Founder’s Day in Ghana: Honouring the Torchbearer of Our Freedom

Today, Ghana pauses to celebrate Founder’s Day , a day not just marked on the calendar, but etched deep in our national soul. It is a day of reflection, gratitude, and renewal. A day we remember the sacrifices, struggles, and vision of the one who dared to dream of a free and united Ghana.

Founder’s Day, observed on 21st September, honours Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President and the principal architect of our independence. Nkrumah’s life was dedicated to a singular mission: breaking the chains of colonialism and inspiring a new dawn for Africa. His fiery call of “self-government now” awakened a generation that refused to be bound by oppression.

But while Nkrumah’s name echoes most loudly, Founder’s Day is also about the collective spirit of countless unsung heroes whose courage paved the path to independence in 1957. Teachers, farmers, traders, market women, workers, and students ,all contributed to the movement that birthed the first free nation in sub-Saharan Africa.

This day calls us not only to remember history but to live it forward. The Ghana our forebears fought for was one rooted in unity, discipline, and service. It was a Ghana envisioned as the Black Star of Africa, leading the continent in freedom, justice, and progress.

As we celebrate Founder’s Day in 2025, we must ask ourselves hard questions:

• Are we protecting the hard-won freedom passed down to us?
• Are we nurturing the values of integrity, patriotism, and selflessness our founder embodied?
• Are we building an economy and society worthy of the sacrifices of those who came before us?

The truest way to honour our founder is not with parades and speeches alone, but with action. Action in our schools to educate with excellence, action in our communities to foster unity, action in our governance to fight corruption, and action in our personal lives to put Ghana first.

Today, let us reignite the torch of patriotism. Let us remind ourselves that freedom is not a finished gift, it is a responsibility to be guarded and expanded. And let us declare together: just as our founder gave us a nation, we will give the next generation a stronger, fairer, and brighter Ghana.

Happy Founder’s Day, Ghana! 
Long live our founder's.
Long live Ghana