the purpose of self-government which took him to prison for a second time. He was released after winning a massive vote by the CPP, following the general election whilst he was in prison. The masses of the people supported and voted for Kwame Nkrumah overwhelmingly, as the CPP did active work by reaching out to the people. The CPP tabled the motion of Destiny which led to our independence. The CPP argued for the Northern territories to be part of the new nation. The CPP campaigned for the Volta territories to be part of Ghana. The CPP led by Nkrumah declared Ghana independent and became the first ruling political party.

THE WAY FORWARD

Founders’ Day is actually ambiguous. Who really took the political power from the British? Who established Ghana as a state? We cannot say that it took the collective efforts of the farmer, who cultivated the crop, the labourer, who worked on the farm, the driver, who conveyed the foodstuffs to the market centres, the seller, the buyer and the cook, so they all cooked the food. Here, we consider who went to the kitchen to actually prepare the food.

Even though, a lot of Ghanaians contributed to the struggle for independence, yet there’s only one founder; OSAGYEFO KWAME NKRUMAH. Kwame Nkrumah ACTUALLY took political power from the British and established Ghana as an independent state on 6th March, 1957. We could see clearly that the contributions of Kwame Nkrumah and the CPP marked a decisive turning point in the history of Ghana. For it led directly to the achievement of Ghana’s independence on 6th March, 1957. It shall remain FOUNDER’S DAY, on 21st September.

On a more serious note, the President is recognising the wrong people as founders. The worst thing is that the President has forgotten it’s as a result of Nkrumah’s achievement of a Ghanaian, being the Head of State that has enabled him to also contest and win to be President of the Republic of Ghana, now. If the UGCC were to achieve the position of Head of Government, our President, H.E. Nana Addo would have been a Prime Minister and subjected to the British Queen by now.

For years, Kwame Nkrumah has been constantly denigrated by the NDC/NPP, especially in our educational system. Most of our youth are brainwashed to always have negative perception about him, instead of projecting his great sacrifices as an example for the Ghanaian youths. This, in the long run, affects how we respond to his revolutionary efforts (sacrificing for your nation to become better as he did).

Kwame Nkrumah has laid down the foundation for us to liberate ourselves totally from the enemy, imperialism. There are so many factories and industries he built for us to develop at a rapid rate, now they are all stuck in the bushes. It’s better we pay attention to Nkrumah’s enormous contributions and develop it from there than to be deceived by the NDC/NPP reactionary governments.

Fellow Ghanaians, the youth, our mothers and fathers, and all Africans as a whole, we must eliminate the NDC/NPP reactionary governments and replace it with a revolutionary political party, so as to pave way for patriotism and a better living standards for our people.

Written by Kwaw Obosu Mensah, Member of The Nkrumahist Circle.