George Alfred Grant, popularly known as Paa Grant (15 August 1878 – 30 October 1956), was a merchant and politician in the
Gold Coast[Biography, The Paa Grant Soccer Academy Official Website.]
who has been called "the father of Gold Coast politics".
["Overpass to be named after Paa Grant"]
, Joy Online, 22 August 2007. As a political activist, he was the founder, financer and the first president of the
United Gold Coast Convention
The United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) was an early nationalist movement British colony of the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana) that sought independence after the Second World War. It was founded in August 1947 with the aim of self-government "i ...
(UGCC) in August 1947. He was also one of
Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
's Founding Fathers. He paid for
Kwame Nkrumah
Francis Kwame Nkrumah (, 21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained ...
to return to Ghana from the United States.
A roundabout has been named after George Grant in Sekondi Takoradi in his memory.
Many opinion leaders have said it will be right to mention his name in the struggle for Ghana's independence the same vein as the 'Big Six '.
Biography
Education and early career
Grant was born in 1878 in
Beyin
Beyin is a village in the Jomoro district, a district in the Western Region of Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and ...
, Western Nzema, into an influential merchant family. He was the son of William Minneaux Grant and Madam Adjoa (Dwowa) Biatwi of the Aboradze clan, and the grandson of
Francis Chapman Grant
Francis Chapman Grant (1823 – 1889 or 1894) was a merchant in the Gold Coast. His nephew was the football player Arthur Wharton, and his grandson was the merchant and politician Paa Grant.
Biography
Son of a British father from Scotland John ...
,
proprietor of the ''Gold Coast Times'' and treasurer of the
Fanti Confederation
The Fante Confederacy (also called a confederation, federation, and other similar terms) powerful alliance of small kingdoms and autonomous city-states in what is now coastal Ghana, united by the Fante people. Centered on the political and spiri ...
.
["Grant, G. A. (1878–1956)", in ''Makers of Modern Africa: Profiles in History'', Africa Journal Ltd for Africa Books Ltd, 1981, pp. 189–90.]
Grant was educated at Wesleyan School in
Cape Coast
Cape Coast is a city and the capital of the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly, Cape Coast Metropolitan District and the Central Region (Ghana), Central Region of Ghana, Ghana. It is located about from Sekondi-Takoradi and approximately from Ac ...
now Mfantsipim School and through private tuition given by Joseph D. Abraham, a wealthy merchant friend of his father's.
Grant was subsequently employed in the timber trade, first at
Axim
Axim is a coastal town and the capital of Nzema East Municipal district, a district in Western Region of South Ghana. Axim lies 64 kilometers west of the port city of Sekondi-Takoradi in the Western Region, west of Cape Three Points. Axim ha ...
and then for five years in the
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...
.
In 1896, he established his own firm, George Grant and Company.
He prospered as a timber merchant, with a flourishing export business, at a time when the trade was dominated by European companies.
He visited Britain in 1905 and by the time the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
broke out in 1914, he had built up business contacts with leading timber companies in Europe and the United States. Between 1914 and 1919 he chartered ships to transport timber to Britain and the USA. He opened his own offices in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
and
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
between 1920 and 1922, and in the Gold Coast he expanded operations to Dunkwa,
Sekondi
Sekondi-Takoradi ( ) is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan District and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city as well as ...
and Akim Abuakwa.
In 1926 he was appointed to the
Legislative Council
A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...
, representing Sekondi. Grant was also a member of the
Aborigines' Rights Protection Society
The Gold Coast Aborigines' Rights Protection Society (ARPS) was an African anti-colonialist organization formed in 1897 in the Gold Coast, as Ghana was then known. Originally established by traditional leaders and the educated elite to protest ...
and was instrumental in many developmental projects,
including introducing street lighting and pipe-borne water to Sekondi and Axim.
Political activism and later life
During and after the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Grant realised that Africans in the Gold Coast were suffering under many colonial practices that were discriminatory and unfavourable,
and he decided to take steps to deal with the inadequacy of representation of African interests.
He invited
J. B. Danquah
Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah (18 December 1895 – 4 February 1965) was a Ghanaian politician, scholar, anglophile, lawyer and statesman. He was a politician in pre and post-colonial Ghana, which was formerly the Gold Coast.
Durin ...
and others to a meeting to launch a nationalist party. Some 40 people, including lawyers R. A. Awoonor-Williams,
Edward Akufo-Addo
Edward Akufo-Addo (26 June 1906 – 17 July 1979) was a Ghanaian politician and lawyer. He was a member of the " Big Six" leaders of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) and one of the founding fathers of Ghana who engaged in the fight for ...
, and
Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey
Emmanuel Odarkwei Obetsebi-Lamptey (affectionately known as Liberty Lamptey, 26 April 1902 – 29 January 1963) was a political activist in the British colony of the Gold Coast. He was one of the founding fathers of the United Gold Coast Conve ...
, met in
Saltpond
Saltpond is a town and the capital of the Mfantsiman Municipal District in the Central Region of Ghana. As of 2013, Saltpond has a population of 24,689 people. Major ethnic groups who lived in the town are the
Akan, Ga, Ewe, Ashanti, an ...
and the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) was founded on 4 August 1947, with the goal of achieving self-government.
Kwame Nkrumah
Francis Kwame Nkrumah (, 21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained ...
was elected UGCC secretary general, after being recommended by
Ebenezer Ako-Adjei
Ako Adjei (17 June 1916 – 14 January 2002), was a Ghanaian political figure, statesman, politician, lawyer and journalist. He was a member of the United Gold Coast Convention and one of six leaders who were detained during Ghana's struggle fo ...
,
and Grant paid Nkrumah's £100 boat fare to return to Ghana from
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
that year.
Nkrumah later split from the UGCC to form the
Convention People’s Party
The Convention People's Party (CPP) is a socialist political party in Ghana based on the ideas of the first President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah. The CPP was formed in June 1949 after Nkrumah broke away from the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) ...
(CPP), and Grant eventually concentrated more on his businesses than politics. However, they maintained contact, and Nkrumah visited him two days before Grant's death in Axim on 30 October 1956, at the age of 78.
In 1955 he had suffered an attack of apoplexy from which he never completely recovered.
Family and personal life
Current surviving children are Sarah Esi Grant, Mrs Rosamond Hammond-Grant, William Minneaux Grant, and numerous grand- and great-grandchildren across the globe.
Sarah Esi Grant-Acquah, is the mother of lawyer
Phyllis Christian.
Other known grandchildren are: Georgina Grant, Margaret Grant, Stella Blay-Kwofie, Christine Blay-Kwofie, Dorothy Blay-Kwofie, Joyce Christian, Letitia Hammond, Rosamond Hammond, James Hemans Hammond, Matilda Hammond, Georgina Hammond, Emmanuel Hammond, George Hammond, Alberta Hammond, Lawrence Hammond, Yvonne Hammond, Samuel Duker-Ako, George Grant, Felix Grant, Sabina Grant, Kweku Robert Grant, Kwesi Brown Grant, Frances Grant, Maame Efua Lartey-Grant, Sefa Gohoho of Songhai Africa, a Panafrican Luxury Consumer Goods. Known great grand children are:Angela Kukua Blay-Kwofie, Kwesi, Blay-Kwofie.
Memorial and legacy
In honour of Grant's role in the struggle for Independence, the Ghana government named a new flyover after him at
Caprice
Caprice, from the Italian ''capriccio'', may refer to:
Art and entertainment
* ''Caprice'' (1913 film), a film starring Mary Pickford
* ''Caprices'' (film), a 1942 French comedy film
* ''Caprice'' (1967 film), a film starring Richard Harris ...
, in Accra.
Paa Grant Soccer Academy
The
Paa Grant Soccer Academy was formed in 2009 by
Kim Tyrone Grant, a former national player for
Ghana Black Stars, to honour his grandfather's "dedication and work ethic helping bring freedom and independence to all Ghanaians from colonial rule until 1957".
George Grant University of Mines and Technology
On 12 January 2018, President Akufo-Addo announced during a special congregation held at the university, the renaming of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) which is located in the Western Region of Ghana, to the George Grant University of Mines and Technology in honour of him being a founding father of Ghana's fight towards independence and also being a native of the western region.
References
Further reading
* Ako Adjei, ''The Life and Work of George Alfred Grant (Paa Grant)'', Accra: Waterville Pub. House, 1992, 31 pp.
External links
* Mrs. Sarah Esi Grant-Acquah
"In the beginning was…PAA GRANT - And the UGCC" Excerpts from Recollections. Source: ''Daily Graphic'', Wednesday, 14 February 2007. National Commission on Culture. The author is the daughter of Paa Grant.
* Bernard Ralph Adams
31 December 2014.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Paa
1878 births
1956 deaths
Ghanaian people of Scottish descent
Ghanaian independence activists
United Gold Coast Convention politicians
Politicians from Gold Coast (British colony)