Scurrilous anti-Nkrumah propaganda to indoctrinate children? – Kwakye Ofosu questions idea behind History textbook

Former Deputy Minister for Communication, Felix Kwakye Ofosu has questioned the idea behind portions contained in a History textbook meant for primary six students approved by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.

The Golden History of Ghana for Basic Six Primary Students is written by Mercy Gyaa-Adiyiah and is based on the new NaCCA syllabus for schools.

As captured in a post by the former Deputy Minister sighted by GhanaWeb, page 36 of the textbook seeking to give a historical background into the establishment of the Convention Peoples Party in the Gold Coast, headed by Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah and the fight for Ghana’s independence listed several incidents that paints the Nkrumah regime as dictatorial and abusive of human rights.

“The leader of the party, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, was a dictator whose command must be obeyed without complaining,” point 3 on page 36 of the textbook reads.

Point 5 also reads “the CPP was not a democratic party because it turned Ghana into a one-party state” whiles point six (6) also reads “the CCP abused the rights of many Ghanaians through the Preventive Detention Act it brought about in 1958.”

With difficulty in understanding why a textbook meant to teach the history of the country to school children about one of the most prominent figures rather casts him in a bad light, Mr Kwakye Ofosu described the contents of the book as scurrilous and questioned why such a book will be approved for schools.

“So who approved this piece of scurrilous anti-Nkrumah propaganda to indoctrinate Ghanaian children?” he wrote.

The Akufo-Addo led government since its early days has been accused of a deliberate attempt to rewrite the history of the country in favour of the Danquah Busia Dombo tradition which founded the current New Patriotic Party.

Among other things, the Akufo-Addo led NPP government has been accused of an attempt to reduce the achievements of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah including his role as founder of Ghana and the leader of the fight for independence.

One of the arguments of the current government has always been that the fight for Ghana’s independence was led by several individuals such as the Big Six which includes the late uncle of the President, Dr J. B. Danquah hence the need to give each contributor equal recognition.