56 years ago today, Dr. Joseph Boakye Danquah was re-arrested and detained on 8th January 1964, for allegedly being implicated in a plot against the President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah
His arrest came against the backdrop of his alleged participation in Police Constable Seth Ametewee’s failed assassination attempt on Kwame Nkrumah on January 2, 1964 which got the Body guard of Nkrumah, Salifu Dagarti Killed.
J . B Danquah was first arrested and detained under the Preventive Detention Act (PDA) on October 3, 1961 and released on June 22, 1962.
Danquah was allegedly found to posses his own signed hand-written speech which he intended for broadcast in the wake of the success of Police Constable Seth Ametewee’s attempted assassination on Nkrumah.
J. B Danquah died at Nsawam Prison 13 months later on February 4, 1965 after being detained without trial by the Convention People’s Party (CPP) government led by Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
J. B Danquah was born in December 1895 in the town of Bepong in Kwahu in the Eastern Region of Ghana (then the Gold Coast). He descended from the royal family of Ofori Panyin Fie, once the rulers of the Akyem states, and one of the most influential families in Ghanaian politics. His elder brother was Nana Sir Ofori Atta I and his son is actor Paul Danquah.
