Newly elected flag bearer of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama has said Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah deserves to be celebrated not denigrated as Ghana celebrates its 62nd independence anniversary today, 6 March 2019.

The Former president seem to be stoking the raging debate over Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah and other founders of the nation and the relentless move by the Akufo-Addo-led government to rename Founder’s Day as Founders’ Day.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday to celebrate Ghana's 62nd independence anniversary, Mr Mahama wrote: "Let us continue to thank God for how far he has brought us as a country. We are not where we should be, but we should be thankful for the many blessings that God has brought our way.

“Our country’s Founder, Dr Kwame Nkrumah deserves on this day to be celebrated not denigrated for his tireless leadership that brought us independence 62 years ago.”

There is an ongoing national debate as to whether Kwame Nkrumah should be considered as the sole founder of Ghana or named among the founders of the country.

While the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) insist that country’s founders must be celebrated, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Convention People’s Party (CPP) and some historians say that Kwame Nkrumah must be celebrated for his leadership in ensuring the fight for independence in 1957.

To this end, the government is seeking to scrap AU Day and Republic Day as public holidays and introduce January 7 as Constitution Day and make September 21 Nkrumah Memorial Day.