Ayikoi Otoo got it all wrong with Nkrumah

Ayikoi Otoo disputes Nkrumah as founder of modern Ghana. But the claim that Danquah, Otoo's political god-father, and others are the founders of Ghana had also been, and is still, under contestation. I think it is only historical scrutiny that can lay the facts bare.

According to Dr Ako Adjei (who, I repeat, incidentally recommended Nkrumah to the leaders of the UGCC and was a participant-witness of the found-ing of the UGCC) in his 'Life and Work of George Alfred Grant (Paa Grant): Founder of the First National Independence Move-ment in Ghana' (1992, Waterville Publishing House, Accra), “He [Paa Grant] was the founder and President of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) which blazed the fire of nationa-lism in the Gold Coast.”

The preface to Ako Adjei's booklet challenges the widely circulated and believed notion that Danquah is the founder of the UGCC. Thus, the then nascent right-wing political tradition in Ghanaian politics was named after him. “Up to the time that George Alfred Grant (Paa Grant) founded and inaugurated the UGCC in the Gold Coast in the year 1947, no political organisation in any colonial territory in Africa had boldly declared as its aim or objective the demand for national independence from colonial rule.”

Ako Adjei believes Paa Grant inspired the whole of Africa to the path of self-determination. He further prefaces: “The avowed and bold declaration of this principle of National Independence for Africans in Africa by George Alfred Grant may be regarded as, perhaps, the greatest contribution of George Alfred Grant (Paa Grant), to the political independence movement which has resulted in the creation of the independent sovereign states in contemporary Africa.” He explains the circumstances that delayed the publication of the booklet. “For the information and benefits of the readers, I wish to state that I wrote the 'Life and Work of George Alfred Grant’ during his life time. He gave me the facts himself at his residence at Sekondi on the 26th day of September, 1948. It was my intention to publish the ‘Life and Work of George Alfred Grant’ in the form of a pamphlet. Although the manuscript had long been written, I had not published it at the time of his death at Axim, his home-town on 30th of October, 1958. The delay in publishing the pamphlet was due to the political circumstances in the country from the year 1948 to 1956.

“The political circumstances were as follows – Not long after George Alfred Grant had given me the facts about his life and work in September, 1948, the United Gold Coast Convention was thrown into confusion when Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the General Secretary, broke away and formed the Convention People's Party in 1949. If I had published the pamphlet at that time it would not have been received favourably by the youth of the country, in the spirit in which it was written, because I continued to remain with Mr. Grant in the U.G.C.C. “Eventually, when I joined the C.P.P. in the year 1953, I decided that it was not appropriate to publish it at that time for the same reason that the youth of the country would not receive favourably any information concerning Mr Grant, the President of the U.G.C.C.

“When I became a Minister in the Government of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in June, 1954, I still considered that it was not appropriate and convenient to publish the pamphlet. For these reasons I did not publish the manuscript earlier.” Ako Adjei's narration is genuine.

Adjei's story shows how far Grant's political activism went. He says from 1926, Grant was a “Nominated Member of the Legislative Council” appointed by the Governor of the Gold Coast. He was also a member of the proto-nationalist Aborigines Rights Protection Society. On August 4, 1947, “when the United Gold Coast Convention (U.G.C.C.) was inaugurated by George Alfred Grant at Saltpond,” he “initiated the bold and courageous policy demanding the end of British colonial rule and policy of self-determination and complete national independence for the people of the Gold Coast, a policy which was revolutionary and a significant landmark, in the political history of our country.” In his 'Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah' (1957, Panaf), Nkrumah footnotes: “Affectionately known as 'Pa' Grant and 'the father of Gold Coast politics,' George Grant was the first President of the United Gold Coast Convention, … I was able to visit him shortly before he died. The expression on his face then and his attempts to rise from his sickbed to embrace me, moved me deeply. Now he is dead, I realise that the gesture was his way of expressing satisfaction at the thought that he had lived to hear the announcement of a date for Ghana's independence.”

Nkrumah observes further that “I also wrote another letter to Danquah explaining that I was without funds and that I would need about a hundred pounds to cover my passage and travelling expenses. This sum was sent to me by return by George Grant, who was the first President of the U.G.C.C.”

Led by Danquah, some UGCC members heaped culpability on Nkrumah for being the cause of their arrest by the colonial government after the 1948 riots, “and they began to make it plain that they regretted the day they had ever invited me to take up the secretaryship of the U.G.C.C.” Nkrumah adds: “Not satisfied with that, they even began to blame Ako Adjei for his part in recommending me to them.”

When Nkrumah threatened that Positive Action would continue if the Ghana People's Representative Assembly was not allowed to input the report of the Coussey Committee, some UGCC members insulted him extremely. Nkrumah states: “'It is obvious,' declared Danquah, 'that the law, as far as Kwame Nkrumah is concerned, must go according to him.' Then he added: 'It is my opinion that those who go against constitutional authority must expect to pay for it with their neck.'

“This wretched meeting was followed up by various attacks on me and on the Convention People's Party in The Gold Coast Bulletin, now re-named The Gold Coast Weekly Review, a Government sponsored publication.” Considering these facts, why should Danquah and his cohorts be honoured as founders of Ghana? A merchant, Grant financed the UGCC, and without his crucial support, the UGCC would not have survived. But it is curious that a tradition that traces its roots to the UGCC, named the tradition not after Grant as in the Grant-Danquah tradition before Busia comes into the equation: Grant-Danquah-Busia tradition. I ask Otoo to examine why it is that the founder of his ancestral UGCC, Paa Grant, is not named after his (Otoo) tradition. It is because Danquah and his ilk eclipsed the real founder of the tradition and claimed ownership of the tradition. Was Danquah an opportunist for taking what does not really belong to him? I don't think so. To me, it was destiny that did the disservice to Grant, and Danquah should not be blamed. So did destiny make Nkrumah, the proverbial Paul who was the last to join the UGCC, to take the mantle of leading the Gold Coast to political independence as Ghana on March 6, 1957.

Nkrumah did make peace with Grant before the latter died. I believe Nkrumah later regretted the death of Danquah and Emmanuel Obetsibi-Lamptey as a result of their detention in the Nsawam Prisons. Otoo should let us grow above the petty jealousies and vengeances that our political protagonists bequeathed us. Otoo's revisionism cannot undo the available true historical records. He must, therefore, stop the pettiness and let sleeping dogs lie.

Page 3 Ex-Deputy EC Chairman Calls for Drastic Electoral Reforms “After this case, elections in Ghana will not be the same,” states Justice Jones Victor M. Dotse, one of the nine Supreme Court judges who heard and dismissed the 2012 election petition brought by Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo and two other leading members of the new patriotic Party (NPP). A day after the historic verdict of the Supreme Court, Justice Dotse has been vindicated by no other person than a former Deputy Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC). Mr David Adenzie Kanga has called for drastic reforms in the conduct of elections by the EC. He told Citi News, an Accra-based radio station, last Friday that the EC would need reforms to update and improve the electoral system in Ghana. He said the methodologies used in organising elections fade off as the years go by because technology and peoples' understanding change. “Reforms are just a natural sequence of the growth of the Commission," he underscored. Already, some of the judges who ruled on the election petition case have made recommendations for electoral reforms in the country. According to Mr Kanga, the recommendations are important as "It is going to inform future reforms and future conduct of elections in the country.”

The former Deputy EC boss stated that the EC could not deliver credible elections if it was not supported by all Ghanaians. He, however, cautioned staff of the Commission to be diligent in their work. “Nobody in the Commission should think that the Commission is so perfect that they can do their work with their left hand; they must continue to work very hard and continue to learn and practice so that we will be able to deliver credible elections,” he said. Apparently reiterating Justice Dotse's prediction, Nana Akufo-Addo, in his post-verdict media conference on last Thursday, noted: “We might not have been given the ruling we sought, but thanks to our efforts, we can hopefully look forward to an improved electoral process in our country.” In his TV and radio address after the judgement on Thursday, President Mahama hinted at reforms too; but he did not categorically clarify them. “There are various reforms that must take place, and bold decisions that must be made. I assure you that I am prepared and committed to make those decisions and to ensure that those reforms are implemented.”

Reading the judgement, the presiding judge of the nine-member Supreme Court panel which heard the petition case, Justice William A. Atuguba, said: “Dotse JSC granted the claim of over-voting but has provided a road map in his judgement as in the figures of votes to be ascertained and cancelled and a re-run of the areas affected. Dotse JSC upholds the claim relating to absence of presiding officers' signatures on the pink sheets, cancels the results concerned and orders a re-run of the areas affected. Baffoe-Bonnie JSC grants claims of voting without biometric verification, cancels the votes involved and orders a re-run of the areas affected.” In a related development, Public Agenda sampled the views of the public on the verdict of the Supreme Court in Accra. Eli Hope Amegati, a mechanical engineer, said the whole court proceedings and the verdict had strengthened the rule of law in the country. He stated “I now have confidence in the Judiciary and the rule of law. I can now go to court anytime I have a problem and I think it has deepened the system of democracy in the country.”

A shop keeper who wants to be anonymous said: “Our Judiciary has been tested and it has shown that the rule of law is at work. Our confidence which was wavered due to the issues of the judgment debt has been restored. I believe that because of the issues that arose concerning the elections, the Electoral Commission will go back and do its home work well. That is, make the necessary reforms and changes to avoid such mishaps in the next elections.”

Obaa Yaa, a fried yam seller, however had a varied opinion. She stated: “I have lost confidence in the court and don't think the rule of law prevailed. The judges should have explained how and why they came to that conclusion. I am saying this because I feel there were certain issues raised by the petitioners which the chairman of the EC, Dr Afari Gyan, admitted to as electoral errors and malfeasance which should have been addressed by the judges.

“Dismissing some issues and petition as a whole did not go down well with me. I feel peace prevailed be-cause Ghanaians by nature are peace-loving, and not that the verdict has brought peace. The manner in which the verdict was pronounced could have brought chaos had it not been the fact that Ghanaians love peace and received it calmly irrespective of how we felt about the ruling.” Asked whether she felt that the verdict strengthened Ghana's democracy, she answered “Yes, it has.”