![Dr. J.B Danquah [L] and Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi](https://ghananews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/JB-Danquah-is-Wontumis-equivalent.jpg "Dr. J.B Danquah [L] and Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi")
Dr. J.B Danquah [L] and Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi
The Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has drawn parallels between scholar, lawyer, and statesman Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah, popularly known as J.B. Danquah, and the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, also known as Chairman Wontumi.
He has strongly opposed attempts by some individuals to project J.B. Danquah as a national hero.
Some individuals, particularly members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which is considered an offshoot of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), often equate J.B. Danquah to Ghana’s first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. They argue that Danquah played a crucial role in the nation-building process, which cannot be overlooked.
However, speaking on a TV programme in a video shared on social media, Kwesi Pratt, a veteran journalist and an avowed Nkrumaist, disagreed with this assertion.
He stated that J.B. Danquah’s position in the UGCC did not go beyond that of a regional chairman, adding that, in modern-day politics, the late scholar would have been on the same level as the popular Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, also known as Chairman Wontumi.
“Do you know Danquah’s true position in the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC)? Danquah was the Eastern Regional Chairman of the UGCC, that’s all. That was the highest position he attained—Eastern Regional Chairman. So if you are looking for his equivalent in modern-day politics, it is Wontumi. The level that Danquah attained in the UGCC has been attained by Wontumi in the NPP. He was a regional chairman—is Wontumi not a regional chairman?”
He further added: “Even putting that aside, which election did J.B. Danquah ever win? Every attempt he made at contesting elections, he lost. Even in his hometown, Kyebi, they voted against him. If J.B. Danquah could not even be the founder of Kyebihene, his hometown, how can he be considered the founder of Ghana? He lost not once; he was defeated by a pupil teacher. So, you bring Wontumi’s equivalent and want to impose him on us?”
J.B Danquh is equivalent to Wontumi ~ Uncle Pratt 🤣😂 pic.twitter.com/VA1AGrd8v9
— Mahama 2024 president (@CitizenTechiman) March 8, 2025
KA
Meanwhile, watch this Ghana Month special edition of People and Places as we hear the story of how the head of Kwame Nkrumah’s bronze statue was returned after 43 years, below: