Verandah Boys Versus Reactionary Lawyers: Nationalist Activism in Ghana, 1946–1956* by George M. Bob-Milliar
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
International Journal of African Historical Studies Vol. 47, No. 2 (2014) 287 Verandah Boys versus Reactionary Lawyers: Nationalist Activism in Ghana, 1946–1956* By George M. Bob-Milliar Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology-Kumasi ([email protected]) Introduction Despite the historical importance of political participation in Ghana, there has been no serious attempt to analyze political party activism as an overall process in the pre- independence period. Yet, the nature of party activism and the activists that were at the forefront of party mobilization is important for understanding the history of political activism in Ghana. To be sure, Dennis Austin’s Politics in Ghana, 1946–1960 stands out as one of the most detailed and thorough account of political participation in Ghana, spanning the late colonial and the immediate post-colonial periods.1 Many other excellent publications examine the origins, nature, and the growth of nationalist or protest movements after the Second World War.2 Furthermore, a few case studies of localized political themes have broadened our knowledge of how local grievances necessitated the emergence of such protest movements. And then there are the few personal memories of political activists.3 Political participation is a very broad concept, but it can be defined as * The author wishes to thank Sara Berry, the two anonymous reviewers, and the editor of the IJAHS for their constructive comments on earlier drafts, from which the final version has greatly benefited. A version of this article was presented at the 16th Annual Conference of the International Society for African Philosophy and Studies (ISAPS), University of Ghana, Legon, 18 March 2010. The author thanks the participants. Nevertheless, the author is solely responsible for any remaining errors. 1 Dennis Austin, Politics in Ghana, 1946–1960 (London: Oxford University Press, 1964). 2 See, for example, David Apter, Ghana in Transition (Princeton: Princeton University Press, [1955] 1972); Albert Adu Boahen, Ghana: Evolution and Change in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (Accra: Sankofa Educational Publishers, 2000); Kofi Awoonor, Ghana: A Political History from Pre-European to Modern Times (Accra: Sedco/Woeli Publishing services, 1990); Paul Ladouceur, Chiefs and Politicians: The Politics of Regionalism in Northern Ghana (London: Longman Group, 1979); D.E.K. Amenumey, Ghana: A Concise History from Pre-Colonial Times to the 20th Century (Accra: Woeli Publishing Services, 2008). 3 See, for example, Richard Rathbone, “Businessmen in Politics: Party Struggle in Ghana, 1949–57,” Journal of Development Studies 9, 3 (1973), 391–401; Maxwell Owusu, Uses and Abuses of Political Power: A Case Study of Continuity and Change in the Politics of Ghana, 2nd ed. (Accra: Ghana Universities Press, 2006); Jean M. Allman, “Hewers of Wood, Carriers of Water: Islam, Class, and Politics on the Eve of Ghana’s Independence,” African Studies Review 34, 2 (1991), 1–26; Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana: The Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah (Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson, 1957); Joseph Appiah, Joe Appiah, the Autobiography of an African Patriot (Accra: Asempa Publisher, 1996); Mumuni Bawumia, A Life in the Political History of Ghana (Accra: Ghana Universities Press, 2004). Copyright © 2014 by the Board of Trustees of Boston University. 288 George M. Bob-Milliar “those actions of private citizens by which they seek to influence or to support government and politics.”4 In Ghana, pre-independence nationalist activism was aimed at freeing the nation from foreign domination. The objective of this article is to present an understanding of the culture of party activism in the 1950s. The type of political activism discussed in this article was of two kinds: micro- and macro-level activism,5 and urban and rural activism. Although the emphasis in this article is on micro-level political behavior, some attention is given to macro characteristics as well. Most analyses of Ghanaian political behavior discussed the formal aspects of the political system. As yet, there has been no serious attempt to analyze the variables that defined party activism in the pre-independence period. This article hopes to open discussion on political activists; men and women who dominated party politics particularly at the grassroots levels at the dawn of independence. The United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), the first party to be formed by the southern Gold Coast elites had the avowed aim of ending colonial rule through legal and constitutional means. Its leadership consisted of persons from the legal profession. The UGCC mobilized the disgruntled colonial subjects in the urban centers, and for a period of less than five years was the foremost political organization in the southern Gold Coast towns of Saltpond, Cape Coast, Sekondi-Takoradi, Accra, Koforidua and Kumasi. The party enjoyed urban support and could count on the goodwill of upper-class Gold Coasters, especially the so-called natural rulers and the merchant class. Its popularity was, however, short-lived as another political party—the more progressive Convention People’s Party (CPP)—emerged and completely overshadowed the UGCC. The CPP was dominated by commoners who called themselves verandah boys. Two different political traditions with somewhat loose ideologies were now competing to end British colonial rule in Ghana. The CPP’s verandah boys were competing against the UGCC’s “reactionary lawyers” on different platforms. The CPP’s verandah boys were devoted and inspirational. Above all, they were disciplined and their organizational skills exceptional. According to Kofi Baako, “[t]he term verandah boys does not mean a person who sleeps on the verandah. All it means is that the leaders and members of the CPP, notwithstanding how wealthy they may be, do and will continue to associate themselves with the man [or woman] on the lowest rung of the social ladder.”6 While the “reactionary lawyers” were mostly Middle Temple trained barristers-at-law and successful merchants, the verandah boys were mostly Standard VII graduates and many were unemployed or informally employed.7 This article applies the concept party activists to cover all party members who sought elected office, fund-raised or campaigned for their various parties, their mode of involvement (intra- or inter-party) and with the colonial system constituted political activism. 4 Lester Milbrath and M.L. Goel, Political Participation: How and Why Do People Get Involved in Politics? (Chicago, IL: Rand McNally College Publishing Company, 1977), 2. 5 Micro-level activism refers to individual campaigns on platforms and at polling stations and macro- level activism refers to larger social units, such as national politics and the political system. 6 Quoted in Kwesi Yankah, Education, Literacy and Governance: A Linguistic Inquiry into Ghana’s Burgeoning Democracy (Accra: Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2006), 60. 7 Richard Rathbone, Nkrumah and the Chiefs: The Politics of Chieftaincy in Ghana, 1951–1960 (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1999). Nationalist Activism in Ghana, 1946–1956 289 The narrative presented in this article is based on archival data of poll results of elections conducted in 1951, 1954 and 1956. These are supplemented with newspaper and magazine reports. Newspapers are important but underutilized sources in Ghanaian historical writings. Yet, the print media was one of the vehicles used by the nationalists’ leaders for their “newspaper agitations.” News editorials and reports sometimes amplified colonial injustices. Political activities were given wide coverage in the press as many politicians either owned the publishing houses or were editors of private newspapers (e.g., Kwame Nkrumah, J.B. Danquah). As a result, I found newspapers an indispensable source for the reconstruction of the history of party activism in the early 1950s. The article begins with a survey of political activities leading up to the inauguration of the UGCC, and later of the CPP. The next section discusses political parties, activists and their modes of engagement as evidenced in the three general elections. Special emphasis is put on activists and their organizational strategies. It can only be hoped that some of the many interpretative statements advanced here, or complex developments briefly sketched, will stimulate others to delve into the rich archives of written and oral sources of party activism in Ghana. The Birth of Two Political Traditions The Annual Report on the Gold Coast for the year 1947, acknowledged two important developments in the year under review. In the “Brief Review of 1947” segment, the report noted that a new constitution had been granted to the Gold Coast in 1946. This was a noteworthy development because for the first time the laws promulgated in the Legislature were applicable not only to the Colony but also to Ashanti. Secondly, the Legislature had an elected African majority and this gave Ghana the first African-elected majority of any colonized territory in Africa.8 The last paragraph reported that “a new movement, the United Gold Coast Convention, which may most conveniently be classified as a political party, sprang up during 1947.” Continuing it added that “the movement has not so far contributed to the solution of the practical and urgent problems facing the country but has confined itself to an appeal to nationalist feelings.”9 On April 7, 1947, George Alfred Grant (popularly known as Paa Grant), the African merchant prince, invited about forty representative leaders to a conference held at Canaan Lodge, Saltpond. The delegates were to consider proposals for the formation of a political party.10 Advances in communication technologies were basic: news for public consumption travelled very slowly and not many knew of this very important gathering of the Gold Coast elites. Nonetheless, the few, not least the Gold Coast press, that heard of the gathering at Saltpond, relished the moment. The published editorials of some of the leading newspapers of the day said it all: 8 Colonial Office, Annual Report on the Gold Coast for the Year 1947 (London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1948), 3.