The family and grandchildren of the late Tetteh Quarshie, a leading figure in Ghana’s cocoa sector, have called on President Akufo-Addo to eat humble pie and retract his erroneous comments that sought to distort history regarding the origin of their relative.
Tetteh Quarshie is credited in history as being the first person to start planting cocoa on a commercial scale and hails from the Ga Dangme community.
The President, in his address during Ghana’s 67th Independence Day parade in Koforidua on Wednesday, March 6, said, “Indeed, Tetteh Quarshie, an indigene of Mampong Akuapem, here in the Eastern Region, brought back, in the late 19th century, the cocoa pod from Fernando Po, now Bioko, in Equatorial Guinea, an act which led him and others to establish our nation’s first commercial cocoa farms here in the Eastern Region”.
The comments did not go down well with the Ga Dangme Council and they have asked the public to “debunk the assertion on the origin of Tetteh Quarshie”.
Meanwhile, the family, in a letter addressed to the presidency dated March 17, 2024, described the president’s comments as erroneous, one that seeks to “steal the pride and joy of Ga’s and neglect the contribution of a Ga man to national development; thus, the cocoa industry”.
The statement further stressed that “the president misinformed the public and the world at large, therefore, we the family of TETTEH QUARSHIE are by this, asking the president to retract his comment and statement with all urgency.”
“As a family, we are deeply disappointed because the legacy of our father, grandfather and great grand grandfather is rewritten and told with lots of fallacies by no means an ordinary person rather the president of the republic.
“By some extent, the script writers may have erred, but after two weeks of public lashes and corrections, we deem it fit, appropriate and respectful that the first gentleman of the land, Nana Akufo Addo accepts his flaws, retracts the statement and make the right corrections to educate and inform the public appropriately”.
“This humble approach will enhance his credibility and public confidence by the good people of Ghana in his public speeches in future occasions,” the statement added.
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According to the family, Tetteh Quarshie planted his first cocoa seed in Osu but was unsuccessful due to bad weather, however, the second cocoa seed planted in Mampong with good weather conditions became the first cocoa tree and later the first cocoa farm and cash crop for Ghana.
The family contends that having a conducive environment for cocoa plantation doesn’t mean that Tetteh Quarshie hails from Mampong, adding, “Even his name Tetteh Quarshie, is enough to help any Ghanaian trace his routes.”
Find the full letter below:
