Ghana Independence Day

by Immanuelle Agyare

Today 6th March 2021, marks 64 years of freedom for the nation of Ghana. As a part of the Ghanaian diaspora, this is a day for my fellow Ghanaians to celebrate and reflect on our great country and enjoy one another’s company. Although this article is being written in 2021, where we are unable to celebrate like previous years, we still have the chance to reflect and understand Ghana’s journey to independence; what it has meant for the country and its people both domestically and internationally for the last 64 years.

A true reflection of Ghana’s rich history stretches before colonisation and its subsequent independence. However, since independence is a landmark in the history of the nation, it is imperative to first explore the historical figures and symbols surrounding Ghana’s independence.

On 6th March 1957, Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah led Ghana – then named Gold Coast – to independence from British rule, after being colonised for over a century.

Alongside Nkrumah (pictured first in the line), there were notably 5 other men that encouraged independence, they became known as The Big Six – the founding fathers of Ghana. The other 5 members were from left to right Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey, Ebenezer Ako-Adjei, William Ofori Atta, J.B Danquah and Edward Akufo-Addo.

These were the leaders of the United Gold Coast Convention, the leading political party of the Gold Coast under colonisation. Now president of the republic, Nkrumah, continued to lead the newly independent nation with the support of the Big Six in the United Gold Coast Convention political party. Under their leadership established democratic and welfare institutions.

As the first sub-Saharan country to become free from colonial rule, they pioneered decolonisation throughout the African continent. Regarding this, Nkrumah looked further than Ghana, emphasising the importance of liberation for the African continent, emphasising the capabilities of Africans to run their affairs. With international coverage of their independence, his vision inspired many other African countries to soon follow and gain their independence.

Ghana is full of rich history pre and post-independence of which I am certain this blog will explore further. To commemorate the national holiday, exploring the symbols that represent Ghana such as the flag is valuable. The red stripe represents the bloodshed, the Gold for the rich metal that is within the land; the green shows the flourishing forestry they have; and arguably the most significant, the black star representing the people of the nation and African Freedom. The symbolic flag was designed by Ghanaian Mrs Theodosia Salome Okoh. When the need for a new flag to replace that of the UK was advertised, Mrs Okoh submission was chosen.

"God bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong" - first line of national anthem .