Historian Kwaku Darko Ankrah has criticised President Akufo-Addo for selecting August 4 as Founders’ Day. 

In 2019, Parliament established August 4 as Founders’ Day to honour the collective efforts of those who contributed to Ghana’s independence struggle, while designating September 21 as Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day. 

This decision sparked protests from individuals and groups who believed in Nkrumah’s singular role in the country’s founding.

In his 2024 Founders’ Day address on Saturday, August 3, President Akufo-Addo firmly rejected the notion that Ghana was founded by a single individual, disagreeing with claims that Kwame Nkrumah single-handedly founded Ghana. 

The President emphasised the collective efforts of various individuals in the country's independence movement.

However, Kwaku Darko Ankrah, in an interview on Channel One TV on Wednesday, August 7, described the President’s decision as “totally wrong.” 

He emphasised that August 4 marks the formation of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) and does not represent the entirety of Ghana’s founding efforts. 

Mr Ankrah argued that several individuals laid the foundation by playing key roles in Ghana’s independence before the emergence of the Big Six.

Mr Ankrah stated that the President’s choice of August 4, truncates the contributions of these earlier figures. 

He believes that recognising this date as Founders’ Day overlooks the significant efforts made by many who were instrumental in the fight for independence.

“The President was totally wrong when he selected August 4, you state August 4, it means that you are truncating the work others have done….the significance of August 4, is the formation of UGCC, it’s a political party. Never, how can you use a political party’s formation as the foundation of Gold Coast?

“Then we should go back to about March 8, 1897, as the formation of Gold Coast, because that is where the Aborigines’ Rights Protection Society (ARPS) was founded to save the lands of this country. For me, I don’t understand the August 4," he insisted.