President John Dramani Mahama has stated that though the Independence Day is a celebration and an honour of the leadership of Ghana’s founder Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, “the liberation of an entire nation or continent cannot rest solely on a single individual”.
“Even after a goal has been established by the designated leader or founder, it takes dedication, focus and the work of millions before movement and progress can take place,” President Mahama said in his independence speech on Wednesday.
The statement has come following an ongoing debate as to whether the country was solely founded by the First President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah or collectively by a group of scholars and politicians popularly known as the “Big Six”.
According to the President; “Kwame Nkrumah’s leadership was both committed and visionary, and one that extended beyond words into action. And even today as we celebrate, significant part of our national infrastructure that we still enjoy is as a result of the founder of our Nation, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah”.
President Mahama said the nation must “remember all those millions, all of our mothers and fathers who organized and sacrificed; the millions of brave people who fought and died to give this country and indeed all of Africa freedom from colonial domination and repression”.
“Some of them have been recognized, their names and faces are on our national monuments and on our currency. A greater number of them however would most likely remain faceless and nameless”.
“In order to make this country free, it took not only the desire for freedom. It also took the willingness from each and every citizen to play their part, and we thank God for the lives of each and every individual who took a stand and made a difference in this country. We praise the Ex-servicemen, we praise the factory workers, the civil servants, the artisans, the market women, the farmers and the students, who dared to belief that the better world was not only possible but that it was within reach and it was worth fighting for,” he said.
