From the archive, 6 March 1957

Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 6 March 1957

Accra, March 6 (1 A.M.) Great crowds gathered in the streets of Accra at midnight, when the Gold Coast officially became the sovereign State of Ghana, the Premier, Dr Nkrumah, lowered the Union Jack at the Parliament building and hoisted the red, green, and gold flag of the new country.

The full celebrations are not due to begin until after the State opening of Parliament later today by the Duchess of Kent, but the city is already in an excited mood. The crowds are thickest round the Parliament building, which is ablaze with lights, and all traffic in the area is at a standstill. As midnight approached a band marched into the district followed by a thousand dancers - adding to the din created by the crowd, car hooters and fireworks.

Just before midnight, Dr Nkrumah addressed the Legislative Assembly at its last session before it was prorogued by the Governor, Sir Charles Aden-Clarke. He disclosed that from today he will also be Foreign Minister and Defence Minister.

He pledged a continued relationship with the Commonwealth, and disavowed a neutralist line in foreign affairs. Foreign investment, he said would be encouraged in Ghana, but their foreign policy would not be dictated by a need of seeking assistance from other countries. He suggested ways in which the Commonwealth could help Ghana - but "not on the basis of free gifts."

"The Commonwealth association is of value to us because it unites us to countries who have the same system of law and the same system of parliamentary government as we have," he said. "The Commonwealth can, I believe, become a pilot scheme for developing the most effective methods by which colonialism can be ended without revolution or violence and under conditions in which the former colonial territory still retains a close and friendly association with the former imperial power."

The Duchess of Kent, in a swift round of Independence ceremonies, yesterday visited the University College, ten miles outside Accra, opened the Ghana National Museum, and laid a wreath at the Accra War Memorial. Later she opened the national monument in commemoration of Independence. This is a vast white arch, not unlike the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, inscribed "A.D. 1957 - Freedom and Justice."

Most of Ghana welcomes independence, but some parts, particularly Ashanti, do not welcome Dr Nkrumah and even last night reports reached Accra of riots in protest against the integration of the territory. At Kpandu, 39 people, including women, were arrested after public buildings had been broken into and civil servants attacked.