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National anthem of Ghana |
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| Lyrics | Michael Kwame Gbordzoe |
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| Music | Philip Gbeho |
| Adopted | 1957 |
God Bless Our Homeland Ghana is the national anthem of Ghana. The anthem was originally written and composed by Philip Gbeho and adopted upon independence in 1957.
The current text was chosen some time after the 1966 coup in Ghana. Mr. Philip Gbeho’s text which was discarded at that time started with:
Lord God our Father we pray thee, Be thou our guide in all our ways, May we united together, proclaim the dawn of our new day! Children of Ghana arise and uphold your cause And blaze the trail of freedom far and wide, O God our Father harken to our call and bring us peace here in our father land.
The current lyric which has been in use since the 1970s was written by a student Michael Kwame Gbordzoe within the framework of a national competition.
Thus, the lyric of Ghana’s National Anthem is as follows:
God bless our homeland Ghana
And make our nation great and strong,
Bold to defend forever
The cause of Freedom and of Right;
Fill our hearts with true humility,
Make us cherish fearless honesty,
And help us to resist oppressors' rule
With all our will and might for evermore.
Hail to thy name, O Ghana,
To thee we make our solemn vow:
Steadfast to build together
A nation strong in Unity;
With our gifts of mind and strength of arm,
Whether night or day, in the midst of storm,
In ev'ry need, whate'er the call may be,
To serve thee, Ghana, now and evermore.
Raise high the flag of Ghana
And one with Africa advance;
Black star of hope and honour
To all who thirst for liberty;
Where the banner of Ghana freely flies,
May the way to freedom truly lie;
Arise, arise, O sons of Ghanaland,
And under God march on for evermore!
Thus, although Mr. Philip Gbeho’s composition is still being used, the current lyric "God Bless our Homeland Ghana", etc. does not originate from him.
Michael Kwame Gbordzoe, who became a scientist by profession, has drawn the attention of the Ghana Government to the fact that although his lyric has been adopted for the country’s national anthem since the 1970s, there has so far been no official Ghana Government recognition for his work, this may be attributed to the abrupt changes in regimes in Ghana in the past. Messages were sent to various Ghanaian government agencies, and was also discussed on air at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Uniiq Fm programme ‘PTGlive,’ on 9 March 2008.
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