John Mensah Sarbah was born on Friday, 3 June 1864, in Anomabu, in the Fante Confederacy in the Gold Coast. Publications such as Gold Coast Nation and Gold Coast Times came from this organization. 0000014334 00000 n The ARPS used the money to establish a press, which publishedThe Gold Coast Nation(founded 1912) andThe Gold Coast Times(founded 1923). This was vigorously implemented in 1907 with the passing of the Timber Protection Ordinance which sought to prevent the cutting of saplings. Over 50 years after his death, the University of Ghana, in 1963, named Mensah Sarbah Hall after him for his services to education. Indeed, in the 1920s it had been taken over by the equally elitist but broader-based and more radical NCBWA, which sought to bring about a fundamental change in colonial rule. He attended Cape Coast Wesleyan School (later to be renamed Mfantsipim) and completed his secondary education at the Taunton School in Somerset, England. It was at the same time as the implementation of this ordinance that the Gold Coast Gold Coast ARPS began to lose some of their power, as they could no longer use the Gold Coast indigenous chiefs as leverage from which to gain funds. The ARPS was led by elected officers; during its first years, its president was Jacob Wilson Sey, while the vice president was J. P. Brown. [2][3], In 1897, along with J. W. de Graft-Johnson, J. W. Sey, J. P. Brown and J. E. Casely Hayford, Mensah Sarbah co-founded the Aborigines' Rights Protection Society, which became the main political organisation that led organised and sustained opposition against the colonial government, laying the foundation for Ghanaian independence. Instead, he suggested that the dismissal or the suspension of chiefs should be carried out by a resolution of the Legislative Council instead of by Order in Council. %%EOF Please accept by clicking on the 'Accept' button on your screen. /Names << /Dests 12 0 R>> By the mid-1930s, the ARPS was in a state of decline. [9] 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 Sacking of 8 SHS Girls for Slandering The President: Examining The Missing Father Equation, Gone but not forgotten by the Phobians fraternity as Hearts captain pens goodbye message to the fans, Seven Important Good Parenting Tips Parents Have To Know, Leaked Tape: NLA Deputy CEO "Rubbishes" Danquah Dombo Busia Tradition, Man City crushed out of the Carabao Cup; Jamie Redknapp slams Guardiola's side for poor performance, 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. 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. Sarbah's intellectual leadership was recognized amongst his countrymen, Africans across the continent, and even the Crown. 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. stream The learned lawyer said in 1908 to 1910, the late John Mensah Sarbah financed Cocoa farmers across the country. [2] << His suggestion, which was an improvement on the amendment, was not accepted. John Mensah Sarbah (1864- 1910) John Mensah Sarbah, also known as "Kofi Mensah", patriot and statesman, was one of the most outstanding nationalists of the Gold Coast at the turn of the 20th century. 0000014972 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. /Type /Page He encouraged farmers to grow cocoa and gave them loans for the purpose. WhatsApp : +233204700052 A notable aspect of the delegation is that it included not only members of the Gold Coast elite, but also "prominent merchants". Many were those who knew the late John Mensah Sarbah as an illustrious lawyer, politician and educationist in the days of the defunct Gold Coast and modern day Ghana. (His suggestion was to be adopted in 1951.) 0000030321 00000 n 0000019838 00000 n John Mensah Sarbah was interested in promoting agriculture, and wrote an article on The Oil Palm and Its Products in 1909. Over 50 years after his death, the University of Ghana, in 1963, named Mensah Sarbah Hall after him for his services to education. At the age of 23, he returned to the Gold Coast to set up a legal practice. On his return home, Sarbah, who was generally known as Kofi Mensah, built up a lucrative practice. Most significantly, in 1898 it sent a delegation, including President Jacob Wilson Sey and other prominent members, such as T. F. E. Jones and George Hughes, to England to meet directly with British officials to discuss problems of colonial rule, especially the Lands Bill. 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. Instead, he suggested that the dismissal or the suspension of chiefs should be carried out by a resolution of the Legislative Council instead of by Order in Council. [4][5], Mensah Sarbah was appointed a member of the Legislative Council in 1901,[6] and was re-appointed in 1906. From Taunton he matriculated to Lincoln's Inn to train as a barrister. << [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. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. 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. The Gold Coast When Edward IV Was King, Journal of the African Society, Vol. 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. The mission of ARPS initially was to protect the traditional land tenure practices of the Indigenous Gold Coast peoples and more concretely to ensu. In addition to his political achievements, Sarbah wrote two books about the Fante and played an important role in establishing public schools in the colony. This article was reprinted from The Encyclopedia Africana Dictionary of African Biography (In 20 Volumes). 24 0 obj He made a lasting mark on national life in politics, education, and law. The delegation was successful because the Colonial Office later asked the colonial government to abandon the Lands Bill and the hut tax. Fanti National Constitution, London, 1906. [5] This is highlighted in controversy that suggests that despite the beliefs of the colonial administrators of the Gold Coast ARPS' self-interest in the protest movements, "there was overwhelming evidence of a long history of cooperation between the intellectuals and the indigenous political authorities, at least in Cape Coast. One of the initial goals of the Gold Coast ARPS was to ensure "that every person may understand [the Lands Bill of 1897] the same". Apart from various petitions issued by the ARPS, the society also sent delegations to meet with the colonial government. When for some 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 deduced that his business was a key driver for his journey to better the lots of his people and the Methodist church. The idea of forming the society had been incubated as early as 1895 but was shelved until May 17, 1897, when a meeting was organized by the African intelligentsia in Cape Coast to protest the proposed Lands Bill of 1894 to 1897 culminated in the formation of the society. He had married Marian Wood of Accra in 1904, and they had three children. Upon returning from a visit to Europe in 1903 together with William Edward Sam, he and Sam promoted an enterprise called the Fanti Public Schools Limited. Telling the business story of the late lawyer, senior law partner, Kojo Bentsil Enchil said the late Sarbah was the greatest aggregate of an achiever in the Gold Coast and in present day Ghana in the lawyer profession. He was responsible for various initiatives, including the founding of a Dutton scholarship at Taunton School in memory of his younger brother, Joseph Dutton Sarbah, who had died there in 1892. 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. At the age of 23, he returned to the Gold Coast to set up a legal practice. The delegation, which Sarbah refused out of modesty to lead, went to London in 1898, and succeeded in getting the Lands Bill disallowed. 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. Sarbah was chosen by his peers to present the indigenous case against the Lands Bill to the Legislative Assembly, which at the time was composed only of British Crown representatives. "Sarbah, John Mensah", in Keith A. P. Sandiford, "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", John Mensah Sarbah, an outstanding nationalist of the Gold Coast, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Mensah_Sarbah&oldid=1105403308, This page was last edited on 20 August 2022, at 02:51. The society was able to mediate between Africans and the colonial government, thereby moderating colonial rule. In 1904 he married Marion Wood from Accra and they had three children. His successors in this field were J. E. Casely Hayford, andDr. J. 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. endobj 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 /Root 23 0 R x}$9Z|_ /.!3n93. 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. John Peter Allotey Hammond was the Secretary and later a member of the Coussey Committee. The mission of ARPS initially was to protect the traditional land tenure practices of the Indigenous Gold Coast peoples and more concretely to ensure "that every person may understand [the Lands Bill of 1897]." [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. de Graft-Johnson, Jacob Wilson Sey, J. P. Brown, J. E. Casely Hayford, and John Mensah Sarbah were co-founders. Moreover, in the attempts by the Gold Coast ARPS to engage globally with other anti-imperialist and pan-Africanist movements, the Gold Coast ARPS required large sums of money to fund their trips, which they often acquired by charging tribal heads of local communities disproportionate fees to become members of the Gold Coast ARPS. Content created and supplied by: Royalvibes (via Opera /H [ 1010 368 ] Methodist 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. [3], J.W. << He encouraged farmers to grow cocoa and gave them loans for the purpose. Some other sources (including Magnus Sampson, 1969) give 6 November 1910 as the date of Mensah Sarbahs death. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Call: +233558280780, Your email address will not be published. He was the eldest son of John Sarbah (18341892), a merchant of Anomabu and Cape Coast and a member of the Legislative Council of the Gold Coast, and his wife Sarah. The ARPS remained the voice of colonized Africans until its demise in the 1930s. The African intelligentsia had the full support of the chiefs, especially from the inception of the ARPS to about 1912, when Governor Hugh Clifford effectively implemented the indirect rule, which used the chiefs as the main agents of local administration. When Governor Sir William Maxwell (term of office 1895- 97) refused to withdraw the bill, Sarbah advised the ARPS to send a delegation to 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; (His suggestion was to be adopted in 1951). [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. 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). 22 0 obj Gold Coast Aborigines' Rights Protection Society, Influences on the founding of the Gold Coast ARPS, Perception of aims of the Gold Coast ARPS, S. K. B. Asante, "The neglected aspects of the activities of the Gold Coast Aborigines Rights Protection Society. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. In 1963, a residence hall of the University of Ghana was named Mensah Sarbah Hall in his honour for his services to education,[8] with a statue of John Mensah Sarbah is in front of it. 0000019978 00000 n John Mensah 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. 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. W. T. Balmer. THE LIFE OF JOHN MENSAH SARBAH. My latest banger got nothing to do with Mahama - Volkano_KM. Although the Lands Bill was its immediate preoccupation, the aims of the ARPS were broad and encompassing. We promise to be discrete. He touted the late lawyer as one who represented the largest number of three thousand cases at the Cape Coast Supreme court in his days. W. T. Balmer. endobj III, 1903. All rights reserved. He became the first native-born Ghanaian to accomplish the feat. 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. 0 M i 8 0 R E R _ = R R D Q endstream Atspo Reports, Statistics, And Goal Scorers From Betpawa Premier League Match Week 12. << 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 . 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 1892 his father died, and he also took over his fathers business. 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