William Atuguba's Foreword to the book, 'Ghana's Historic Journey to Self-Government and Independence' by Dr Don-Arthur

I have been given the very great privilege of writing the foreward to Dr. E.G.A. Don -Arthur’s book, GHANA’S HISTORIC JOURNEY TO SELF-GOVERNMENT AND INDEPEPNDENCE.

The main thrust of this book is to settle the question whether Kwame Nkrumah can rightly be recognized as the Founder of Ghana.

This has been necessitated by the resolute measures taken by the current President of Ghana to establish that the founders of Ghana are the well-known Big Six of Ghana and that the proximate event that led to the attainment of Ghana’s independence as a sovereign state is the inauguration of the United Gold Coast Convention on the 4th day of August 1947.

The author however emphasizes that before the formation of the UGCC there were movements such as the Aborigines Rights Protection Society (ARPS) founded by John Mensah Sarbah in 1897 and the British West African National Congress founded by Caseley Hayford in 1917.

The author clearly shows that the UGCC was short-lived (1947-1949) having gone into coma after its inauguration until Kwame Nkrumah, at their invitation became their General Secretary on 16th December, 1947.

The author clearly demonstrates the mindsets of the Big Six and of Nkrumah. He shows that the Big Six were reformists who stood for greater power for the chiefs and some of the intelligentsia of the Gold Coast who would take over power from the British Colonialists if they left the Gold Coast but would operate as a Dominion under the British Crown.

The eventual leaders of the remnants of the UGCC and its eventual transformation into a political party by Dr. J.B. Danquah and Dr. Busia, were royalists of the Akyem Abuakwa and Wenchi stools and operated primarily to push for royalist interests under a chiefly monarchy in federal state with frontline positions for themselves and their fellow patricians, who regarded themselves as the cream of the cream of the Gold Coast Colony. On the other hand, Nkrumah, though not lacking royal descendance was an outright Pan Africanist who before assuming the position of General Secretary of the UGCC, was known and operated as such both in the United States of America and Britain with particular emphasis on independence for all African colonies.

The author clearly demonstrate that the first political party that was organised on the basis of indiscriminate and unitary mobilization of all sectors of the Gold Coast population with the sole aim of achieving independence for Ghana (then the Gold Coast) under a program and slogan of Positive Action, was the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) formed by Kwame Nkrumah who was persuaded by the general congress through vote of no confidence to breakaway from the UGCC to breakaway from it when they were opposed to Nkrumah’s dynamic trust for independence for Ghana and also spontaneously for the whole of the African Continent.

The CPP swept the polls in all elections held before independence

The differences in the mindsets of the leaderships of the UGCC and the CPP with acrimonious hostilities persist and still actively manifest themselves today in Ghana.

A foreward must be such and no more.

Accordingly I conclude it by stressing that the author has glaringly succeeded in proving that Kwame Nkrumah is the Founder of Ghana.

A few sentences into this book reveal that the author is a very well educated, learned and articulate and very objective minded person. He therefore illustrate his point with very thorough research which has unearthed a great haul of empirical evidence, consisting of historical documents of the British Colonial Government of the Gold Coast, American Officials, several writers on the history of the Gold Coast including missionaries, not excluding Danquah and Busia and their Political pronouncements, not discounting his own active experiences and involvement in the independence march of Ghana.

I highly commend the painstaking research and objectivity of the writer and the analytical arrangement and presentation of the subject matter of this book.

I have no doubt that this book will be an invaluable one to all post-kindergarten levels of our Educational System, the Ghanaian Politician, the Ecowas, AU and indeed the whole world.

Verily, verily has the author stated as the theme of his priceless book: “Remembering the Future: The Truth Must Be Told, Say It As It Is!”.

12th January, 2024

​​​​W.A. Atuguba

Retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana