Ghana will never forget J.B. Danquah – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Akufo Addo says the Ghanaian people will never forget Joseph Boakye Danquah for his contributions and influence on the country’s history.

Speaking at a ceremony to commission the newly built J.B. Danquah Memorial Centre at Kyebi in the Eastern Region, President Akufo Addo said his late maternal uncle’s memory will continue to live on as long as the country Ghana lives.

“It will not be far fetched for me to say that Danquah’s memory will continue to live at least for as long as this nation of Ghana lives,” the President said.

The Many Parts of Danquah

J.B. Danquah, according to President Akufo Addo, was an educationists, freedom fighter, historian, journalist, jurist, philosopher, playwright, poet, scholar, statesman and theologian.

“He gave our country its name Ghana after years of research into the history and tradition of the people of Gold Coast. He fought first for the union of the geographical entity we now call Ghana and then he fought for Ghana to be established as a free independent state. Finally he fought to defend the liberties of the Ghanaian people by insisting on a democratic system of government under the rule of law as the best form of government for independent Ghana,” the President stated.

Institutional Influence

President Akufo Addo observed that, “Even though Danquah never exercised executive authority of the State, his influence in Ghanaian history has been thoroughly astonishing and can be felt in virtually all areas of our national life, constitutional, cultural, economic, educational, intellectual, moral, political, and religious.” Several key institutions in the country President Akufo Addo said, “owe their inception directly to his work; the Cocoa Marketing Board; the University of Ghana, Legon; the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi; the Bank of Ghana; Ghana Commercial Bank, and the Accra Sports Stadium amongst others”.

The Memorial Centre

The President said the long awaited J.B. Danquah Memorial Centre, “will provide not only children but also adults, a better insight into Dr. Danquah’s achievements”.

“This centre which comprises a fully furnished ICT centre and a library, yet to be stocked with a wide array of books and scholarly articles written by and about him, will show that there are still a lot to learn about him,” the President stressed.

He urged the youth of Kyebi to take advantage of the facilities and learn all they can about the illustrious son on Okyeman and Ghana and to follow after his exemplary life and love for the homeland.

China/ Huawei Contribution

President Akufo Addo registered his thanks to the Chinese government for their continuing solidarity to his government and the nation as a whole for supporting the building of the Centre and to the Chinese company, Huawei, for financing the exceptional facility in memory and honour of Joseph Boakye Danquah.

Nana Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah (December, 1895 – 4 February, 1965), the man popularly known as the “doyen of Gold Coast politics,” was a Ghanaian freedom fighter, Pan-Africanist, statesman, prolific scholar, historian, poet, journalist and a member of Ghana’s famous “Big Six,” who were the architects of Ghana’s independence. “The Big Six” were Dr. Danquah, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Messrs Edward Akuffo Addo, Emmanuel Odarkwei Obetsebi–Lamptey, William Ofori Atta and Ako Adjei.

Dr Danquah was a protege of the celebrated and iconic God-father of West African nationalism and the pioneer Pan-Africanist, Joseph Ephraim Casely-Hayford. In his own words, “It was at the feet of the eminent nationalist, Ekra Agyeman, otherwise known as Joseph Ephraim Casely Hayford, that I was brought up, like St Paul under Gamaliel, and it was from Ekra Agyeman that I learned selfless politics as the sacrificing of one’s self totally for one’s own country. I sat under his feet from 1915 to his own death in 1930.” J.B. as he is affectionately known by his supporters and contemporaries played a significant role in pre- and post-colonial Ghana as the founder of United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), the pro-independence and first political party in Ghana.

Dr Danquah was the first continental African to receive a doctorate in law from the University of London and also became the first president of the West African Students’ Union which was the leading African organization involved in the struggle against imperialism in Africa. Danquah became a member of the Legislative Council in 1946 and actively pursued independence legislation for his country. The Watson Commission of Inquiry into the 1948 Accra riots described Dr. J.B. Danquah as the “doyen of Gold Coast politicians; the man at the back of nearly all political movements.”