Newly surfaced archival records shed light on the events leading to the re-arrest and detention of Joseph Boakye Danquah in 1964.
In his capacity as a leader of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), Danquah faced re-arrest by then-President Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah on January 8, 1964.
A report from ghanacrimes.com outlines that the grounds for his arrest were suspicions of involvement in a failed assassination attempt on Nkrumah.
The attempt occurred on January 2, 1964, orchestrated by Police Constable Seth Ametewee, resulting in the tragic death of Nkrumah’s bodyguard, Salifu Dagarti.
Prior to this incident, J. B. Danquah had undergone arrest and detention under the Preventive Detention Act (PDA) on October 3, 1961, only to be released on June 22, 1962.
Allegedly, Danquah was discovered to possess a personally signed handwritten speech intended for broadcast in the aftermath of Police Constable Seth Ametewee’s unsuccessful assassination of Nkrumah.