W.E.B. Du Bois Institute Ghana at Fifty: Reflections on Independence and After Author(s): Emmanuel Akyeampong and Ama de-Graft Aikins Source: Transition, No. 98 (2008), pp. 24-34 Published by: Indiana University Press on behalf of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20204244 . Accessed: 12/04/2011 21:07 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=iupress. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Indiana University Press and W.E.B. Du Bois Institute are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Transition. http://www.jstor.org Ghana at Fifty reflections on independence and after Emmanuel Akyeampong and Ama de-Graft Aikins Ghana was a hive of activity in 2007 as it prepared for the fiftieth anniversary of its political independence from the British, effective March 6,1957. The Jubilee celebrations spanned the entire year, peak ing around the anniversary date itself. Final preparations for the a independence anniversary reached fever pitch in January and February of 2007 with the transformation of public spaces in Accra. At the new man Tetteh Quarshie Interchange?commemorating the Ga who had to cocoa returned the Gold Coast in 1878 with pods that he planted in the Mampong, Akuapem (to north of Accra), thus popularizing the crop among local farmers and making the colony the world's leading cocoa was exporter of by 1911?grass frantically grown tuft by small swarms men women tuft by of young and (including nursing mothers) every single day until the evening of March 5, 2007. Across the city, major circles (rotaries) named after Kwame Nkrumah, J. B. Danquah, and Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey?three of the "Big Six" in the United Gold Coast Convention, the Gold Coast's first political party?were as on shrouded by raffia matting restoration work monuments and structures was a progressed. Liberation square transformed into public shrine for the founding fathers of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), now renamed the African Union (AU). Throughout the city, large billboards and customized State Transport current vehicles featuring pictures of Ghana's president, John Agyekum and its first Dr. Kufuor, president, Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah, in imag to to comment on ined dialogue began appear. As if the contrasting political spirits of 1957 and 2007 Ghana?the former strident, the latter conciliatory?one prominent image juxtaposed Nkrumah's rallying cry of Forward Ever, Backward Never!-with Kufuor's tentative assurance that was Ghana slowly but surely moving toward its development goals. The was transformation of public spaces followed by the influx of memorabilia. The flags arrived first?in mini, midi, and maxi versions? no on in time becoming fixtures the windscreens and bonnets of private as an cars, taxis, and tro-tros, infectious patriotic spirit filled the streets. Ringtones of the national anthem and patriotic songs of the 1950s sneaked 24 Transition 98 Photo courtesy of Emmanuel Akyeampong Photo courtesy of Emmanuel Akyeampong Akyeampong and Aikins Ghana at Fifty 25 their way into the noisy repertoire of soul, hip-life (a distinctly Ghanaian blend of high life and hip hop), reggae, and gospel so beloved tomobile phone-obsessed urbanit?s. Shops, wayside kiosks, markets, and the vend were soon ing trays of street traders filled with anniversary cloth, T-shirts, even fashion accessories, mugs, baskets, and foldaway garden chairs. was Accra swathed in the national colors of red, gold, and green, and an filled with air of anticipation and jubilation. was The atmosphere of jubilation reminiscent of the euphoria that marked the independence celebration of March 1957. As the first black to accom sub-Saharan African country gain independence, Ghana's enormous plishment had international significance. Because Western as a powers viewed Ghana's strong economy in the 1950s sign of the an or no economic potential of emerging Africa, those with little expe on to rience the continent began accelerate their intelligence-gathering was activities. Nkrumah noted for his commitment to pan-Africanism, were and people of African descent around the world ecstatic about this beacon of "black pride." Many African Americans flocked to Ghana in the 1950s and 1960s to assist the new Ringtones of the national anthem Nkrumah government in the exPeriment at nation building in black and patriotic songs of the 1950s Africa. In 1951 Nkrumah formed the sneaked their into the way noisy first African government in Ghana when his the Convention repertoire of soul, hip-life, reggae, party, People's won the and so beloved to mobile ^ gospel in convincing ^uaryfashion. ]95]In June elect^1s 1951 urbanit?s. was com phone-obsessed Nkrumah invited to give the mencement speech at his alma mater, to Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He used the occasion invite Afri can Americans to return to Ghana and aid in the development of the nation. Many responded to his call. The American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., later attended Ghana's independence celebra was tions in March 1957 and profoundly touched by his experience. He to to a sermon on returned the United States preach his visit and the lessons he had drawn, "The Birth of a New Nation." In this sermon, to King added his voice Nkrumah's invitation, encouraging African Americans to go and assist Nkrumah in this novel and important exper a iment of building modern African nation in sub-Saharan Africa. were Countries still under colonial rule also inspired by Ghana's was independence, the international significance of which underscored by the celebrations of 1957 throughout the African diaspora. Lord a Kitchener, the Trinidadian-born calypso singer, composed song in honor of Ghana's independence. Among other Caribbean Africans and African Americans who attended Ghana's independence celebrations were in 1957 George Padmore, who lived and died in Ghana, and after 26 Transition 98 whom the George Padmore Library is named; Norman Manley, who later became the prime minister of Jamaica; U.N. official and Nobel laureate Ralph Bunche; Lucille Armstrong, representing her husband Louis Armstrong; and labor leaders and educators from historically as black universities such Howard University and Lincoln University. an Then U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon led American delegation, was and Britain, the retreating colonial power, represented by Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Kent. to A truncated?relative the turnout in 1957?but still impressive, lineup of foreign leaders and dignitaries attended the fiftieth anniver sary celebration on March 6, 2007. In terms of heads of state, every was came region in Africa well represented: from North Africa Abdelaziz was Bouteflika of Algeria; East Africa ably represented by Yoweri Musev eni from Uganda; from Central Africa Many African Americans came Joseph Kabila from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Levy Mwana- flocked to Ghana in the wasa from Africa was Zambia; Southern 1950s an(J ,?60s to^?^ the represented by Festus Mogae from Nkrumah in the Botswana, Robert Mugabe from Zimbabwe, government and Thabo Mbeki from South Africa; and new experiment at nation severalWest African leaders turned out in bu?|d? ?Rb|ack Afr?ca# s full support, including Africa first female head of state, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia. Though the list of West ern was not as as dignitaries extensive in 1957, it included notables such as the Duke of Kent, Prince Edward (representing Queen Elizabeth II), and Baroness Amos, leader of the British House of Lords. Representing were the United States Alphonso Jackson, Secretary for Housing and Urban Development, and civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson. was Kofi Annan, the former United Nations Secretary General, in atten dance, as well as the then World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz. the barrage Despite of images featuring Kufuor and Nkrumah, there was amount public contention regarding the of official attention paid was an to Nkrumah's legacy. There very little of what El Shabazz, or African American resident in Cape Coast, young Ghanaian univer sity students in Accra had expected: the broadcasting of Nkrumah's over or era on speeches the airwaves, footage from the featured televi was sion. Nkrumah's family house in Nkroful?where he born?was to reported be in serious disrepair, and the Nkroful community threat to some ened boycott the anniversary celebrations. Indeed, opined that was an this independence anniversary celebration in the Danquah Akyeampong and Aikins Ghana at Fifty 27 ',y' -^s^^w- *''^i^^^^^^^^^^ Photo courtesy Busia tradition?two figures who had opposed Nkrumah. While Madam of Emmanuel Ama Busia, sister of the late Prime Minister Dr. K. A. Busia, was honored yeampong wjtj1 ^e Companion of the Order of the Volta by the government, and President Kufuor attended a "Dr.