751T.00/12–1853

The Consul at Dakar ( Ferguson ) to the Department of State 1

confidential
No. 132

Subject:

  • Conference of West African Nationalists in Gold Coast

Mr. Roger Chambard, Diplomatic Counselor to the High Commissioner, recently returned from his Gold Coast visit during the course of which he attended various sessions of the Conference of West African Nationalists which took place at Kumasi December 5 and 6. He described it as interesting and somewhat boisterous, but of little practical significance.

Mr. Chambard confirmed the report of the Gold Coast Ministry of Defense and External Affairs that no delegates had been invited from French West Africa, but explained that this was due to the fact that the R.D.A. (Houphouet-Boigny) and B.D.S. (Senghor), when they were approached sometime ago with respect to the scheduled October meeting, had indicated an unwillingness to participate. Thus, according to Chambard, invitations which were sure to be refused were not proffered. Chambard said he was quite certain of this because Houphouet, whom he had seen in Abidjan on his (Chambard’s) return to Dakar, had told him so. He said that, indeed, Houphouet had indicated a complete lack of interest in the proceedings of the Conference. Chambard said that Houphouet is by all odds the most powerful figure in the Ivory Coast, that he is quite satisfied in such a role, and that it is clearly not to his interest to engage in ambitious foreign ventures such as the type sponsored by Nkrumah which might have the effect of weakening his position at home.

Mr. Chambard said that, according to the language of the resolution concerning the “Federal State,” such a development would provide hope and encouragement, or words to that effect, to peoples of African origin the world over. Mr. Chambard said that he was informed by everyone he asked that this was meant particularly for people of negro blood in the Western Hemisphere.

Incidentally, Mr. Chambard said that Dr. Horace Mann Bond, President of Lincoln University, who appeared to occupy a position of respect among the delegates, was rather active at the Conference, even to the point of indulging in frequent oratory more or less extolling nationalism. Mr. Chambard characterized the Institute of African-American Relations, in the interests of which Dr. Bond was traveling, as an organization which favors African nationalism, but as “ideological” only and nothing to cause any worry.

While it is probably true that such Conferences have little immediate [Page 71] effect on the situation in French West Africa, the French, despite their inclination to belittle them, are clearly uneasy as shown by the fact that as high a ranking officer as Mr. Chambard, although uninvited, would physically attend the sessions of the Conference against, it may be mentioned, the advice of his British hosts in Kumasi. Mr. Chambard read a little bit of his report to officers of the Consulate General and it was apparent that this report was long and detailed. The matter would seem to be too important to the French to be left to their Consul General at Accra and it is clear that any further developments of this sort will be carefully watched by an increasingly alert French administration here. In the present instance, however, the French are obviously relieved that there was no participation or even much interest on the part of French West Africans, particularly having in mind, as recalled by Mr. Chambard, that several of their more important African political personalities such as Leopold Senghor and Apithy were present at London in 1946 alongside of Azikiwe, Awolowo, Nkrumah and others under the aegis of the Fenner Brockway group of “Pan Africans.”2

C. Vaughan Ferguson, Jr.
  1. This despatch was jointly prepared by Consul Ferguson and Consul Robert F. Corrigan.
  2. In despatch 2113, Feb. 17, 1954, from Paris, Counselor of Embassy Robert P. Joyce reported that during a conversation between Embassy First Secretary Charles R. Moore and Jean Jurgensen, Chief of the African Section of the French Foreign Ministry, reference had been made to the conference at Kumasi. Jurgenson seemed to feel that the conference had been of little significance and produced no unexpected developments. Jurgensen was not, however, disposed to deprecate the significance of growing African nationalism. Despatch 2113 concluded as follows:

    “He [Jurgensen] felt that while the Kumasi conference had not produced striking results, subsequent conferences could be expected to assume increasing importance from the point of view of developing solidarity among West African nationalists. (In his personal view, it would be unwise for the British and French to try to prevent such conferences or to prevent the participation therein of African nationalists in their territories.) The Embassy is inclined to doubt, however, that this view is shared by his colleagues in the Ministry of Overseas France.” (745G.00/2–1754)