ADJETEY, CORNELIUS FREDERICK
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Cornelius Frederick Adjetey (1893-February 28, 1948), the first martyr to the cause of national independence, was killed when colonial police opened fire on demonstrators, setting in motion a train of events that culminated in Ghana’s independence.
PHOTO CAPTION: Sgt. Cornelius Frederick Adjetey SOURCE:EA Library
Adjetey was born at Labadi, east of Accra and was the third child of Stephen OkanDin and Madam Akweley, both of Labadi. He was educated at the Presbyterian Primary School, Osu, near Accra. He later enlisted in the Royal West African Frontier Force, in which he served during and between World Wars I and II. In World War I (1914-18), he took part in the 1915 campaign against the Germans in East Africa, and in World War II (1939-45) served against the Axis forces in Burma from 1942-45, being promoted sergeant in 1944, and being decorated for his service.
On February 28. 1948, in a demonstration organized by the Gold Coast Ex-Servicemen’s Union. Adjetey led a column of excited former servicemen towards Christiansborg Castle, then the residence of the British governor of the Gold Coast. Sir Gerald Creasy (term of office 1948-49).
The purpose of the demonstration was to protest against post-war conditions in the country. The former servicemen proposed to present a petition to the governor. As they approached the crossroads at Osu, where the road branches off to the Castle, the British colonial police, under the command of Superintendent C. H. Imray, opened fire, killing Sgt. Adjetey. Two other former servicemen, Corp. Attipoe and Pvt. Odartey Lamptey later died of wounds received in the shooting.
The incident touched off widespread rioting and looting in Accra and other towns and resulted in the appointment by the British administration of the Watson Commission to investigate the cause of the disturbances an action that resulted in a chain of events that finally led to political freedom for the Gold Coast. Sgt. Adjetey and his two comrades had a monument erected in their memory at the Osu crossroads where they fell, and the incident was further commemorated by changing the name of the road on which they marched to “28th February Road.”
K.A.B. JONES-QUARTEY
