Accra at 60: concrete heads and colonial questions in Ghana's capital

On this day 60 years ago, many of Ghana’s workers were given the day off. They flocked to central Accra, a city originally settled in the 15th century, to hear Kwame Nkrumah declare independence. Today, only parts of Nkrumah’s Accra remain – while rapid expansion and development is reshaping the city in ways that are causing excitement but also concern.

60 years ago
On 6 March 1957, Nkrumah told an audience of tens of thousands of Ghanaians that “your beloved country is free forever”. This weekend, in the very same spot where Nkrumah made the declaration, local artist Kwame Akoto-Bamfo unveiled an installation of 1,200 concrete heads representing Ghana’s enslaved ancestors. The piece is called Faux-Reedom and is meant, in the context of the hegemony of western oil companies, foreign aid and IMF loans, to question if the first African colony to gain independence from European colonial rule is indeed free from the legacies of slavery and colonisation. . . .