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Mahama in Founders Day row
In a Facebook post, the former President hailed Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s role in Ghana’s independence struggle.
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In his post, he repeatedly referred to Nkrumah as the “Founder” of modern Ghana although the day is now known as “Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day.”
He said: “On the 21st day of September, I join millions all over the world to remember Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah- the Founder of Ghana, a global icon and the BBC Listeners "Man of the Millennium".
“Osagyefo's emergence as the Founder of modern Ghana and an international symbol of freedom was not by accident. He was a Pan-Africanist, a philosopher, a writer, and a visionary who matched his words with actions. His towering personality is still recognized in Ghana and beyond.
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“It remains a dark irony of our history that, the very political tradition which conspired to truncate his unparalleled vision on 24th February 1966, is today seeking to revise Ghana's history.
“The song ‘Kwame Nkrumah never dies’ has proved true not in the sense of his immortality but in the fact that his name will continue to be written in letters of gold whenever the history of Ghana, Africa and the world is recounted.
“It is an indisputable fact that Nkrumah was the critical spark that put Ghana on a high velocity path to independence.
“Happy Founder's Day Fellow Ghanaians.”
Founder's Day was first declared under the Mills administration, a government Mr Mahama served as Vice President.
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In the comments, some Ghanaians disagreed with him when he referred to Nkrumah as the Founder of Ghana.
Kwadwo Anane Oppong Adom wrote: "We must write our history well. Nkrumah can't be the founder of Ghana. Who initiated the whole idea of independence?"
"He is not the founder of Ghana but the first president of Ghana. Even your party is not founded by a single person how much more a whole country Ghana," Nouridine Yusif Trawude said.
And Ike Godson said: "The independent struggle started way back before Nkrumah was invited to contribute his quota to the struggle. The NDC has no legacy to champion as far as the independent of Ghana is concerned. They only hide behind the achievement of Nkrumah to pride themselves as though they are Nkrumah just to win political favour. We all know the contribution of Osagyefo and no one is attempting to downplay his achievement. However, the likes of Danquah and Akuffo also contributed immensely towards the attainment of independence and must, therefore, be recognised as key players and not some of the "and many more figures." In the first place, it was even not necessary to have introduced Nkrumah 21 September as a statutory holiday after it was abolished in 1966 if not for political despondency.
You had your time, did what you could and even told us that whatever we said fell on deaf ears. The old man is in and we are closely monitoring his progress."
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