Issah Kanjaga as a Ghanaian Deputy Superintendent of Police (credit Max TV)
Often, when the story of the February 28, 1948, Christiansborg Crossroads shooting is told, we only hear of the three ex-servicemen who were killed that day – Sergeant Adjetey, Corporal Attipoe, and Private Odartey Lamptey.
It turns out there were a number of unsung heroes that day who averted what could have been a massacre.
According to historian Yaw Anokye Frimpong, one of the unsung heroes was Issah Kanjaga, a Ghanaian Deputy Superintendent of Police, who opposed the order of his boss, Superintendent Colin Imray.
He said that when Superintendent Colin Imray ordered the police to open fire on the thousands of ex-servicemen who were approaching the Governor’s Castle to present their petitions, Kanjaga was the one who challenged the order.
“The reality was that the soldiers who were marching were more than 1,000 because about 60,000 Gold Coast soldiers returned from the war. Many of them went to their homes, but a number remained in Accra. Those who were left in Accra and took part in the march were more than 6,000.
“When they got there, the white man, Superintendent Imray, gave an order for them to be shot. His deputy was a Northerner called Issah Kanjaga, who gave a counter-order in Hausa for the shots to be fired into the sky. So, the colonial police, who were mostly Northerners, obeyed Kanjaga and did as he said,” he narrated.
The historian said that, Kanjaga’s counter-order infuriated Superintendent Imray. So, he took a gun himself and shot at the ex-servicemen.
“Imray, who was displeased with the officers not obeying his orders, so, he snatched Kanjaga’s gun and shot the three men. If all the policemen had shot at the ex-servicemen who were protesting, they would have killed more than 1,000 of them,” he said.
He added that what baffles him is the fact that Kanjaga, whose actions saved the day, is rarely mentioned in this historical narrative.
“The sad story is that despite what Issah Kanjaga did, which saved thousands, his name is not mentioned when Sergeant Adjetey and the rest are being recognised,” he said.
The historian, therefore, urged President John Dramani Mahama to honour Issah Kanjaga by naming an important piece of infrastructure after him.
Details of how Attipoe, Adjetey, Lamptey were shot by British soldiers on February 28, 1948
BAI/VPO
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Source:
www.ghanaweb.com
