J.B. Danquah and Kwame Nkrumah/Ghanaian Museums
Several assassination attempts were made on Kwame Nkrumah
Constable Ametewee arrested for an attempted coup
A look at the profile of J. B. Danquah
In GhanaWeb history class today, we bring you the story of the re-arrest and detention of Dr. Joseph Boakye Danquah, better known as J.B. Danquah, during the Kwame Nkrumah era.
On this day in 1964 (January 8, 1964), J. B. Danquah was re-arrested and detained for allegedly being implicated in a plot against the country’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, after the assassination attempt by Constable Ametewee.
His arrest came against the backdrop of his alleged participation in Police Constable Seth Ametewee’s failed assassination attempt on Kwame Nkrumah on January 2, 1964, which got the bodyguard of Nkrumah, Salifu Dagarti Killed, reports ghanaianmuseum.com.
J. B. Danquah is said to be the first person who was arrested and detained under the Preventive Detention Act (PDA) on October 3, 1961, and released on June 22, 1962.
Danquah was allegedly found to possess his own signed hand-written speech which he intended for broadcast in the wake of the success of Police Constable Seth Ametewee’s attempted assassination on Nkrumah.
J. B. Danquah died at Nsawam Prison 13 months later on February 4, 1965, after having been detained without trial by the Convention People’s Party (CPP) government, led by Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
He was born in December 1895 in the town of Bepong in Kwahu in the Eastern Region of Ghana (then the Gold Coast).
He descended from the royal family of Ofori Panyin Fie, once the rulers of the Akyem states, and one of the most influential families in Ghanaian politics. His elder brother was Nana Sir Ofori Atta I and his son is actor Paul Danquah.
Today in History, On 8 January 1964, Dr. J. B. Danquah was re-arrested and detained for allegedly being implicated in a plot after Constable Ametewee Assasination attempt on Kwame Nkrumah. He died at Nsawam Prison 13 months later after being detained.https://t.co/CkP2y8a338
— GHANA FACTS & HISTORY (@GhanaianMuseum) January 8, 2022