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DEDICATION To my mother, Madam Akua Addae for the invaluable material and moral support throughout my learning life.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Dedication
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Table of Contents
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Abstract
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Preface
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Map of Ghana showing the location of the Adanse District
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Abbreviations
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Introduction
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Chapter One
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Chapter Two
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Chapter Three
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Chapter Four
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Chapter Five
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Bibliography
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ABSTRACT The goldfields of Adanse were one source of supply of gold for the TransSaharan trade carried on by the Mande Dyula known to the Akans as the Wangara people. The traditional Adanse gold miners had their own method of mining gold. They had few implements for digging the gold. These were sŝ sŝ toa also known as tofa a shovel, a hoe asŝ , baskets and trays called panpan. In Adanse, gold was the symbol of Kingship and imperial splendour. The social order and entire culture of the people revolved around it. From the latter part of the fifteenth century, the Portuguese traded European goods for gold from Adanse. Adanse¶V JROG DWWUDFWHG WKH DWWHQWLRQ RI (XURSHDQ capitalists who eventually established the first modern mine in the state. The first attempt at scientific mining in Adanse was made by three Fante Concessionaires in 1890 but was unsuccessful. In 1897, the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation (AGC) was formed to take up the concession of the Fante businessmen. A small number of expatriate miners from Britain renowned for their skills were recruited to work in the mine. The bulk of the unskilled labour force was recruited from Adanse, Bono-Ahafo, Asante, Akyem, Akuapem, Kwahu and the coastal areas of the Gold Coast. Modern scientific mining had a great impact on Adanse, especially in the socioeconomic development of the state. Road construction and the introduction of telephones improved communication, new style of architecture enhanced the appearance of Obuasi township, improved water supply, sanitation and electricity raised the standard of living of the people, while job opportunities and the introduction of new skills benefitted the community.
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PREFACE This book is the outcome of research into the history of Gold mining in the Adanse area begun in 1997. I thank Professor Robert Yaw Addo-Fening for his keen interest and close supervision which greatly enriched my understanding of the rudiments of practical research. A special debt of gratitude is also owed to Dr. N.J.K. Brukum and Professor Akosua Perbi for their encouragement which served to lighten the task and ensured the timely completion of the work. I thank the staff of the Public Record and Archives Administration, Accra and of its Kumasi and Tamale branches. I also thank the chiefs and elders of Adanse for their help in gathering oral data for this work. To all those who granted me personal interviews, I am most grateful; Nana Bonsra Sakrakyire II, Opanin Kwabena Amponse,, Opanin Kwaku Fokuo, Mallam Mustafa Buraimah Moshie, Opanin Kwame Akuoko, Opanin Antwi Boasiako, Opanin Kwame Appiah, Kramo Mustafa Busanga, Mr. Justice Degraft Ellimah, Opanin Kofi Adanse, Opanin Kwame Affum, Mr. Albert York, Mr. John Carr, Opanin Kwadwo Boateng, Papa Kwame Wusu and Mr. Ben Abu, Dr. John Ansah, Mr. Kojo Bempong, Opanin Kwadwo Amponsah, Mr. John Clark, Mr. J.N. Williams, Rev. Father D.O. Wiafe. Mr. and Mrs. P.G. Debley highly deserve recognition for their moral and material support given me during the
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masters degree programme. I also thank Mrs. Doris Adjei of the Language Centre, Legon for the secretarial assistance she provided. My appreciation goes to all friends and well-wishers, especially Messrs Fred Yaw Asare Danquah, Michael Kofi Ampratwum Addae-Kagya, Charles Mensah, Phillip Armah Bilson and Opoku Amponsah whose concern, encouragement, prayers and moral support has contributed greatly to the successful completion of this work. I say God bless you. Above all, I thank the Almighty Father and Lord of all wisdom and knowledge, for the ability to complete this work.
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A modern map of Ghana showing Adanse
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ABBREVIATIONS A.G.C.
±±± Ashanti Goldfields Corporation
A.G.C.I.
±±± Income Correspondence (Obuasi Office) of the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation, Guildhall Library, London (1897± 1940) and AGC Obuasi (1941 onwards)
C.C. N.T.
±±± Chief Commissioner, Northern Territories
C.S.P.
±±± Commissioner, Southern Province
C.N.E.P.
±±± Commissioner, North Eastern Province
D.C.
±±± District Commissioner
P.R.O.
±±± Public Records Office
T.H.S.G.
±±± Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana..
I.A.S.
±±± Institute of African Studies
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INTRODUCTION Since the beginning of recorded history, gold has played a very important role in the world economic and social order gold compares with all that is elegant and precious, hence the demand for it has been great and men have stopped almost at nothing to acquire it. From ancient times, gold has been desirable for its intrinsic value and it continues to play an important part in the fabrication of royal regalia and in ceremonies of state. Long before the first Iberian Seafarers reached the Mina Coast at the end of the fifteenth century; the local people had been engaged in gold mining. Though the exact beginnings of gold mining cannot be dated with any degree of certainty, there is a growing consensus among scholars that the TransSaharan caravan gold trade between the $NDQIRUHVW]RQHDQGWKHHQWUHS{WV of the Western Sudan was already in existence when the Portuguese first appeared on the scene in 1471.1 Gold was, however, not mined on the coast but further inland. One of the inland sources of gold was Bambuk on the Upper Senegal and Bure on the forest fringes of Mali. The other area was present day Adanse and neighbouring Akan states. ϭ .ZDPH$UKLQ ³*ROG0LQLQJDQG7UDGLQJDPRQJWKH$VKDQWLRI*KDQD´Journal des Africanites 48, 1, 1978. ϵ
On 3 February 1634, Jan Stricker of the Dutch West Indian Company described a place in the interior of the Gold Coast where gold was mined.2 Scholars such as Junner, Daaku and Dickson and Benneh, have identified this area as modern Adanse.3 Bowdich referred to the hills between Akyem and Assin as very rich in gold.4 In the middle of the seventeenth century, a Dutch factor on the Gold Coast describing the people of the interior of the *ROG&RDVWWRKLVVXSHULRULQ$PVWHUGDPUHIHUUHGWRWKH³5LFKJROGFRXQWULHV of Adanse´5 It was the very lucrative trade in gold which attracted so many of the European nations to the coast of modern Ghana and brought about the erection of numerous forts and castles some of which are still in use.6 Notwithstanding the importance of Adanse as an immemorial centre of gold production, it has not received sufficient attention from scholars. A pioneering ZRUN LQ WKLV DUHD LV * (DWRQ 7XUQHU¶V A Short History of the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation 1897±1947 /RQGRQ 7XUQHU¶VERRNOHWZDVZULWWHQWR mark the fiftieth anniversary of the operations of the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation in the Gold Coast. He provides a brief account of early gold Ϯ W.I.C Oc 11. Letter from Jan Stricker to teh Assembly of the XIX. 3 February, 1634. Furley Collections, Balme Library, Legon. ϯ K.Y. Daaku: Oral Traditions of Adanse Legon, 1969. See also Trade and Politics on the Gold Coast, 1600 ± 1720 2[IRUG 15-XQQHU³*ROGLQWKH*ROG&RDVW´Gold Coast Geological Survey Memoir No.4.; Dickson and Benneh, A New Geography of Ghana. (Longmans: 1970) p.9 ϰ
J.E. Bowdich, Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee (London:1819)
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WIC±ARA: Rademacher Archives No. 587 Heerman-Abramsz to Assembly of Ten. 23 November 1679.
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Boahen with Tidy and Ajayi, Topics in West African History (London: 1986) p.106 ϭϬ
mining in Adanse and follows it up with a detailed account of the operations and development of the corporation since its inception at Obuasi in 1897. The changing political conditions in Ashanti where the corporation operated and its relationship with the African workers are also discussed. The booklet makes no reference to traditional gold mining in Adanse nor does it discuss the impact of modern gold mining on the people of the area. Jeff Crisp in a similar academic endeavour published a book titled The Story of an African Working Class (1984 London). He provides an account of the changing nature of life and work in the gold mines in Africa and examines the distinctive forms of political consciousness, organisation and action which the miners developed in the form of a collective mode of resistance like Trade Union Organisations. There is no discussion about labour recruitment and Organisation or about indigenous mining or about traditional uses or disposal RI JROG &ULVS¶V ZRUN SURYLGHV YHU\ OLWWOH LQIRUPDWLRQ DERXW WKH KLVWRU\ RI modern mining in Adanse. Another publication that shares some of the limitations of the works of Turner DQG&ULVSLVWKHRWKHUZLVHH[FHOOHQWZRUNRI7($QLQ¶VGold in Ghana (1987 London). He traces the development of gold mining activities from the days of the Portuguese Merchant adventurers up to the present. He also provides the general reader with information about developments in the world-wide gold mining industry together with a brief survey of the role of gold in the modern ϭϭ
ZRUOGHFRQRP\7KHERRN DOVRFRQWDLQVVXJJHVWLRQVIRUH[SDQGLQJ*KDQD¶V gold production. He does not discuss labour recruitment and organisation and the impact of modern gold mining on the people of Adanse. Another publication which has some information on gold mining in Adanse is $OODQ 0FSKHH¶V Economic Revolution in British West Africa (London 1926). The book provides very little information about the history of modern gold mining in Adanse. Its main thrust is the development of foreign trade and improvements in business efficiency in the expatriate commercial sectors. It discusses the impact of modern transport, the utilisation of land, the development of revenues, currency changes and their role in increasing the ease of transactions, the organisation and deployment of the labour force and ILQDOO\WKHTXDOLW\RIKXPDQUHVRXUFHV0FSKHH¶VERRNGRHVQRWH[DPLQHWKH impact of modern mining on the people of Adanse or the mode of labour recruitment and organisation. There is no mention of indigenous gold mining in Adanse. In 1989, Amponsah Mensah Frank wrote a B.A. dissertation titled Ashanti Goldfields Corporation in the Post-colonial Period 1957-1987. This work discusses the origin, growth and development of the Corporation. He provides a chronological account of the changes in the administrative structures of the corporation. Finally, he discusses the socio-economic impact of the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation in Adanse from 1957 to 1987. Like ϭϮ
some of the writers before him, he did not talk about traditional gold mining in Adanse nor about how labour was recruited and organised. In his book Akan Weights and the Gold Trade (Longman 1980), Timothy Garrard discusses the traditional methods of mining gold in Akan land, the uses and of disposal of gold, evolution of the Akan weight system and the Akan weight names. Even though he mentions Adanse as a gold producing area, he does not discuss in any great detail, traditional gold mining in that state. There is hardly any assessment of the impact of gold mining on the people of Adanse or a discussion on the recruitment and organisation of labour for the gold mining industry in Adanse. Some of the publications which mention Adanse as a gold producing area in SDVVLQJLQFOXGH-06WXDUW¶VThe Ancient Goldfields of Africa; from the Gold Coast to Mashonaland /RQGRQ + 7D\ORU¶V Handbook of the West African gold mines (London 1 6LU)UDQFLV)XOOHU¶VThe Vanished Dynasty ± Ashanti .ZDPH$UKLQ¶VDUWLFOH³*ROGPLQLQJDQGWUDGLQJDPRQJWKH$VKDQWL RI*KDQD´LQJournal des Africanits DQG)HOGWPDQ¶V³7KHPLQHVRI WKH$VKDQWL*ROGILHOGV&RUSRUDWLRQ´LQMining Magazine June, 1932. This book is therefore a modest attempt to write a comprehensive history of gold mining in Adanse. It seeks to contribute to a greater understanding of traditional methods of gold mining in the area. It also examines the uses of gold. The book further discusses the introduction of modern gold mining in ϭϯ
Adanse. Labour recruitment and organisation as well as discussing the impact of modern gold mining on the people of Adanse. The greatest problem I encountered in the course of the research was the collection of oral traditions to cross-check the authenticity of documented information about gold mining in Adanse. Most of the elderly people did not see the need for recalling and recording their experience of traditional gold mining in the area. They said that they were fed up with interviews which have not benefited them. This demanded that I exercised a lot of care in collating information from my informants, for a fair presentation of the story of gold mining in Adanse. A wide range of sources have been used in the preparation of this book. For the discussion on traditional gold mining, I have drawn upon the rich and ODUJHO\ XQWDSSHG PLQH RI LQIRUPDWLRQ FRQWDLQHG LQ .
