Nana Addo wants family members recognised with Founder’s Day – NDC MP

Member of Parliament for Zabzugu, Alhassan Umar has criticised the decision by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to propose August 4 as the new Founders’ Day and substitute Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Founder’s Day celebration with a memorial day.

He said the President can only seek parliamentary approval if he wants his family members to be remembered.

A statement issued by the Presidency tates that “4th August, is, thus, obviously the most appropriate day to signify our recognition and appreciation of the collective efforts of our forebears towards the founding of a free, independent Ghana.
“It is equally clear that the first leader of independent Ghana, and the nation’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, played an outstanding role in helping to bring to fruition the works of the earlier generations, and leading us to the promised land of national freedom and independence. It is entirely appropriate that we commemorate him for that role, by designating his birthday as the permanent day of his remembrance”.
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Member of Parliament for Zabzugu, Alhassan Umar

The MP speaking on the development said Nana Addo wants his family members to be remembered in the history of Ghana.

Mr Umar said: “if the President wants his family members to be remembered, then we have to remove the ‘s’ [from Founder’s Day] to be able to include the rest [including JB Danquah].”
He said it’s a deliberate ploy to undermine the legacy of Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
He stated that “you can’t water down what Kwame Nkrumah did and if so, what the President may do is to suggest to Parliament to remove the apostrophe ‘s’ on the Founder’s Day to make it Founders’ Day and leave it so that it will be subservient to the day.

“The President wants to downplay the role Nkrumah played and what the President wants to do is reinvention of the wheel.”
However, Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Ocquaye has described as ‘propagandist’ the annual celebration of Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s birthday as Founder’s Day.
He said the history of the country has been distorted in order to favour a particular group of people and to spite the NPP people who were part of the founders.