Editorial by Ghanaian Times: Bring February 28, 1948 lessons to bear on current governance!!

February 28 has become a very important day in the political history of Ghana since 1948.

On this day, 76 years ago, British colonial police opened fire on ex-servicemen, specifically World War II veterans, who had organised a peaceful march to present a petition to the then British Governor at Osu Castle, Gerald Creasy, to demand unpaid gratuity or allowances from the British government.

What has now come to be known as the 28 February Christianborg Crossroads shooting incident led to the killing of Sergeant Adjetey, Corporal Attipoe, and Private Odartey Lamptey.

Every year, the state holds a special ceremony at the Freedom Monument, the location of the shooting incident, near the Black Star Square at Osu, in Accra, in memory of the three Ghanaian World War II veterans and, by extension, to honour all the war veterans.

We would continue to encourage the commemoration of that incident even when all the war veterans leave for eternity.

We, however, think such an anniversary will be only ritualistic if it is marked with parades, wreath-laying, and speeches.

We need to immortalise the incident by learning from it, especially with regard to the events that led to it and those that followed it.

The incident significantly contributed to the attainment of the country’s political independence.

Today, the British have been gone for 67 years this March. Can the country’s leaders claim they have prevented the similitude of what led to the veterans’ protest, which the British interpreted as a riot and, as such, attempted to quell it with the fatal shooting?

Aren’t our present-day native politicians and other public officials withholding all manner of payments to some people and even calling their bluff in addition?

May yesterday’s commemoration of the Christianborg Crossroads shooting remind these state officials that one day the victims of their insensitive acts can cause uproars that will be supported by the whole nation.

In the face of all the hardships in the country now, which duty-bearers must address, they sometimes paint a picture that all is rosy.

We can see that there is pent-up anger among the masses, which can explode into an uncontrollable action if only public officials, especially, continue to flourish while the majority of the people languish in squalor.

Listen to public reactions to provocative remarks made by some swollen-headed politicians, and no one should tell you politicians and their cohorts can no longer treat the people as being gullible and take them for a ride.

It will be recalled that shortly after days of disturbances across the country following the February 28, 1948 incident, the leadership of the United Gold Coast Conven­tion (UGCC), a political party, sent a cable to the Secretary of State for the Colonies in London warning that the situation would get out of control if the colonial government was not changed for an independent one.

Has independence brought to the country equality, justice, accountability, and other such values or virtues that the incident became a catalyst for?

The Ghanaian Times believes that the commemoration of the 1948 shooting incident is unproductive if its lessons are not brought to bear on the current governance of the country.