Ghanaian leaders turning history upside down for ‘shameful’, ‘extremely foolish’ political ambitions – Kwesi Pratt

Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt, has chastised leadership of the country over what he describes as ‘shameful’ and ‘foolish exercise’ of their political ambitions to the detriment of the populace.

Speaking at the 60th anniversary of the all African Peoples Conference (AAPC) in Accra, Mr. Pratt bemoaned the absence of ‘true history’ in Ghana owing to

Read full articlethe deliberate attempt by politicians to filter existing information to suit their selfish pursuit, a situation he says accounts for a majority of the country’s woes.

“What do you expect from a country which decides that history shouldn’t be taught in our schools. What do you expect from a country in which leaders are busily turning history upside down for a shameful, sometimes the extremely foolish exercise of just winning elections or making our grandfathers and great uncles look better than others?”, he quizzed.

He emphasized the importance of imbibing true African history in the minds of generations to break patterns of manipulation from other races or countries.

The move, according to him will also go a long way to strengthen the continent as it will rub off other African countries and propagate a strong message of democracy and social justice to the rest of the world.

“We have the duty of telling the true African story; not just as storytellers but as people who intend to inspire ourselves and others to break those chains of domination and exploitation. We need to tell the African story, as part of efforts to build a new Africa. No child will go to bed on an empty stomach. Our commitment is to build that new Africa where Africans have confidence in themselves and will not feel inferior to any other race”, he said.

Adding, “Our tax is to build that new Africa on the true foundation of democracy and social justice. Not the kind that is promoted by the World Bank and the IMF which is leading to the impoverishment of our people, not that kind of democracy where our people remain drawers of water. We can do it if we apply ourselves to it and we will do it and Africa will be free no matter what they think. Africa for the Africans and victory is for the African people”.



The Institute of African Studies of the University of Ghana commemorated the 60th anniversary of the all African Peoples Conference (AAPC) in Accra, with a call on the youth to come together and collectively address issues and problems the continent is facing while outlining a road map for Africa for the next 60 years.

The event, which was organised in collaboration with the Ghana Trades Union Congress, the socialist forum of Ghana and the Lincoln University in USA sought to encourage participants to engage in open and dispassionate reflection of the African condition in the contemporary world, against the backdrop of the 1958 conference.