745G.00/11–2753

The Consul at Accra (Cole) to the Department of State

restricted
No. 99

Reference:

  • Accra’s despatch 151 of May 22, 19531

Subject:

  • Conference of West African Nationalists

There follows a summary of information which I obtained about the above subject from the Ministry of Defense and External Affairs on November 26 with regard to the Conference of West African Nationalists convened by Kwame Nkrumah, Prime Minister of the Gold Coast, to take place at Kumasi on December 4 through 6.2

Fenner Brockway, the Leftist Member of Parliament, and the Congress of Peoples Against Imperialist Oppression had some ideas about calling for a “Pan-African Conference”. COPAIO itself is not, however, involved in the Kumasi meeting, which may to some extent represent a move on Nkrumah’s part to seize the initiative from COPAIO.

So far as the Ministry is aware, Nkrumah has invited some 11 “delegates” from Nigeria; six from Sierra Leone; two from the Gambia; two from Liberia; and about eight persons from the Gold Coast. The invitees are believed to include the following: Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe from Nigeria plus two leaders of the Nigeria branch of the Convention Peoples Party; Bankole Bright and Dr. Margai from Sierra Leone; Sylvanus Olympio from Togoland; and J. B. Danquah, Nii Ama Ollenu, and Kojo Busia from the Gold Coast. In addition to Nkrumah, it is understood that Kojo Botsio (Gold Coast [Page 68] Minister of Education) and K. A. Gbedemah (Minister of Commerce and Industry) will address the gathering.

No especial significance is imputed to the “conference” by British officials here, although possibly the Colonial Office attaches more importance to it as being indicative of as trend or as raising possible apprehensions on the part of certain other colonial powers. The Kumasi conference is a “whittled down” version of the proposed meeting discussed in my despatch No. 151 of May 22 entitled “Conference of West African Nationalists,” which was to have taken place about last August. It is thought that Nkrumah is not enthusiastic about the affair, but has to go through with it since there had been so much talk about such a gathering and since his prestige as a nationalist leader depends to some extent upon his posing as the guiding spirit in the concept of a West African federation. According to the Ministry of Defense and External Affairs no delegates have been invited from French territories (other than possibly Olympio) and the French Consul General here has confirmed that such is the case so far as can be ascertained. Nkrumah has not, however, been very specific about whom he has invited, since the nonappearance of prominent individuals would if known detract from his standing as an influential figure. It seems doubtful that such prominent personalities as Azikiwe and Awolowo will appear.

The agenda for the forthcoming conference is likewise understood to be couched in very general terms and to call for discussion of social, educational, and political themes.

William E. Cole
  1. Ante, p. 41.
  2. For accounts of the conference at Kumasi, see telegram 48, Dec. 8, 1953, from Accra, infra and despatch 107, Dec. 9, from Accra, p. 69.