THE R&JiiCTION Off THE MUNICIPAL GORPO"0 iD JON'S OHDINAJTCiH 05' 192/! A.T ^ 3Y In h is address to t he GoM-^-cfeBt L e g i s l a t i ve Council on.. 6 th Maxell, 1924? Governor F, G. Guggisberg declared; Honourable mergers druing the present session will have the important and exacting task of eSS^tniiiin.^ and passing the new Municipal Corporations Bill which will be put into effect in Accra during the coming year. He added optimistically that; The proposed legislation willo.„»practically confer Municipal self-government on the citizens of Accra*2 Municipal administration was not an issue ^hioh very much interested the British in the Gold Coast, Towns, as Wraith points out, posed problems in politics and administration because by their nature? they could not fit in neatly into "the philosophical framework of indirect rule.," The need, therefore? to make special arrangements for their administration necessitated the passing of the f i r st Town Councils Ordinance in 1894> which was applied to only the "TrhreewS^agort towns of the Gold Coast, namely^ Accra in 1898; Sekondi in 1904 and Cape Coast in 1906o 4 By 1920 the need for i ts review was being expressed in the light of i ts unsatisfactory per- formance in these areas. - 24 - 25 - The reasons for these ^ere? firstly /there., developed a deep resentment of the levying of house rates and this remained a sore point between the townspeople and the Town.. Councils, Secondly, the idea of an official majority on the councils never.Went down well, particularly with the African educated elite because for among other reasons5 control of revenue was the responsibility of the government officials who did not pay any tax themselves. Thirdly, the councils as constituted suffered from inherent problems which rendered them inefficient! their revenue was inadequate and .their, survival was largely due to grants made to them by the colonial government% and they had no responsible executive•officers of their own and above all "they commanded no local loyalty and-inspired no local pride.' Monthly a problem of dual control was created,. in:that,. the Town Councils existed in towns where there were also in.,existence State Councils under traditional rulers* Relations between the two insti— sutions became difficult with" time, the feeling being that the Town Councils encroached upon the functions of the traditional state councils* fifthly, by 1920 the' Government was coming round to the view that the rapid growth of -the seaport towns, and their great economic importances, added to the -great influx into them of foreigners<, who were not bound by local loyalties and customs, made . it imperative to evolve a different and more progressive form of local government.than could be provided by native administration A and the I own Councils as then constituted. . . -- 26 "~ 'f. Cx. Quggisberg- on assumption of office as Governor of the Gold Coast In 1919, consulted with a ll shadea-of opinion said in January 19213 set up a committee to examine-tjq.e structure' arid' functions of the existing Tcsn Councils. The committee, consisting of Messrs. John Maxwell, Secretary for Kative Affairs (Chairman), J. E* C'asely-Hayford, To Htitton Mills, 3. J. P. Brown and •. J i' G-lover-Addo was to make recommendations as- to how best the performances of the Town Councils could be improved for them to -•constitute 'educational establishments in administrative responsi- 9 • - • • • . - '• . . < - , -• • .' b i l i t y1 for Africans. . . . • . " '•" • Th&'report which the committee presented, on 26th May, 1922 contained far" reaching and prajressii?1©, recoinmendationsi It recommended', inter a l i a, the drafting of a new .Ordinance to give the Councils unofficial African majorities; an adult "franchise based on property qualification, and that the ..majority of the African Councillors should be elected by wards or by the ratepayers as on© body for the whole town as local circumstances dictated. The Governor was to appoint a third of th© t o t al .number of elected members, ' while the local chamber of commerce » .where, it existed -• Tsras to appoint 'a sixth of that number.- A Mayor.-Eras to be appointed by' the Council from the African unofficial members.10 '••• ' ' These major recommendations of the committee were the basis of the new Municipal Corporations Ordinance which.-.was passed "by the Legislative Council on 2nd Julys 1924 and -received' -;tli©' assent of the Acting Governor on 30th August, 19,2,4.11 . •::;•• ' t :- By a ll standards, the new Ordinance was a progressive one. For'one thin?, unlike the 1894 Ordinances there was to be a popular elections which no matter how limited in scope, was to introduce the people of the towns to modern political ideas and,practices. On the vexed problem of rates, the Committee recommended, and this was accepted by the government, that it was. inappropriate for., the proposed Gouncils to impose a heavy burden of taxation on the inhabitants for the f i r st few years of their operations.^and that the Government should /•continue t h e . .. .grants-in-aicl to the Municipal Councils £or a few more years after, the proposed Ordinance '"• - ] ; >" • ' • • • •' - , - ; comes into forcej'...,. >••.. However, the grants-in-aid were to be reduced annually and withdrawn completely at the end of a fixed number of years,, though.it -was;:to. be provided from time to time for special purposes, . . . •••••. • It turned out that this forward-looking Ordinance for -which Guggisberg had put in a ll his effort -and-energy to have . enacted was never to be implemented anywhere in the' Gold Coast and eventually had to be withdrawn altogether. 'This, as "Guggisberg was to confess later, was his only real disappointment as;a-Governor in the Gold Coast* "^ The withdrawal of the Ordinance was-due to the violent opposition with which it was received by the people of A@cra where it had been decided that the Ordinance was f i r st to be put into effect-. :! - ' ••'•:- - 28 The obvious question i s, why should the townspeople of Accra give this progressive Ordinance that kind of reception? It "?ould "be useful to 'examine' the views of some writers on the question. According to 3ourrets"the reject ion .of the Ordinance was due to the revision of rates and the possible compromising of the position and authority of ther'native institutions.. In his 7/ordss The Municipal members of the Legislative Council approved of this Ordinance but when it was published there was an outburst of opposition centering on Accra, where the poorer classes- • feared the imposition of increased rates while others held that African institutions would be undermined by the power of the elected Mayor. 4 ' , . Wraith shares Bourret's view that the opposition .and rejection of the Ordinance by the towns people of Accra was due to r a t e s. He writes; • Opposition to the revision of rates became vocal as soon as' the terms, of the Ball were known and none of the advantages proposed carried any weight in comparison with this ' grievous, affliction. -^ He continues! • ;• The blame did not rest with him /5uggisberg7 entirely, for he was misled by the apparent enthusiasm of the members who represented Accra, Cape Coast and Sekondi on the Legislative Council: part being persuaded by the good sense-of what was being proposed seem to have underrated the unpopularity of the rating revision.,„ He and they alike were victims of the massive determination of the citizens of Apcra never in any circumstances to be t a x e d ,0 for they on their ' - 29 - David Kimble agrees with Bourret and Wraith that Guggisberg "had reckoned without the stook response of the people of Accra in particular to any proposal involving direct taxation1• Kimble traced the root cause to this opposition to taxation to the incidents following the enactment of the Poll Tax Ordinance of 1854 and the subsequent attempts by the Government to collect the tax during which many, people in the Gold Coast Colony lost their lives in opposing the move. This experience, according to Kimble, was responsible for the people of Accra and Christiariborg - whose town was bombarded by the British - to close 'their minds on the subject* of taxation. 17 In.the view of this writery tn"e attempt to explain the reaction of the people of Accra to the new Ordinance as due to opposition to taxation is, as it v;ere, scratching the surface of a situation which was of a more complex nature. It is true that the terrible experience with the enforcement of the Poll Tax alienated them from tax payment. Indeed, as Kimble points out, even the Town Council Ordinance of 1894> under which the next attempt was made to collect taxes created problems. Given this circumstance, and the fact that the main thrust of the Opposition to the Ordinance was towards its tax provisions, it is not difficult to understand the view-points of these scholars. - 30 - l e t, the Town Councils Ordinance of 1894 had been applied to Acer? in. 1898 a"d t'ie poodle, j aM if ^rudjin^ly, Krd be^n meeting t h e ir tax obli-a^ion under i ts >rovis 01 t "> the ^ccra T'o^ Council- . r ri i' < 1 j- J - -. ,^ t r * T ^ ir v ^< ir L In fact it jL 're^orbtd that ~s a r e s u lr 0^ a bubonic p l a - ic 'ni^h swept over Iccr^ T Lbh devasbin^ effect ia 1J0JI the people t^eT&jlvc be.^an to ap^xec cb^ the importance oJ r^xo ,_3^""ne^^ 3"t loast, ^or the provision of sanitoX/ atnenioies, and from then on the collection of ra"te continued to increase. _i,Cij~ >r!'j.O J oj- i'c < Jx-cn|cn» By the1 f926's tH6 payment 'of ! u if " ~. .. 1 lo ii_oTi . rfcmi J bas c rates could be said to nave been accented by the townspeopre bru d '.leKn-jr oi vrfiJoil'Jif) jnn -x ^x trxjojaivotc x rl L.4X ^J:IX of Accra ana che other seaport towns, oelcondi ana Ca^e Coast; otherwise it is inconceivable that tne colonial Government would think of introducing a more progressive Ordinance »ith a nore elaborate procedure for the collection of basic rat'es"':'ird'''rep'lace' the 1894 Ordinance. Research conducted" by this writer has revealed that the Municipal Corporation Ordinance of 1924 vas a victim of a massive conspiracy in 2. chieftaincy dispute in -.ccra in vnich the merits and demerits of its provision were of no consequence, but were delibrately distorted and misrepresented. This action, by a section 01 the people of Accra led by some divisional chiefs, ?ras to make the Ordinance unpopular and t:-«n to associate its enactment with the la Mantse, (the Paramount Chief of Accra) with whom they were engaged in a dispute.' The idea was to get the people aroused and alienated from tho ^a Mantse in order to smoothen the way for his eventual destoolment. ^Lt is: this crucial point missed by the 31 - authorities mentioned shove, 1 9- and the part it played in the rejection of the Municipal Corporations Ordinance of 1924 that is examined--, in this paper. In 19J!?', Nii Tackle Yaolpoi was enstooled the G-a Mantse. Soon after coming to the stool he-antagonized an influential section of • his sub-chiefs, and subjects- The cause of the dispute was that in.. June 1920, a JjJuropean businessman Mr»-.W..'«J» Blaker approached the. G-a Mantse and the fetish priest of the Korle Lagoon - the Korle Wulomo about leasing out the lagoon in order to deepen and convert it into a deep v/ater,harbour. The G-a Mantse accordingly s-ummoned a meeting of a ll his DivisibnaT chiefs to discuss the iasue. At the meeting, Blaker1 s proposals' were discussed .and accepted unanimously. It was however decided that the news should be withheld from the people pending tiie outcome of a final: agreement on the issue v.rith Mr. Blaker. In the meantime, one of the Divisional chiefs, the Asere Mantse, had applied to the District Commissioner for Accra for a permit to display certain fcompany' (Asafo) flags in public, and also to pay a ceremonial v i s it to Ayawaso, the ;jPre*i6'Bo capital of the G-a state, to perform certain customary rites at the burial s i te of Mantse Okaikoi, the last G-a king to rule at Ayawaso« The G-a Mantse, Tackle Yaoboi, took exception to two'of the flags the Asere Mantse wanted to exhibit in public. In-his view, they contained symbols offensive to. the other quarters, of'the town «> ~ 32 - He therefore applied to the District Commissioner to stop the display of the flags. He also 'requested that the As ere Marrfcse be prevented from entering Accra with a procession on his return from Ayawaso since this constituted a usurpation of a privilege solely reserved for him'in his capacity as the paramount ruler of Accra. The district!'G'b;toni'rsdibtLer upheld the objections and accordingly informed the Asere Mantse. This development infuriated the Asere Mantse and he decided to ' saek revenge against the *3-a Mantse. To this end, he decided to exploit his not being notified in writing of the final agreement with Ir." Blaker to make the G-a IJantse unpopular! bring him into disrepute and eventually Seek" Ms destbolraent» In October 1920, he addressed'a l e t t er to the Korle Wulomo calling on him to nullify the agreement. He threatened that if his demand was not complied with, he would lay the matter before the people of Accra, or alternatively, he would seek a judicial cancellation of it in the courts. When he received no reply to his letter, he on 11th Hovember, 1< filed the necessary papers at the Divisional court at Accra, l o t- withstanding t h i s, he on 25th November, summoned a meeting and demanded the attendance of the G-a Mantse and a ll the parties to the agreement with ftir. Blaker, which however could not come on apparently9 due to the ill-health of the Korle Wulomo. By this time, the whole issue of the leasing of the sacred 21 Lagoon had become public knowledge, and many of the people of . .. . . . became apalled -and angry at the sacrilege. In this tense ami - 33 - explosive atmosphere, some members "of, the Acora e d i t ed e l i t e, who'"' were partisans of the Ga Mantse in the dispute approached Mr. Furley, the Secretary for Native Affairs, to do something to e a Se the tension In the town. Accordingly, Mr.hurley instructed the District •' ' Commissioner for Accra to advise the Asere Mantse that the dispute about the Lagoon should not be discussed at public meetings or dealt with in any Native Tribunal, u n t il the courts.had given a decision on the matter. The Asere Mantse ignored this advise and on 20th December, he and his supporters summoned a -meeting on the : matter. Haturally he wanted to;cash In on the.massive support that he was then enjoying: among''the people. The. outcome of the meeting was that the Ga Mantse isras said to have been tried according to custom and destooled. : - •; "••••• The Government, however, doubtful as to the validity of the procedure as well as the"destoolment i t s e lf set up a commission of E&quiiy on 19th February^ 1921 under $ r. G. 1, Welman. Mr. Welman commenced work on" 24th "February, 1921, and submitted his report on 21st July, 1921. In his report, .lie, Welman submitted that the destoolment VTaS contrary to native custom and should be declared null and void. The As ere'Mantse also lost his-suit at the Divisional 00 ••• -' court with costs swarded against him-and. his supporters," Thanks to the findings df the C0nsmisfslp.n. and the favourable wiling- of the courts, the' tyavewainent overruled the.destoolment continued to recognise Sli Tackie>.S"ao*boI aS;. the 3a Mantse, The stiffened the determination of his detractors to have him - 34 - removed. • from now -on, •'tiley and'their nurse: cus supporters decided ' to exploit every opportunity to achieve their aim. Such an opport- unity was 'created :by the enactment of the Municipal Corporations Ordinance of 1924= . • . • • .: In order to apply the Ordinance to Accra as was proposed, section 186 of part IX ve.8 invoked. This empowered the Governor","' subject to a resolution of the Legislative Council, to apply the Ordinance to any town of the colony, with the proviso that a notice of such a resolution was issued.' This' was published in Gazette Ho. 71 dated 13th September,-'1924 -and again in the issue •.of -23rd September, 1924- 3/b authorized the Governor 'to apply by proclamation the Ordinance to Accra and Christiariborg' as one administrative unit,, The notice also invited the Ga Mantse or any interested parties to lodge by written notification any objection to the proposed application oi't;he Ordinance to Accra, specifying clearly the grounds of-such objections, not l a t er thah'"'u"'1' one month after the appearance of the- notice in the Gazette. ' The publication of the notice immediately led to a highly charged and confused atmosphere in Accra and Christiariborgo For a strange reason and contrary to the normal practice with 3,11 Ordinances, the Municipal Corporations Ordinance'was not properly gazetted. 23 Indeed it appeared to the townspeople of Accra and Christianborg like a bomb suddenly dropped on them from nowhere. The educated elite and their representative' in the Legislative Council did not take-1 %h"e:'-trouble to prepare the- minds of the mass - 35 - of the people on the implications of the Ordinance... In,viLew of the widespread poverty at the-times it was inexcussable on"'their part 5 and that of the Government, not to take steps bsf or.ehand to educate the people about the B i ll -with'particular reference to it's tax provisions 'knowing quite, well'-the explosive nature.. o£.':ths-'issue. The'potential of the general-anger and resentment .-as a Treason to us^-in: their' struggle against ,the;Ga Mantse and his ..supporters, the educated e l i te and the.Ipcalc.br&icii "of the Aborigines ligfrfcs Protection Society was quickly .-grasped by his detractors, .They " quickly held a meeting at which the 'new Ordinance was discussed and condemned". " The meeting was. of the view that it was the duty of the Ga Mantse to t e ll his subjects of laws affecting,them proposed by the1 Government; failure to do so, could only mean that the Ga Mantse was a party to. the enactment of the Ordinance. They appointed one Mr. Garshong. as,, their-sp'bkesmsn and resolved not only to discredit the Ga Mantse and the Ordinance, but also to, fight them both. 4 . • -. • i • . .-. -./ -•' '' On 12th September, 19245 this group'despatched^a telegram to- London, signed by their leaders on^-behalf of the aboriginal inhabi-' tants, the Ratepayers ineludiog the Wulomei ° 'and AsafQats^mei:" -•'-' of Accra and Chris^anborgi and stating' that the people had.-unani- •-C.-v. • mously resolved that the Ordinance be not put'into operation^ tiaat- his Majesty's assent be withheld^pending"-receipt of the P,fOE-le*s 'fl p e t i t i o n .27 Subsequently, two petitiotis:were"despatched.a^d xece in. London on 10th October and 28th October, 'ieap^fcively, that the Ordinance be not applied to Accra.' 2o Meanwhile a mass meeting "* was convened at the instance of t h is group on 30th August which was presided over "by the Ga Mantse. At this meeting, it is •significant to observe that the group led by the Asere and Senrpe Mantsemei sat apart from the rest- of the .fathering- Mr, G-afshongj t h e ir spokesmen, proceeded to read -and explain the Ordinance.in the vernacular • t o . t he -crowd,•drawing 30 attention mostly to-.its-various 'harsh, and oppressive' provisions, " and so well did he, dp. t h is that he i n - t he end succeeded in: turning the minds of the-people against, the. Oi^dinance,, The G-a .Mantse, not. pleased .with, the way the ' Ordinance had been twisted and misinterpreted," asked • for an adjournment • so t h at he could consult the lawyers and educated- men of the Aborigines Eights Protection Society to have the Ordinance explained to him more fully and correctly,. He promised to reconvene the meeting • at which the.members of the Society would be invited to give t h e ir views. The opposition vehemently objected to this and argued that the educated e l i te had known of the B i ll fioin i ts inception but f a i l ed to brin? it to t h e ir notices and, so should be left out of any discussion of i t. They proposed that a p e t i t i on be sent to the Secretary of State for the Colonies and that t o ' t h is end a ll the Mantse-aei should pay a levy of £10. The £a Mantse, thinking that t h is would be :m overreaction<, did not favour the idea and insisted on going ahead to seek advice on the issue* - 37 -. The Opposition, realising that they had the majority of the people on tiisir side decided to ignore the 0-a Hantse and to act on t h e ir osn. ¥i:fch the support, of an overwhelming majority of the Divisional chiefs they despatched a cable .to London in which they requested that the application of the,Municipal Corporation Ordinance of 1924 be w-itnhel-i pendin-j the receipt of a petition that they v?ere preparing on i t. From:then ons the Sa Hantse was openly accused of being behind the enactment of the 'Obnoxious' Ordinance and the subsequent attempt to apply it Accra. This, as it was meant to do, increased the hard feelings of the people against him. F ii Tackle Taoboi was unperturbed. On 3rd September, 1924J he summoned a meeting of the local Aborigines Sights Protection Society in his capacity as i t s . l o c al President. Needless to say, the invitation sent to his opponents, to attend was turned dcm» The meeting, however,., came on and it decided that a cenaiittee made up of some members of the society and two representatives each from a ll the Quarters of Accra should be .appointed to examine the Ordinance and make appropriate recommendations. • When his opponents, heard of this they prevailed upon the •Mantseael*. (plural of.lantse) of a ll the various quarters not to participate in the work .of the committee. Instead they requested that the 3a Mants.e should convene a mass meeting to do the work, which he refused to do, Shey thes decided to take matters into - 38 - their own hands * Customarily, a mass meeting is properly summoned when the C-a ^antse authorises a gong-gong to be beaten in a ll the quarters of -.aora to that effect.* The opposition ignored this and caused a gong-gong to be beaten to summon the people to a meeting which they scheduled for 5th September, 1924s also asking the people not to attend any meeting summoned by the C-a, Mantse. On realising that the situation in Accra was about to get out of hand:, the Secretary for ITative Affairs and the "District Commissioner for Accra decided to intervene.. They held separate meeting's with a ll the parties in the dispute* The outcome was that, the G-a Mantse agreed to do a ll he could to reach a rapprochement with • opponents» As a compromise measure, he addressed a l e t t er to the Colonial Secretary dated 12th September, 1924? not to submit the B i ll to London for his Majesty's Assent u n t il he and his people had submitted their views on i to In reply, he was informed that he had only up to 30th October for the receipt of his objections* To this end, he summoned a meeting of .the Hantsemei and the Committee of the local A.R.PoS. This meeting which was well attended >- far from harmoniouso Acrimonious exchanges took place between the opposition and the members of the A-.R»P.S. led by Dr. Fo V» Nanka-Bruoe, "Vice—President of the Eastern Province branch- Eventually the meeting achieved' some composure for some discussion, and agreed that the Ordinance was. rather severe on i ts demands on the people, and that a combined coirjnittee of the. AoRoP«S« the Mantsemei .and Asafpatsemei.be appointed to bom© .out" mdth/sr compromise recommen- dataf.Qii o i l ' i t0 ' •' •..- . ; • •-•;_•.. JThis arrangement,- as. could have,-bess. predicted, was doomed to failure* On the'ones.hands, wad Ahe Opposition who rejected the,. Ordinance outright • in an uncompromising manner, and on ihe other. -••hands. were the Ga Mantse and the A»H,P»S<, who in principles at least, accepted i t. In the circumstances, it was decided that each party must prepare a separate petition to be considered at a l a t er joint The Opposition was the f i r st to finish with i ts petition while for some' reason on which the records are silent,"'"'. the A»E.I?#S« did not coaie up with-one* In the event ? onlf the petition of the .Opposition was'considered at the meeting convened on 33?d October, presided .over "by the G-a Mantse,"• and characterized by tension, ' •• When the petition was read it was found to contain the wording of the cable which the 5a Mantse had earlier refused to sign. It reads '"-•' -•?.; _anoi (or local Priests) namely Sakumo • . .. . Kai'and Eorle, a well as the Mantsemei of a ll "the quarters of Accra, excepting the (}& Mantse, ...; most emphatically and categorically deny that they or any of them were 'sv;er.;present g,t any mass meeting at Accra or elsewhere ,at which the :' ''Resolution s et forth at-Page 9.of ^e Eeport of the 2o?m Council. Committee and alleged .to c"'";havs "been moved' fey].'the "Ga ,-Mantse Y/aS either ;,.,-. moved or carried,. . •• " .,,_.. ' -. This statement is untrue. It is on record- that there was such a meeting1 at which "'a-resolution ^faieh w^--Seconded by : . •< ' • • .. • ,' - . 4Q - C. J. Bannerman and the three. Wulgmei (emphasis mine) of Accra and approved unanimously by the people* was moved l>y the Ga Mantse..3? . No doubt, this false statement was inserted to make it impossible for Nil Tackle laoboi to sign and therefore alienate him further from the people and smoother, things for Ms destoolment, which was the end to which a ll the misrepresentation of the Ordinance was geared. . All the Mantsemei of the Various quarters of Accra duly signed the'petition amidst'cheers'from the people. When it cazne to the turh:•& M Tackle Yaoboi, he refused co aig, ''upon advice from Ms councillors because he considered the petition to have been irresponsibly written. At this juncture, a riot broke out. Haarsh words were used against the Ga Maria, "^ the members of the AJUP.S. present. When the situation started to deteriorate, he decided to leave and>hen this becaae obvious the crowd threw alasllea at Mm a*d he was inured on the wrist, The meeting therefore ended in a total confusion. On 6th October, a deputation of ^S af O a*s e m el O a l l ed ^ ^ Ga Mantse at his palace not to find nn+' hn u , m o ut h o^ he was5 bat to pressu- rize Mm to siaT> thp Tto4-i + <^ -=.- the .petition, and again he refused, They theref ors decided to- suspend- the Ga W-r,+a *• • - «• i-oe Ja iwntse from Ms duties and asked the Gbese Mantse to petxtaon having been slgn-a bv «n +h t- x J oy a ll the liaatsefflei except'tfae Ga Mantse aai the James Town Kant«a v< • *• . ,. . j .. ;.m Man,Se, iix I C o|o AfratoAo^ was S e»t with a covering l e t t er to t he Governm^ Y X ••••: - ' ^ r a a m t* la *i» l«fct«. it was-staked-' - 41 - that the Ga Mantse hu.4 been suspended'from Ms duties by the decision of the Mantsemei,/ffulomei, Asai'oatseraei and ' l a r i b i i '^ of ^o c ra ^a Christianborg". Furthermore,, the l e t t er requested that as a consequence of this developments from.then on ' a ll affidial and other communication should., be, addressed to "the Acting Ga Mantse', and that the relevent charges -preferred against Hii Taokie Yaoboi would be furnished him to answer.. • • ' , • /' In the meantime the Government, realising the gravity of the situation, again intervened and.-tried ;t.o*bring "peace and understanding among the factions. The. Secretary-Tor'Native Affairs once again .. arranged a series of meetings separately with the various factions and the result was that on 1.6th October, the Ga'Mantse informed 35 • ''': ''•'''' him that he* on the advice..of -his '*Gyase' had decided to sign the petition. He asked the Secretary to ask the Mantsemei, Asafoatsemei and Manbii to..attend a meeting he Was convening the next day at 2«y0p.m. for the purpose*' J-BuVwhen he invited the Opposition and informed them of the Ga Mantse1 s decision, he realised that they were not prepared to co-operate with the Ga Mantse but were rather bent on destooling him. Consequently he cautioned that in the event of their proceeding to extremes, 'the Government would request to be satisfied that everything had been done in a c c o r d a n ce w i th n a t i v e, c u s t o m^ •','••.. ••-•i ••••-•-•'•'' In the":night of i6th.Qctpber!-ia gon^f©rifwa§:'caused to be beaten by the Opposition throughout the tomr:of"Accfa informing the people of the suspension of the 3-a Mantse from his duties and the appointment .of the '.Obese Mantse as the Acting (Ja, Mantse* The next morning,'., they .held a, meeting in their numbers' to draw up' , destoplme.nt charges to be served on the 3-a Mantse at the meeting which .the. latter, had summoned at 2.00p.m. that afternoon. When the .la Mantse -5ft wind, of this 9 he iironsdiately -consulted his lawyers -who advised him to take prompt, action* On his behalf-, they filed the necessary papers at ..the Divisional court, and as a "• results, Mr» Philip ...Gromton-Smyly, the chief "Justice issued summons'"- to be: served on Hii Ayi Bonte5 the Cfbes-e Mantsej Asafoats'e . -.: C» S= Nettey and Mr« J. I). Garshong,. as- leaders of the-,Opposition • to appear in court to answer a suit by "35ii Tackie Y-apboi and 'certain.representatives of his Gyase* who m&ge claiming £50Q. jointly and severally from them for falsely and maliciously publishing that Ts-ckie Yaoboi had been destooled. The writ also sought an injunction restraining the defendants,, their followers and agents- from interfering with the-position of the G-a, Mantse, as they were ..not the; rirjht persons .under customary .law to destool him» • • • . . An interim injunction was also issued, s t r i c t ly enjoining1 and restraining the-.defendants, their followers and agents under the penalty of £500. (five hundred pounds) to be levied up on.-their land,, .joods and ahattels for falsely and maliciously.- speaking and publishing anything against the,-3-a Maatse pending the hearing and determination of the motion for the injunotion. , - - 43 - ,,,..! Hhe H1"^ ^fFf r ^ f ^ ^ r^ j th$ jds^ndaBts-Mart asfitafcioori W^W&ir^ their1' supporters (|;were ';in^ima^ed .;^ch,: t^ ^sm^sisnMii they iaoncltld^d event ot SerViig'the 'writs thej- ^G^^^Qn^e^isim&^rGr Jrif straw, ;'i?hey quickly drew up"destoc a saore'^'bdt^;^declared ^NiiVTaeka --v rL aT to f o r i ^ l ^ ^ d r m ^ ^ of ^ e ^ ^ d ^ i o^ aji4ia^%io$itlteJ^Miiid^^ of the Gbese Mantse as the Acting Ga Mantse. Furthermore, they asked, that'the- People's ?ei it ion be now transmitted to the Secretary of State for the Colonies in London at the earliest convihiencb, and that a complete report would be sent later.r At the beginning of February, 1925 they notified the Government that Nil Tackie Yaoboi's predecesser, Nii Tackie Oblie . who was destooled in 1918 had been re-instated. : •)\ -Meanwhile, Nix Tackie Yaobpi's court action was on at the Divisional court in Accra, which under the Chiefs' Ordinance of 1904 referred the', question /as to /whether or not Nii Tackie Yaoboi had been properly destooled t;o the Governor who ^ordered;an enquiry to ascertain1 whetherrtne proo'edure adopted for the destoolment was in confromity''with native^custom^ The colonial Secretiiry-therefore wrote to/-all the disputants ihat.until the Governor confirmed Nii Tackie Yaoboi1 sdestoolment, the Governor would continue to - 44 ~- recognise him as the G-a Mantse. . The Governor .decided to set up two commissions,, The .first with iir. E» 3. Hewiands, the Deputy Commissioner for the Eastern Province as the sole coiaraissioner was to inquire into the objections against the application, of the Funicipal Corporations Ordinance'to Accrai The second commission :riih Kr. 0. '.7. *?elman? the Secretary far- Native Affairs as chairman and lr.«, Jo f. de Graft Johnson, • his Assistant as member and Er. Pu A. B. Mingle as interpreter, was to inquire into -whether or not the destoolment of Nil Taokie Yaoboi corvlor'aed to custom,. . The Be-fflands Commission began i ts work on 20th Iloveiiiber, 1924 and submitted his Report on 25th Rovembar, 1924,- In his findings, he agreed with the submission that the people ?.rere too poor to pay their rates. He observed; ' it appears to be- a fact that at present there is among the residents of Accra, considerable.financial strigency'. In his view the poverty of the people was,' among • other things, due to the collapse of the building boom, which started-'in 1919? and. the revolution in transportation-brou-jht about by the recent development in mechanical transport whereby railways and vehicles had enabled the Europeans to %o to the cocoa producing areas, therefore making1 redundant the middleman role of the people of Accra and thus rendering1 many jobless. X' It is very significant to. note here that the people did not submit that they were against tax payment ?per s.e' as Wraith, Bourret and Kimble have i t .. But the. aamlmi&n found-that they •• ' ~ 45 - were too poor to pay the rates envisaged "by the I'&micipal Corpora- tions Ordinance. Sa?o • Ke-flands.1 considered view on the matter was that the Orlinanee had -not..been properly explained to the people, arid he made it quite clear that public" opinion in Accra was emphatically against the-application of the Ordinance to the Town. It was on the strength of this finding that the Government decided to suspend and eventually withdrew the Ordinance completely. The second commission began work on 6th Inarch, ,13,25 .and. .. ..r(.rtw, submitted i ts report in April 1925* In i t 's report, it found that: ^rjj-sgg gel CFSJJIU | i S \T J-0 fc.i>l.t-,c.*I-l—.-J- . . .. the manner in which the alleged destoolment was carried out was irregular and not in accordance with native law and custom* Ho charges were framed and presented to the 3a Mantse, ha was given no .. opportunity of replying to the aoousation against him. proper manner and destoolment was not- consumated in the proper way. There was nothing but unconsidered declaration by a mob in a state of excitement and delusion after which a 8png»-gong "ffas beaten and Ihe proceedings were not initiated in the • destoolment proclaimed.-^ She Governor accepted the finding and accordingly overruled the decision destooling Sfii Tackie laoboi. _ _ . . • . - . -. In the light of the foregoing^ it is clear that the rejection ... of the Municipal Corporation Ordinance of 1J24 was not, due .so much to the revision of basic rates as Bourret and Wraith would l et us . have i t, nor the refusal to be taxed as ICimble observed- -Primarily»: the Ordinance wasuge4 as a tool a na chjeftainsy dispute. It was delibrately mdsrepres^ited and made unpopular and then i ts enactment - 46 - was associated'with the Q-a Mantse and his supporters, a strategy which was to have the effect of alienating the G-a Mantse from the people in order to h.-?ve him destooledc 77e have seen that in opposing the Ordinance, there ^ to.be no compromise, but a persistent aSd' consistent attempt to make it unpopular» Then this .was achieved they turned to their ma^in objective '.viiich.-.yas frustrated by the Government. In fact the strategy adopted;., was. simply, to. support whatever measures the government, would introduce that were opposed by Nii Tackie Yaoboi and the educated e l i t e, and to .oppose what they support ed• In 19 25 when Nii T ackie. Y apb oi and his supp ort ers opposed the 1925 Constitution, they gave it their whole hearted support. 40 Again,, in 1.927? when the A.R.P.S. advised the chiefs not to have anything to do with the preparation of the Native Adminis- tration Ordinance? Nii Tackle Yaoboi was the only paramount chief in the Eastern Province who complied. His opponents immediately, . mobilized their supporters and marshalled a massive, support for the Ordinanceo ;/j;i>-$n;-'Wu|)^6rtJih^'these measures,. as was the case, with the Municipal Corporations Ordinance, the merits or, demerits "were not taken into consideration. By 1929? Nii Tackie Yaoboi was sufficieritlyl!a'2xenated to be destooled by this group this time with 42 ' •' ••• ' ••• ' the approval of the Government. It is therefore in the light of this''::geheral strategy adopted by the opponents of Nii Tackie Yaoboi that'-tlie primal:/'cause1 fdr'-'th'e rejection of the Municipal Corporations Ordinance-'of1 i i R ix^; :f i >' - 4 7 -~ 's" sessional Address to. i^ Legislative Council 6th March, 1924° 2. Ibid. 3. WraitJi, H. 3.. .CfiLgyLsber.fi (London; Q.U,,P,«., -1967,). p»-2Q7-.-: 5 . Wraiib h Op. Git. . p e 208«. . l i y . . / „, „.._. 6. Wraith Op, Git, p.209» 7.' Ribero, M.A. et a,! Q.uo .Yadimus? !oc ^old Goast future • (Aohimotg) p.14« 8. G-uggisberg, F. ;3-« The Qold Goast; A Review of avents;..o£ 1924-25, And, Prospects of 1925-1926, p.135« 9. Wraith Op.';'Git, po209. 10. Report of the 'Town Council Gominittee? Accra, • 26th :Ma^, :1922ip 11» 'Juggisberg was then on leave in England. 12. Report of the f own Couricil Committee, Accra, 26th May, 1922. 13<> GuggxsiDer^sJ last.. Annual Message at the.Budget .Session .of. t h:i l 1 Q ^ i l' March., J7 14- Bourret''? Fvr M'.' ^he':Gold.1 Coast, 1919-46 (Stanford University- Press; Stanford, Carlifornia; 194S})» P»45» ^bs :" Wraith'Op ;v0it; ;- IDV^H ." c 16. Wraith Op. Git, p.212.. 17. Kimble, David, A P o l i t i c al ffisfrory. .of ,0-hana: 185Q~1928»; (London, O.U.P,, '1963) p.447- 18«, Acquari, lone, Accra Survey (London, University of Londdi 1958) po26<, '•*"- 19o Kimble, to be sure mentions the considerable unrest in Accra during t h is period, including a campaign against the 3a Mantse for not leading the Opposition to the Ordinance. He however fails to elaborate on t h i s, furthermore he does not appreciate the significance of the deiibrate misrepresentation of the Municipal Corporations Ordinance on the part of the detractors of the-Ga-Kants.e,».-..-See 3Timblef D. See Report on the Bestoolment of t he Ga Mantse9 1921. ADM 11/1756, Ghana National Archives, Accra. The Korle lagoon iii very, sacred to ^tjaa-j-a Mashie people. is held to be the abode of Korle, one of the three main deities of the 3a Mashie people. - -• . It ' See the Report of the Destoolment of the G-a Mantse••>• -1921,. Op. Cit. The Report of the Commission of Inquiry into th©-objection against The Application of the Minicipal Corporations Ordinance .of 1924 to. Accra ADK 11/889-.', Ghana National -Archives, Accra, Pp., Git, These are the Bais Korle and Salcumo Wu-lomei who are the prin- cipal traditional priests of the central Accra people.. The Asafoatsemei are the ^ar Captains. Asafoatse Mettey and .others to Secretary of State, 12th September, 1924s ADM 11/889, Ghana National Archives, Accra. On 7th October, 1924? Nil Dowuona, The Osu (Christiaribaeg) Mantse submitted a petition also- asking that the Ordinance be not applied to Christiaribor.?. The 5a Mantse himself sent his petition on 12th September, asking that further action on the Ordinance- be. ppstjgojagdA._ .- Report of the Commission into Objection against the Application, 0%. Cit. That i s, in the G-a language. ...... See Report in-to'th^3e_3toplmgnt_.oJ..3aJKa2i±seT-- 26th Pebruary7"'i'9"25,"Ghana National Archives, Accra. 20. 2 1. 2 2. 2 3. 24° 25 = 26. 27. 28. 29- 30. 3 1. 32. Op.,, Git. 49 - 33« Maribii is a G-a word meaning townspeople. 34« See Letter from Asafoatsemei and Mantsemei to 3»N*A<. dated 6th October, 1924» ADM 11/8899 Ghana National Archives, Accra- Gyase means Hoyal Household, 35• Heport into Destoolment of Ga Mantse, 26th February, 1925, Ghana National Archives, Accra- 36. Nii Tackie Ob l ie was the predeoassor of Nii Tackie Ob l i e, he : was-: destooled in 1918, See J. C. Okai and -others. Letter to S. of So dated 9th May, 1925, ADM 11/1088, Ghana National •Archives, Accra, - 37* 38. 39* 40. 41« See the Report of the Commission of Enquiry: into the objection against the Application of the Municipal Corporations Ordinance of 1924 to-Accra-,-ADM 11/889, G-hana National Archives,'Accra. See Heport of Commission of inquiry into, the Destoolment of Ga Mantse, 26th February, 1925, G-hana National Archives, Accra. , See l e t t er from Nii Tackie Yaoboi to Provincial Commissic or: Saertem Province dated-. 14th-Kay, 1926, ADM 11/925? 3-hkna National Archives, Accra. Also Report of the Native Affairs Department; Eastern Province 1926-270 Also see Resolution of Mantseiiiei of Accra, 1bese, "etc. dated, 28th August, 1926, ADM 22/925, CJhana National Archives, Accra. Ibid. See l e t t er frora Nii Ayi Bonte, A^. 5a Mantse to D. C. dated 12th September, 1929, ADM 11/1O89, .Ghana'-National Archives, . See also l e t t er from D,C. to S.N.A. dated 16th September, 1929* 42. ••'"••: ' ADM 11/1089, Ghana National Archives, "Ascra.: " : T • -