Meet Philip Gheho, The Man Who Composed The National Anthem, He Was Born On This Day 113 years ago
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Meet Philip Gheho, The Man Who Composed The National Anthem, He Was Born On This Day 113 years ago.
Philip Gheho was a teacher, musician before death took him away from the surface of the earth at the age of 72.
He was born on January 14th, 1904 in a fishing village known as Vodza in the suburb of Keta which is in the Volta Region.
He schooled there in an all boys catholic schools where he learnt how to play the organ and was playing for the school.
His father, Doe Gbeho, was a fisherman. His mother, Ametowofa, from the Gadzekpo family, was a trader who was also reputed to have musical talent and was a leader of the female singers in the village drumming and dancing group.
Philip's love for music and determination caught the eyes of high authorities from Achimota College who invited him in 1938, when an assistant music master was needed to teach music at the college. Gbeho accepted and began a new career as a music master at Achimota that same year.
On the eve of Ghana's Independence celebrations, Gbeho won an open competition to write the National Anthem for the newly independent Ghana. His composition remains the national anthem of Ghana until now.
The music for the new anthem to replace "God Save the Queen", which hitherto had been the country's anthem, was written by Philip Gbeho. His piece was one of numerous entries that had been presented to a National Anthem Selection Committee.
Out of those entries, four were shortlisted and played regularly on radio for listeners to indicate their preferences. The choice was overwhelmingly in favour of Gbeho's composition. The first stanza of his piece went as follows:
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.
Oh God our Father hearken to our call
And grant us peace here in our Fatherland.
For unexplained reasons, the government discarded the original words of Gbeho's piece for new ones written by a commissioned literary committee. It was those words that went with Gbeho's music as the National Anthem on 6 March 1957.
Before he died on the 24th of September, 1976, he left behind 7 children and amongst my the seven, James Victor Gheho was the only one I could identify.
That anthem touches my heart and makes me feel like a real citizen, anytime I listen to it, I told my right hand and place it on my chest and sing with great honour. I’m proud to be a Ghanaian.
Today, if he was still alive he would have been 113 years old but unfortunately his time came. Where ever he is now, may his soul continue to Rest In Peace
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