From The Gold Coast To The U.S. Embassy: How The Danquah-Busia-Dombo Tradition Compromises Ghanaian Sovereignty For Partisan Leverage

Sixty-nine years after breaking the shackles of colonial subjugation, the central pillars of Ghana’s independence—sovereignty, national dignity, and self-determination—face an insidious threat. An ancient Akan proverb warns: “Wotwa wo tɛkrɛma dodoa we a, nnyɛ nam na woadi”—when you cut your own tongue, roast it, and eat it, you have not eaten any meat. You have only mutilated your own body to satisfy a momentary hunger.

True patriotism demands an unwavering commitment to protect the nation's image, institutions, and autonomy, regardless of party affiliation. Yet, a critical look at the historical trajectory and contemporary actions of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), anchored in the Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition, reveals a recurring, deeply troubling political reflex. Whenever this political tradition finds itself cornered or seeking narrow political advantage, it systematically bypasses local sovereign institutions. It chooses instead to invite foreign powers to intervene in our domestic affairs or invalidate our internal administration.

The Bible reminds us in Proverbs 11:14 that "where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety." Tragically, this tradition prefers the counsel of foreign embassies over our own sovereign chambers. From the twilight of the Gold Coast when its founding fathers petitioned the British Crown to delay our independence, to recent, unprecedented petitions dispatched to the United States Embassy to police our state documents, a clear pattern emerges. This article presents a comprehensive, deeply detailed investigation into these actions, exploring how this consistent behavior undermines Ghana's sovereignty and degrades our standing on the international stage.

THE HISTORICAL TRAJECTORY: THE NATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENT AND THE SABOTAGE OF THE UNITARY STATE

The tendency to prioritize partisan, regional, or factional interests over the collective sovereignty of Ghana is an ideological trait inherited directly from the founding fathers of the National Liberation Movement (NLM) and the United Party (UP)—the structural ancestors of today's NPP.

• The NLM’s Pre-Independence Campaign to Delay Freedom: In the mid-1950s, as Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) aggressively campaigned for immediate self-governance under a unitary state, the NLM vehemently resisted. Operating under Baffour Osei Akoto and Dr. J.B. Danquah, the NLM dispatched formal petitions to the British Colonial Office and Queen Elizabeth II. They pleaded that independence be withheld or delayed until a complex federal structure could be engineered to secure sectional cocoa revenues and regional hegemony. To quote French philosopher Montesquieu, “The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy.” But here, it was an active attempt to fracture the emerging state before it could even walk.
• The Dynamite of Sabotage and State Fracture: History records that the NLM's opposition went beyond mere policy disagreements. The Ashanti region became a hotbed of political violence, where dynamite was used to terrorize CPP supporters, culminating in the tragic Kulungugu bombings and multiple assassination attempts on Nkrumah.
• Sabotaging National Infrastructure Funding: In a bid to cripple Nkrumah’s economic transformation plan, opposition figures traveled to Western capitals, actively lobbying the United States government and international lenders to deny financial backing for the Akosombo Dam and the Tema Motorway. They characterized these foundational, generation-defining national assets as reckless, communist-leaning projects, demonstrating a willingness to starve the entire nation of electricity and infrastructure to score domestic political points.

THE FOURTH REPUBLIC: THE STATE-SPONSORED RIVALRY AND THE WEAPONIZATION OF FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE

Following the return to democratic governance in 1992, the deep-seated rivalry between the newly formed NPP and former President Jerry John Rawlings took center stage, with the state apparatus frequently utilizing foreign channels to settle domestic scores.

• Lobbying Foreign Banks Against Political Rivals: During the administration of President John Agyekum Kufuor (2001–2009), the state actively utilized international legal and intelligence mechanisms to probe the financial dealings of the preceding PNDC/NDC eras. Critics argue that instead of relying exclusively on Ghana's internal financial crime units, the government aggressively petitioned foreign banking institutions and Western intelligence agencies to trace and freeze alleged unauthorized offshore accounts linked to Rawlings and his close allies.
• The International Stripping of Diplomatic Courtesies: In a highly publicized diplomatic move, the Kufuor administration—with letters authorized through senior cabinet officials, including then-Foreign Minister Nana Akufo-Addo—formally notified foreign governments and embassies that diplomatic courtesies and state privileges were being withdrawn from former President Rawlings. The state justified this by claiming Rawlings was using foreign platforms to devalue the sitting government, setting a damaging precedent where a former Ghanaian Head of State was discredited before global powers by his own country.

AKUFO-ADDO’S BURKINA FASO DECLARATION: A REGIONAL DIPLOMATIC BLUNDER

The inclination to air internal security anxieties or unverified intelligence to foreign superpowers reached a critical peak under the current administration, directly fracturing regional solidarity.

• The 2022 Washington Overreach: During the US-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C., President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo bypassed the established bilateral channels of ECOWAS and went directly to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. On foreign soil, he publicly asserted that neighboring Burkina Faso had struck a deal with the Russian Wagner Group mercenary force, allegedly paying them by giving up a mineral mine.
• The Sovereign Fallout: This public declaration to an American official, made without consulting the Burkinabè leadership, provoked a severe diplomatic crisis. Burkina Faso immediately recalled its Ambassador from Accra in protest and summoned Ghana's envoy in Ouagadougou for a formal reprimand. This action severely damaged decades of fraternal, peaceful coexistence along Ghana's northern border for the sake of global geopolitical posturing.

THE RECENT PASSPORT CRISIS: SURRENDERING ADMINISTRATIVE SOVEREIGNTY TO THE U.S. EMBASSY

The most recent and alarming manifestation of this pattern occurred under the current regime, representing a direct abdication of state institutional authority to a foreign embassy.

• The U.S. Embassy Petition: The NPP, through a formal letter signed by its General Secretary Justin Kodua Frimpong, took the extraordinary step of petitioning the United States Embassy in Accra. The letter requested that the U.S. government suspend diplomatic visas for specific Ghanaian holders of diplomatic and service passports.
• Bypassing Ghana's Independent State Organs: The party's petition alleged that individuals had been improperly granted service passports through fraudulent employment descriptions at the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) and the Fisheries Commission. Rather than handing this evidence over to the Ghana Police Service, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Auditor-General, or a parliamentary inquiry, the ruling party opted to invite an official of a foreign government to police and invalidate sovereign Ghanaian travel documents.
• The Parliamentary Escalation and Abu Jinapor's Expulsion: The issue escalated dramatically on the floor of Parliament when Damongo Member of Parliament Samuel Abu Jinapor launched a fierce tirade, alleging that Ghanaian diplomatic passports were actively being black-marketed for figures between $10,000 and $50,000.
• The Official Hansard Snippets: The Hansard records a stern confrontation as Speaker Alban Bagbin demanded discipline and accountability in a house of records. The exchange unfolded as follows:

Speaker Alban Bagbin: "Members making serious allegations bordering on criminality must substantiate them. Parliament is a house of records, and unsubstantiated statements should not be entered into the records for posterity. I am offering you the opportunity to come back properly with evidence. If you cannot provide it now, you must withdraw the specific allegation regarding the sale of diplomatic passports for $50,000."

Hon. Samuel Abu Jinapor: "Mr. Speaker, I do not have the immediate documentation on me at this very second, but I assure this House that the evidence will be presented in due course..."

Speaker Alban Bagbin: "I am not going to tolerate this. There must be discipline on this floor! Marshal, escort the Honorable Member out of the chamber."

• The Minority Walkout and Aftermath: Following the Speaker's directive, the Minority staged a dramatic walkout. In the post-session briefing, the Minority leadership challenged the ejection, noting that Jinapor had eventually attempted to comply. They stated: "Upon clarification, he expressly stated, 'Mr. Speaker, I withdraw.' He repeated that withdrawal, yet the direction that he leave the chamber was maintained... We consider that response disproportionate and an act of parliamentary bullying." However, the public consensus remains clear: making reckless allegations about the state's sovereign security documents on the floor of Parliament without instant proof devalues the entire nation.

STRATEGIC SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GHANA

To safeguard our hard-won sovereignty from being compromised for short-term partisan advantage, the following structural reforms and civic shifts are urgently recommended:

1. Strict Enforcement of Institutional Supremacy: Political parties must be legally mandated to exhaust all domestic investigatory channels—including the Ghana Police Service, the National Investigation Bureau (NIB), and the judiciary—before escalating administrative irregularities to foreign entities. Bypassing national institutions to report state document flaws to foreign embassies should be treated as a grave administrative violation.
2. Codification of Passports as Sovereign Property: Parliament must pass stringent, non-partisan legislation that defines the Ghanaian passport as an absolute symbol of state sovereignty. Any state or party official who invites a foreign power to invalidate or devalue validly issued state travel documents without prior judicial authorization within Ghana should face legal sanctions or disqualification from public office.
3. Bipartisan Foreign Policy Oversight: The Parliamentary Select Committee on Foreign Affairs must be strengthened to act as a mandatory clearinghouse for serious international complaints. If a political party uncovers passport racketeering or fraud, it must present that dossier to Parliament to launch a sovereign, internal bipartisan probe rather than running to Western embassies.
4. Civic Education on Sovereign Pride: The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) must actively expand its public campaigns to educate Ghanaians on the importance of institutional integrity. Citizens must learn to hold political actors accountable when they choose to demean the international reputation of the Republic for local electoral leverage.

Sovereignty is not merely a legal term; it is the soul of a nation. As the international statesman Kofi Annan once remarked, “No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over time.” But that evolution cannot happen if we continuously cut off our own tongue to feed our political appetites.

When a political tradition continuously adopts the posture that local institutions are incompetent, choosing instead to rely on the validation and intervention of foreign embassies, it subtly tells the world that Ghana is incapable of self-governance. The Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition's long historical line of foreign petitions—stretching from the colonial-era anti-independence letters to the modern-day reporting of our own passport flaws to the U.S. Embassy—compromises the dignity of every Ghanaian.

True national development and true patriotism cannot survive under a political philosophy that damages the country’s global image to win local disputes. As Ghanaians, we must firmly demand that our leaders respect our sovereign state institutions. We must fix our internal administrative flaws ourselves, using our own laws, our own parliament, and our own courts. Only then can we protect the honor of the Black Star and ensure that Ghana remains truly independent, self-reliant, and respected across the globe.

✍️By A Concerned Retired Senior Citizen

For and on behalf of all Senior Citizens of the Republic of Ghana 🇬🇭

Teshie-Nungua
[email protected]