President Akufo Addo has announced plans by the government to erect a statue in honour Tetteh Quarshie, the man who first brought a commercially viable cocoa to Ghana.
The statue will be erected at Tetteh Quarshie Roundabout in Accra.
According to the President, the move is to recognise the enormous contribution of Tetteh Quarshie to Ghana’s development. Speaking at a meeting with family members of the late Tetteh Quashie who called on him at the Flagstaff House, President Akufo-Addo said the country must always seek to honour its heroes as an encouragement to the younger generation.
“A statue of him there will be very appropriate. If people like him are honoured, they are an example for the young and future generation of Ghanaians. And it is important that we have a history where we have heroes,” he said.
About Tetteh Quarshie
Tetteh Quarshie was a pre-independence Ghanaian agriculturalist and the person directly responsible for the introduction of cocoa crops to Ghana, which today constitute one of the major export crops of the Ghanaian economy.
Born in 1842 at Teshie in Accra, Tetteh Quarshie died on Christmas day in 1892.
In 1870, Tetteh Quarshie undertook a voyage to the Spanish colony Fernando Po (now Bioko in Equatorial Guinea). About six years later he returned to Ghana with several cocoa beans and made history.
In 1879 Tetteh Quarshie planted the seeds at Mampong with some success. Friends and relatives also undertook the planting of cocoa when pods were distributed to them. Soon other farmers followed suit.
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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana