Joseph Boakye Danquah

Joseph Kwame Kyeretwi Boakye Danquah (* December 1895 in Bempong, Gold Coast , today Ghana ; † February 4, 1965 in Nsawam ), better known as: JB Danquah, is one of the most famous lawyers, publishers, writers, politicians and independence fighters of the British colony Gold Coast and today's Ghana. He is one of the six greatest politicians in Ghana who promoted Ghanaian independence as The Big Six .

education

Danquah was born in Bempong as a member of the royal family of the Ofori Panyin Fie, one of the most important traditional rulers of Ghana. After graduating from Junior High School, Danquah began studying law and philosophy at the University of London . He was the first native African to receive a doctorate in law from the University of London. Already in London he was politically active for the independence of Ghana and became the first president of the West African Students' Union .

In 1927 he returned to the British Gold Coast colony and was inducted into the bar. As a lawyer in a private law firm, he continued to work for the realization of the idea of ​​independence and made contact with the political elite in his home country. Among other things, he worked with the well-known independence politician Joseph Ephraim Casely Hayford , who is said to have called him on his deathbed.

Danquah founded the Times of West Africa newspaper , which was published in the Gold Coast between 1930 and 1935 and was the first daily newspaper in the British Gold Coast colony. During the 1930s he was involved in various political activities and was a member of the delegation at the British Colonial Office in 1934 and Secretary General of the Gold Coast Youth Conference between 1934 and 1937.

Independence of Ghana

In the elections for the Legislative Council (Legislative Council) in 1946, Danquah moved into the parliament of the Gold Coast colony, which still had few rights. He was a co-founder of the first Ghanaian party, the United Gold Coast Convention and initially an important advocate of the later Prime Minister and President of Ghana Kwame Nkrumah . As early as 1948 there were serious uprisings against the British colonial power in the course of which Danquah was arrested by the governor alongside his party comrades Kwame Nkrumah, Ebenezer Ako Adjei , William Ofori Atta , Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey and Edward Akufo-Addo and exiled to the northern areas of what is now Ghana.

After the exile ended, there was a falling out between Kwame Nkrumah and the other leading politicians of the UGCC. Nkrumah broke away from Danquah and the UGCC to found their own party, the Convention People's Party . Danquah was re-elected in the 1951 legislative assembly elections. He became an advocate of a constitution with a bicameral parliament consisting of a house of representatives and an assembly of the elder. He was unable to implement this plan successfully and was not re-confirmed in office in the 1954 and 1956 elections.

Ghana gained independence in 1957 under Prime Minister Nkrumah. As early as 1960, Danquah stood as the only candidate in the presidential elections under the new constitution against Nkrumah and was clearly defeated by it. At the instigation of President Nkruamh, Danquah was first imprisoned in 1961 under the newly enacted Preventive Detention Act and was not released from custody until 1962. After his release from prison, he became president of the Ghana Bar Association. Again at the instigation of President Nkrumah, Danquah was arrested on January 8, 1964, along with other leading opposition politicians. He spent the time of his imprisonment in cell no. 9 with a size of 2.70 meters in length and 1.80 meters in width, i.e. on approx. 4.86 m². He died at the age of 69 in a prison in Nsawam, near Accra . His bereaved relatives were not allowed an appropriate funeral service. His death is followed by many theories about his cause of death.

His political work is still referred to today as the Danquah Busia Politics. In addition to the now ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), the United Party , Progress Party , Popular Front Party and United National Convention follow this tradition .

A roundabout in the government district, the Osu district in Accra, was named after Danquah. Some readings at the University of Ghana were organized in his honor.

bibliography

• Gold coast. Akan Laws and Customs and the Akim Abuakwa Constitution. Routledge, London 1928.
• The Akan Doctrine of God. A Fragment of Gold Coast Ethics and Religion (= Lutterworth Library. 16, ZDB -ID 845211-8 = Lutterworth Library. Missionary Research Series. 4). Lutterworth Press, London et al. 1944.
• The Ghanaian Establishment. Its Constitution, its Detentions, its Traditions, its Justice and Statecraft, and its Heritage of Ghanaism. With editorial work by Albert Adu Boahen . Ghana Universities Press, Accra 1997, ISBN 9964-3-0128-6 .

See also

• List of Ghanaian politicians
• History of Ghana
• List of Ghanaian writers

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Carpenter allegedly rapes akpeteshie seller (English)
2. ↑ Dr. Joseph (Kwame Kyeretwie) Boakye Danquah - Researched by NiiCa ( Memento of the original from September 9, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)  

Web links

• Short biography, Ghanaweb , engl.
• Niica Africa, short curriculum vitae with photo , engl.