The Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, Dr. Kingsley Agyemang, has declared that Dr. Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah stands as an undisputed national figure whose legacy transcends political divisions and belongs to the entire Republic of Ghana.
In a commemorative statement delivered in Parliament on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, to mark the 61st anniversary of Dr. Danquah’s death in 1965, Dr. Agyemang argued that the respect and intellectual engagement accorded to Dr. Danquah by those who did not share his political ideology provide the most compelling evidence of his national stature.
“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,” he highlighted tributes from non-aligned institutions and political opponents to the late statesman.
He cited reflections from Mr. K.B. Ayensu, former Clerk of Parliament (1955–1966), who lamented the decline in parliamentary standards after Dr. Danquah’s departure, noting that proceedings became “insipid farce” and many wished for a return to “the Danquah days.”
Dr. Agyemang referenced affirmations from the Ghana Bar Association in 2025, which described Dr. Danquah’s role in the independence struggle as “unparalleled,” and the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, which documented his foundational contributions to constitutional development.
The MP highlighted bipartisan parliamentary acknowledgments recorded in Hansard, including statements from NDC figures such as South Dayi MP, Rockson-Nelson Etse Dafeamekpor who in 2022, called him a “towering figure of legal mind”; Mahama Ayariga MP for Bawku Central in 2025, said, “You cannot write the history of this country without recognising the contribution of J.B. Danquah”; Haruna Iddrisu MP for Tamale South in 2015, described his independence contribution as “enormous and undeniable”; and Fritz Baffour, who credited him with giving Ghana “the ethos of nationhood,” the name of the nation, and its purpose.
Other references included cautions from Kwame Governs Agbodza (2020) and Benjamin Kunbuor and Alban Bagbin (2014) on the Preventive Detention Act’s implications, using Dr. Danquah’s ordeal as a lesson against “constitutional dictatorship.”
Dr. Agyemang concluded that Dr. Danquah’s life, ideas, and suffering, particularly his detention, compel eternal vigilance to safeguard liberty, affirming that his legacy is a historical conclusion rather than a partisan claim.