A Matter of Apostrophe? Founder’s Day, Founders’ Day, and Holiday Politics in Contemporary Ghana

Abstract

In Ghana, when the NDC government declared September 21, the birthday of Kwame Nkrumah, to be Founder’s Day in 2009, and again in 2017 when the NPP government proposed August 4 the founding of the UGCC as Founders’ Day, a debate was sparked over the placement of the apostrophe in the name—should it be Founder’s or Founders’? An analysis of this debate highlights the importance of the independence history and its production in contemporary Ghana. This article examines how the independence narrative has been shaped by post-independence governments, particularly the NDC and the NPP, through commemorative acts such as holidays to understand the motivations and the influence of political leaders in the production of history. It argues that embedded in this apostrophe war is legitimacy, which party has the pedigree to lead the country in the competition for political power. The article further shows the parochialism of the NDC and NPP narratives on the founding of Ghana.