Nkrumah was in a class of his own; NPP can’t run him down – Amaliba

The New Patriotic Party has been told to shun plans to raise the status of someone from the Danquah-Busia tradition to equalise the feat chalked by Ghana’s first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

A member of the National Democratic Congress legal team, Abraham Amaliba was convinced any attempt by the NPP to equalise Kwame Nkrumah in whatever way “will not work”.

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was recognised as the founder of Ghana with his birth date, September 21, being set aside by the NDC-led government under the late Prof. Atta Mills as Founder’s Day much to the chagrin of the NPP.

It is not clear if the NPP will mark the Founder’s Day next month, an event it opposed since its inception on the grounds that Nkrumah was not the sole founder of the republic.

Historian, Professor Michael Aaron Ocquaye who is the Speaker of Parliament and a leading member of the NPP challenged the position of Dr Kwame Nkrumah as the Founder of modern Ghana at a public lecture on Friday titled: “4th August; Ghana’s Day of Destiny”.

The academic said there was the need for the political history of the country to be told in its entirety.

The NPP therefore used the day, which marks the formation of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) to prosecute the agenda.

But contributing to discussion on the lecture on TV3’s New Day, Saturday, Abraham Amaliba pointed out that Nkrumah would be in a “class of his own” irrespective of how the history is retold.

“The NPP can keep fueling the debate but will never win,” he emphasised. Though he recognised that Dr. Nkrumah was not the only founder of Ghana’s independence, “he stands tall above others…let’s give the man his due, and stop running him down”.

Kwame Jantuah, a leading member of the Convention People’s Party, a party founded by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, warned the NPP against attacking the man whom he said led Ghana’s independence struggle.

“Don’t bastardize history,” he cautioned the NPP. Questioning why the NPP “want to change history for”, he asked the government to concentrate on challenges facing the country instead of trying to rewrite Ghana’s history.

Nonetheless, the NPP Member of Parliament for Akuapem South, O.B Amoah defended his party’s decision to recognise the day the UGCC was formed.

He explained that the action of the party is not aimed at changing the Ghana’s independence day from 7th March to 4th August, but unequivocally stated that Nkrumah cannot be celebrated as Ghana’s founder.