Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah was a statesman, pan-Africanist, scholar, lawyer, historian and one of the founding fathers of Ghana. He played a significant role in pre- and post-colonial Ghana, which was formerly the Gold Coast, and in fact is credited with giving Ghana its name.
Background
Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah was born on 18 December 1895 in the Ghanaian town of Bepong in Kwahu in the Eastern Region of Ghana. He was descended from the royal family of Ofori Panyin Fie, once the rulers of the Akyem states, and still then one of the most influential families in Ghanaian politics.
Education
At the age of six, J. B. began schooling at the Basel Mission School at Kyebi, going on to attend the Basel Mission Senior School at Begoro. On successfully passing his standard seven examinations in 1912, he entered the employment of Vidal J. Buckle, a barrister-at-law in Accra, as a clerk, a job which aroused his interest in law. After passing the Civil Service Examinations in 1914, Danquah became a clerk at the Supreme Court of the Gold Coast, which gave him the experience that made his brother Nana Sir Ofori Atta I, who had become chief two years earlier, appoint him as secretary of the Omanhene's Tribunal in Kyebi. Following the influence of his brother, Danquah was appointed as the assistant secretary of the Conference of Paramount Chiefs of the Eastern Province, which was later given statutory recognition to become the Eastern Provincial Council of Chiefs. His brilliance made his brother decide to send him to Britain in 1921 to read law.
Career
Independence and Opposition After World War II, nationalist sentiment grew. Danquah was instrumental in founding the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), the elite party from which sprang all successive independence movements, until Kwame Nkrumah broke with Danquah in 1949 to found his own party. Danquah spent the rest of his life fighting Nkrumah and providing defense for Nkrumah's opponents. But Danquah won neither in the 1954 or 1956 parliamentary elections nor in the presidential election of 1960, in which he polled only 10 percent of the vote. Danquah's last 5 years is a story of personal courage with few parallels in modern African history. He had neither the inclination nor the ability to rally his countrymen against the growing tyranny, but always he spoke out and encouraged the younger opposition members. After a railroad strike in 1961, which very nearly toppled Nkrumah's regime, Danquah was detained without charges. He was released in June 1962, but like few others the experience did not silence him. He hung onto his one semiofficial position as president of the Bar Association, and when Nkrumah tried to intimidate-and threatened to overthrow-the popular government of Sylvanus Olympio in Togo, Danquah characteristically protested both the legality and morality of the Ghanaian moves. After an attempt on Nkrumah's life in January 1964, Danquah was again detained. The notion that Danquah was implicated in the assassination plot was nowhere taken seriously. But Danquah, and all he symbolized, did indeed threaten Nkrumah; and, no doubt, Nkrumah's insecurity explains the isolation and near-starvation diet of Danquah's last year. His only card left was his life, which he unwittingly played perfectly. In response to appeals from Bertrand Russell, Nkrumah planned to release Danquah dramatically to increase support, but before he could do so, Danquah died of heart failure on February 8, 1965.