1948 Accra riots

1948 riots in Accra, colonial Ghana March 2021 thumb|Monument to soldiers killed during the 1948 Accra riots The Accra riots started on 28 February 1948 in Accra, the capital of the then British colony of the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana). Police broke up a protest march by unarmed ex-servicemen who were agitating for their benefits as veterans of World War II, having fought with the Gold Coast Regiment of the Royal West African Frontier Force. Three of the protest leaders of the group were left dead - Sergeant Nii Adjetey, Corporal Patrick Attipoe and Private Odartey Lamptey;https://3ddemocracy.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/ghana-commemorates-christiansborg-crossroad-shooting/ Ghana commemorates the 63rd anniversary of the 28 February Christiansborg, Crossroad shooting Anter Tarig 3D Democracy for People Participation in Alternative System 28 February 2012 20 October 2020 The Riots of 28th February 1948 Public Records And Archives Administration Department (PRAAD) Accra https://praad.gov.gh/index.php/the-riots-of-28th-february-1948/ 2023-08-04 en-GB 22 July 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230722010836/https://praad.gov.gh/index.php/the-riots-of-28th-february-1948/ dead all three have since been memorialized in Accra. The 28 February incident is considered "the straw that broke the camel's back", marking the key point in the process of the Gold Coast becoming the first African colony to achieve independence, becoming Ghana on 6 March 1957.Austin Dennis Politics in Ghana: 1946–1960 Oxford University Press 1970 9780192850461 new London 49–102 enHowe Russell Warren Russell Warren Howe 1957 Gold Coast into Ghana The Phylon Quarterly 18 2 155–161 10.2307/273187 273187 0885-6826 Background In January 1948, the Ga chief, Nii Kwabena Bonne III,Nii Kwabena Bonne III Milestones in the History of the Gold Coast: Autobiography of Nii Kwabena Bonne II, Osu Alata Mantse, also Nana Owusu Akenten III, Oyokohene of Techiman Ashanti Diplomatist Publications 1953 835843739 known in private life as Theodore Taylor (1888–1968),https://books.google.com/books?id=9h3IBAAAQBAJ&q=emmanuel+charles+quist+relations&pg=PT112 Oxford Street, Accra: City Life and the Itineraries of Transnationalism Quayson Ato Ato Quayson 13 August 2014 Duke University Press 978-0-8223-7629-3 en had organised a boycott of all European imports in response to their inflated prices.http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/MARTYRS-of-X-borg-Crossrodas-Sgt-Adjetey-Cpl-Lamptey-Cpl-Attipoe-52769 Nii-Ashitei Ashitey MARTYRS of X'borg Crossrodas: Sgt. Adjetey, Cpl. Lamptey & Cpl. Attipoe GhanaWeb 28 February 2014 20 January 2015 The boycott's aim was to press the foreign traders known as the Association of West African Merchants (AWAM) to reduce the inflated prices of their goods.http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/artikel.php?ID=120440 The 'Big Six', Myth or Reality? 3 April 2007 Kosi Dedey 8 March 2007 Feature article GhanaWebnotes AWAM has since become a term synonymous with cheating or profiteering in Ghana.Ghanaian Slang https://www.timeout.com/accra/travel/ghanaian-slang-tribal-terms Time Out Daniel Nielson Accra 25 November 2015 The boycott was followed by a series of riots in early February 1948.http://www.ghanareview.com/directory/history.html Ghana before Independence Allan D. Ohene March 2002 Ghana Review The day the boycott was scheduled to end, 28 February, coincided with a march in Accra by veterans of World War II. 28 February march and riot The march on 28 February 1948 was a peaceful attempt by former soldiers to bring a petition to the Governor of the Gold Coast requesting the dispensation of promised pensions and other compensation for their efforts during the war. The ex-servicemen were members of the Gold Coast Regiment, who were among the most decorated African soldiers, having fought in Burma alongside British troops. Despite having been promised pensions and jobs after the war, when these servicemen returned home, there was scant employment for them and their pensions were not paid.https://rtomedium.com/2021/08/20/history-lane-the-accra-riots-28th-february-1948/ The Accra Riots, 28th February 1948 rtomedium.com 20 August 2021 12 September 2025 As the group marched towards the Governor's residence at Christiansborg Castle, they were stopped and confronted by the colonial police, who refused to let them pass. The British police superintendent Colin ImrayThe National Archives Kew The Discovery Service Imray, Colin, (1909–1998), Assistant Police Commissioner Colonial Service https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F45933 2023-06-15 discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk en-GB ordered his subordinates to shoot at the protesters, but they did not. Possibly in panic,Ensor Michael Policeman in Africa by Colin Imray: Review by Michael Ensor (Gold Coast/Ghana 1940–58) https://www.britishempire.co.uk/library/policemaninafrica.htm The British Empire 31 October 2020 Imray grabbed a rifle and shot at the leaders of the protest,Imray Colin Imray, Colin Herbert (Oral History) https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80012640 Imperial War Museum 20 November 1992 31 October 2020 killing three veterans: Sergeant Adjetey, Corporal Attipoe and Private Odartey Lamptey. In addition to these three fatalities, several members of the crowd were wounded.The 'Cat's Paw of Dictatorship': State Security and Self-Rule in the Gold Coast, 1948 to 1957 https://escholarship.org/content/qt1h26z17f/qt1h26z17f.pdf Arnold Chase 2019 14 May 2023 UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations People in Accra took to the streets in riot over these killings. On the same day, the local political leadership, the United Gold Coast ConventionAustin, Dennis The Working Committee of the United Gold Coast Convention 1961 University of London, Institute of Commonwealth Studies 224008819 (UGCC), led by the Big Six, sent a cable to the Secretary of State in London: "...unless Colonial Government is changed and a new Government of the people and their Chiefs installed at the centre immediately, the conduct of masses now completely out of control with strikes threatened in Police quarters, and rank and file Police indifferent to orders of Officers, will continue and result in worse violent and irresponsible acts by uncontrolled people." They also blamed the Governor Sir Gerald Creasy (whom they called "Crazy Creasy") for his handling of the country's problems. The UGCC cable further stated: "Working Committee United Gold Coast Convention declare they are prepared and ready to take over interim Government. We ask in name of oppressed, inarticulate, misruled and misgoverned people and their Chiefs that Special Commissioner be sent out immediately to hand over Government to interim Government of Chief and People and to witness immediate calling of Constituent Assembly." The unrest in Accra, and in other towns and cities, lasted for five days, during which Asian- and European-owned stores and businesses were looted and more deaths occurred."Kwame Nkrumah: Africa's 'Man of the Millennium. Danquah Institute. By 1 March, the Governor had declared a state of emergency and a new Riot Act was put in place. It was reported in the British parliament that the Governor had "imposed a curfew in certain parts of Accra and ... made regulations to control traffic and close roads".https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1948/mar/01/gold-coast-rioting-accra#column_38 Gold Coast (Rioting, Accra) Hansard 1 March 1948 448 Strict press censorship was imposed over the entire country by Governor Creasy.2017-10-28 October 26, 1948 – Coussey Commission formed in aftermath of Gold Coast riots https://www.eaumf.org/ejm-blog/2017/10/28/october-26-1948-coussey-commission-formed-in-aftermath-of-gold-coast-riots 2023-08-04 Edward A. Ulzen Memorial Foundation en-GB Aftermath The British colonial government set up the Watson Commission, 10.1057/9780230603486_7 The Watson Commission and the Coussey Committee The Regime Change of Kwame Nkrumah 143–182 2007 Rahman Ahmad A. 978-1-349-52903-2http://justiceghana.com/blog/our-country/history-and-politics/the-tales-of-june-4-and-the-1948-riots/ The Tales of June 4 and The 1948 Riots JusticeGhana 23 May 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20181018002108/http://justiceghana.com/blog/our-country/history-and-politics/the-tales-of-june-4-and-the-1948-riots/ 18 October 2018 live Okyere, Vincent N. (2000), Ghana. A Historical Survey, Accra: Vinojab Publications (9789988776312), p. 158. which examined the circumstances of the riots, and paved the way for constitutional changes that culminated in Ghana's independence.https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C5153#:~:text=Administrative%20/%20biographical%20background:-,The%20Commission%20of%20enquiry%20into%20disturbances%20in%20the%20Gold%20Coast,in%20February%20and%20March%201948. Colonial Office: Commission of enquiry into disturbances in the Gold Coast (Watson Commission, 1948) 1948 The National Archives Kew en-GB The immediate aftermath of the riots included the arrest on 12 March 1948 of "the Big Six" – Kwame Nkrumah and other leading activists in the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) party (namely Ebenezer Ako-Adjei, Edward Akufo-Addo, J. B. Danquah, Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey and William Ofori Atta),Akansina Aziabah Maxwell Obetsebi-Lamptey, Emmanuel Odarquaye 2011-12-08 African American Studies Center Oxford University Press 10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.49678 978-0-19-530173-1 who were held responsible for orchestrating the disturbances and were detained; they were released a month later. The arrest of the leaders of the UGCC raised the profile of the party around the country and made them national heroes.SECRETARY OF THE UGCC 2007-11-15 Kwame Nkrumah. Vision and Tragedy David Rooney 52–72 Sub-Saharan Publishers 10.2307/j.ctvk3gm60.9 978-9988-647-81-0 The Watson Commission reported that the 1946 constitution was inappropriate from the start, because it did not address the concerns of the natives of the Gold Coast. The Commission also recommended that the Gold Coast be allowed to draft its own constitution. A 40-member committee was set up to draft a constitution, with six representatives of the UGCC. The governor excluded Kwame Nkrumah, among others, from the constitutional drafting committee, for fear of drafting a constitution that would demand absolute independence for the colony.Colonial Office: Commission of enquiry into disturbances in the Gold Coast (Watson Commission, 1948) https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C5153 live https://web.archive.org/web/20170307231404/http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk:80/details/r/C5153 7 March 2017 The National Archives Kew By 1949, Nkrumah had broken away from the UGCC to form the Convention People's Party (CPP), with the motto "Self-government now", and a campaign of "Positive Action". Nkrumah broke away, due to misunderstandings at the leadership front of the UGCC.Bob-Milliar, George M. http://worldcat.org/oclc/908249721 Verandah boys versus reactionary lawyers : nationalist activism in Ghana, 1946–1956 International Journal of African Historical Studies 47 2 287–318 2014 WorldCat 908249721 On 6 March 1957, the country achieved its independence and was renamed Ghana, with Kwame Nkrumah as its first President. Notes notes References Further reading "Ghana Veterans and the 1948 Accra Riots", Witness History, BBC World Service, 7 March 2014. Accra Riots, 1948 Accra Riots, 1948 Category:20th century in Accra Accra riots Category:History of Accra Category:Riots and civil disorder in Ghana