Akua Asabea Ayisi (3 April 1927 – 21 April 2010) was a feminist, former High Court Judge and the first female Ghanaian journalist.[1][2] During the rise of the Ghanaian independence movement, Akua Asabea Ayisi trained as a journalist with Mabel Dove-Danquah and Kwame Nkrumah, who would later become the country's first prime minister and president.
Akua Asabea Ayisi | |
|---|---|
| Feminist | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Akua Asabea Ayisi 3 April 1927 Mampong Akuapem, Ghana |
| Died | 21 April 2010 (aged 82–83) |
| Parent(s) | Mercy Adebra and Okyeame Kofi Ayisi |
| Relatives | Tetteh Quarshie, Akosua Tuntum Nahana |
| Education | Newnham College, University of Cambridge |
| Occupation | Lawyer and journalist |
| Known for | First female journalist and High Court Judge in Ghana |
Ayisi's position as editor of the women's column, which focused on women's issues, in the Accra Evening News newspaper was considered radical action at that time.[3]
Family and early life
editAkua Asabea Ayisi was born on 3 April 1927, in Akuapim-Mampong. She was the eighth child of 10 born to Mercy Adebra Mensah and Okyeame Kofi Ayisi.
Kofi Ayisi was a royal and linguist for the King, who was also his relative. Some of Akua Asabea Ayisi's uncles were royal fetish priests. Kofi Ayisi had 70 children, 10 of those by Mercy Adebra. Ayisi's mother, Mercy Adebra's grandfather, Tetteh Quarshie, planted the first cocoa tree in Ghana. Mercy Adebra, an aggressive woman who wanted to be independent, eventually left Kofi Ayisi and moved to Accra to be close to her family, who were Gas.[2]
Akua Asabea Ayisi attended primary school at Presbyterian Primary in Mampong, and subsequently the Presbyterian Girls School in Osu, Accra. She then went to the Government Secretarial School to complete her education. In those days, it was rare for a woman to receive such a high level of education. However, her mother strongly believed in women's education.
Career and activism
editAfter joining the Convention People's Party (CPP), led by Kwame Nkrumah, Ayisi became the first female journalist recorded in Ghana (1948).[1] She worked alongside Nkrumah on the Accra Evening News, a daily newspaper established by the former president in 1948, and wrote political pamphlets that demanded independence and mobilized the Ghanaian people to oppose colonial rule.[4] She edited the women's column on the front page of the newspaper – a section introduced by Nkrumah as part of his aim to elevate women in Ghana via expanding the educational provision of girls.[5] The launching of the Accra Evening News on 6 March 1949 coincided with Nkrumah's removal from the office of the General Secretary of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) Party. Through the newspaper, Nkrumah wanted to fight for "full self-government, not in the shortest possible time, but now."[6] Having created several newspapers and publications during his time as a student activist, Nkrumah considered the press a key instrument for education and political mobilization.[5]
In August 1948, along with Kofi Baako, editor of Cape Coast Daily Mail, and Saki Scheck, editor of the Takoradi Times, Ayisi embarked on country-wide lecture tours, promoting resistance against imperialist rule.[7] She later became Kwame Nkrumah's first private secretary (1950–56) and helped Nkrumah write pro-independence slogans to combat British imperial rule, such as "die with the imperialists."
She took part in a series of political protests dubbed "Positive Action campaign" and was subsequently arrested and imprisoned for her involvement.[8] The protests included strikes that called for a boycott of foreign businesses, which encouraged several rebellions throughout the Gold Coast colony.[3][9]
Ayisi is considered to have played a key role in the formulation and implementation of Nkrumah's cultural policies.[6]
Shortly after independence, Ayisi went to Newnham College at the University of Cambridge, where she studied History, matriculating in 1959.[10] She was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1963. From 1963 to 1964, she is recorded by Newnham College records as working at the Paris-Sorbonne University.[11]
Subsequently returning to Ghana, Ayisi began work as a barrister, and would ultimately become a High Court Judge. Due to her apolitical occupation, she was not harmed when the military overthrew Kwame Nkrumah's government.
In 1968, she took part in the constitutional assembly responsible for writing the new constitution following Kwame Nkrumah's overthrow in 1966.
In 1969, Ayisi was one of the first women to run for parliament, doing so in the Akuapem North District, and ultimately losing. In 1978, she helped draft the new constitution instituted by General Akuffo, when Ghana changed from Supreme Military Council (SMC) to democratic rule.
Akua Asabea Ayisi died on 21 April 2010.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b Alhassan, Kandey (5 January 2017). "22 Amazing Females Who Hold The Title Of 'The First Ghanaian Woman'". Ghanaguardian.com. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
- ^ a b c Tuntum Nahana, Akosua (9 February 2019). "Ghana's first female journalist Akua Asabea Ayisi". modernghana.com. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
- ^ a b Kwarteng, Francis (17 October 2015). "Mabel Dove-Danquah: A Trailblazing Author, Feminist, Politician, Activist & Journalist". Modern Ghana. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- ^ Adomako Ampofo, Akosua (1 October 2008). "Collective Activism: The Domestic Violence Bill becoming Law in Ghana". African and Asian Studies. 7 (4): 395–421. doi:10.1163/156921008X359597. ISSN 1569-2094.
- ^ a b Biney, Ama (2011). The political and social thought of Kwame Nkrumah. Palgrave Connect (Online service). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780230118645. OCLC 714088713.
- ^ a b Botwe-Asamoah, Kwame (8 March 2005). Kwame Nkrumah's Politico-Cultural Thought and Politics: An African-Centered Paradigm for the Second Phase of the African Revolution. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203505694. ISBN 9780203505694.
- ^ Vieta, Kojo T. (2000). The flagbearers of Ghana (School ed.). Accra: Ena Publications. ISBN 9988004621. OCLC 48093337.
- ^ Konadu, Kwasi; Clifford C. Campbell, eds. (3 February 2016). The Ghana reader : history, culture, politics. Durham. ISBN 9780822359845. OCLC 906010731.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Azikiwe, Abayomi (4 October 2009). "Nkrumah and Ghana's independence struggle". iacenter.org. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- ^ Campbell, Rosa (March 2022). "Akua Asabea Ayisi | Feminist & Radical Histories at Newnham". Newnham College, University of Cambridge. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- ^ "Akua Asabea Ayisi, Judge and Journalist". Newnham Alumnae. Newnham College, University of Cambridge. 13 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2023.