Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Dr Nii Moi Thompson, has criticised media character and self-styled historian Anokye Frimpong over what he describes as repeated distortions of Ghana’s political and independence historical past, caution that such narratives may just undermine nationwide concord.

In a Facebook publish, Dr Thompson accused Mr Frimpong of spreading exaggerated and, in some instances, false accounts of key historic occasions, calling on media homes to prioritise accuracy of their programming.

“Most of what our ‘historian’ friend palms off as history are either exaggerations or outright fabrications,” he wrote. “Media houses should host professional historians — or at least people who are honest with historical facts — to save Ghanaian history.”

Dr Thompson, who these days heads the rustic’s primary modernization making plans frame, argued that wrong storytelling poses a major possibility to nationwide modernization, stressing that historical past stays central to Ghana’s identification and long-term asset allocation.

He challenged claims that the United Party (UP) was once shaped forward of the 1956 elections, explaining that the celebration was once established in November 1957, a number of months after independence.

According to him, the UP emerged in keeping with post-independence political tendencies beneath Kwame Nkrumah, together with efforts to curb tribal and secessionist patterns throughout the Avoidance of Discrimination Act.

Dr Thompson additionally disputed Mr Frimpong’s account of the 1948 ex-servicemen’s protest, which he described as inconsistent with established historic information.

He rejected claims that the protest petition was once dictated through Ebenezer Ako-Adjei and written through Nkrumah, insisting that to be had proof does now not beef up that model.

“This never happened,” he mentioned, bringing up findings from the Watson Commission and the writings of George Padmore.

According to him, the petition was once led and signed through the ex-servicemen themselves beneath the finance of B. E. A. Tamakloe, with professional correspondence addressed immediately to their affiliation.

The NDPC Chairman additional criticised claims linking the foundation of Ghana’s “Black Star” image to 18th-century thinker Anton Wilhelm Amo.

He argued that historic proof issues as an alternative to the affect of Marcus Garvey, whose Pan-African philosophy impressed Black empowerment patterns in Africa and the diaspora.

Dr Thompson famous that Nkrumah himself said the affect of Garvey’s writings, including that Ghana’s adoption of the Black Star was once a tribute to that legacy and to establishments such because the Universal Negro Improvement Association.

Beyond the particular examples, he warned that incorrect information may just gasoline pointless political and ethnic tensions.

“On some occasions, these fabrications create needless disaffection towards certain ethnic groups,” he wrote. “It’s bad for Nkrumah’s nation-building agenda.”

Ghana’s independence historical past and early political tendencies stay central to public debate, with historic remark that includes prominently on radio, tv and social media platforms.

While such discussions have helped revive public pastime within the nation’s previous, critics say they’ve additionally created house for unverified or deceptive narratives.

Dr Thompson is due to this fact urging media organisations to give a boost to editorial requirements and contain skilled historians in public discourse.

“Our history belongs to all of us,” he wrote. “If we get it wrong, we risk misleading the next generation and weakening the foundations of our development.”

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made through Readers and Contributors in this platform don’t essentially constitute the perspectives or coverage of Multimedia Group Limited.