Beyond Boycotts by Philippe Vonnard Nicola Sbetti Grégory Quin

Author:Philippe Vonnard,Nicola Sbetti,Grégory Quin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: De Gruyter
Published: 2018-09-02T16:00:00+00:00

The foundational dual relationship between Ghana and Great Britain

The first layer allowing the invention of the GYP in 1960 was therefore this fertile ground of British associations from the late colonial era in the Gold Coast. These associations dedicated to youth gathered the exact population that the newly elected CPP aimed at targeting: young boys and girls attending school and willing to be part of a youth association. Even though, as the government pointed out, beyond that “worthy ideal […] they [were] not Ghanaian or African in outlook or tradition”,538 meaning they were considered to be neo-colonialist movements.

Table 1. Youth associations inherited from the British Empire in 1960539

Associations Membership

Young Men Christian Association 4,000

Young Women Christian Association 800

Boy Scout Association 7,000

Girls Guide Association 2,500

Methodist Youth Fellowship 1,400

Catholic Youth Organization 6,000

Presbyterian Young People’s Guild 3,000

Young Farmers Club 12,000

Voluntary Workcamp Association 300

Boys Brigade 600

Advent Youth Society of Missionary Volunteers 1,500

Youth Hostel Association 500

Total 39,600

Most of these associations targeted boys and were mainly based in middle-sized or large cities (such as Accra, Kumasi or Tamale). Usually linked to Christian parishes, they relied on the proximity of school-educated children of whom there were fewer in the countryside, even though, from 1951, the new government implemented numerous social reforms – notably in education.540

These pre-existing colonial associations were essential to the formation of the GYP, especially the Boy Scout Association (the largest and the closest to GYP objectives). Founded by Robert Baden-Powell, Gold Coast Scouting (and Guiding) gathered children into age groups, placed under the authority of a slightly older peer, while adults stepped back. There was a whole apparatus of flags, uniforms and games. Children performed games, marches, sports, music and arts. Scouting and Pioneering both claimed the legitimacy of an education which brought the body into play in order to train children’s moral- and civilmindedness.541 In this perspective, Scouting and Pioneering were very alike in the way they used physical activities (including games, sports, salutes and marches) and for the importance given to moral values.

The similarity of activities was reinforced by the involvement of Scouting executives within the GYP. The GYP recruited most of the Scout leaders and commissioners because of their valuable skills.542 For instance, Mowbray Elliott (National Executive of the GYP) had been a Scout Chief in the past and according to the British services, “he still [tried] to maintain some of the idealism acquired through his early youth training”.543

Nevertheless, the GYP leaders also feared this British influence. Great Britain used sports (among other strategies) to maintain some sort of control over their former colonies when they sensed the strength of the nationalist political movements. Hence sports were part of the making of a “Commonwealth of Nations”, notably through the Empire and Commonwealth Games launched in the 1950s. The Games were meant to preserve an imperial identity without the administrative weight of the Empire, given that the decolonization process appeared to be ineluctable.544 Being well aware of this control process, the Ghanaian leaders wished to turn it upside down. They juggled between the

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