The Failed Nkrumah War Against The Monster Of Tribal Politics In Ghana-Episode 1

It is a fact that when Ghana gained political independence on 6^th March 1957, it was not a monolithic entity. This is because there was a tapestry of four major artificial political components at the time and these were:

1. The Gold Coast Colony comprising the coastal areas, Akyem and Akwamu, which became part of the British Colony due to the Bond of 1844.
2. The Ashanti Kingdom, annexed by the British following the Yaa Asantewaa War in 1901.
3. The Northern Territories, which were made of kingdoms, that came under the British Colonial Government on account of the Northern Territories Ordinance of 1901.
4. The Trans-Volta Togoland, a British Trust Territory, which was originally part of the German Colony that was lost to the Allies after the first World War This component was split between Britain and France and administered under what was called the League of Nations.

These divisions at the birth of a country had later metamorphosed into the monster of tribal and even religious politics with an ugly head in the socio-political fabric of Ghana. This is because at the heart of the legacies Ghana inherited at independence was antagonism on the altar of inter-ethnic wars and imperialism. Another one was the uneven development between the North and the South.

Even though the country’s first President, “Immortal” Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah believed he killed the monster of tribal politics in Ghana; it appears he did not cut off the head of the monster after killing it. Consequently, the monster resurrected. Five and half decades after the Kwame Administration was overthrown, there is still tribal politics in Ghana and it does not appear that the monster will disappear any time soon.

This article takes retrospective, contemporary and prospective looks at tribal politics in Ghana.

Ghana’s Tribal Politics in Retrospect

It would be recalled that the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) was formed in 1947 as the first ever-political party formed by the Gold Coasters who would later be called Ghanaians. Nkrumah’s Convention People’s Party (CPP) emerged from the UGCC. After this, several political parties were formed in the Gold Coast based on tribe/ethnicity and religion. They are briefly recollected below.

National Liberation Movement (NLM): In 1954, Baffour Osei Akoto, Chief Linguist of the Asantehene (Nan Osei Tutu Agyeman Prempeh II) and some others formed the NLM as an Ashanti political party and as main opposition to the CPP. The NLM actually emerged from the CPP when some aggrieved Ashanti CPP members parted way with Nkrumah.

The immediate impetus for establishing the NLM was the agitation for higher cocoa prices hence the Movement gained popularity in cocoa growing areas such as Ashanti, Akyem Abuakwa and Krobo land. The remote reason for forming the NLM was that the Ashantis did not like the fact that the CPP Administration operated a centralized governance system, which marginalised the traditional ruling classes. The NLM, therefore, fought for a federated independent Ghana whereas the CPP pushed for a unitary state with the slogan, Self-Government Now.

There were several pitched battles in Kumasi between the NLM and the CPP. These battles or conflicts led to several political murders committed by both sides. As an opposition party, the NLM gave the CPP Administration tough times to the extent of orchestrating several bombings in the cities of Kumasi and Accra.

Northern People’s Party (NPP): Chief Simon Diedong Dombo, a traditional ruler in Duori in the erstwhile Upper Region (Upper West and Upper East Regions put together today), also formed this ethnocentric and region-based political party called the Northern People’s Party in 1954. Dombo was assisted by several others including Alhaji Mumuni Bawumia, whose son, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is the current Vice President of Ghana.

The NPP had a huge following from the north with the northern traditional rulers backing it. Remarkably, the party won 12 legislative seats in the 1954 elections.

The Anlo Youth Organisation (AYO): The AYO was formed by Modesto Apaloo. It was an Ewe political party dominated by the Anlo-Ewes. As such, the AYO campaigned for the Ewe people under the British Colonial Administration to stay within independent Ghana. The AYO won one legislative seat in the 1954 elections.

The Moslem Association Party (MAP): This was a religious party based on the Islamic faith. As such, various Moslems including those that were immigrants from the neighbouring Western African States joined the MAP and some of them were party leaders. Therefore, the ranks of the leadership were decimated by the policy of deportation of foreigners soon after independence. The rest of the members later joined the United Party.

The Ga Shifimo Kpee (Ga Steadfast Association): Just like the others, the Ga Shifimo Kpee (GSK) was also formed in 1954 and it was formed by the Ga tribal group. Their aim was to fight against the speed of urbanisation due to Accra being the national capital and the government was acquiring more Ga lands for national use. There were influx of people (“foreigners”) from the other parts of the country into Accra. The government was unable to resettle some people of Accra who became homeless due to the 1939 earthquake. The Gas felt threatened because they were becoming landless in their own homeland so they formed the GSK to push for what was originally theirs. They worked under the slogans, Ga mei Shikpon, Ga mei anoni (Ga lands are for Ga people) and “Gboi mli ngbe wo” (Foreigners are killing us). There two main sub-groups within the Ga Shifimo Kpee Party namely the Zenith Seven and the Tokyo Joes. These sub youth groups were fomenting troubles in Accra until they clashed with the CPP Government. As a result, most of them were detained under the Preventive Detention Act (PDA) of 1958. Under the PDA, troublemakers whose actions were prejudicial to the security of the State were jailed without trial for five renewable years to the extent that some were denied the Habeas Corpus remedy.

Togoland Congress (TCP, French: Congres du Togoland): This party was formed by S.G. Anto in 1951 and it won 3 legislative seats in the April 1954 elections and 2 seats in the July 1956 elections. Just like the AYO, the TCP also campaigned for the inclusion of the Ewe people in the British Togoland as a separate Ewe State. However, the British Togoland was unified with the Gold Coast to become Ghana, following the 1956 plebiscite organised by the United Nations in May 1956.

Much later, all the foregoing political parties merged and were collectively known as the United Party (UP). The UP transformed over the ages with different names, notably the Progress Party (PP) of the Second Republic and today, the New Patriotic Party of the Fourth Republic. The monster of tribal politics has, therefore, been in Ghana from the beginning. It still exists in different forms in a cold war style.

At independence, therefore, there was one very strong political party (CPP) and many other ethnoreligious political parties that operated in opposition to the CPP. In the second episode of this article we will read about how Nkrumah legally fought against the monster of tribal politics in Ghana.

~Asante Sana ~

Author: Philip Afeti Korto

Email: [email protected]