Founders Day in Ghana Date in the current year: August 4, 2024

The original date of Founders Day was chosen to honor Kwame Nkrumah who led the country to independence as the head of the Convention People’s Party. Over the years, however, the people of Ghana started to view Nkrumah as a somewhat controversial figure. Despite his key role in the achievement of Ghana’s independence, his complete domination of political power eventually led to a violent coup.

In 2017, the government of Ghana decided to rename September 21 Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day and to move Founders Day to August 4. On this day in 1947, J. B. Danquah (the great-uncle of Nana Akufo-Addo, the 9th president of Ghana) founded the United Gold Coast Convention, the first political party of the Gold Coast. Its main goal was to bring about the independence of the Gold Coast from the British rule.

The leaders of the United Gold Coast Convention are referred to as the Big Six. They were Joseph Boakye Danquah, Ebenezer Ako-Adjei, Edward Akufo-Addo, Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey, William Ofori Atta, and Kwame Nkrumah. It is they who are honored on Ghana’s Founders Day.