After being accused of distorting the history of Ghana’s independence struggle during his anniversary speech, President Akufo-Addo has responded saying, he painted a true picture of what happened at the time and never discredited the contribution of the country’s first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
Speaking at Ghana Unity Ball 2017, Thursday, President Akufo-Addo said his accusers are people who did not witness the struggle adding, that Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe who knows the history of Ghana’s independence congratulated him for the speech.
“This has been a very strange week. On Monday, I made a speech to the country which I tried to speak about how we became Ghana. And like everything I say, it’s ended up in controversy. But that is how it should be. A politician who doesn’t generate controversy is a dull politician,” he said.
“The amusing part of it is that, the people who did not live through the independence era, young people who came much after, claim that I distorted the history of Ghana and belittled the role of Kwame Nkrumah. The one man there who actually lived through the era, [who] was here in Ghana at the time, embraced me as having enhanced the image of Kwame Nkrumah. And that tells you everything about Ghanaian politics. That is President Mugabe. He gave me a big hug,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo while delivering his speech at Ghana’s 60th Independence anniversary started from a century before 1957, in 1844 when the country became a British colony.
He continued with the formation of the first political party, the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) and events that led to the invitation of Dr Kwame Nkrumah to join the struggle.
“The founders of the UGCC, then, met to demand independence from the British and 70 years after that event, one still marvels at the clarity of thought and the passion that they displayed. Some of the names of that momentous day have survived in our written history and folk memory.
“Five of them are on our Ghanaian currency: Joseph BoakyeDanquah; Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey; William Ofori-Atta; Ebenezer Ako-Adjei; and Edward Akufo-Addo. Kwame Nkrumah, the sixth of the Big Six on the currency, was to join them later,” the President had recounted in part.
But the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and some individuals were unhappy about the president’s speech as they indicated that it failed to acknowledge Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s efforts in the “decisive moments” of the struggle.
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