The Accra riots started on 28 February 1948 in Accra, the capital of the then British colony of the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana). A protest march by unarmed ex-servicemen who were agitating for their benefits as veterans of World War II, who had fought with the Gold Coast Regiment of the Royal West African Frontier Force, was broken up by police, leaving three leaders of the group dead. They were Sergeant Nii Adjetey, Corporal Patrick Attipoe and Private Odartey Lamptey,[1][2] who have since been memorialized in Accra.
The 28 February incident is considered "the straw that broke the camel's back", marking the key point in the process of the Gold Coast becoming the first African colony to achieve independence, becoming Ghana on 6 March 1957.[3][4]
- ^ Anter, Tarig (28 February 2012). "Ghana commemorates the 63rd anniversary of the 28 February Christiansborg, Crossroad shooting". 3D Democracy for People Participation in Alternative System. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
- ^ "The Riots of 28th February 1948". Accra: Public Records And Archives Administration Department (PRAAD). Retrieved 4 August 2023.
- ^ Austin, Dennis (1970). Politics in Ghana: 1946–1960 (new ed.). London: Oxford University Press. pp. 49–102. ISBN 9780192850461.
- ^ Howe, Russell Warren (1957). "Gold Coast into Ghana". The Phylon Quarterly. 18 (2): 155–161. doi:10.2307/273187. ISSN 0885-6826. JSTOR 273187.