Story by: Justice Appiah
The Socialist Movement of Ghana (SMG) has chastised the ruling New Patriotic Party over attempts to attack the country’s history.
According to the Socialist Movement of Ghana, the New Patriotic Party after capturing power in 2017 predictably moved to falsify the history of Ghana’s independence struggles and the First Republic adding that they renewed the false narrative that seeks to diminish and dilute Kwame Nkrumah’s role in the country’s liberation.
A press statement signed by the General Secretary of the Movement, Kwesi Pratt Jnr ahead of the commemoration of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s 115th Birthday on September 21, 2024, accused the ruling government of rather falsely elevating the role played by anti-people figures in the Independence struggle, pushing the British colonial myth of the so-called “Big Six” that won independence for Ghana.
It said this attack on history has taken many forms including changes to school textbooks, alteration of guidebooks at museums and historical sites, and even the crass redevelopment of the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum from a place of sober reflection to a gaudy entertainment centre.
The statement further stressed that the President of the country, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo after assumption of office spared no opportunity to lionize, particularly, the middling role of his great-uncle and tribal icon, Dr. J.B. Danquah, in national history.
It added, President Akufo-Addo falsely claimed that Dr. Danquah originated the notion that the Gold Coast should be renamed “Ghana” when the record rather shows that Dr. Danquah favoured the name “Akanland” reflecting his ethnic bias.
The statement further intimated that President Akufo-Addo also claimed that Danquah was the key driver in the campaign to establish the University of Ghana and that it would be fitting to rename the University after him but fortunately, there are historical records of the relevant debates, which show that Danquah’s role was modest at best.
The Socialist Movement of Ghana believes that the NPP’s most profound attack on Ghana’s history was on the Public Holidays (Amendment) Act of 2019 which seeks to achieve several things including trivializing 21st September as a personalised celebration of Nkrumah’s birthday and not his historical role as “Founder” of Ghana.
It indicated that designating August 4, 1947 founding of the UGCC as “Founders’ Day” was also one of the profound attacks on the country’s history.
The statement clarified that the founding of the UGCC was an important historical footnote in the nation’s long struggle against colonialism, but the UGCC did not play a decisive role in the struggle; stressing that Its historical significance is that it represents the only period that the colonial elite dominated indigenous politics in the ten years before the CPP won independence for us.
The Socialist Movement of Ghana is of the view that the country is currently facing a societal breakdown hence the need for all Ghanaians to start thinking of societal leadership.
It said the country is fully controlled by the same interests operating through the IMF, World Bank, and the International Aid agencies of its “Development Partners”. A situation that influences “Donors” to control all areas of policymaking, with the nation’s elected governments acting merely as their PR firms and enforcers.
It believes the country is no longer a sovereign nation since it has retrogressed to the situation of the Gold Coast in 1949.
The Socialist Movement of Ghana indicated that the only way forward today as a nation is to retrieve the fundamentals of Nkrumah’s socialism and update its practice.