BANNERMAN, EDMUND

Edmund Bannerman (1832-April 19, 1903) – known as the ‘Boss of Tarkwa’ – was a civil servant, journalist, and politician who made his mark on the Gold Coast in the second half of the 19th century.

Born in 1832, he was the third son of James Bannerman, at one time lieutenant-governor of the Gold Coast settlements. His mother was Princess Yiadom, the daughter of Osei Yaw Akoto. Asantehene from 1824-38. Like his two elder brothers, Charles and Sam, he was educated in England, where he qualified as a lawyer. He returned to the Gold Coast in 1847, and served as secretary to the governors and acting governors of the Gold Coast settlements, from 1848-57. One of these was his father, who served as acting governor from 1850-51.

In March 1858 the British Secretary of State for the Colonies appointed him as civil commandant of Keta, the Ewe coastal town at what is now the eastern extremity of Ghana’s coastline, as well as a justice of the peace. This was the period during which Africans held high posts in the Gold Coast civil service, and in 1860 Bannerman was transferred to Winneba, a port 35 mi (56 km) west of Accra, again as civil commandant and justice of the peace. But in 1861 he was convicted of embezzling £395 while a magistrate, confessing the misdemeanor after his conviction. He was sentenced to seven years imprisonment with hard labor, a penalty that was seen as unusually harsh by his contemporaries.

In 1863 he was released on grounds of ill health, and in 1864 began to practise in the Gold Coast courts as an advocate and attorney. He practised as a solicitor from 1878 onwards, and in 1879 was appointed a commissioner of oaths. He took part in the Anlo War of 1866, in which the British supported Ada on the west bank of the Volta against Anlo on the east bank) as adjutant- general, and also acted as private- secretary to the expedition’s British commander-in-chief, Colonel Edward Conran (lieutenant-governor from 1865-67).

He was commended for his bravery by the acting British governor, H.T. Usher (term of office 1869-71), when, in 1870, he commanded a British expedition against the Volo and the Doffo in Anlo territory. He was secretary to Sir John Glover, the British Chief Commissioner, during the Sagrenti war of 1873-74 between the British and their allies against the Asante, and was later decorated with a medal and clasp. After the death of his brother Charles, Edmund succeeded him as proprietor and editor of the West African Herald, published in Cape Coast, till the paper ceased publication in either 1873 or 1874. He was also the special correspondent of the London-based West African Times during the editorship of F. Fitzgerald (1861-84), and of The Standard during the Sagrenti war.

During the period between 1874 and 1886, when the Gold Coast was jointly administered with Lagos in Nigeria, there were no unofficial members, and no African representation, on the Gold Coast Legislative Council. Some of the educated Africans began to agitate publicly for representation, and in 1885 James Hutton Brew used the Gold Coast Times, of which he was editor, to attack the governor, Sir W. Brandford Griffith (who served intermittently from 1880-95), on the subject.

Bannerman joined Brew in proposing that money should be contributed from various parts of the colony to send a deputation to England to place the case before the British Secretary of State for the Colonies. Bannerman addressed meetings on this issue in Accra, and other meetings were organized in various towns along the coast. Governor Brandford Griffith could not believe, however, that the agitation for representative government represented the aspirations of the Africans, and suggested that Bannerman and Brew merely wanted a holiday in Europe at the expense of others. He tried to meet their criticisms about representation by appointing two unofficial members to the Legislative Council in 1886.

These were C.W. Burnett, a European trader, and George Cleland , a Ga merchant who was also chief of James Town, Accra, and who was believed to be opposed to the sending of a deputation to England. The appointments were partly due to the possibility that Brew had planned to get questions asked in the British Parliament about the administration of the Gold Coast. Tension rose in Accra, however, when King Taki (Tackie, or Tachie), also known as Taki Tawia I, who ruled Accra from 1862-1902, was alleged to have been insulted by a judge when he appeared as a witness before him. Riots occurred in consequence, and King Taki decided to support Bannerman’s plans for sending a deputation. ‘The governor, however, remained unmoved.

Bannerman and Taki pledged their loyalty to the government, and stated that they intended to submit their grievances to the governor first in the hope of avoiding the necessity of sending a deputation. They still wished to send a deputation, however and therefore sent a telegram direct to Buckingham Palace in London, the residence of Queen Victoria (ruled 1837-1901), intimating that the governor might arrest and deport kings, chiefs, and principal men who had met to raise funds to send the deputation.

The telegram stated: “Accra loyal and will remain so, though Governor goading them to rebellion, but earnestly pray for recall of Governor.” Governor Brandford Griffith did not, however, arrest anyone, and a reply was received from the Colonial Office in London that any representation should be made to the Governor.

In April 1887 Bannerman and Taki were invited to Christiansborg Castle, the governor’s seat, to receive a fuller message from the Secretary of State in reply to the telegram. The two were told that while representations made in writing to the governor would be considered in London, no deputation would be received unless to the Colonial Office gave its consent before its departure. The governor felt that this reply cost Bannerman the support of his followers in Accra. After this, though Brew’s Western Echo tried to keep the idea of a deputation alive in Cape Coast, the government succeeded in dampening enthusiasm for it by making further appointments of Africans as extraordinary members of the Legislative Council.

The financial decline of the Western Echo ended the agitation for the deputation. But Bannerman and Brew had won the battle for unofficial – i.e. African – representation, although not for self-government, a goal that was not to be reached for another 60 years. Edmund Bannerman was held to be a particularly well-informed man, and was consulted on various issues by a number of Gold Coast governors. He died on April 19, 1903, in Tarquah House, James Town, Accra.

L. H. OFOSU-APPIAH