JB Danquah didn’t make any impact as a politician – Historian

Ghanaian historian and private legal practitioner Anokye Frimpong has said history is being skewed to favour President Nana Akuifo-Addo’s late uncle, Joseph Boakye Danquah ahead of others.

There have been suggestions that the late Ghanaian scholar and politician be renamed after Ghana’s premier university, the University of Ghana, Legon.

President Nana Akufo-Addo who is a key proponent of the move believes the contributions of his late uncle should not go unnoticed.

Akufo-Addo recently sparked a controversy by saying he is convinced posterity will be kind to JB Danquah for his pioneering work to reject the British report that proposed a single university for the whole of West Africa in Nigeria.

He added that Danquah mobilised Ghanaians to have their own university, which led to the establishment of the University of Ghana, stressing that he could be renamed after the university.

However, historian Anokye Frimpong in an interview with Mugabe Maase on Inside Politics on TV XYZ said historical facts were being distorted about the achievements of JB Danquah to make him look more extraordinary than who he was.

He admitted that Danquah, who was one of the key men to struggle for independence for Ghana, was a smart academician but did not do much to earn such an honour apart from the several honours done to him in the country.

“He did well in academia; he was a great man but we should not exaggerate it. In terms of academic work, JB Danquah was a colossus but in terms of politics, I have heard that some people say he founded the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC). It is not true. It was Paa Grant, the richest man in Gold Coast at the time who established the UGCC,” he stated.

Anokye Frimpong also added that the political positions JB Danquah held were not elected ones but he was hand-picked.

“JB Danquah never won any election in this country,” he added.