GHANA NATIONAL COLLEGE, CAPE COAST
THE HISTORICAL RECORD

On Friday 16th July 1948, when agitations for self-government in the then Gold Coast had gathered high momentum, a new secondary school was established in Cape Coast. It was christened GHANA NATIONAL COLLEGE. Significantly enough, nine years later on 6th March, 1957 when the Gold Coast achieved independence, the country was renamed GHANA.
The significance of naming the college and the nation all after the ancient Sudanese empire GHANA should not be lost on anyone who attempts to chronicle the history of education in the immediate post independence era in Ghana. The ancient GHANA EMPIRE was powerful, prosperous, and famous and Dr. Nkrumah intended to make the new independent Ghana powerful, prosperous, and famous just like the ancient Sudanese Kingdom and succeeded in doing exactly that until he was overthrown, Ghana was the shining star of Africa and played a major role in the attainment of independence by the other African states. The establishment of GHANA NATIONAL COLLEGE in 1948, nine long years before Ghana itself came into being and before Dr. Nkrumah assumed the reigns of power as Prime Minister, is a clear manifestation of Dr. Nkrumah�s great vision.GOTO PAGE 2

Dr. Nkrumah had planned to turn Ghana into an industrial giant within the shortest possible time. To succeed with this plan, he knew he had to develop the human resources in the country.
It must be put on record that GHANA NATIONAL COLLEGE was a model school set up by Dr. Nkrumah to achieve this goal. Immediately after achieving independence, Dr. Nkrumah established the GHANA EDUCATIONAL TRUST through which scores of secondary schools were set up all over Ghana.
Dr. Nkrumah's profound interest in education stemmed from the fact that he himself was a great academician and therefore knew the benefits of education as a tool for national development.
Dr. Nkrumah attended Achimota College under the inspirational tutelage of the celebrated Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey who had studied in the U.S.A. and had come to teach at Achimota College as an educator and a Pastor. The latters famous dictum was the harmonious relationship between the black and white keys.
Strongly influenced by Dr. Aggrey's educational accomplishment, Dr. Nkrumah went to the U.S.A. and studied for 10 years. In 1945 Dr. Nkrumah left New York for Britain where together with George Padmore, Jomo Kenyatta and Johnson of Sierra Leone helped organized the very successful 5th Pan African Conference in Manchester, in October 1945 under the presidency of Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois. Dr. Nkrumah served as a secretary at the West African Secretariat in London where he organized the coloured workers in Britain to seek their dignity. November 1947 marked a great watershed in Dr. Nkrumah's political career. He was invited by the leaders of the UGCC to come to the Gold Coast to work as General Secretary for the party.A short while after arriving in the Gold Coast,Dr. Nkrumah found out that the leading members of the UGCC were very slow in acting,stylistic and too aristocratic and that their attittude to GOTO PAGE 3
many issues was completely at variance with his mode of behaviour and the exigencies of the time.
Dr. Nkrumah was an action man. To Dr. Nkrumah the time was ripe for positive action for immediate self-government. He preached the injustices of the colonial rule and called for SELF-GOVT NOW. This stance found so much favour with the youth and the general masses of people in the colony. Little wonder, three months after his arrival in the Gold Coast, that the housewives of Accra demonstrated massively against the high prices of household goods.
The Ex-Servicemen who had survived the 2nd World war and returned home, expected some concrete provision for the disabled who had come home with them, and for the dependents of their colleagues who had died in the war while fighting to defeat racism. They expected that the freedom they had helped win for the white would be granted to their country too. But the Ex-Servicemen's Welfare March to the Governor on 28th February, 1948 was met with the Christianborg shooting and disturbances which Dr. Nkrumah really regretted; but the events were deliberately blamed on him by the Colonial Government as an excuse for getting him. Blaming the disturbances on Dr. Nkrumah as Secretary of the UGCC, the then Gold Coast Governor, Sir Gerald Creasy ordered the arrest of six leaders of the UGCC: Dr. Nkrumah, Dr. J. B. Danquah, Mr. Edward Akuffo-Addo, Mr William Ofori-Atta, Mr Obetsebi Lamptey, and Mr. Ako Adjei. They were detained in unnamed separate places. To attract the attention of the Governor and elders of the Gold Coast to the general dissatisfaction of the people of Gold Coast with the arrest of the leaders, students from Mfantsipirn, Adisadel and St. Augustines college planned to stage peaceful internal demonstrations.
On Monday 15th March, 1948, some teachers of St. Augustine's College, Cape Coast GOTO PAGE 4
got hint of the planned demonstration by that school and Mfantipim School against the arrest of the UGCC leaders. Early in the morning, 15th March,1948, one teacher was sent by bicycle from St. Augustine�s College to a teacher at Mfantsipim to say that the students� protest should be stopped to allow the teachers time to resort to a non �violent means. But it appears this message went to Mfantsipim too late. The demonstration started at 7.00 am that day and continued till 26th March, 1948 when the Government ordered that all Cape Coast schools be closed down.
In May 1948, after 8 weeks of detention, the six UGCC leaders were released through the force of public opinion but the other five leaders were very bitter against Dr. Nkrumah as being the cause of their first lifetime experience in a prison atmosphere.
On Wednesday 16th June, 1948,the Quarshie-Idun Commission headed by Mr. justice S. O. Quarshie Idun was appointed by Government to investigate the students' demonstration. The terms of reference for the committee were: -
(1) To investigate the causes of the students' protests in Cape Coast.
(2) To identify students who were most, conspicuous in the students protest and any teachers who had shown any sympathy for the students� cause.
(3)The commission was charged to recommend the dismissal of guilty students and in the case of teachers, to recommend the rejection of those who were reported to have met with students at any secret meetings before 15th March. The Commission's findings were to be final. No appeals were to be entertained. Some teachers and many of the students were tried in absentia and the verdicts were arrived at without the Chairman of the commission seeing them. The results of the Commission's GOTO PAGE 5 investigations were that from the Cape Coast boys schools alone, about 150 students were to be dismissed, the majority of them from St. Augustine's College whose Irish Headmaster had become over-enthusiastic with the dismissals. Seven of the affected students from St. Augustine�s College had already been entered to sit for the Cambridge School Certificate Examination in December of the same year, 1948. In addition the commission recommended that the appointment of 3 teachers from St. Augustines and one from Mfantsipim be terminated. The 3 teachers from St. Augustines were:
(1)Mr. Kwesi Plange
(2)Mr. J.J. Mensah Kane
(3)Mr. H.P. Nelson.
The fourth tutor was Mr. H. W. K. Sackeyfio from Mfantsipim School.
Seven of the dismissed students from St. Augustines College needed to be taught to prepare for the Cambridge School Certificate Examination .The four teachers whose appointments had been terminated on the recommendations of the commission realized they could start a new school with the 150 dismissed students.
Dr. Nkrumah was a man of great courage who did not allow setbacks and misfortunes to unsettle him. Instead of allowing the regretful incidents of 28th February and the series of events that followed to disturb his plans, he rather exploited the circumstances to play one of his greatest cards of turning misfortunes into a blessing. He took advantage of the prevailing circumstances to establish GHANA NATIONAL COLLEGE which served as the springboard for launching his educational programme for the then yet to be born nation GHANA. GOTO PAGE 6
On Thursday 1st July, 1948, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Secretary of the UGCC personally, invited the teachers to his Secretarial Office at Saltpond where they met with him and Mr. Kojo Botsio whom Dr. Kwame Nkrumah had invited from Accra for a discussion of the situation. Dr. Nkrumah rejected the view and advice of his colleagues and directed Mr. Kojo Botsio to workout a plan for obtaining approval from the Department of Education to start a new school for the dismissed students, and urged the teachers to start lessons for the -School Certificate Students in the teachers own homes in the meantime.
A couple of days after Mr. Botsio's consultations with the Dept. of Education, the Senior Education Officer, Mr. H.T. Essilfie with office at Cape Coast soon conveyed to the school Government's approval of the private school.
On Thursday 8th July, 1948 Dr. Nkrumah, on his way from Axim to SaItpond, stopped at the "Chinebua House" at Aboom Wells Road, Cape Coast and handed over to the teachers cash of ten pounds. The teachers made benches, tables, blackboards, bought chalks and dusters and rented through the benevolence of Mr. S. C. Grant, "Lodge Master", the ground floor of the Old Temple house of the Grand United Order of Odd fellows Belgravean Lodge at MacCarthy Hill, Cape Coast for a rent of eight (8) shillings per month.
It must be noted that the four tutors from Mfantsipim and St. Augustines, Mr. J..J. Mensah-Kane, Mr. H.P Nelson, Mr. Kwesi Plange and Lt. Col (rtd) H.W.A.K.Sackeyfio featured prominently in the development of Ghana National College.
(1) Mr. Kwesi Plange for instance, was the first Headmaster of Ghana National College from1948 to 1950 when he transferred from education to full time politics and rose to be member of GOTO PAGE 7 Parliament and Minister of State in the First Republic until his untimely passing away in 1953 at the very youthful age of 27.
(2) Mr J.J. Mensah-Kane: He was Headmaster of Ghana National College in two spells, from 1950 to1952 and then on his return from U.K. headed the school from 1960 until 1979 when he compulsorily retired after a pleasant carrier in the Ghana Education Service. He was twice President of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools of Ghana (CHASS), a member of the National Council for Higher Education, a member of the National Council of the Universities of Ghana Legon, Cape Coast and Kumasi, an ardent member of the West of African Examinations Council, from 1961 to 1979.
(3) Mr. H.P Nelson: He taught at Ghana National College until 1952, when like his colleague, he left for further studies in the U.K. On his return he entered the Ghana Civil Service and rose to be a Principal Secretary, Ministry of Economic Affairs. And on his voluntary retirement from the Civil Service, he held the position of General Manager of UTC of Ghana and from there he went to the Catholic National Secretariat, Accra as Administrator.
(4) Ejected from Mfantsipirn School was Lt. Col. (rtd) H.W. A. K. Sackeyfio. He taught at Ghana National College until 1952 from where he obtained appropriate professional qualification as Engineer and joined the Ghana Army as Civil Engineer. On his voluntary retirement from the Army he was appointed Director of Development at University of Cape Coast.
On Friday 16th July, 1948, sixteen boys and one girl were enrolled at MacCarthy Hill and the first official lessons were given. The first 17 students admitted to Ghana National College turned to be a roll call honor list later in life. Prominent among them are: GOTO PAGE 8
(1) Prof. Kofi Amoa Oduro, Professor of Anaesthesia at the Ghana Medical School.
(2) Mr. Joseph Kingsley Bentum-Williams, first Head Prefect of the Siwdu/Wardbury School and, for many years, GIHOC Chief Executive.
(3) Mr. S. I. K. Boakye-Agyeman, Chartered Accountant
(4) Dr. L. K. A. Derban, for sometime Industrial Medical Officer of the Volta River Authority
(5) Dr. Asare Berkye, Gynaecologist and Obstetrician in CAIRO, Egypt
(6) Prof K. Osei-Manu of the University of Colombia.
(7) The 7th in this group was Mr. Twumasi Ankrah whose life was terminated rather early through his political activities. May he rest in peace.
Among the 17, the 1st to be enrolled was the boy from SaItpond who must be specially mentioned here. Together with his colleagues, he started learning science in 1948 on a verandah. He later turned out to be one of the greatest scientists this country has produced. He is the simple and very courteous Prof.Francis Kofi A. Allotey More examples can be cited to show how the very handicapped students of Ghana National College were determined to grow as excelling Medical Officers, University Professors, Administrators, soldiers, highly successful business men and women and Ministers of the Gospel to take their place among the very best in our own country and the world.
The first formal lesson to be started at MacCarthy Hill was on Monday 19th July, 1948. On Tuesday 20th July 1948 Dr. Kwarne Nkrumah delivered an address to inaugurate the new school. Two of the highly inspirational and prophetic paragraphs of the address are quoted as follows: "in spite of the humble conditions under which we have started, I bring you a message of hope and inspiration. I bid you shake hands with your fellows and teachers over your study table and over the blackboards." "I look forward to the time when there will be a chain of Ghana Colleges in all the four territories which make up the Gold Coast leading to the founding of a very high institution in this country. In the name of the people of the Gold Coast, in the name of humanity and in the name of Almighty God I bid you speed forward till we realize a free and United Gold Coast in a United Africa". GOTO PAGE 10

Dr. Nkrumah named the new school "Ghana National College" and he gave the name Ghana to the Gold Coast nine years later. He directed that the school's motto be"Pro Patria" which freely translated to mean "For the honor and glory of our fatherland" and the Coat-of-Arms be represented by the map of Africa immersed in the rays of the sun. Early 1949 Mr. Michael Ato Wood composed to-fit these ideas, the School Hymn "God bless our native land".
From 19th July 1948, all classes were held at MarCarthy Hill, using the Conference Hall of the "Lodge" and the bedroom of the temple-keeper for classrooms. The temple-keeper was ordinarily a day watchman at the local UAC supermarket just down the hill. He agreed that classes could be held in his bedroom while he was on a day duty at the UAC. This worked for the first two months. Mrs. Charlotte Bart-Plange, mother of Kwesi Plange member of the school's board of Governors, from 1951 to 1972 put her nearby sitting room (20 yards away) at the disposal of the school for use as office and for meeting parents. She herself personally got deeply involved in the welfare of the teachers and became some kind of mother to all.
On Tuesday 22nd November 1948, owing to the large number of students enrolled in the school, the school moved-from MacCarthv Hill to a more spacious accommodation in a dwelling house at Siwdu, then owned by Alhaji Ali Baba, a businessman in Cape Coast. The first six months advance rent of One hundred and eight pounds having been paid as a donation to the school by Mr. J.E.Hagan, then a businessman in Cape Coast and an ardent admirer of Dr. Kwarne Nkrumah.
In Dr. Kwarne Nkrumah's Government Mr. Hagan became a Member of Parliament and Central Regional Commissioner.The building at Siwdu was soon bought over by Dr. C.A. Ackah GOTO PAGE 11
who reduced the rent to suit the slender finances of the school. Eight boys came to live at Siwdu as boarders.
Mrs. Dalryrnpe Hayfron ageed to offer her hostel to lodge the first girls admitted who had arrived in Cape Coast but she suddenly changed her mind for fear of imaginary action by the Government.Mrs. Faustina Daniels, first direct mother of the girls at Ghana National and member of the school Board of Governors from 1951 until 1972, immediately came to the rescue and took the girls in her Coronation Street Hostel. Hence Ghana National became a mixed school. Mr. Kofi Gyetua composed and taught the school a song entitled "The Joys of GhanaColl we sing" to fit the new development.
On 1st January,1949,feeding became necessary at Siwdu and so culinary staff were employed with Madam Appiawa as Head Cook and Kodwo Dagarti ,Head steward.
The release of the 1949 Cambridge School Certificate Examination results strengthened the academic stature of the school with all the seven (7) students entered by the school obtaining Grade I Certificates. This proved to be a very strong point in the Gold Coast in favor of Ghana National College-the greater the handicap, the stronger the fight to win.
On Ist January, 1957, with the rise in the number of students, especially girls, problems with accommodation cropped up, Mrs Elizabeth Ward-Brew offered, for a nominal rent, her vacant residential complex at Wardbury Gardens at Kakumdu, four miles distance from the Siwdu school. Some boarders, boys, were moved to Wardbury Gardens and the school was from then on run in two wings; 4 miles apart, with teachers commuting between one wing and the other at conveniently arranged times in between lessons. May 1957, all girls from the Coronation Street Hostel GOTO PAGE 12
(Mrs. Fatistina Daniels) were transferred to Wardburv Gardens. Miss Adelina Bessa-Simons who was the school matron joined the non teaching staff to live at Wardbury Gardens as matron and Housemistress for the girls. The first female teacher then Miss Stella Maysel Abaka joined the staff and soon relieved the matron as Housemistress at Wardbury Gardens. In the meantime, Dr. K Kwarne Nkrumah became Prime Minister of the Gold Coast.
In August 1957, the Ministry of Education granted financial assistance to the school in the form of teaching staff salaries and teaching material.
From 1949-1952 throughout this period Practical Science at Siwdu was taught with a mobile laboratory presented to the school by Miss Eleanor Brown, an American friend of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. At Siwdu, as at Wardbury Gardens, Science was taught in the garage and sometimes under trees. Students who were most keen with this kind of teaching turned out to be formidable Scientists or Medical Officers, such as Prof. K.A. Oduro, Dr. L.K.A. Derban, Mr. J.K. Bentum Williams(Engineer) Prof. Osei Manu, Dr. Asare-Berkye, Prof. F.K.A. Allotey and Dr. Ababio Tetteh who ,as a young student, took charge of carrying the mobile laboratory, a box, from the car to classroom and back to the car.
In August 1952,Dr.Nkrumah delegated Mr. J..J..Mensah-Kane to Sierra Leone to invite Mr. David Carney an Economist to come as Headmaster of Ghana National College to take over from him in view of his impending departure to the UK.
In September 1952, Headmaster J.J. Mensah- Kane and his Assistant Mr. H. P. Nelson left for the UK for further studies as the Ministry of Education granted full recognition to the school as an "Assisted Secondary School". GOTO PAGE 13

Mr. David Carnev was the Headmaster from 1952-1953 when he was released after a brief term of Headship to go back home (Sierra Leone) as his country's Economic Adviser.
From 1953-1956, Dr. C.A. Ackah was appointed Headmaster of the school to succeed Mr. David Carney. On Ist Januarv, 1956, the first female worker of the Administration Staff, Miss Cecilia Buder, was taken on as Assistant Clerical Officer.
In August 1956, Lord Listowel, Governor-General of the Gold Coast visited the school at Siwdu with a message from the Prime Minister that the Ghana Education Trust had been instructed to provide permanent buildings for Ghana National College.
The Prime Minister directed Messrs J.G.Aggrev and Kojo Botsio to choose a site for the construction of the school. The Afadu-Abadzi and the Ama Takyiwa Twidan families of Amanful Cape Coast conveyed lands to the school at a nominal consideration price which was paid personally by Mr. Aggrey building contractor and a chief with stool name Nana Kwamina Ewusi II of Gornoa Ngresi.
In 1956-1960, Mr. Albert Hammond succeeded Dr. C. A. Ackah and supervised the first stage of the building of the new school.
In October 1957 Mr. J. J. Mensah-Kane returned to Ghana National College from the UK as a member of staff, with the school still at Siwdu and Wardburv Gardens. He was assigned to Adisadel on loan to teach zoology at the 6th Form level.
On Saturday 10th October, 1959, Oguaa Ornanhene Nana Kodwo Mbra V, in royal style, gave the welcome address at a colorful ceremony held at the Administration block to welcome the Prime Minister Dr. Kwame Nkrumah who then laid the Foundation-Stone of the school. Mr. J.E. Hagan GOTO PAGE 14
delivered the Vote of thanks. Mr. Albert Hammond, the last Headmaster of the Siwdu School delivered a speech on the progress of the school.
In September 1960, Mr. J J. Mensah-Kane was appointed Assistant Headmaster and was charged with the duty of moving the school from Siwdu and Wardbury Gardens to the village of "Mennya Mennwu" which literally means "I did not die after all", but well translated, meant "I have seen my salvation" a concept which fitted in with the long-standing sociological attachment of the school with the people of the village. Meanwhile Mr. Albert Hammond was transferred to the Ministry of Education.
In December 1960, Mrs. Elsie Gyedua Dadzie newly appointed Local Court Magistrate accepted the school's invitation to speak to the girls fortnightly on "young girls and the pressures of the world" and also accepted the school's invitation to be on the Board of Governors. She held this position until 1972.
In September 1961, Mr. J.J. Mensah-Kane was appointed substantive Headmaster of the school. Sixth Form Science and Art courses were started at Ghana National. Over the years, it became clear that the Sixth Form Science course at Ghana National had taken its place in Ghana as the school had for the course, just the right staff and material equal to a very high standard of scholarship.
Ghana National had a big name in school science in Ghana for the unfailing brilliance of its Science courses. Students from the neighboring schools who did not get admission into the Sixth Form Physics, Chemistry and Biology combination at Ghana National considered it sufficient if they came to Ghana National to copy the Biology notes from their friends at the school.
Up to 1979 on Sunday mornings separate denominational services were held at the school halls for Catholics,Anglicans and Methodists. Non-denominational services were held each GOTO PAGE 15
Sunday evening for the whole school by special arrangement. Service conductors were taken either from the staff volunteers or appointed by senior Ministers of the Churches from Cape Coast.
In July 1979, the J.J Mensah Kane retired. In separate farewell festivities involving students, teaching staff, administrative staff, workers, artisans , kitchen staff and happily by a special arrangement between the outgoing Headmaster and the Ministry of Education, the school headship passed on to one of the school's own products Mr. Samuel Eduku Cobbold who took the school into its second phase. It was the wish of the retiring Headmaster that all future Heads of the school be past students. The headship of Mr. Cobbold however, proved short-lived.
From October, 1987, Mr. John Gyenfi, one of the students who were moved from Siwdu to "Mennya Mennwu" in 1960 was appointed Headmaster of Ghana National College. This headship was marked by excessively large class sizes and large school population, generally; the result being that facilities provided for boys and girls such as dormitories, classrooms, assembly hall, dining hall, dormitory cloakroom facilities and every conceivable aspect of school life deteriorated markedly and with it, academic performance and discipline went down. This reign was even more short-lived as a strong delegation of old students Association went to Cape Coast and requested the Regional Minister and the Regional Director of Education to arrange for the Head to be transferred from the school.
From September 1991, a past student Mr. J. Nuarna-Hagan assumed Headship of the school. To his dismay, he realized that the Ghana National College, he and his school mates were so fond of was in complete ruins. Discipline in the school was at its lowest ebb, academic standards was nothing to write home about and the school's environment particularly the buildings, GOTO PAGE 16
was an eyesore to any visitor. Such was the sorry state of affairs of the school that Mr. Nuamah had no choice but to call an urgent meeting of the Past Students, Board members, PTA and lay bare the embarrassing facts about the school. He candidly asked for immediate rescue from all stakeholders of the school particularly the past students. Happily, under his administration, the school is now blessed with qualified disciplined, conscientious, neatly dressed and determined staff, and improved academic results.
We have said enough for anyone to decide whether there was any wisdom in what was done at Ghana National College - Siwdu and Wardbury - at the beginning. Our evidence is to be found in the human exhibits here in Ghana and throughout the world especially in America, Germany, Britain, Europe with very solid past students in all vital areas of human endeavor.
And so Ghana National presses on but we should always remember that the school's exciting story has been determined by the labors of persons great and common, living and dead who worked for it in the most difficult times to make it great.
GOD BLESS OUR SCHOOL, OUR AGE, OUR LAND
JOB WELL DONE
MBO NA EDWUMA
Source: Ghana National College 50th Anniversary Brochure

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