Ghanaians marked Founder’s Day on Sunday, September 21, to commemorate the birthday of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, who was earlier Prime Minister and Africa’s foremost champion of continental unity and liberation of the black race.

In a statement signed by the Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, the ministry said President John Mahama had, by Executive Instrument, directed that the holiday be observed nationwide in line with the Public Holidays and Commemorative Days Act, as amended.

In the past, the celebration of the day had been marked with some controversy.

The Government of former and late President John Evans Atta Mills initiated legislation in Parliament to declare September 21 a holiday in memory of Dr Nkrumah.

In September 2009, President John Atta Mills declared September 21st (the centenary of Kwame Nkrumah’s birth in 1909) to be Founder’s Day, a statutory holiday in Ghana.

The Founder’s Day versus Founders Day debate has been a longstanding one, and was brought to the limelight in 2017, starting with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s speech delivered at Ghana’s 60th independence anniversary parade.

While some are of the view that Dr Nkrumah is the sole founder of Ghana, others think that there were many people who contributed to the founding of the modern state of Ghana, notably the other members of Big Six, six leaders of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), the leading political party in the British colony of the Gold Coast.

In 2017, President Akufo-Addo proposed legislation to designate August 4 as Founders Day, and the birthday of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, on September 21, originally observed as Founder’s Day, to be observed as Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day.

This year, the Founder’s Day falls on Sunday, September 21. By law, when a statutory holiday falls on a weekend, the President may declare the following Monday as the observed holiday.

Meanwhile, the Western Nzema Youth League (WNYL), a youth group, has commended the government for restoring the Founder’s Day celebration to September 21, the birthday of Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah. 

Dr Patrick Ekye Kwesie, Leader of the WNYL, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said reversing the day was a significant move that resonated with the historical and cultural fabric of Ghana. 

He said the decision was not merely a matter of changing a date but symbolised a profound recognition of Dr Nkrumah’s pivotal role in Ghana’s independence and his enduring legacy as a champion of Pan-Africanism. 

He said: “In the past years, Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana, had often been relegated to the status of a 'prophet without honour' in his own land. 

Dr Kwesie stated that by reinstating Dr Nkrumah’s birthday as a national holiday, the government had taken a bold step towards rectifying historical oversight and honouring a leader whose ideals continued to inspire generations. 

“Nkrumah’s birthday is not just a celebration of an individual, but a commemoration of the values of freedom, unity, and self-determination that he espoused. 

“It serves as a reminder of the struggles faced by the early leaders of Ghana and the sacrifices made for the nation’s sovereignty,” Dr Kwesie stated.