The legend of Kwame Nkrumah and Ghana politics

A debate has began in recent months as to who played the major role in the events leading to March 6, 1957. Quite recently the Speaker of Parliament  most uncharacteristically delivered a lecture on the role of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) and particularly Dr. J.B. Danquah implying that he was main man on the journey towards Ghana’s Independence.

However, information available shows that our quest to control our own destiny started in 1896 when the British government passed the Land Legislation Law making all lands in British West Africa British Crown property.

This led to the formation of the Aborigines Right Protection Society (ARPS) by four eminent Gold Coasters  -  Jacob Wilson-Sey of Biriwa, John Mensah Sarbah of Cape Coast and J.P Brown and Ephraim Casely Hayford, both of Cape Coast to protest against the law.

In 1897 a delegation of the ARPS,  led by Jacob Wilson Sey, John Mensah Sarbah, the chiefs of Cape Coast, Anomabo, Effutu, Ekumfi etc. and J.W De-graft went to London to present their challenge to Mr. Joseph Chambetain, the Colonial Secretary, as the law being repealed and expunged from the British Statutes.

Post ARPS

In 1946, some nationalists emerged. These included Dr. J.B. Danquah, Lawyer R.S Blay of Sekondi, George Grant, a timber merchant also from Sekondi and many more  chiefs from Fanteland. They met at Saltpond and called their organisation the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC). When they met to elect leaders, they elected George Grant of Sekondi as their President, Lawyer R.S Blay also from Sekondi as their vice-president. When it came to electing a secretary, lawyer Ako-Adjei told the UGCC that he had met a young Ghanaian in London who was very dynamic, whom, he thought, they could invite to be their secretary.
 
Mr. Grant duly invited Kwame Nkrumah from London to become their general secretary.

Obviously for a demand for “independence now” against the original UGCC demand for independence in “the shortest conceivable time” suggestion did not meet with the approbation of his colleagues of UGCC, an issue which eventually led to Nkrumah breaking away to form the Convention People’s Party (CPP).

Events of 1948

In 1948, some major events happened in the Gold Coast. First, Nii Kwabena Bonnie, Osu Alata Mantse, called for the boycott of British made goods because the prices were too high. This led to the nationwide boycott of British goods.

The second event was the march of Gold Coast ex-servicemen ( who fought alongside British soldiers in the Second World War) to the Christianborg Castle to demand that the British government fulfils  the promise made to them when they joined the army to go to war during the second world war.
 
The three leaders of the ex-servicemen were shot dead instantly. This led to riots in Accra. Students of the three major Cape Coast Schools rioted as a result of the arrest. In fact Kwame Nkrumah was arrested while in Cape Coast. As a result of this, their schools were closed down for three months and the students were sent home. Six leaders of the UGCC protested to the government against such brutalities. The six were Kwame Nkrumah, Obetsebi Lamptey, Dr. J.B Danquah, Ako-Adjei, Wlliam Ofori Atta and Edward Akufo-Addo who were arrested by the government. The people called Nkrumah and his colleagues as the ‘Big Six’ because of their arrest. This is how the term “THE BIG SIX” came to be known in the Gold Coast politics.

Birth of Ghana National College

But something good happened out of the students demonstration. Nkrumah immediately formed the Ghana National College for the dismissed students to enable them to continue their education. The dismissed students were H.W.K.A Sackeyfio of Mfantsipim, Kwesi Plange and JJ Mensah Kane of Adisadel College, H.P Nelson of St. Augustine College. In 1948, he named the School he formed in adversity, Ghana National College. He used the name GHANA nine years before our independence. The question is, who introduced the name GHANA to us.

The colonial office had to find the causes of the disturbances in the country. They appointed the Aitken-Watson Commission and the report of the Commission was published in August 1948 and it primarily cited the killing of the three ex-servicemen and the boycott of British goods as the principal causes, it also suggested that some amount of self rule be given to the people of the Gold Coast. Before then, the country’s executive council was ruled by the Governors as a result of this the Coussey Commission was set up to draft a constitution for the country.
On  June 12, 1949, Nkrumah announced the formation of the CPP in Accra

The general elections

The result of both the Watson and the Coussey Commission resulted in the 1951 general election under Universal Adult Suffrage to elect members for a Legislative Assembly. Nkrumah also enjoyed 22 member support of those representing territorial councils. Nkrumah was released from prison to form the government as leader of Government Business. The UGCC fared badly in the elections, winning only two seats. This election marked the end of UGCC and it ‘faded away from Gold Coast politics like an old soldier who never dies but simply fades away’.

Constitutional changes increased the membership of the assembly to 104 and elections were held in 1954. Interestingly, in two elections the only nationalist based party was  the CPP. The rest were all regional parties like the Northern People’s Party (NPP) from Northern Ghana, Anlo Youth Organisation and the Togoland Congress from the Volta Region. Ghana congress from some part of the Central and Eastern region.
The National Liberation Movement, an Ashanti-based party joined the political struggle after the 1954 election.
The result of the 1954 elections gave the CPP a massive victory with 72 out of the 104 seats. In the motion to the British Parliament in which he gave the road map towards Independence, Nkrumah clearly stated that on our independence the country’s name will change from Gold Coast to Ghana.
The colonial government requested another election to test the acceptance of the CPP before independence would be granted. The third election was held in February 1956 and the CPP once again won convincingly with 72 out of the 104 seats.

Motion of destiny
The government made a formal request to the British for full independence in accordance with its white paper of 1954. When the Speaker of the assembly Sir Emmanuel Quist called for a division of the House to enable a count to be taken on the motion all the members of the opposition UP party walked out of the house. When the count was taken the members at the House who voted for the Motion was 72. The members at the House who voted against the motion was zero.

So on the eve of March 6, 1957, Nkrumah declared the independence of the Gold Coast under the new name Ghana and declared that “The Independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of the African continent”.

Soon all the excitement ended and the real work of Governance began.
Nkrumah certainly made waves round the world. He fought and conquered all. He won three democratic elections leading to our independence on March 6, 1957, and the Republican and Presidential election as well.
He was the FIRST to tell the WORLD that the COUNTRY which was Gold Coast until midnight  March 5, 1957 was now to be called GHANA from a minute on the morning of March 6, 1957.

There is a saying that SUCCESS has many fathers, and  FAILURE has none. In Ghana it seems this is the reverse.

Even as Prime Minister and President, many attempts were made on his life in which many innocent citizens lost their lives when those attempts failed.

 His opponents had their day when the Ghana Army with foreign assistance took over political power while he was in China on an International Peace mission on February 24, 1966.

Summation     

I had a privilege of having met and conversed with Nkrumah on a Royal Naval Ship, HMS TENBY (with Capt. Chris Wake – Walker in command) then leading the Dartmouth Training Squadron to Ghana in February 1965. I noticed he was not a particularly big man, but he could sustain a conversation with others by putting them at ease, and in so doing won their confidence and trust. I was impressed by his simplicity and his persuasive way of talking which made others to simply do what he wanted them to do.    

This was a man who was voted African man of the millennium and when the votes were analyzed those from Ghana were the fewest.

A prophet is not accepted in his own country, so the Bible says.

There was also a celebration in Saltpond on the formation of UGCC, I liked it as a Saltpond boy as it brought life to a town which had done so much in our independence struggle but now slowly going down. To celebrate a party which lasted for four years without leaving any physical edifice to remember it by is a celebration in futility.

Our speaker gave a public lecture which was so politically slanted. A speaker of a democratic parliament, he is supposed to steer the affairs of the house and carry himself without any political bias.

The problem in Ghana is that any government wants to re-write our history to its advantage.

Nkrumah deserves to be called the Founder of Ghana because he worked for it.

When we were school boys we were told Nkrumah never dies. We did not understand that statement but now I fully understand it. The mortal body will certainly die away but the works and legacy you leave behind while alive will carry your name around the world AD INFINITUM. Indeed, Nkrumah never dies.