The idea that Ghana was founded by a single person has been strongly dismissed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
On Saturday, August 3, the president expressed his disapproval of assertions that Kwame Nkrumah built Ghana on his own in his 2024 Founders’ Day speech.
In order to recognize the combined efforts of all those who supported Ghana’s independence movement, Parliament approved a bill in 2019 recognizing September 21 as Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day and August 4 as Founders’ 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 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 in his broadcast.
He maintained that a number of organizations, notably the British West African Nation Congress led by Thomas Hutton-Mills and Joseph Casely Hayford, as well as others, were instrumental in bringing about Ghana’s liberation and eventual 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.”