Nkrumah is not the founder of Ghana - Otchere-Darko

Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, a stalwart supporter of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has questioned popular opinion that Dr Kwame Nkrumah was Ghana's sole founder. 

While acknowledging Nkrumah's valuable role in the country's struggle for independence, Mr Otchere-Darko claims that he is not the only person responsible for Ghana's independence. 

Mr Otchere-Darko argued in an interview on Channel One TV that the movement for Ghana's independence predates Nkrumah's involvement, citing the contributions of key figures such as J.B. Danquah, Paa Grant, and other members of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC).

According to him,Ghana's independence was the outcome of collective efforts, not Nkrumah's work alone.

"You can’t take it from Nkrumah, he knew how to charge, organise and mobilise people. But it does not make him the Founder. He was one of many. The struggles started even before the J.B. Danquahs, and Paa Grants, so I don’t know why we want to give him the credit as the founder.

“Even Nkrumah after all the work he did, what name did he settle on? Ghana, who proposed the name? It wasn’t him. It’s a tiring argument, I’m not interested in it,” he stated.

"If people want to believe that Nkrumah was the only person who founded Ghana, please let them believe it. And those of us who don’t believe so, and still will give Nkrumah his credit, his due, for being a mobiliser and a driver who agitated the minds, perhaps more than the others because of his populist stance.

“Because of his connectivity with the people, we give him that credit, but I will not say that Nkrumah founded Ghana,” he pointed out.

Mr Otchere-Darko's remarks come after President Akufo-Addo, in his 2024 Founders' Day address on Saturday, August 3, flatly rejected the notion that Ghana was founded by a single individual, drawing outrage from some Ghanaians.

Source:Lead News Online