Ghana’s Ashanti Pioneer Newspaper: Aim High, Strive Hard, Go Forward

245 Pages·2022·6.593 MB·English

by  Jarvis L. Hargrove

Ghana’s Ashanti
Pioneer Newspaper
Aim High, Strive Hard, Go Forward
Jarvis L. Hargrove
Ghana’s Ashanti Pioneer Newspaper
Jarvis L. Hargrove
Ghana’s Ashanti
Pioneer Newspaper
Aim High, Strive Hard, Go Forward
Jarvis L. Hargrove
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC, USA
ISBN 978-3-031-11103-7 ISBN 978-3-031-11104-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11104-4
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Jason L. Hargrove
1972–2020
A
cknowledgments
In 2017, I began searching for information on another topic and came
across information on an African newspaper owned and operated by the
husband and wife, John and Nancy Tsiboe. Their newspaper, the Ashanti
Pioneer, was one of a handful of African-owned newspapers operating in
Ghana in the mid-twentieth century. Searching through the stories within
the newspaper, I was immediately struck by the headlines, images, political
leanings of the paper’s editors, and its perspective on the arrival of inde-
pendence for a nation under British control. Reviewing this topic of
African-owned newspapers led me deeper into the Ashanti Pioneer causing
me to realize a larger project on this husband and wife and their decision
to open a newspaper was needed. It was indeed their paper that provided
a far different perspective on the news happening in the country than that
of British newspapers and other African-owned newspapers of Accra, since
they were in Kumasi.
There are numerous people that I would like to thank and acknowledge
for helping me complete this project since I began researching the topic. I
first want to thank the several students who helped me do research on the
topic over the years which include Ms. Jasmine Perry (North Carolina
Central University), Ms. Shavonna Corprew (North Carolina Central
University), and Mr. Justin Larremore (East Carolina University). These
students reflect the early days of this research while I was a faculty member
at North Carolina Central University and now East Carolina University.
Helping conduct research and reading through old editions of the paper,
their work proved invaluable to me. I would also like to thank my former
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
colleagues at North Carolina Central University and my current colleagues
at East Carolina University. In these two places, I have found supportive
colleagues and lifelong friends. Special thanks to Dr. Tony Frazier, Dr.
Brandon Winford, Dr. Takeia Anthony, and Dr. Charles Johnson.
When conducting research, you often reach out to individuals seeking
advice or reassurance that your ideas are important. For this, I also want
to thank Dr. Adrienne Israel and Dr. Yasu'o Mizobe who both provided
feedback as I began researching the Ashanti Pioneer Newspaper. Their
encouragement to say a project of this nature was indeed needed kept me
going. Each also provided hard to find articles and responded to questions
with thoughtfulness sometimes difficult to find in our profession. I am
indebted to them.
Another important person I must acknowledge is Ms. Micha Rahder. I
could not have completed this work without her. The feedback she provided
over the last two years ensured that I was able to complete this project. I
want to also thank the library staff and archivists at North Carolina Central,
East Carolina University, the Library of Congress, and British National
Archives. It is important for me to also acknowledge and thank Palgrave
Macmillan Press, who stayed with me on this project, especially Camille
Davies and Imogen Higgins.
I want to also thank my friends, family, and wife, Marie, for their support
during this process. Thanks for listening to me talk about John and Nancy
Tsiboe and their efforts to open a newspaper and keep it open. Finally, this
book is dedicated to the memory of my brother, Jason Hargrove, who
passed away during my time researching and writing this book after a long
battle with cancer. I realize now that he is gone, how much he supported
me even when I did not fully recognize how much he was.
c
ontents
1 Introduction 1
2 Transitioning to an Independent Press: The Opening
of the Ashanti Pioneer 17
3 Nationalism in Print: British Attempts to Control
the West African and Gold Coast Newspapers 51
4 Influencing Public Opinion: The Ashanti Pioneer’s
Coverage of World War II, 1939–1947 69
5 Through the Eyes of the Press: Gold Coast Political
Movements, 1946–1949 111
6 Approaching Independence: Transitioning from the
Gold Coast to Ghana, 1950–1956 155
7 Covering Independence: The Final Years of the Ashanti
Pioneer, 1957–1968 189
8 Epilogue 213
ix
x CONTENTS
Appendix: John and Nancy Tsiboe Travel Documents 217
Bibliography 221
Index 233
l i
ist of mAges
Image 2.1 Mr. John Wallace Tsiboe. (Source: Ashanti Pioneer, August
29, 1949) 36
Image 2.2 Mrs. Nancy Tsiboe. (Source: Christian Science Monitor, July
9, 1963) 41
Image 2.3 Progress House, home of Abura Printing Works Limited
Construction Completed in 1946. (Source: Ashanti Pioneer,
September 7, 1961) 45
Image 4.1 Kingsway Chemist Ad, dropping bombs on Berlin. (Source:
“Kingsway Chemists,” Ashanti Pioneer, July 18, 1942) 90
Image 4.2 June 1942 Bombers Week Contributions. (Source: Ashanti
Pioneer, June 9, 1942) 92
Image 5.1 United Gold Coast Convention Big Six. (Image:
J. B. Danquah, Kwame Nkrumah, Obetsebi Lamptey, Ako
Adjei, Akuto Addo and Ofori Attah. Source: https://www.
modernghana.com/news/270554/the-big-six-is-a-
myth.html) 118
Image 5.2 Ex-Servicemen Clash with Police. (Source: Our Own
Reporter, “Ex-Servicemen Clash With Police: Accra Under
Curfew,” Ashanti Pioneer, March 1, 1948.) 128
Image 5.3 The Press and Public Relations . (Source: Colonial Office,
“Statement By His Majesty’s Government On the Report of
the Commission of Enquiry into Disturbances in the Gold
Coast, 1948,” (London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office,
1948), p. 32) 134
Image 5.4 John Tsiboe statement after leaving the UGCC. (Image:
Report from Ashanti Pioneer. Source: J.W. Tsiboe, “Why I
Left The UGCC” Ashanti Pioneer, August 27, 1948.) 142
xi