J. B. Danquah

Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah (18 December 1895 – 4 February 1965) was a Ghanaian politician, scholar, anglophile, lawyer and statesman. He was a politician in pre- and post-colonial Ghana, which was formerly the Gold Coast.

Quotes

• We started with United Gold Coast. let us complete the work for a united motherland since October last, the course of event had been clear to me and your election and release had been my desire
  • J.B. Danquah’s ‘love’ letter to Nkrumah while he was in prison

• To liberate the energies of the people for the growth of a property owning democracy in this land.
  • Articulating his vision for a state dedicated to individual rights and prosperity

• I Conceive that the first act of the constitution-making body will be to make a clean break away from the memories of the old days of exploitation and imperialism.
  • Submission to the Watson Commission (1948) advocating for the name Ghana

• I learned selfless politics as the sacrificing of one’s self totally for one’s own country.
  • Reflecting on his training under Casely Hayford

• It was at the feet of the eminent nationalist... that I was brought up, like St Paul under Gamaliel, and it was from Ekra Agyeman that I learned selfless politics as the sacrificing of one's self totally for one's own country.
  • Reflecting on his formative years studying under his mentor, Joseph Ephraim Casely Hayford

• A black woman / Golden is her personal name / Guinea's Golden Lady / And christened by her God-fathers / But from birth / Ghana.
  • Written as an ode to the cultural and historical identity of the nation