Former Information Minister Fritz Baffour has criticised political parties in the country who make attempts to change Ghana’s history to suit their motives.
The former Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma South said he is appalled at the “insidious attempts” to revise and skew “our history to suit their ideological inclinations without recourse to credible documentation and the glaring facts at hand”.
He blamed “respected historians”, many of whom he said “were aligned to existing political dispensations at the time, and, therefore, were not neutral in their published works”, for the recurrent altering of the country’s history.
Mr Baffour wrote on Facebook on Friday, August 4 that he was glad that a new breed of academics and researchers who are not tainted politically are “working diligently to give us a more credible picture of our past and present”.
He added: “I am also happy a lot of firsthand accounts of political and public stewardship are being written by the players themselves, myself included, God bless Ghana!”
Mr Baffour’s comments come in the wake of the governing New Patriotic Party’s move to celebrate the formation of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) as they mark the 70-year anniversary of the founding of the party on August 4.
The New Patriotic Party, an offshoot of the UGCC believes the formation of the first political movement was a precursor to Ghana’s independence, hence worth celebrating.
As part of activities earmarked for the commemoration, there would be an anniversary lecture to be delivered by the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike A. Oquaye on the topic, “4th August, Ghana’s Day of Destiny” at the National Theatre in Accra.
The lecture will be preceded by a memorial and thanksgiving service in honour of the founders of the UGCC at Saltpond in the Central Region, a town that hosted the Headquarters of the UGCC.
The NPP on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the UGCC has also called on Ghanaians to, at all times, exude high spirit of patriotism and nationalism, hard work and dedication, adherence to rule of law and democratic principles, freedom and liberty, commitment to duty and unwavering love for country, which according to them were the ideals of the UGCC.