For much of the southern regions of the Gold Coast, the ARPS gained political ascendancy because of its ability to capitalize on publicity in the local newspapers. [10] This interest in pan-Africanism manifested itself in attempts by the Gold Coast ARPS to hold a similar conference on the Gold Coast, although the idea never came to fruition. It has turned out some of the countrys best known public figures in all walks of life, men such as Alex Quaison-Sackey, former President of the General Assembly of UN, Dr. K A Busia, Kofi Annan, the immediate past General Secretary of the United Nations. This achievement saved the Gold Coast from the evils of the alienation of African land, as occurred, for example, in the British colony of Kenya. His first act in this direction was to found a Dutton scholarship at Taunton School in memory of his younger brother, Joseph Dutton Sarbah, who had died there in 1892. /Length 12414 If the content contained herein violates any of your rights, including those of copyright, and/or violates any the above mentioned factors, you are requested to immediately notify us using via the following email address operanews-external(at)opera.com and/or report the article using the available reporting functionality built into our Platform, Gold Coast Aborigines' Rights Protection Society. [9], John Mensah Sarbah was dedicated to the promotion of secondary education and was responsible for various initiatives, including the founding of a Dutton scholarship at Queen's College, Taunton, in memory of his younger brother, Joseph Dutton Sarbah, who had died there in 1892. As a lawyer, John Mensah Sarbah was interested in spreading knowledge of Fanti laws and of theFanti Constitution. When Governor Sir William Maxwell (term of office 1895- 97) refused to withdraw the bill, Sarbah advised the ARPS to send a delegation to some cases thereon decided in the Law Courts) Discover new books on Goodreads See if your friends have read any of John Mensah Sarbah's books Join Goodreads Any/all written content and images displayed are provided by the blogger/author, appear herein as submitted by the blogger/author and are unedited by Opera News. The inaugural lecture was attended by the Minister of Information; Alhaji Mustapha Hamid, Mr. Supi Nkrumah Bentsi-Enchill of Aswells Chambers, Takoradi, Madam Anna Badu-Arthur Mother of Nana Kobina Nketsia V,Nana Owiansa V, Gyantuahene of Anomabo Traditional Area Nana Kwamina Nyimfa IX, Adontehene of Oguaa Traditional Area, Alfred Kweku Ampah-Mensah Vice President of Mfantsipim Old Boys Association of the Central Region and Nana Kwame Edu VI, Tufohene of Oguaa Traditional Area. WhatsApp : +233204700052 Over 50 years after his death, the University of Ghana, in 1963, named Mensah Sarbah Hall after him for his services to education. Above all, it served as a precursor to revolutionary nationalism not only in the Gold Coast but in the entire West African region in the 1930s. The Forest Bill can be traced to the Native Jurisdiction Ordinance of 1883. My latest banger got nothing to do with Mahama - Volkano_KM. 1, Legon, June 1973 (pp. 0000034269 00000 n This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. It cannot be said that the late lawyer did not engaged in any business because he was at a point prosecuted for invasion of Customs duties which had to be quashed by the then Chief Justice. W. T. Balmer. John Mensah Sarbah CMG (3 June 1864 - 27 November 1910) was a lawyer and political leader in the Gold Coast (now Ghana). Another consequence of the Gold Coast ARPS' interaction with other global movements was the attainment of knowledge about how successful African domination of colonial rule could take place. Fanti National Constitution, London, 1906. The ARPS opposed the Lands Bill of 1897, which threatened the traditional system of African land tenure. /Resources << He made a lasting mark on national life in politics, education, and law. It has emerged that he was a business man par excellence who groomed his late father's business in agriculture and mining merchandise in the Gold Coast era. >> Email: henrydonsco@gmail.com A multi-faceted leader and legal pioneer, John Mensah Sarbah was born in Cape Coast in 1864. [5] The Gold Coast ARPS eventually fell out of fashion in exchange for newer nationalist movements, such as the National Congress of British West Africa (NCBWA) in 1920. The ARPS opposed the Lands Bill of 1897, which threatened the traditional system of African land tenure, and sent John Mensah Sarbah to argue against its passage in the Legislative Council. 0000034111 00000 n New York: Reference Publications Inc., 1977. << Prof. Nana Kobina Nketsia V, Paramount Chief of Essikado Traditional Area in the Western Region in delivering the keynote address encouraged participants to emancipate and deconstruct their minds and share passionately the patriotism of the late John Mensah Sarbah, describing him as an embodiment of a deeply intellectual great son of the land. A notable aspect of the delegation is that it included not only members of the Gold Coast elite, but also "prominent merchants". [11] Specifically, many of the members of the Gold Coast ARPS had been educated abroad and were part of an African upper class class that would take over the administration of the Gold Coast should the region be granted independence from colonial rule and thus hold similar power to that of the colonialists over their indigenous brethren. John Mensah Sarbah was one of the pioneers of Ghanaian politics and a distinguished African politician in the Gold Coast in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He was born at Cape Coast in 1864, and was the eldest son of John Sarbah, a merchant, and of his wife Sarah. He founded a Dutton scholarship at Taunton College, in memory of his brother, Joseph Dutton Sarbah, who had died there in He also, together with other . Sarbah-Picot House at Mfantsipim School is named after him. The Gold Coast Aborigines' Rights Protection Society (ARPS) was formed in 1897 in the historic city of Cape Coast, a hub of intellectual and political activism in Ghana. His father sent him to England when he was sixteen to continue his education. When, for financial reasons, the Wesleyan Mission closed down the Cape Coast Wesleyan School, he and some other nationalists revived it, financed it, and renamed it the Collegiate School. He was a good churchman, and bought a pipe organ for the Methodist Church at Cape Coast. He had married Marian Wood of Accra in 1904, and they had three children. /Names << /Dests 12 0 R>> ". 0000014334 00000 n one of the most outstanding nationalists of the Gol, Building on Custom: Land Tenure Policy and Economic Development in Ghana, Exhuming and Highlighting the Nearly Forgotten Gold Coast Intelligentsia: the Life and Times of Prince Kwamin Atta Amonoo V, The Rise of British Jurisdiction in Ghana Jonqil Van, Primary 5 History of Ghana Facilitator's Guide, Pan-African History: Political Figures from Africa and The, AFRICAN COASTAL ELITE ARCHITECTURE: CULTURAL AUTHENTIFICATION DURING the COLONIAL PERIOD in ANOMABO, GHANA By, The Case of John Mensah Sarbah and the Reconstruction of Gold Coast History, The Commission Shall Advise the President on Development Planning Policy and Strategy, Decolonising African History. Sarbah also took an interest in the advancement of secondary education in Ghana and was instrumental in the development of his alma mater, Mfantsipim. THE LIFE OF JOHN MENSAH SARBAH. The Gold Coast Aborigines' Rights Protection Society (ARPS) was an African anti-colonialist organization formed in 1897 in the Gold Coast, as Ghana was then known. Call: +233558280780, Your email address will not be published. On his return to the Gold Coast, he became a leading critic of British Imperial rule. The influence of this conference on the members of the Gold Coast ARPS was a renewed belief that, eventually, the indigenous African peoples would be able to successfully rise up against the European colonial powers that had ruled over them for centuries and begin to govern themselves. This is clear evidence to the effect that aside his legal profession, he had massive interest in education, politics, business and Agriculture. 0000029344 00000 n John Mensah Sarbah (June 3, 1864-November 27, 1910), patriot and statesman, was one of the most outstanding nationalists of the Gold Coast at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. /Prev 51983 Aborigines Rights Protection Society (ARPS), The Ahanta kings head that was preserved in a jar at a Dutch Laboratory, Coronavirus declared global health emergency by WHO, How Ghanas 1966 World cup boycott led to Africas inclusion, Furious Mesut Ozil agent explains why classless Arsenal signed Thomas Partey on transfer deadline day, WBA and Brighton race to sign Andre Ayew from Swansea City, Ghana National Anthem sang in All Local Dialect. 0000020963 00000 n B. Danquah. He died in 1910, without, however, making any provision in his will for the education of his children, probably because he believed that the Akan family system would cater for them. He founded two newspapers, The Gold Coast People and Gold Coast Weekly, and became an authority on the traditions of the Fante people. /TrimBox [0.0000 0.0000 595.2756 841.8898] Answer: In 1897 he worked with JE Casely Hayford, JP Brown, JW de Graft Johnson, and others to form the Aborigines' Rights Protection Society (ARPS). From Taunton he matriculated to Lincoln's Inn to train as a barrister. Sarbah returned the guinea fee which the ARPS gave him for his work, as he regarded it as an honour to serve his country. Aborigines' Rights Protection Society The First political movement in Ghana and the entire British West Africa (An extensive detail of its activities in Ghana and West Africa). /L 52559 0000015327 00000 n By his publications he began the tradition of educated nationalist politicians finding time to write about their countrys history and institutions. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. Although the Lands Bill was its immediate preoccupation, the aims of the ARPS were broad and encompassing. some cases thereon decided in the Law Courts by John Mensah Sarbah | Sep 21, 2020 5 Hardcover $1844 Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. arbah failed to sway the opinon of Governor Sir William Maxwell, honored with the Order of St. Michael and St. George, "did not strive for popularity nor was he vainglorious nor egotistical. Specifically, he proposed that in perjury the falsehood with which the witness could be charged should concern a matter material to the issues raised in the judicial proceedings. Although the ARPS was an alliance between the African intelligentsia and the chiefs or the indigenous rulers, its leadership was mostly made up of educated Africans who were able to use their literacy to negotiate with the colonial government. John Mensah Sarbah was called to the English Bar in 1887. 0000014189 00000 n Crises and Transitions in African Historiography (1950-1990), Essential History Primary 5 Teacher's Guide, [Ghanabib 1819 1979 Prepared 23/11/2011] [Ghanabib 1980 1999 Prepared 30/12/2011] [Ghanabib 2000 2005 Prepared 03/03, The Politics of Educational Borrowing: Reopening the Case of Achimota in British Ghana Author(S): Gita SteinerKhamsi and Hubert O, Migration from Historic Mission Churches to Pentecostal Churches in Ghana by REV, Singapore in Global History Singaporederek Heng Is Assistant Professor at the History in Singapore in Department, Ohio State University, Nationalism in Question: a Study of Key Categories in Ghanaian History 1863-1965, Colonialism, Maritime Culture and Conflict in Southern Gold Coast, 18601932, KWAME NKRUMAHS CONTRIBUTION to PAN-AFRICANISM an Afrocentric Analysis D.Zizwe Poe, Resource Flows and Technology Adoption in Tamale, Ghana: Implications for Urban and Peri-Urban Vegetable Growers. /Type /Page /T 51995 At the inaugural anniversary lecture and thanks-giving service in Cape Coast organized by the John Mensah Sarbah Memorial Legacy Foundation on the theme: The life of legacy of John Mernsah Sarbah; education as a catalyst to economic emancipation came the business side of the late lawyer. He therefore helped J. P. Brown, J. W. de Graft Johnson, and others, to form the Aborigines Rights Protection Society (ARPS) to watch over the interests of the African population. For example, in 1906, following the campaigns against the Town Councils Ordinance championed by the ARPS, Cape Coast market women unleashed a large-scale, well-organized protest against the ordinance when Governor John Rodger visited Cape Coast to open an agricultural show. John Mensah Sarbah was educated at the Cape Coast Wesleyan School, and at Taunton School Devon, England. 24 0 obj Any/all written content and images displayed are provided by the blogger/author, appear herein as submitted by the blogger/author and are unedited by Opera News. [10] The Gold Coast ARPS's interest in the affairs of people of colour abroad was predicated on the notion of the salience of race beyond the confines of an African context and the global prevalence of racial discrimination. The African Feed John Mensah Sarbah (June 3, 1864-November 27, 1910), patriot and statesman, was one of the most outstanding nationalists of the Gold Coast at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. The society was able to mediate between Africans and the colonial government, thereby moderating colonial rule. When Governor Sir William Maxwell (term of office 1895-97) refused to withdraw the bill, Sarbah advised the ARPS to send a delegation to England to petition against its . Over 50 years after his death, the University of Ghana, in 1963, named Mensah Sarbah Hall after him for his services to education. But his interest in politics, which he had shown during his student days in England, led him to take a more active part in political life. 0000030321 00000 n In understanding the critiques of the Gold Coast ARPS nationalists aims, it is important to note that much of the skepticism about the true intentions of the members of the Gold Coast ARPS came from British colonial administrators who were dismissive of the attempts of the Gold Coast ARPS to oppose the Lands Bill of 1897. /E 40017 He was born at Cape Coast in 1864, and was the eldest son of John Sarbah, a merchant, and of his wife Sarah. He, Ghana National Anthem sang in All LocalDialect https://www.theafricanfeed.com/ghana-national-anthem-sang-in-all-local-dialect/, Congratulations President Elect of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo @ Accra, Ghana https://www.instagram.com/p/CIloJcaJ4KU/?igshid=ci9tcg9u16ay. Sarbah House, at Mfantsipim, is named after him. John Mensah Sarbah was one of the pioneers of Ghanaian politics and a distinguished African politician in the Gold Coast in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He himself founded a scholarship at Mfantsipim School and helped to pay the salaries of the staff when the school encountered financial difficulties. His suggestion, which was an improvement on the amendment, was not accepted. John Mensah Sarbah had opposed such proposals before, and people had expected him to oppose the amendment outright. The Town Councils Ordinance dealt with the levying of municipal house rates. [10], A common critique of the Gold Coast ARPS was that its members sought to garner greater financial and political gain for the African bourgeoisie and elites, rather than for the common people. John Mensah Sarbah was interested in promoting agriculture, and wrote an article on The Oil Palm and Its Products in 1909. He also proposed that native tribunals should be given a definite and well-defined place in the judicial structure. Although he accepted the basic assumptions of the British imperial regime, he felt that some of the evils of the crown colony system should be checked. He became the first native-born Ghanaian to accomplish the feat. The society also had a secretary and a treasurer. We promise to be discrete. As a legislator he was interested in law reform, and tried his best to prevent the passage of laws inimical to the interests of his countrymen. It has emerged that he was a business man par excellence who groomed his late fathers business in agriculture and mining merchandise in the Gold Coast era. [5] It was through their meeting with Joseph Chamberlain that the Gold Coast ARPS was able to get support for the denunciation of the Lands Bill of 1897 and the assurance that "native law would remain and prevail with regard to devolution of land". He entered Lincolns Inn in London in 1884 to study law, and qualified as a barrister in 1887, being the first African from the Gold Coast to gain this qualification. 0000034351 00000 n [2] Mensah Sarbah was educated at the Cape Coast Wesleyan School (later renamed by Mensah Sarbah himself as Mfantsipim School) and then at Queen's College in Taunton, Somerset, England, matriculating in 1884. He therefore published two books, Fanti Customary Laws (1897), and Fanti National Constitution (1906). The passage of the bill, however, made him very unpopular, especially since subsequently he received the British decoration-of the CMG (Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St.George), an honor some thought that he had sought, though he denied it. << News ), Opera News is a free to use platform and the views and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent, reflect or express the views of Opera News. 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