We forgive Kwame Nkrumah for JB Danquah’s death – Akufo-Addo
The Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo, has stated that members of the Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition forgive Dr Kwame Nkrumah for what he said was the cruel manner in which Ghanaian statesman, JB Danquah, died at the Nsawam Maximum Security Prison in 1965.
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JB Danquah died after 13 months in detention without trial under President Kwame Nkrumah’s preventive detention act.
Speaking Wednesday at an event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of JB Danquah’s death, Akufo-Addo said it was time to “forego all feelings of bitterness and to say unreservedly to Kwame Nkrumah, his family and his supporters that we forgive what took place on that day.”
He called for reconciliation between all parties “for the sake of Mother Ghana, her progress and prosperity.”
He went on to describe JB Danquah, as a “hardened believer in the rule of law” and “one of the most extraordinary persons that the Ghanaian people have ever given to the world”.
Akufo-Addo said Danquah fought unsuccessfully to make Ghana a nation of freedom, adding: “Today’s Ghana is closer to what Danquah and the others envisaged.
The former Foreign Affairs Minister said the multi-party democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, rule of law and due process that Ghana was currently enjoying were the same principles JB Danquah dedicated his live to fighting for, saying: “His struggles have not been in vain.”
Akufo-Addo recalled how JB Danquah “fought for the right of the citizens” through his writings, stressing: “If Danquah were alive today, President John Mahama would be receiving letters or emails from him all the time and so would the Minister of Finance.”
