Ghana New Nation, 1957

[Music] the [Music] this is Robert McKenzie reporting on the newest and in some ways most important nation in the world Ghana the first African colony to achieve full Independence it's not every day that a new name is written on the map here on the west coast of Africa is this land of 5 million people known for centuries as the Gold Coast a British colony since 1874 but now from March 6th 1957 Ghana Acra the capital of Ghana stands on the Atlantic coast the people of arra love to enjoy themselves and in the dance halls the Kalamazoo shake your head weekend in California and the Super Service are just three they dance to the Local High Life [Music] music this liking for vivid names extends even to the transport system but essentially Acra is a town of bustling Prosperity everywhere new buildings are going up Banks offices libraries museums yes this is a museum hotels a vigorous modern town a fact that is emphasized by the prevalence of that ultimate in the city's sophistication the traffic jam the present prosperity of Ghana stems from one crop cocoa about a quarter of America's Supply comes from here but the country is Rich also in Timber gold diamonds manganese and boide the development of these resources will probably be Ghana's main task in the next decade a related problem and one that greatly interests those overseas investors who support the government needs is that of the supply of Ganan administrators to oversee such developments I talked to about this to Mr Robert Gardner who's the senior civil servant in the ministry of housing well the junior service is all African already and in the senior service we have an equal number of Africans and non-africans in the service and what's your uh policy for the future do you hope to africanize the the Civil Service completely well we don't expect any sudden alteration in the trends already established um some of the European members of the Civil Service have indicated their intention to leave some have already left and others have thrown in their lot with us we don't intend to build a service based exclusively on Race I hope we shall be reasonable enough all ways to seek for the services of men wherever we can find them um but the University College of the Gold Coast and the College of Technology are stepping up their program and we shall have most of our men coming from there naturally so the young men and women at the university college and those at the secondary schools bear a heavy responsibility from their ranks must come the administrators lawyers doctors teachers technicians and businessmen who will guarantee Ghana's future one of the surprising and hopeful things about this country to those who know only the parts of Africa where women are subjugated is the place of women in Ganan Society I have with me now Miss Gloria ADI who is a commercial officer in the ministry of trade and labor here in the Gold Coast government tell me Miss ADI how are women getting on in the struggle for equality here in the Gold Coast well Mr McKenzie we haven't had to struggle for equality here we have had it so far as I can remember in traditional life too uh both legally and in traditional life um legally we have had the vote at same time as the man had it and we have equal pay for equal work um in traditional life too women are not entirely uh subservient to men uh in fact um the our system of inheritance which is through the uh mother uh gives women a lot of property and that gives them a lot of influence in traditional life well now what part do women play in the Contemporary Community here in the Gold Coast in business for example well in business we have a group of remarkable um illiterate women whom we call the Market women they deal in retail uh trade and it's estimated that they hand about 2/3 of the retail trade here as much as that yes the remarkable thing is that um they keep no cost accounts uh but they handle huge turnovers and it's very difficult to Swindle them and what's the place of women in the professions here oh in the professions more and more women are entering and we have women lawyers uh women doctors uh women in the Civil Service and so on and I feel that um as um opportunities of Education for women widen um so there will be more women in the profession uh do boys still get a preference over girls and no not not these days Mr McKenzie um I think parents are realizing that um today it's a very good thing to educate their daughters as well as their sons and what about women in politics oh well in politics to women r a very important role there uh actually there has been only one woman elected to the the Legislative Assembly so far but in the party organizations both at the national and the regional levels women play a very active part and I'd like to add too that women are becoming increasingly aware of their um uh Power they wield simply because of the mass support they can give to any party here Ghana has a parliamentary democracy on British lines and every adult man and woman can vote there's tremendous interest in politics and a vigorous and varied press this verbatim report of a 4-Hour long speech on the Constitution by the Prime Minister quickly sold out its first printing of 5,000 copies but over half the population of Ghana is illiterate and some observers have questioned whether you can operate a democracy in such circumstances however candidates are represented on the ballot papers by symbols and the system has worked well during the three elections in the past 5 years the turnout of Voters has been about the same as in an American election but for the future the problem of illiteracy has been tackled on a vast and inspiring scale to begin with every child in the Gold Coast is now assured of primary education at least for adults too there's opportunity to learn and their enthusiasm for learning is boundless the program ranges Beyond reading and writing to hygiene nutrition child care and citizenship much of this work comes under the general name of Community Development in which subject an American visitor to Ghana monor ogr is an expert monor Orr the Christian church has played an important part in the history of Africa do you still see missionaries playing a role in an independent Ghana I I think that uh they can play a very important role in Community Development and this is precisely the point of view of the government they want to involve them they want them to assume more and more leadership and I hope that the same type of leadership they've exercised in education that our group like our uh White fathers the Divine word and the African missionaries that they will play the same role now in this large community development is their challenge in the New Age Now mrr what do you feel about what you've seen here compared to the developments of this sort in other parts of the world well I was assured two years ago and I came here first by the leaders of Community Development around the world that this was the place on which to concentrate if I wanted to get a real understanding of Community Development and I came here therefore for the purpose of learning I've gathered more and more enthusiasm as I passed as the days and weeks passed in my last visit and I find that it has grown in spirit and enthusiasm since that time I'm beginning to feel that in this present tour and I believe that today is the best thing of its kind in the entire world now why do you say that well I I think there's more recognition on the part uh of the potentialities of the people for helping themselves and uh that the Specialists are there but the Specialists are advisers to the people they're not the controlling element in this program but the people themselves and that is the thing I want to emphasize now what do you think think of what you've seen of the role the British have played here in this part of the world uh I have paid tribute several times to the British leadership in the development of this program I think they've shown an unusual understanding of it and I've learned a great deal from The Young British technicians in this program their enthusiasm their ability to use mass media uh I think their leadership and then their understanding of the young African their ability to get next to him I think that has been my my the outstanding things that stand out in my mind mostly about the contribution of the British year do you think other parts of the world have something to learn from the Gold Coast I think every country in the world has not only the undeveloped countries but I feel that we in the United States of America a highly developed country a country of specialist I think we have much to learn also since 1945 Britain has granted Independence to over 500 million Colonial peoples in India Pakistan and salon and all of these countries have chosen to become members of the British Commonwealth so too with Ghana thus adding the voice of tropical Africa to the Commonwealth now some people see this grant of Independence to Colonial territories like Ghana as a climb down by Britain but in fact it's been deliberate British policy to bring its territories to the point where they can manage their own Affairs as one British administrator put it to me we've been trying to work ourselves out of a job meet now the man who has led this new nation to Independence drwam en Kuma prime minister of Ghana after he had visited your country John Gunther the American writer said that he thought Ghana had one of the greatest opportunities in the history of mankind now would you agree with that I do because this is an opportunity for the African to demonstrate to the world that the African give him the chance can manage his own Affairs and can you live up to this chance do you think I think we are prepared to live up to this opportunity we have had 5 years of what we call internal self-government and now we are going into a period of complete Independence and sovereignty and with the experience we have had I'm quite sure that we shall be able to live up to this opportunity ultimately the strength of a Nation lies in and its people and Ghana is strong this is the village of aapam enclosed by Hills the next Village is 8 mil away as the crow flies but more than 100 by the existing Road and so the people of appap are building themselves a road each man of the village giving one day's voluntary work each week it may not sound much perhaps a road of just 8 mil but come along the two miles they've already built see the the men of aapam hack their way through the mountain and virgin forest and judge then the strength of [Music] Ghana fore [Music] la [Music]