Former President John Mahama has said Dr. Kwame Nkrumah deserves to be celebrated as the country marks 62 years of independence from British rule.

“Our country’s Founder, Dr Kwame Nkrumah deserves on this day to be celebrated not denigrated for his tireless leadership that brought us independence 62 years ago,” Mr Mahama said.

In a message posted on his Facebook page to mark the Independence Day celebrations, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer said also said, “Let us continue to thank God for how far he has brought us as a country. We are not where we should be, but we should be thankful for the many blessings that God has brought our way.”

Background

The Danquah-Dombo-Busia tradition, which birthed the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) believes Dr Nkrumah did not fight for independence alone and, therefore, cannot be credited as the sole founder of Ghana.

Parliament has passed the Public Holidays Amendment Bill 2018 into law making January 7 and August 4 public holidays.

These days will be celebrated as Constitution and Founders days respectively, scrapping the holidays on July 1 which was celebrated as Republic Day and May 25, celebrated as AU Day.

Under the same amendment, September 21, which is celebrated as the Founder’s Day holiday will now become the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day and will be observed with a holiday.

The NDC is strongly against the move, arguing that Nana Akufo-Addo is seeking to re-write the history of Ghana and glorify his late family members such as J.B. Danquah and Ofori-Atta.