A country worth its salt
honours its forebears in recognition of their contribution towards the making
of the nation of which they are citizens.
Before taking their destinies
in their own hands they belonged to an old order, British colonial authorities.
The feat of the lowering of a colonial
flag to be replaced by a newly independent one can neither be undertaken by one
person nor be achieved in a day.
Today through a welcome
Executive Instrument passed by President Akufo-Addo, we are celebrating the
names of all those who made this status change possible. In some cases such as
this, an omnibus approach is not only welcome but it also addresses many
shortcomings of historical significance.
As we have stated before, it
was not necessary engaging in a debate as to who founded the sovereign state,
Ghana, to the extent of descending into sometimes polemics which only served to
aggravate our polarized country.
The Executive Instrument was a
welcome development as it put paid to the rancorous and divisive non-issue
‘Ghana was founded by one person and beyond that figure.’
The struggle for independence
could not have come about without a certain historical occurrence setting the
tone for it to happen eventually.
Those who seek to appoint an
individual as one who made it all happen are distorting the facts of history
and would not be pardoned by posterity.
The first step towards
independence was taken when the Aborigines Rights’ Protection Society (ARPS) was
formed in Cape Coast. The 4th August 1897 date of its formation is a
fact of history and indisputable; as it stands, it constitutes an important
chapter in the chronicle of our journey to Ghana.
Farmers, chiefs, educated Gold
Coasters and merchants the details of some of them long buried with their
remains were part of the history of the beginning of the journey which was the
ARPS. It is their memories and those of the known, the Pa Grants and the latter
ones who built upon their toils until the final touchdown of 6th
March 1957 that we are honouring today.
As it is with facts of history,
there are bound to be dissenters but their stance notwithstanding we like
others who would continue to present the story as we know it so that in future
when other occupants of this country take their turn to review the arguments
they would be better informed.
The history of the holocaust
continues to be one of the most divisive chapters of world history as the ‘it happened’
and ‘it did not happen’ schools maintain their positions in the trenches of
academics.
The best we can do to their
memories is to set the records straight and share the honour among them and not
selfishly restrict it to one personality.
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