Ghana Must Honour All Founding Fathers, Not Just Ideological Favourites

IMANI Africa Honorary Vice President Bright Simons has called on Ghanaians and successive governments to move beyond the selective celebration of independence-era leaders and recognise the full breadth of contributions made to the country’s founding, arguing that the current approach has entrenched divisions that serve no national purpose.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, March 7, 2026, as the country marked its 69th Independence Day, Simons said Ghana had reached a point where it needed to honestly acknowledge differences between its founding leaders rather than continue imposing the ideological legacy of one figure on the entire national story.

“Ghana should appreciate all the founding fathers who helped us gain independence,” he said. “We have had a tendency of governments coming in and deciding that the ideology of one or two people is the ideology of the nation and calling those who may have had a different approach traitors, murderers, or dictators. That approach is counterproductive and does not benefit the country.”

Simons pointed to established democracies as models for how historical complexity can be handled without national fracture. He noted that both the United States and France formally recognise all their founding leaders, including those who held contradictory or even conflicting positions, without allowing those differences to delegitimise the broader national project.

“It is important to ensure historical balance and to celebrate diverse contributions that collectively shaped a nation’s independence, rather than fostering divisive narratives,” he said, adding: “We have reached a point that we accept the differences between the founding leaders, so as we move forward to build Ghana.”