Rewriting Women into Ghanaian History 1950-1966

Abstract

Ghana today enjoys the presence of a multiplicity of voluntary organisations majority of which claim to be dedicated to women’s welfare and empowerment. These groups or movements operate in a rather calm and tolerant political atmosphere and enjoy the benefits of access to and a relatively easy means of information dissemination. How different was the situation in the 1950s and early years after independence when the main focus and attention of Ghanaians particularly, male politicians was on the political fortunes of the new nation and women’s interests and empowerment largely remained a secondary issue? Taking the discussion beyond the political developments in the Gold Coast in the years leading up to independence, a topic which has been the subject of immense research, this study focuses on women’s organizations and how these were able to push their agenda for the enhancement of the status of Ghanaian women in the years leading up to independence and the immediate independent era.