Danquah deserves no credit for name ‘Ghana’ – Kobby Acheampong

Former Deputy Interior Minister, Kobby Acheampong, says Dr. Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah deserves no praises for the name ‘Ghana’ which replaced the Gold Coast after the British colony gained independence in 1957.

Political historian, Prof. Mike Ocquaye, at a lecture on Friday, to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) – a progeny of the United Party (UP) – of which Dr. Danquah was a founding father, said “Danquah conceived the idea of calling the independent Gold Coast, ‘Ghana’”.

According to him, “this was formally adopted in Saltpond. It became known to every school child then that our nation would soon become independent; that our leaders were fighting for this, and the name of the new nation would be Ghana”.

The former NPP presidential aspirant and ex-deputy speaker used Danquah’s role in the renaming of the Gold Coast, to buttress his academic arguments that Ghana’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, couldn’t have been the sole founder of modern Ghana.

“Ghana is known in our history. Danquah gave it the nationalistic interpretation – hence our name,” Prof. Ocquaye argued.

He said: “When Nkrumah said on the eve of Independence that our beloved country Ghana was free for ever, he was putting the icing on the cake. But there were other bakers of the cake. Can you forget them? No!”.

“Our independence was gained more with brain than with brawn. This must be acknowledged”.

Speaking as a discussant on Radio XYZ’s news analysis programme ‘The Analyst’ on Saturday August 24, 2013, Mr. Acheampong disagreed with Prof. Ocquaye’s assertion that Dr. Danquah deserved credit for the name ‘Ghana’.

“…The name Ghana is the not an original creation of Dr. Danquah. The name Ghana was the title that was given to the leaders of Ouagadougou – the old Gana Empire – Gana was their title, so it’s not an original creation. He could take credit if it was an original thing, but it’s not an original creation, so what is the fuss?” Mr. Acheampong said.