Members of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) have been directed to disregard the observation of August 4 as Founders’ Day.
The party leadership believes that the August 4 celebration is an attempt to rewrite the country’s history as it seeks to undermine the role of Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, in the fight for Ghana’s independence.
The government in March 2019 amended the Public Holiday Act which moved the Founder’s Day celebration, from September 21 to August 4 and the name changed to Founders’ Day.
But the Communications Director for the CPP, Kadr Abdul Rauf says the party will not mark the day.
“It is not an exercise the CPP will want to take delight in. For as long as the law exists, we are not going to recognize it and we will still take the opportunity to remind people that it is an imposition on us. We don’t find any merit in it.”
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) had earlier reiterated its intention to cancel the observation of August 4 as Founders’ Day.
According to the NDC, the new holiday is not a true representation of historical facts and is a deliberate attempt by the Akufo-Addo government to rewrite the country’s history and give prominence to his uncle JB Danquah who was a leader in the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), the political party from which Kwame Nkrumah broke away to form the CPP which won him the election that saw him become Leader of Government Business and Prime Minister and eventually the first president of Ghana.
But President Akufo-Addo in commemoration of the Founders’ Day celebration emphasized the need for Ghanaians to recognize the collective efforts played by key stakeholders towards the liberation of Ghana.
The President in a Facebook post to mark the Founders’ day called on Ghanaians to also rise above partisan considerations and set the records straight.
