Today in History: Exactly 56 years ago when J. B Danquah was arrested and detained in Nsawam Prison

Today marks 56 years when Dr. Joseph Boakye Danquah was re-arrested and detained on January 8, 1964, for allegedly being implicated in a plot against the President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah

His arrest came against the backdrop of his alleged participation in Police Constable Seth Ametewee’s failed assassination attempt on Kwame Nkrumah on January 2, 1964 which got the bodyguard of Nkrumah, Salifu Dagarti Killed.

Salifu Dagarti shot in the Assassination attack on Nkrumah

J . B Danquah was first arrested and detained under the Preventive Detention Act (PDA) on October 3, 1961 and released on June 22, 1962.

Danquah was allegedly found to possess his own signed hand-written speech which he intended for broadcast in the wake of the success of Police Constable Seth Ametewee’s attempted assassination on Nkrumah.

J. B Danquah died at Nsawam Prison 13 months later on February 4, 1965 after being detained without trial by the Convention People’s Party (CPP) government led by Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

He was born in December 1895 in the town of Bepong in Kwahu in the Eastern Region of Ghana (then the Gold Coast). He descended from the royal family of Ofori Panyin Fie, once the rulers of the Akyem states, and one of the most influential families in Ghanaian politics. His elder brother was Nana Sir Ofori Atta I and his son is actor Paul Danquah.