God Bless Our Homeland Ghana

"God Bless Our Homeland Ghana" is the national anthem of Ghana; it was adopted in 1957.

God Bless Our Homeland Ghana
The lyrics of "God Bless Our Homeland Ghana" above an orchestral reduction sheet music of the National Symphony Orchestra Ghana.
National anthem of  Ghana
LyricsMichael Kwame Gbordzoe
MusicPhilip Gbeho
Adopted1957
Audio sample
"God Bless Our Homeland Ghana" (instrumental)
  • file
  • help

History

The music for the national anthem was originally composed by Philip Gbeho and sung to lyrics written by Emmanuel Pappoe-Thompson. However the words were revised by a literary committee in the Office of the then head of state, Kwame Nkrumah.[1] Michael Kwame Gbordzoe has made claims to the current lyrics being used saying that it was written by him after the overthrow of President Nkrumah. A competition was held and Kwame Gbordzoe, who was then a student at Bishop Herman College, presented the current lyrics which was chosen to replace "Lift High The Flag Of Ghana" which had been officially adopted after independence and used as Ghana's National Anthem during Nkrumah's regime.[2]

Lyrics

Original lyrics

The current text was chosen some time after the 1966 coup in Ghana. Philip Gbeho’s text that was discarded at that time started with:

Lord God our Father we pray thee,
Be thou our guide in all our ways,
May we unite 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 fatherland.

Current lyrics

The current lyrics of the "God Bless Our Homeland Ghana" national anthem that has been in use since the 1970s were written by Michael Kwame Gbordzoe while a student within the framework of a national competition,[3] and is accompanied by Ghana's national pledge.

Thus, the officially current lyrics of "God Bless Our Homeland Ghana" are as follows:[3]

First stanza
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. 𝄇
Second stanza
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 every need, whate'er the call may be,
To serve thee, Ghana, now and for evermore. 𝄇
Third stanza
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 Ghana land,
And under God march on for evermore! 𝄇

Thus, although Philip Gbeho’s composition is still being used, the current lyrics beginning "God Bless our Homeland Ghana" do 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 lyrics have been adopted for the country’s national anthem since the 1970s, there has so far been no official Ghana Government recognition for his work, which may be attributed to the abrupt changes in regimes in Ghana in the past.[4][5]

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.

National Pledge of Ghana
Main article: National Pledge of Ghana
I promise on my honour
To be faithful and loyal to
Ghana my motherland.
I pledge myself to the service of Ghana
With all my strength and with all my heart.
I promise to hold in high esteem.
Our heritage, won for us through the blood and toil of our fathers; and I pledge myself in
All things to uphold and defend the good name of Ghana.
So help me God.

The National Pledge of Ghana is recited immediately after "God Bless Our Homeland Ghana".

References
  1. "Emmanuel Pappoe Thompson". Ghanaweb.
  2. "Who Owns the Ghana National Anthem". justiceghana.com.
  3. "Ghana National Anthem". Ghanaembassy. Archived from the original on 17 August 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  4. "Who Owns The Ghana National Anthem", GhanaWeb, 18 August 2009.
  5. "German-based Ghanaian says he wrote lyrics of anthem and pledge", Modern Ghana, 4 April 2009.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.