February 4th, 2015 marked exactly 50 years since the death of the Doyen of Ghana Politics: Dr. Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah.

Dr. Danquah lived as a Scholar, Lawyer, Politician, Pan-Africanist, Statesman, and died as a Political Prisoner. Ironically, Dr. Danquah lived a life seeking independence for Ghana and died as a result of a being denied his personal freedoms.

Fifty years on since his death, Dr. Danquah’s vision of his beloved Ghana developing in freedom lives on. It is heart-warming that the political tradition in Ghana that partly bears his name did his vision proud in the brief periods that the tradition has been in government. These periods were 1969-1972 and 2001-2009 under Prime Minister Kofi Abrefah Busia and President John Agyekum Kufuor respectively.

Dr. Danquah and his peers of that era (Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Mr. William Ofori-Atta, Mr. Edward Akufo-Addo, Mr. Obetsebi Lamptey, Mr. Ako Adjei, Mr. S. B. Dombo, Dr. Kofi Abrefah Busia, Mr. S. G. Anto, etc) would be turning in their graves today to find the degenerative state of the nation they bequeathed to succeeding generations. A nation where we have to buy energy/power from a country that we once supplied energy/power to not for the purpose of supplying uninterrupted energy to our hospitals and schools but so we can watch a football game!

The greatest and most deserving honour to the memory of Dr. Danquah would be to see the country for which he laboured, toiled and died once again firmly on the path of strong economic growth, prestige among nations, and a confident and optimistic citizenry. And certainly not the decadence, corruption, nepotism and the Presidential confession of a need for “policy credibility” that has bedeviled Ghana six years now and counting.

If NPP Canada has anything to do with it, the wait will not be long. NPP Canada applauds your immense contribution to Ghana’s independence and for your vision for Ghana. Ghana will work again so that your sacrifices would not have been in vain. Ghana can, and will work again.

NPP Canada Communications Team