February 28 Shooting Commemoration At Nationalism Park

Sgt Adjetey, Cpl Attipoe, Pte Odartey …February 28 Shooting Commemoration At Nationalism Park

A solemn flag raising and wreath laying ceremony will be held at the newly created Nationalism Park, close to the Freedom Monument at Osu in Accra tomorrow, February 28, to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the 28 February Christiansborg, Crossroad shooting.

The event which is celebrated every year to honour the three ex-servicemen who were killed in 1948 by the colonial police, while marching to the Osu Castle to present a petition to the then Governor, will see a lot of activities this year, with the police and the military bands in attendance.

A contingent made up of officers from the Ghana Army, Navy, Air Force, Police and the Veterans Association of Ghana (VAG) will also be on parade.

Also expected to grace the occasion will be Vice-President John Mahama, Ministers of state, Members of Parliament, members of the diplomatic corps, Service commanders of the various security agencies, traditional rulers, the clergy and other identifiable groups.

After the wreath laying, the Ga Asafo and Kolomashie groups will take over until 6pm. Later that evening at 7pm, there will be a re-enactment of the shooting incident at the Nationalism Park.

The Historical Society of Ghana will also hold a public lecture on the theme *“Celebrating Our Heroes: The Importance Of 28 February To The Independence Of Ghana,” *at the Civil Servants and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG) auditorium, Ministries, Accra, later in the afternoon of Tuesday, February28, 2012, between 3:00pm and 6:00pm.

It would be recalled that, on that sorrowful Saturday, 28th February 1948, before noon, a number of unarmed ex-servicemen were on a march from Accra to the Christiansborg Castle to present a petition to the Governor General and Commander-in-Chief, Sir Gerald Creasy, when they were intercepted at the Christiansborg Crossroad by a contingent of armed policemen, led by a British Superintendent, Colin Imray.

Superintendent Imray ordered the ex-servicemen to disperse, but they did not. He then gave orders to the police to open fire on the ex-service men, but that too did not deter them, so Superintendent Imray himself fired at the Ex-servicemen, killing Sergeant Adjetey, Cpl Attipoe and Private Odartey Lamptey, instantly in cold blood.

The news about the death of the gallant Ex-servicemen spread rapidly, leading to a situation where law and order broke down in Accra and other parts of the country, which was popularly referred to as the 1948 disturbances.

This encouraged the anti-colonial movements to press the British government to institute a committee to investigate the killings and the consequent general disorder.

The committee recommended self- government for the Gold Coast, and subsequently, led to the attainment of political independence for the country on March 6, 1957.

The True Statesman

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