You Cannot Erase Our Fathers From Our Money —Musah Blasts Removal Of J.B. And Big Six From Banknotes

Ghana’s money has changed. But for many Ghanaians, it is not just the colour that has changed. It is the history that has been removed.

Iddrisu Musah Superior, former MCE for Tamale, has fired a strong warning. He says deleting J.B. Danquah and others from Ghana’s banknotes is politically motivated. And he is advising the next NPP government to redesign the notes featuring the Big Six again.

On Thursday, November 12, President John Mahama and Bank of Ghana Governor Dr Johnson Asiama unveiled the new Heritage Series banknotes at Bank Square in Accra. The new notes are expected to enter circulation on December 1.

In the new design, the collective portrait of the Big Six, which has sat on our notes for nearly two decades, is gone. Of the Big Six, only Dr Kwame Nkrumah survives, and he now stands alone on the highest denomination.

J.B. Danquah is gone. Edward Akufo-Addo is gone. William Ofori Atta is gone. Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey is gone. Ebenezer Ako-Adjei is gone.

Five fathers of Ghana’s independence, wiped off our money in one day.

Musah Superior says this is not an accident. This is not just a design choice. This is politics.

He argues that the Big Six belong to all of Ghana, not to one party. They are Dr Kwame Nkrumah, J.B. Danquah, Ebenezer Ako-Adjei, Edward Akufo-Addo, Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey and William Ofori Atta. Together, they fought for the freedom we enjoy today.

To remove five of them and keep only one, he says, is to rewrite history to suit the taste of the government of the day. It is to tell our children that only one man fought for independence, when the truth is that six men stood together.

Musah Superior reminds us that currency is not just paper we use to buy bread. Currency is a moving history book. A child who has never opened a history book will still see the faces on the money in his mother’s hand. He will ask, who are these men? And the mother will tell him.

But what will we tell our children now? That five of the Big Six no longer matter?

That is why he says national history should not be altered to suit the political preferences of successive governments.

Musah Superior is not just complaining. He is giving advice.

He says he would strongly advise the next NPP government to redesign the notes featuring the Big Six again. Bring back J.B. Danquah. Bring back the full team. Restore our heritage.

To him, this is not about NPP or NDC. It is about protecting Ghana’s story for the next generation.

Supporters of the government say nobody is owed a permanent place on currency. They say the new design celebrates many heroes, not just six.

But Musah Superior says you can add new heroes without deleting old ones. You do not need to erase our fathers to honour our mothers.

The debate is on. And Ghana is watching its money, and its history, change before its eyes.

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