59 Years Ago
With Ekow Duncan
It
was the dawn of 6th March, 1957 when Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, K.A. Gbedemah,
Kojo Botsio and a few of his fellow combatants mounted the small platform at
the old Polo Grounds to declare that Ghana had freed herself from the harsh
British colonial rule.
That
event marked a new stage in hundreds of years of struggle of black people, who
insisted on their right to choose their own leaders.
It
was a victory for the Aborigines Rights Protection Society, the Fanti
Confederacy, the United Gold Coast Convention, the Central Youth Organisation,
the Convention Peoples Party and many other organisations which had dared to
say no to the leadership of the Queen of England.
The
victory was very sweet because it created new conditions for the emancipation
of Black people everywhere and it was most appropriate that the Osagyefo
declared that “the independence of Ghana is meaningless, unless it is linked up
with the total liberation of the African continent”.
Prior
to this sweet victory, almost everything underscored the myth of black
inferiority.
Africans
could not choose their own heads of state and there was no talk of free and
fair election of national leaders. The Queen of England decided who was to
represent her in the Gold Coast as Governor, or Head of State.
Once
the Queen made that decision, it was final and it could not be challenged in
the Supreme Court or anywhere. The Queen’s choice became Head of State whether
you liked it or not.
Even
the Ministers or those responsible for running various sectors of the national
life were appointed from England and they did not look like us in any way.
The
head of the police was white and British. The head of the army was white and
British and the head of even the Church was white and British.
The
statement was loud and clear only white people had what it took to run the
affairs of state.
It
was also apparent that the system insisted that black people were not fit to
mingle with white people. Apartheid had not been formally declared but it was
visible.
There
were European towns dotted across the country and every black person you saw
was a servant of sort.
The Ridge Hospital in Accra was known as the
European hospital, but the reality was that it was exclusively for white
people.
Then
there was the European club, somewhere in the Ministries area: only white people could go there to enjoy themselves.
The message was clear even when it came to drinking beer and chewing kebabs ,
Whites and Blacks could not mix.
Nkrumah described the seat of Government 59
years ago in the following words “it was stark and daunting and seemed to be
summed up in the symbolic bareness which met me and my colleagues when we officially
moved into Christianborg Castle after independence. Making our tour through
room after room, we were struck by the general emptiness. Except for an
occasional piece of furniture, there was absolutely nothing to indicate that
only a few days before people had lived and worked there. In that fortress
vacated by the imperial power, not a rag, not a book was to be found; not a
piece of paper; not a single reminder that for many years the colonial
administration had had its center there.”
It
is indeed surprising, but true, that in 2016, 59 years after the declaration of
independence there are some in our midst who still argue that the achievement
of independence was rushed. They say that we could have delayed a little more.
Some
even say that our independence was meaningless. Whaat?
Only
ignorance can lead to such warped conclusions because the reality 59 years ago
was far worse than what we are going through today.
Who
can tolerate a whites only hospital in the middle of Accra today?
Who
can accept a situation in which our president is appointed by another unelected
head of State who lives 6,000 miles away?
59
years ago was real hell on earth and we must salute our independence and its
heroes and Sheroes.
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