Ghanaians Who Made a Difference: Leaders and Freedom Fighters

1. Yaa Asantewaa

Nana Yaa Asantewaa was the queen mother of Ejisu in the Ashanti Region. In 1900, the British governor demanded the Golden Stool, the sacred symbol of the Asante nation. When some chiefs hesitated, Yaa Asantewaa challenged them and led the Asante in the War of the Golden Stool (also called the Yaa Asantewaa War). The British won the war and sent her into exile in the Seychelles, where she died in 1921. But the Golden Stool was never captured. She is remembered for her courage and patriotism.

2. Dr J.B. Danquah

Dr Joseph Boakye Danquah was a lawyer and scholar. He is honoured as the "doyen of Gold Coast politics". He was a founding member of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) in 1947, and he suggested the name "Ghana" for the country at independence, after the ancient Ghana Empire. He was one of the "Big Six" leaders arrested in 1948.

3. Dr Kwame Nkrumah

Dr Kwame Nkrumah was born in Nkroful in 1909. He studied in the United States and Britain and returned to become secretary of the UGCC. In 1949 he formed the Convention People's Party (CPP) and demanded "Self-Government Now". He led the Gold Coast to independence on 6th March 1957 and became Ghana's first Prime Minister, and then its first President in 1960. He built roads, schools, hospitals, the Akosombo Dam and Tema Harbour, and he worked for the unity of Africa. He helped found the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963.

4. The Big Six

After the 1948 riots that followed the shooting of ex-servicemen at the Christiansborg crossroads, the colonial government arrested these six leaders of the UGCC. Today their pictures appear on Ghana's cedi notes.