Labour migration during the colonial period to the Obuasi mines in Ghana

Abstract

Migration has been part of human existence since creation. Many people migrate for various reasons underlying which is the element of survival or the search for an improved situation. It sometimes seems to be the only logical and rational thing to do when one is faced with situations that border on survival and is also faced with making a choice. The southern Akan forest of Ghana has a long history of receiving many labour migrants from all the other parts of the West African sub-region. Many of these migrants came to southern Ghana to work in the cocoa farms belonging to the Akans. A huge chunk of these migrating labourers came from mostly the northern parts of the country. People also came from as far-off territories as Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Sierra Lone, Nigeria etc. to work in the rich gold mines of Obuasi in Adanse. Many reasons advanced by various scholars to explain the cause of the labour migration have credited economic reasons as the major factor that compelled the influx of migrants to economically vibrant southern Ghana. This article seeks to contribute to the continuing discussion on labour migration in West Africa. It will also establish that there were other equally compelling and motivating forces that influenced people to migrate.