Speaker Oquaye to Deliver UGCC 70th Anniversary Lecture

By Maxwell Ofori

As part of the Ghana @ 60 celebration, the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Michael Oquaye, is scheduled to deliver a lecture to mark the 70th Anniversary of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC).

Organised by the Ghana 60 years on Anniversary Committee, the anniversary lecture would take place at the National Theatre on Friday, 4th August, 2017, at 6pm, with the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in attendance.

Meanwhile, a Memorial and Thanksgiving Service would precede the lecture at Saltpond early Friday morning, which the President Akufo-Addo is expected to participate as the Guest of Honour.

Addressing journalists in Accra yesterday, the Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Abu Jinapor, indicated that the Committee settled on Prof Oquaye because of his wealth of experience, and could, therefore, meet the standard set by Mr Kofi Annan when he gave the last lecture.

"Professor Oquaye is a distinguished academic; he's a distinguished politician; he's a distinguished lawyer; he's religious leader; he's man who has many experiences in Ghanaian political and public life. He's also a historian par excellence. So, we think that Prof Oquaye will do justice to the anniversary lecture."

He announced that the topic for the lecture was '4th August, Ghana's Day of Destiny.'

He explained that the choice for the topic was deliberate, based on the account of the struggle of both John Mensah Saba and Co, on the account of 1897 and 1947, making 4th of August very significant.

"On the 4th of August this year, that is Friday, we have two very major events to unfold as a Committee. As you all may be aware, the 4th of August is a very momentous and significant date in the history of Ghana.

"On the 4th of August 1897, a patriot, John Mensah Sarbah, and his colleagues, established the Aborigines' Rights Protection Society to fight against the Crown's Land Act Bill of 1897. They did so successfully and ensured that a decision was made, but, in Ghana, there was nothing like a no man's land, and the lands of the indigenous people were preserved.

"The views of many pundits and ourselves is that this fight by John Mensah Sarbah and his colleagues led to the stability of our country, and it led to the land tenure system we have today. The examples to the contrary can be found in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

"50 years from 4th August 1897, exactly on 4th August 1947, Paa Grant and his colleagues, the likes of J.B. Danquah and many others, converged at Saltpond to establish the first Nationalist Political Movement of our country - the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC).

"And it was at this gathering that the ingredients of the Ghana of today, a democratic, free, prosperous country, was conceived, and out of that, and many others, our country attained independence on 6th March 1957, and we have the Ghana that was dreamt about 1947 by the forbearers of our country.

"Therefore, the committee, upon deliberation, came to the conclusion that on 4th August we organise a Memorial and Thanksgiving Service for the establishment of the United Gold Coast Convention at Saltpond," he remarked.

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