At long last… independence

The journey to the lowering of the Union Jack and its replacement with the newly independent nation’s, Ghana, was chequered.

It was a long and tortuous trip drawing in, some instances, the blood of some Gold Coasters on the frontline of the early days of the struggle.

The rancor, which ensued among the pioneers of the struggle leading to the parting of paths, was another interesting chapter in the chronology of events leading up to independence.

The colour red, one of three constituting the national flag of the newly independent country, represents the blood of the gallant natives.

The role of the ex-servicemen, who went on a peaceful march on 28th February 1948 to the Christianborg Castle to demand what was due them, constitutes an integral part of the struggle. It provided an important catalyst for independence albeit indirectly.

Varying Narratives

Historical narratives are always varied hence their controversial nature, and the story of Ghana’s independence is not an exception.

While some attribute the achievement of independence to the sole role of Kwame Nkrumah, others dispute this account.

The latter have a larger following because various players appeared on the political arena, with each playing their parts as would be appreciated as the narration pans out.

Kwame Nkrumah

Kwame Nkrumah’s exceptional aura and practical understanding of the psychology of politics appeared to have endeared him to many Gold Coasters and sometimes exaggerating his role, thereby dwarfing the contributions of others.

Kwame Nkrumah’s overwhelming stature in the independence struggle was world-acclaim.

Even after being accused of having a hand in the attempt to murder Kwame Nkrumah in a grenade attack in Kulungugu in the then Northern Region, one of his young aides, Tawia Adamafio, did not deny the leader of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) words of respect.

UGCC

Kwame Nkrumah was General Secretary of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), the CPP’s forebear, about which Tawiah Adamafio in his book ‘By The Side Of Kwame Nkrumah’ has written copiously.

He recalled the Committee on Youth Organisation (CYO) whose formation was credited to Kwame Nkrumah to ginger the interest in the independence struggle.

Tawiah writes, “I was a member of the Adabraka branch of the CYO and we were really a strong group. With men like K.B. Ntim, member for Kade in the Busia Parliament and Kwesi Amoako Atta, our secretary, who was to become Finance Minister in the Nkrumah government at the time of the coup, the branch did its utmost in vain to repair the split that occurred in UGCC, by trying to bring Kwame and the other leaders together.”

Meeting

He spoke about how one day a meeting was arranged at Palladium for Dr. Nkrumah to speak and for Mr. William Ofori Atta from the other side of the political divide to chair.

The enmity between the UGCC and its splinter group which became CPP was so intense that it was unthinkable that such a meeting could take place, Tawiah pointed out.

The success of the meeting led many to think that the broken fences had been mended for normalcy to return.

That was, however, not to be and Kwame Nkrumah turned the CYO into a political party leading to the eventual introduction of the CPP, as Tawiah recalled on 12th June 1949.

Dynamism

Tawiah said the CPP’s dynamism was swift that very soon it overwhelmed its rivals on the political plane, with its inroads surprising observers.

In elections such as municipal polls, the one setting the stage for the general election for the first National Assembly, as Tawia pointed out in his book, CPP routed its rivals an important litmus test for Kwame Nkrumah’s party whose grass roots organizational expertise worked to its good.

The split in the front of the UGCC was not supported by some including Tawia Adamafio who thought that this would play into the hands of the colonialists from whom power must be taken away.

Mother Party

Tawia, therefore, decided to stay with the mother party supporting Kwame Nkrumah with party organization all the way.

He narrated that Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia led a fusion of the National Democratic Party (NDP) and members of the CPP who fell out with Kwame Nkrumah such as Twumasi Ankrah and others.

He said of the new party, “This new party held great promise and its membership started to grow rapidly. Many people held the view that at last the CPP had met its match.” The party picked some of the flamboyant styles of the CPP; something which appealed to the people.

Things, however, suffered a setback, Tawia observed, when, as he put it, “a Labour Party delegation from London visited the Gold Coast and the Ghana Congress Party decided to hold a big rally to do some filibustering. Dr. Busia was to be the principal speaker. The Professor, without consulting the Executive Committee, cyclostyled his speech and gave copies to the Labour Party delegation. No written address was read at the party rallies as a matter of practice then, but this would not of itself have mattered much if the speech had been of the fighting kind which was then in vogue against the imperialists.”

Busia’s Critique

Prof. Busia’s presentation was a critique about the poor state of the Gold Coast at the time, according to Tawia. He pointed at the unavailability of professionals such as doctors and administrators, arguments used by the colonialists to buttress their position that Gold Coasters were unripe for independence at the time. Moderation was the preference of the Professor, but this led to a split in the front of the independence struggle.

As elaborated by Tawia, Dr. J.B. Danquah, Obetsebi Lamptey and others were on one side, while Prof. Busia, N.A. Ollenu and others were on the other.

Prof. Busia observation was harmless and in the interest of the struggle somewhat. It underlined the failure of the British to prepare us to take over governance.

Unfortunately, at the time he made the critique in 1952 he was regarded by some as a traitor.

Self Government

The ‘Self Government Now, Now, Now’ mantra and the ‘Self Government Within The Shortest Possible Time’ was in the air in 1951, the period of the first step into independence.

A story has been narrated by a former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Mohammed Alhassan, about Kwame Nkrumah’s skills at winning people over to his side.

Dr. Alhassan points out in his publication ‘Determination and Conflict in a Muslim Society’ that “Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the leader of the Convention People’s Party, was extremely skilful in his dealings with the people.” There was an incident which the writer (Dr. Alhassan) witnessed concerning the method of Dr. Nkrumah in his dealings with the people. According to him, Mr. Gbedemah had done something which upset the Muslims for which Kwame Nkrumah intervened by calling for a meeting at the house of one of the Muslim leaders of the CPP at Adabraka, a certain Alhaji Seidu Dogoe.

Kwame Nkrumah was not received well when he turned up for the meeting but he quickly sat down on a mat alongside his hosts and asked for some kola, which some of them were munching at the time. They were amazed at his humility and that addressed the impasse.

Politics In Zongos

The independence struggle in the Zongo communities in the Gold Coast was another kettle of fish, with Kumasi being the epicentre. This aspect of the struggle is hardly mentioned when the story is told.

Vigilantism was born out of the struggle and there was no shortage of hoodlums in the Garden City’s large and scattered Zongo communities. The Verandah Boys concept in the CPP was born and nurtured here.

Those belonging to the rival party to the CPP were very active, with their cocktail Molotovs becoming their feature in the Garden City.

Kwame Nkrumah’s visits to Kumasi before independence and at the height of the clashes between UP supporters and their CPP counterparts were for security reasons restricted.

Oral Tradition

Alhaji Baba Sheriff Abdullahi, CEO of Marhaba Media, recalls in an interview with the ‘Daily Guide’ politics in the Kumasi Zongo communities.

The Zongo elites, as he recalled, played prominent roles in the nationalist struggle.

He mentioned names such as Amadu Baba, a Sarkin Zongo or Zongo Chief in Kumasi, whose house was close to the Manhyia Palace.

“Amadu Baba was a leading figure in the Muslim Association Party or Islam as it was then called. Other members were Baba Mailafia, Malam Baako and Malam Sharubutu, the Chief Imam’s father. When, however, the law proscribing political parties with ethnocentric or religious inclinations was passed in 1956 the party merged with the Northern People’s Party (NPP) and the Ga me ashikpokpeto form the United Party or UP. The NPP had with leaders like SD Dombo, B.K. Adama, Jatoe Kaleo.”

The NPP had the majority in the fused political grouping, said Alhaji Sheriff, but the leadership went to Prof. K.A. Busia because of his higher educational background.

Mumuni Bawumia, it was also speculated, crossed over to the CPP out of disapproval of the leadership transfer to Prof. Busia, Alhaji Baba Sheriff said.

MB Suleimana

Continuing, Alhaji Baba Sheriff, who was a young boy in Kumasi towards the end of the nationalist struggle, said, “MB Suleimana or Sulley MB was a CPP Chairman in Kumasi who wielded a lot of power in the city. I remember his heyday when he came to the Kumasi Central Mosque in a Mercedes Benz with the CPP flag fluttering on the bonnet.”

Alhaji Baba Sheriff learnt a lot of Zongo political history from MB Suleimana whom he met later in his twilight.

Heady Days In Kumasi Zongo

Still on the turbulent times in Kumasi Zongo politics, Alhaji Sheriff remembered Amadu Baba, one of the leading political figures, not on the side of Kwame Nkrumah for which he paid dearly for in the form of a deportation order in 1958. “Amadu Baba was born at Ejisu, a rich man and close to Nana Agyeman Prempeh. M. B. Suleimana told me later in 1997 that Kwame Nkrumah invited Amadu Baba to Accra during which engagement he told him to join him and stop the ‘Islam party’ he was engaged in. Amadu Baba returned to Kumasi and reported to Nana Prempeh about what transpired between him and Kwame Nkrumah. Nana Prempeh told Amadu Baba that he should tell Kwame Nkrumah that he won’t lick sputum he had spat out which Amadu Baba reportedly did. It meant he would not rescind his decision of not joining the CPP after declaring his position on the party.”

Deportation

An angry MB Suleimana was said to have combed the Zongos in Kumasi for CPP membership cards. These he collected and brought to Accra to Kwame Nkrumah. He told Kwame Nkrumah to either deport Amadu Baba and others associated with anti-CPP activities or take his CPP cards; Kwame Nkrumah was said to have chosen the latter, Baba Sheriff narrated.

Shawcross In, Shawcross Out

Amadu Baba and others such as Malam Alfa, a resident of Kumasi with Ilorin, Nigeria roots, the Moshie Chief of Kumasi, Zabrama Chief of Akwatia and Malam Bello of Nima were all arrested. Also arrested and eventually deported was Timothy Bankole, a Sierra Leonean news editor of the ‘Daily Graphic’.

A court process was started and Amadu Baba and others slapped with charges for which he secured the services of a British lawyer Lord Shawcross who was not allowed to go beyond the airport, let alone represent Amadu Baba and others. A newspaper headline ‘Shawcross In, Shawcross Out’ became a mantra in Accra and beyond.

Deporting A Ghanaian

Amazingly Amadu Baba, a man born at Ejisu, who had never been to Kano, was deported to Nigeria. He touched base, however, with Prof. Busia who was then lecturing at the University of Ibadan after falling out with Nkrumah.

Amadu Baba’s return to Ghana after the 24th February 1966 putsch was said to have been epochal, with Kumasi railway station literally turned upside down. Hordes of well-wishers accompanied him to his residence in the vicinity of the Manhyia Palace.

Kwame Nkrumah did not have it easy with the Zongo community even in Accra as Baba recalled another interesting development at Sabon Zongo in Accra.

The Central Police Station in Kumasi prior to independence and after was a busy place as the cops there dealt with matters bordering on political violence between supporters of CPP and their UP counterparts.

Vigilantism

“The youth at a place called Naakaama were notorious for their violent activities. The place was reserved for car washing business for the youth supporting CPP and they were indeed violent,” recalled Baba Sheriff.

The Aboabo Station in Kumasi had two places for loading passengers, one for CPP and the other for UP, even though passengers who turned up were destined for the same destination. Soda water, a non-alcoholic beverage, was used to cause injury. It was shaken so the gas content would expand after which it was hurled at political opponents.

Accra Sabon Zongo

“There was a man called Atta Atta who said prayers each time Kwame Nkrumah mounted the dais at rallies. One day, this man organized for Kwame Nkrumah to meet some elders at Sabon Zongo in a bid to win them over to his side. When Kwame Nkrumah turned up for the arranged engagement he quickly called it off, saying he could tell from the body language of his hosts that they did not like him,” Baba Sheriff said.

Nkrumah’s Speech

In June 1955, Kwame Nkrumah addressed his supporters in Kumasi thus ‘‘we salute you in this your test of endurance and send you our warm and fervent wishes for a speedy and victorious conclusion to your sufferings.”

Independence Motion

On August 3rd 1956, the Legislative Assembly approved a government motion calling on the British government to arrange as soon as practicable this year for an Act of Parliament recommending declaring the Gold Coast independent.

Finally

After all the travails, the correspondence, imprisonment, relative secondary elections one of which earned Kwame Nkrumah Leader of Government Business, the ultimate arrived, 6th March 1957, and as the new Prime Minister himself screamed out the words, “At long Last Ghana Your Beloved Country Is Free Forever” he used his white handkerchief to wipe the tears of joy from his face.