PRESS STATEMENT FROM NPP-USA
Throughout the world, governments are elected to institute policies geared towards addressing issues facing the people who elected them. In Ghana today, the current out-of-control NDC government led by Professor John Evans Atta Mills is doing the exact opposite. For 15 months now, this deceiving NDC government cannot point to a single substantive policy initiative that it has pursued even though candidate Mills ran on a campaign for “Better Ghana.” Rather, this government has kept itself busy undoing everything that the previous NPP government did to improve our dear nation. This obsession to reverse the progress chalked under the previous administration has reached insane proportions and Ghanaians must vigorously resist this regression.
Last week the “Bank of Ghana unveiled a dummy of the new GH¢2 note with the portrait of the Big Six, which appears on the other notes visibly missing. Rather the note bears a bold portrait of Ghana's first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, and a watermark of Tetteh Quarshie, the man who brought cocoa to Ghana. It confirms earlier media reports suggesting portraits of other members of the Big Six will be removed from the new cedi denomination.
The Big Six were the six leaders of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), the leading political party in the British colony of the Gold Coast. They were detained by the colonial authorities in 1948 following disturbances leading to the killing of three World War II veterans. They were Dr. Ebenezer Ako-Adjei, Edward Akufo-Addo, Dr Joseph Boakye Danquah, Mr Emmanuel Odarkwei Obetsebi-Lamptey and William Ofori Atta with Dr Nkrumah as the sixth person.” (Joyonline.com)
Our independence was won through a team effort. Although Dr. Kwame Nkrumah would eventually become our first Prime Minister and subsequently President, the idea of replacing the portrait of the entire team known as “The Big Six” with that of only Kwame Nkrumah is a slap in the face of anyone who has worked in a team effort on behalf of our nation. Not lost on the minds of Ghanaians is the fact that the other five patriots, who are being denied their due, happen to be rooted in the political tradition that has evolved into today’s New Patriotic Party (NPP). Essentially, because the out-of-control NDC does not possess a noble history or tradition as does the NPP, it has become a shameful obsession to kill that rich NPP tradition. This simply cannot happen.
The NPP’s rich tradition rooted in a belief that hard work must be rewarded, and not punished, that Ghanaians are entitled to freedoms unfettered by their government, that development must fester via a constructive public/private partnership shall never be scuttled. Ghanaians are very hardworking people and are determined to safeguard the rewards they accrue through their hard work on their farms, their businesses, their fishing boats, and their education. A government that believes in socialist ideals such as seizing private properties without due process should not be allowed to also seize the credit due to those through whose hard work and sacrifice we gained our collective freedoms and because of whom we can now govern ourselves.
Ghana is proud to honor those who have served us well. In addition to the Big Six, many others have played significant roles in making Ghana the proud country with global acclaim. One of those patriots is Tetteh Quarshie. It is long overdue to honor the man whose deep patriotism led to cocoa production that was substantial enough to catapult Ghana into the number one position in global Cocoa output at one time. Because Tetteh Quarshie was patriotic and ingenious, we have a commercial crop that has sustained our country for decades, and continues to earn foreign revenue for us. NPP-USA, thus supports the honoring of Tetteh Quarshie by placing his portrait on our currency. Our nation stands to gain tremendously if those who go out into the world and bring home commercial instruments or products for the benefit of all are honored and not punished. In light of what has transpired in the last 15 months, it is clear which political party rewards ingenuity and which one punishes it.
Political bickering is expected even in developed democracies. Ghana must, therefore not be expected to nurture her democratic system of governance seamlessly. Finger-pointing is normal, and so is propaganda. But at some point sanity must prevail when it comes to respecting those who laid their lives on the line for all of us. This out-of-control NDC government has crossed the line with its intention to phase out the portrait of the Big Six and replace it with that of only one of them. NPP-USA calls on all Ghanaians to reject the insane penchant of this government to undo every positive thing that the previous administration did.
