OHENEBA SAMPSON SAKYI DJANG
Oheneba Sampson Sakyi Djang (1901 – September 21, 1950), a writer, politician, and lawyer, was editor of the Sunlight Magazine (1925 – 1936), a publication recording national traditions and folklore which has become a valuable resource for scholars.
He was the son of Nana Djan Kwasi, Chief of Aburi and Adontehene of Akuapem state from 1886 to 1918, and of Ama Odei of the Aburi Mankrado royal family. Born in 1901, he was educated between 1908 and 1920, first at the Methodist School at Aburi, and then at the Government Training College in Accra.
Between 1920 and 1938 he lived at Aburi. From 1920 – 1922 he produced the Sunlight Magazine for the first time. In 1926 the publication became biennial. In that year the London based African World reviewed the publication, praising Djang for his admirable work of recording and preserving local historical traditions. The review continued:
His editorial office is at Aburi Eastern Province, Gold Coast Colony… If some educated men and women will take up the same work in other Provinces, collecting and recording local tribal traditions, legends, songs, folk stories, and proverbs, they will make a most valuable contribution to knowledge, useful to scientists and administrators, and of immense value.
Ten years after this review of his work in 1936, the material which had appeared in the various issues of the magazine was compiled and published, with new additions, as the Sunlight Reference Almana of the Gold Coast Colony. This valuable work has become a source of information for contemporary scholars in various disciplines.
In 1938 Djang went to Britain to study law. He was called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn in 1946, and returned home the same year.
He participated in the politics of his day. He was an active member of the Aborigines’ Rights Protection Society (A.R.P.S) in the Eastern Province, and was the secretary of its Akuapem branch in the 1930s. He became a member of the Gold Coast Legislative Council under the Burns Constitution in 1949, and represented the Eastern Provincial Council till his death in 1950. He was noted for his searching questions in the Legislative Council. He died on September 21, 1950.
M. A. KWAMENA-POH
