JB Danquah never thought of an independent Ghana, he only thought of liberating his province – Historian

A lawyer and historian, Yaw Anokye Frimpong, has insisted that the first President of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, is the country's founder, contrary to assertions by some factions in the public.

According to him, Ghana does not have founders but a founder because aside from Dr. Nkrumah, all the other persons who are part of the Big Six only wanted

Read full article.independence for the territories they were from and not the whole country.

In an Onua TV interview monitored by GhanaWeb, the historian added that J. B. Danquah and the other United Gold Coast Convention members only wanted independence for the Gold Coast, which comprised the Eastern and Western Provinces (current day Western, Central Region and Greater Accra and Eastern Regions).

"Nkrumah was the only person who had thought of having an independent Ghana. The others only thought of having independence for their territories. He (Nkrumah) came to meet the United Gold Coast Convention, which had the idea of liberating the Eastern and Western Province (the Western, Central Region and Greater Accra and Eastern Regions). These areas were referred to as the Gold Cost.

"If you go to the Ashanti Region, there was the National Liberation Movement; if you go to the North, there was Northern Peoples Party. All these groups never thought of liberating Ghana or Africa; they only thought of liberating their territories.

"What most Ghanaians don't know is that Danquah, who was added to the big six, never thought of Ashantis being part of Ghana. He wanted a united Gold Coast, and the Gold Coast then constituted communities along the coast. He never wanted Ashantis to be part of Ghana.

"The fact is that Danquah is from Akim Abuakwa palace who were at loggerheads with the Ashantis and so he will not allow Ashantis which was a big empire to be added to Ghana for them to rule them (the people of the Gold Coast," he said in Twi.

He added that the then Ashantehene, Agyemang Prempeh II, was so happy with Nkrumah's ability to bring all the territories together to fight for independence, and that was why he conferred on him the title, Osagyefo.

Anokye Frimpong further stated that there were more prominent people, including Paa Grant and RS Blay, who deserve to be added to the big six than J. B. Danquah.

The big six "is something a particular family has come up with to help themselves; we have only one founder", he reiterated.

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