Emulate life, works of Danquah : Prof. S.K.B Asante
A renowned historian, Professor S.K.B. Asante, has urged Ghanaian politicians, especially the new crop, to let the life and works of Dr J.B. Danquah, a doyen of Ghanaian politics, inspire them to greater heights.
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According to Professor Asante, Dr Danquah, affectionately known by his peers as JB, rendered selflesss service to the nation as he worked for national development.
At the memorial lectures to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the demise of Dr Danquah, he said Ghanaian intellectuals and astute politicians worked not only for national progress but also for the well-being of everyone.
In the view of Prof. Asante, the anti-social activities that militated against the development of the nation, which Dr Danquah foresaw at that time and warned his peers against, were now being practised openly.
Anti-social activities such as corruption, bribery and thievery, which Dr Danquah spoke against, he said, now posed a danger to the country’s fledgeling democracy.
“These vices are permeating the very fabric of the Ghanaian society and the social respect and integrity that political office holders inspired have been relegated to the background,’’ he stated.
“If Dr J.B. Danquah had the chance of living in today’s Ghana,” Professor Asante said, he would have said, ‘’I told you so’’.
Mr C.K. Tedem, Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Council of Elders, who spoke on the connection between Northern People’s Party and the NPP, stated that the connection started in 1954 when the Northern People’s Party was formed to ensure unity in the fight against the Convention People’s Party (CPP) rule of tyranny and dictatorship.
Mr Tedem said Dr Danquah categorically told the executive of the Northern People’s Party, including Alhaji Mumuni Bawumia, who was then Vice-Chairman of the party, to go and tell the people of the north and their chiefs that, “People who shy away from politics are condemned to be ruled by tyrants till doomsday.’’
He said it came as a surprise to the CPP that the Northern People’s Party won 15 seats in the 1954 legislative assembly and S.K. Dombo was elected as the opposition leader in the legislature.
Mr Tedem said politicians, especially Members of Parliament (MP), had a lot to learn from Danquah’s works and how he was able to work with legislators such as Mr M.A. Apaloo to set the agenda in those days even when he was out of the legislature .
He cited the instance where even when he was out of the legislature, Dr Danquah advised the opposition to table a motion to thank the Queen of England for the British Government’s announcement to grant independence to the Gold Coast.
Mr Tedem said that move by J.B. Danquah buttressed the point that he was not against the movement for ‘independence now’.
The Okyenhene, Nana Amotia Ofori Payin, said Dr Danquah was killed due to political envy and hatred and also for his achievements in the political, social and economic spheres.
The Okyenhene also said that the social canker of people envying the well-to-do in the society and engaging in character assassination had to be discouraged.