The Gold Coast: Accra 1948 and the Rise of Nkrumah

The Gold Coast, Britain's prosperous cocoa-producing colony in West Africa, was considered a model colony, but postwar grievances ran deep. Prices were high, cocoa farmers were angry about the forced destruction of diseased trees, and ex-servicemen felt their wartime pensions and promises had been ignored. On 28 February 1948 police fired on a peaceful march of veterans heading to the governor's residence in Accra, killing three, including Sergeant Cornelius Adjetey. Riots and looting followed, leaving about 29 people dead.

Britain's Watson Commission blamed the colony's outdated constitution and recommended more African participation. Kwame Nkrumah, then secretary of the cautious elite party the UGCC, broke away in 1949 to found the Convention People's Party with the slogan 'Self-Government Now'. His 'Positive Action' campaign of strikes and boycotts in 1950 led to his imprisonment, but in the 1951 election the CPP won a landslide. Britain released him to lead the government, beginning a negotiated path to independence.