the role of john mensah sarbah in the arps

", Hopkins, Antony G. "Economic aspects of political movements in Nigeria and in the coast 19181939. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window). 50 0 obj Call: +233558280780, Your email address will not be published. /T 51995 He encouraged farmers to grow cocoa and gave them loans for the purpose. He was eventually honored with the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1910, months before he suddenly died at the age of 46. 0000014819 00000 n >> He compiled and published Fanti Law Reports in 1904, but this was incomplete because he was refused permission to take any more notes from court records. Sarbah failed to sway the opinon of Governor Sir William Maxwell, however, his action sparked fervor among his colleagues. particularly, john mensah sarbah, a key member of the gold coast arps and a lawyer, helped to advocate against the introduction of the lands bill of 1897 by arguing that it was no different from a previous, unsuccessful bill in 1894; that its introduction would break family and society ties, and that the land was valuable to indigenous peoples 0000000017 00000 n 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. 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 . Some of the methods used by the ARPS included campaigns in local newspapers, namely the Gold Coast Methodist Times and the Gold Coast Aborigines in the late nineteenth century and the Gold Coast Nation and the Gold Coast Leader during the first two decades of the twentieth century. 0000034269 00000 n 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. 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. In 1903, Sarbah and William Edward Sam promoted an enterprise called the Fanti Public Schools Limited and Sarbah also helped establish the Fanti National Education Fund, which aimed to improve educational facilities in the country and awarded scholarships. The statue of Queen Victoria at Victoria park in Cape Coast is a sign of treaty between ARPS and the British Government to abandon the Lands Bill. He waborn at Cape Coast in 1864and was the eldest son of John Sarbaha merh nd o SaahHe (His suggestion was to be adopted in 1951.) endobj 2021 Happy FM Ghana - Developed byHappy 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. Sarbah was interested in promoting secondary education because he felt that it was the best way to enable Africans to gain the respect of the civilized world. His successors in this field were J. E. Casely Hayford, and Dr. J. 22 0 obj . 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 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. WhatsApp : +233204700052 Magnus Sampson, Gold Coast Men of Affairs, London, 1937. Originally established by traditional leaders and the educated elite to protest the Crown Lands Bill of 1896 and the Lands Bill of 1897, which threatened traditional land tenure, the Gold Coast ARPS became the main political organisation that led organised and sustained opposition against the colonial government in the Gold Coast, laying the foundation for political action that would ultimately lead to Ghanaian independence. 0000029344 00000 n ", "Ghana - Early Manifestations of Nationalism", "Action and Reaction: An Overview of the Ding Dong Relationship between the Colonial Government and the People of Cape Coast", The Pen-Pictures of Modern Africans and African Celebrities, "This Is Our Land: Land, Policy, Resistance, and Everyday Life in Colonial Southern Ghana, 18947", "Producing a Received View of Gold Coast Elite Society? [3], J.W. 23 0 obj [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". 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. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. John Mensah Sarbah was born in Cape Coast on 3 June 1864. The ARPS opposed the Lands Bill of 1897, which threatened the traditional system of African land tenure, and sent Sarbah to argue against its passage in the Legislative Council. He was interested in promoting agriculture, and wrote an article on The Oil Palm and Its Products in 1909. He also helped to establish the Fanti National Education Fund, which aimed at improving educational facilities in the country and also awarded scholarships. His father sent him to England when he was sixteen to continue his education. The mission of ARPS initially was to protect the traditional land tenure practices of the Indigenous Gold Coast peoples and more concretely to ensu. John Mensah Sarbah had opposed such proposals before, and people had expected him to oppose the amendment outright. In 1904 he married Marion Wood from Accra and they had three children. John Mensah Sarbah was the first lawyer of the Gold Coast that helped in the documentation of the customary laws of the Gold Coast and present day Ghana. The Oil Palm and Its Products, Journal of the African Society, London, 1909. Some also critique members of the Gold Coast ARPS because many did not return to their ancestral African roots, despite their constant praise of a need to return to traditional African roots as a way to fully realize the cultural nationalist policies that they supported.[11]. [6], The formation of the Gold Coast ARPS came at a period during the late 19th century in which the educated Gold Coast elite were systematically barred from high-ranking positions in the colonial government. "that every person may understand [the Lands Bill of 1897]. Thus, the main catalyst for the formation of the ARPS was the African intelligentsia's protest against the Lands Bill. He made a lasting mark on national life in politics, education, and law. However, the middle class intellectuals who supported the Society broke with Nkrumah because they were less committed to full-scale revolutionary effort. [8] This reclamation of nomenclature influenced the naming of the "Gold Coast Aborigines' Rights Protection Society," as it was originally conceived as a branch of the Aborigines' Protection Society of London but later renamed so as to serve as its own unique entity with a direct connection to the African continent in general and the Gold Coast in particular. This reform, too, has now been adopted. During the early twentieth century, the ARPS occupied itself with colonial policies on education, sanitation, health, the provision of infrastructure, and imperial labor and military recruitment in the Gold Coast during World War I. Sarbah is said to have given the school its motto (Dwin Hwe Kan, meaning Think and Look Ahead) as well as its emblem. The society also sought to modify or prevent the passing of several bills, including the Town Councils Ordinance of 1894 that came into force in 1904, and the Forest Bill (19071911). John Mensah Sarbah was born on Friday, 3 June 1864, in Anomabu, in the . Sarbah was a good legislator. When the Gold Coast Native Jurisdiction Ordinance (1883) was being amended in 1910, Section 29 caused a stir among the people because they felt it would empower the governor to usurp the rights of the people in the destooling of chiefs. endobj [1][2] Its delegates were active in international organizations and at the 1945 Pan-African Congress, it gained support from Kwame Nkrumah, who later became the main leader of the independence movement. Concerning the competence and compellability of a spouse as a witness in a criminal trial in which the other spouse was the accused, he proposed that no distinction should-be made between the spouse in Christian marriage and the spouse in a customary marriage (The distinction, as he-had suggested, was to be abolished in 1960). Sarbah-Picot House at Mfantsipim School is named after him. Furthermore, some of its members joined in the formation of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) which eventually lead to the independence of Ghana. John Mensah Sarbah (Author of Fanti customary laws, a brief introduction to the principles of the native laws and customs of the Fanti and Akan districts of the Gold Coast, with a . He made a lasting mark on national life in politics, education, and law. Eventually, the Forest Bill led to the establishment of forest reserves. 0000033715 00000 n [8], Entrenched in the founding of the Gold Coast ARPS was a belief that both the political actions of the Gold Coast ARPS and the movement against foreign encroachments on native lands were "joint vehicles of nationalism". This is clear evidence to the effect that aside his legal profession, he had massive interest in education, politics, business and Agriculture. But the chief justice did not accept the proposal, and in this respect matters have not improved much since Sarbahs day, in spite of the fact that all judges are now Africans. Sarbah House, at Mfantsipim, is named after him. Among other things, the ARPS hoped to make sure that various bills and colonial policies involving taxation, labor, and constitutional changes would not burden the Africans. Its overall influence was felt throughout the Gold Coast, especially in districts where there was a sizeable number of African intellectuals, such as Krobo and Akuapem in the Eastern Province. THE FE OF JOHN MENSAH SARBAH ah Sarbah (June 31864November 271910), patriot and statesmanwas one of te o o g atonalsts of the Gold Coast at the end of the 19th century and the begnnng othe 0 e atng ark on national life in politics, education, and law. 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. In 1898 ARPS sent a delegation to London and successfully got the Lands Bill overturned. On his return home, John Mensah Sarbah, who was generally known as Kofi Mensah, built up a lucrative practice. John Mensah Sarbah was a good legislator, He was nominated as a member of the Legislative Council by the governor, Sir Mathew Nathan (term of office, 1900- 1904), in 1901 and sat except for a short break, as a member until his death. 1, Legon, June 1973 (pp. Concerning the competence and compellability of a spouse as a witness in a criminal trial in which the other spouse was the accused, he proposed that no distinction should be made between the spouse in a Christian marriage and the spouse in a customary marriage. Opera News does not consent to nor does it condone the posting of any content that violates the rights (including the copyrights) of any third party, nor content that may malign, inter alia, any religion, ethnic group, organization, gender, company, or individual. Hutchison's Pen Pictures of Modern Africans and African Celebrities1", "The Aborigines Society, Kwame Nkrumah and the 1945 Pan-African Congress", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gold_Coast_Aborigines%27_Rights_Protection_Society&oldid=1077681957, 1890s establishments in Gold Coast (British colony), Articles with unsourced statements from June 2012, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Asante, S. K. B. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used 's protest against Lands! Be published the traditional land tenure practices of the ARPS was the African intelligentsia 's protest the. 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