“Mr. Speaker, I rise pursuant to Order 92 of the Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana, which permits a ceremonial speech confined to the commemoration of a special event and the eulogizing of a renowned and distinguished deceased person to mark the sixty-first anniversary of the passing of Dr.
Joseph Kwame Kyretwie Boakye Danquah, one of the foremost intellectual architects of our nation.
On the fourth day of February, 1965, Ghana lost a philosopher, a jurist, a nationalist, and a moral voice whose ideas continue to inform our constitutional and democratic life.
In recalling his life, one is reminded of the words of Scripture in Proverbs chapter four, verse seven:
“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” Dr. Danquah’s life was a living embodiment of this injunction. He sought wisdom not for personal elevation,
but for national awakening
Mr. Speaker, over the years, many worthy and illuminating tributes have been laid in honour of Dr. J. B.
Danquah. Scholars have examined the richness of his intellectual life. Jurists have reflected on his contributions to constitutional thought. Historians have chronicled his role in the nationalist movement.
Political leaders within his own tradition have rightly celebrated his courage, sacrifice, and vision. Taken together, these tributes have presented Dr. Danquah as a many-sided figure whose life defies narrow classification.
The purpose of this statement is therefore not to repeat what has already been eloquently said, nor merely to rehearse the familiar catalogue of his achievements. Rather, the distinct thrust of my intervention this afternoon is to focus attention on a more exacting and, I submit, more compelling measure of Dr. Danquah’s national stature: the manner in which he has been eulogised, acknowledged, and intellectually engaged by those who did not share his political ideology, and in some instances stood in firm opposition to it.
It is on this basis, Mr. Speaker, which this statement proceeds to examine selected reflections and assessments of Dr. Danquah by persons and traditions that did not align with his political worldview. In doing so, it seeks to establish, beyond sentiment and beyond party that Dr. Danquah stands as an undisputed national figure, whose legacy belongs to the entire Republic and not to any single political inheritance.
It is in this spirit that this House is invited to reflect.
Mr. Speaker, few testimonies concerning parliamentary excellence carry greater institutional authority than those of a Clerk of Parliament. In this regard, the reflections of Mr K. B. Ayensu, Clerk of the National Assembly from 1955 to 1966, remain compelling. Writing in Echoes from the Past: Timeless Tributes to J.
B. Danquah in 1967, Mr Ayensu observed, and I quote:

“After Danquah had left the parliamentary scene, slowly but inevitably, the rot set in. The proceedings began to acquire a certain element of insipid farce. Many in the House privately wished for a return to ‘the Danquah days.'”
Mr. Speaker, professional institutions whose legitimacy rests on neutrality have equally affirmed his legacy. in 2025, the Ghana Bar Association publicly reiterated that “J. B. Danquah’s role in Ghana’s struggle for independence remains unparalleled.” The Association recalled his leadership in the Aborigines’ Rights Protection Society, which successfully resisted colonial attempts to expropriate Ghanaian lands, and noted that this early activism marked the beginning of a sustained legal struggle against colonial injustice.
Similarly, the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, an institution entirely removed from partisan contestation, has documented Dr Danquah’s decisive role in national formation. The Academy records his instrumental contribution to the Burns Constitution of 1946, his foundation membership of the United Gold Coast Convention in 1947, and his description by the Watson Commission as the “Doyen of Gold Coast Politics”.
Mr. Speaker, contemporary policy analysis has reinforced this historical assessment. In 2025, Africa Leadership and Policy for Humanitarian Action (ALPHA), a pan-African think tank, stated that the history of Ghana and Africa would be incomplete without recognising Dr Danquah’s contribution to constitutional development and democratic consolidation
Mr. Speaker, perhaps most persuasive for this House are the voices captured in our own Parliamentary Hansard, spoken by Honourable Members from across the political divide.
On 5th February 2022, Hon. Rockson-Nelson Etse Dafeamekpor, now Majority Chief Whip, stated on the floor of this House that although Dr Danquah lost elections and came into conflict with the security apparatus of the state, “his contribution and criticism of the government” were significant, and that he was
“a towering figure of legal mind”. On that same day, Mr. Speaker, at his instance, this House observed a minute’s silence in honour of Dr J. B. Danquah, a solemn act that speaks profoundly to bipartisan respect.
On Tuesday, 4th February 2025, Hon. Mahama Ayariga, Majority Leader, in contributing to a statement moved by my good self, reminded the House, and I quote directly from Hansard:
“You cannot write the history of this country without recognising the contribution of J. B.
Danquah.”
He further drew attention to Dr Danquah’s enduring scholarly legacy in Akan customary law, noting its continuing relevance in legal education.
Earlier, on Wednesday, 5th February 2020, Hon Kwame Governs Agbodza, then Minority Chief Whip, cautioned this House that the experience of Dr Danquah under the Preventive Detention Act should permanently remind legislators to consider the long-term consequences of laws passed in moments of political urgency.

On Friday, 5th February 2016, Hon Ahmed Ibrahim. Member for Banda, hiahliahted Dr Danguah’s central role in the Africanisation of the Legislative and Executive Councils and in securing the establishment of the University of Ghana, observing that this single contribution had produced generations
of intellectuals who now serve the Republic.
On Thursday, 5th February 2015, Hon Haruna Iddrisu, Member for Tamale South, acknowledged D Danquah’s advocacy for farmers, his role in the establishment of the Cocoa Marketing Board, and his brilliance in legislative debate, concluding that his contribution to Ghana’s independence was “enormous
and undeniable”.
On that same date, Hon Fritz Baffour, former Minister of State, delivered what may be one of the most profound parliamentary affirmations of Dr Danquah’s national stature when he stated:
«It was people and men like Dr.J. B. Danguah who gave us the ethos of nationhood. He aave us the name of the nation. He gave us the purpose of the nation.” Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, 5th February 2014, both Hon. Benjamin Kunbuor, former Attorney-General, and the then Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, now Speaker of this Honourable House, reflected on the devastating impact of the Preventive Detention Act, using Dr Danquah’s experience to caution against what was described as “constitutional dictatorship” and to emphasise that such an ordeal should never be visited upon any citizen, regardless of stature.
Mr. Speaker, when clerks of Parliament, professional bodies, academic institutions, policy think tanks, Majority and Minority leaders of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Ministers of State of the NDC, and Speakers of Parliament, speaking across decades and ideological divides, converge in their assessment of one man, then history itself has rendered its verdict.
Mr. Speaker, history is often most honest when it speaks across divisions. A man whose life and work are acknowledged with respect by those who opposed him politically, whose ideas continue to frame constitutional governance and democratic restraint, and whose personal sacrifice remains a warning and a lesson to successive generations, meets every test of national heroism. The experience of Dr J. B.
Danquah under the Preventive Detention Act reminds this House that the erosion of liberty rarely announces itself loudly, but often returns quietly through practices that normalise excessive restraint, prolonged detention, or punitive bail conditions that test the boundaries of constitutional reasonableness. It is therefore not as a political claim, but as a historical conclusion, that this statement submits that Dr Danquah’s life, ideas, and suffering compel us to eternal vigilance. To honour him is not merely to remember his past, but to ensure that the dark chapters he endured are never reopened in our present.
I am most grateful to you, Rt. Hon. Speaker, for the opportunity and the space afforded me to make this Statement.
Thank you.”