‘J.B Danquah has never been a leader of any party, nor won any elections’ – Historian clarifies

Popular Ghanaian historian and private legal practitioner, Anokye Frimpong has opined that Ghana’s history is being skewed to favour and exaggerate the political impacts and relevance of the late Joseph Boakye Danquah, popularly known as J.B Danquah.

According to him, J.B Danquah, the uncle of President Nana Akufo-Addo has never won any election nor has he led any political party in Ghana, however, history is manipulated to make him an exemplary politician. He cited that most modern historical records credit J.B Danquah as the founder and leader of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) party when he was only a second chairman of the party.

“A lot of people lie about history to elevate J.B Danquah. A lot of people lie that he was the founder of the UGCC which is not true. The UGCC was founded by the then richest man on the Gold Coast as at 1947, a Nzema man, called Paa Grant, 1st Vice Mr. Justice R.S Blay, and 2nd Vice was J.B Danquah. He was never the leader of the UGCC, nor of any political party,” he explained in an interview with Mugabe Maase.

He added, “He contested the 1951 elections and stood for the Abuakwa seat and lost to his cousin, Aaron Amoako-Atta. He has never won any elections in the country. The only records he has were positions that were handpicked by the colonial masters.”

However, Anokye Frimpong acknowledged the relevance of J.B Danquah in academia. According to him, J.B Danquah formalized and established the Akan concept of God (Onyame).

EAN/BB