{"id":328,"date":"2021-01-28T15:16:06","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T15:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/librarycollections\/?p=328"},"modified":"2021-01-29T09:09:06","modified_gmt":"2021-01-29T09:09:06","slug":"for-security-reasons-it-may-not-be-prudent-to-unfold-where-i-am-ghanas-1978-electoral-commissioners-letter-from-hiding-surfaces-in-the-blds-legacy-collect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/librarycollections\/2021\/01\/28\/for-security-reasons-it-may-not-be-prudent-to-unfold-where-i-am-ghanas-1978-electoral-commissioners-letter-from-hiding-surfaces-in-the-blds-legacy-collect\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018For security reasons it may not be prudent to unfold where I am\u2019 \u2013 Ghana\u2019s 1978 electoral commissioner\u2019s letter from hiding surfaces in the BLDS Legacy collection"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Danny Millum – BLDS Metadata and Discovery Officer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cataloguing on the BLDS Legacy Collection project has now reached Ghana, and we\u2019ve just unearthed a fascinating letter from a dramatic time in that country\u2019s political history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 30 March 1978 the country\u2019s Supreme Military Council, led by Col. Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, held a referendum on system of government, and whether Ghana should become a non-party state (from the perspective of the UK in 2021 that does have some appeal\u2026). The referendum was controversial, as many saw UNIGOV (as it was known) to be a ploy by Acheampong to retain power and suspected military interference. Things got so heated that the electoral commissioner himself, I. K. Abban, was forced to go into hiding, from where he wrote the letter below which has just turned up in Box 204 of our Ghana materials<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Image
Letter from Electoral Commissioner I.K. Abban to I.K Acheampong<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The message is addressed to Acheampong, explaining that following previous threats from the military (which would end in \u2018several deaths including me\u2019) his office was now under siege. He diplomatically shies clear of directly accusing the Head of State of being responsible, but he certainly doesn\u2019t sound full of trust for his boss: \u2018For security reasons it may not be prudent to unfold where I am but I am safe\u2019. Readers worried about Abban\u2019s fate can breathe easy \u2013 he escaped and eventually became Chief Justice (again not without controversy). Acheampong on the other hand only lasted until July when he was arrested and deposed\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone interested in this item, Ghanaian government publications or the BLDS Legacy Collection in general can drop us a line at bldslegacy@sussex.ac.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Danny Millum – BLDS Metadata and Discovery Officer Cataloguing on the BLDS Legacy Collection project has now reached Ghana, and we\u2019ve just unearthed a fascinating letter from a dramatic time in that country\u2019s political history. On 30 March 1978…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more ›<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":339,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[151104,181237],"tags":[113087,152621,90273,193447,193898,262,147940,193570],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":647,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/librarycollections\/2022\/04\/27\/freedom-day-new-perspectives-on-apartheid-from-the-blds-legacy-collection\/","url_meta":{"origin":328,"position":0},"title":"Freedom Day - new perspectives on apartheid from the BLDS Legacy Collection","date":"27 April 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Today marks the 28th anniversary of South Africa\u2019s first post-apartheid elections, now commemorated as Freedom Day. Previously, under the apartheid regime, non-whites in general had only limited voting rights, while black South Africans were unable to vote at all. The 1994 elections were the first non-racial national elections where everyone\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "BLDS (British Library for Development Studies)"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/librarycollections\/files\/2022\/04\/SAfrica_GuineaA-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":433,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/librarycollections\/2021\/04\/30\/well-thats-a-lot-of-pamphlets\/","url_meta":{"origin":328,"position":1},"title":"Well that's a lot of pamphlets....","date":"30 April 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"BLDS Legacy Collection By Caroline Marchant-Wallis - BLDS Metadata and Discovery Officer I was chatting to my Librarian mentor recently about how we approached starting the BLDS Legacy Collection project, and I realised it was a good question. What did we do? Having been caught up in the whirlwind of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "BLDS (British Library for Development Studies)"","img":{"alt_text":"2 shelves on wall containing pamphlets above a card catalogue","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/librarycollections\/files\/2021\/04\/Shelving-along-store-2-wall-right-hand-side-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":398,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/librarycollections\/2021\/04\/02\/not-as-boring-as-they-sound-reading-the-history-of-zimbabwean-independence-from-airline-annual-reports-in-the-blds-legacy-collection\/","url_meta":{"origin":328,"position":2},"title":"Not as boring as they sound \u2013 reading the history of Zimbabwean independence from airline annual reports in the BLDS Legacy Collection","date":"2 April 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"By Danny Millum - BLDS metadata and discovery officer One of the many strengths of the BLDS Legacy Collection lies in its holdings of annual reports, from both government departments and public and private companies. While obviously vital source material for business and economic historians, these might appear a little\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "BLDS (British Library for Development Studies)"","img":{"alt_text":"Cover of 1968 Annual report image shows a female air steward in a blue uniform in front of an aeroplane","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/librarycollections\/files\/2021\/03\/Zimbabwe-Air-Zimbabwe-1-Annual-report-1968.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":550,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/librarycollections\/2021\/10\/08\/public-opinion-and-conflict-in-south-asia\/","url_meta":{"origin":328,"position":3},"title":"Public opinion and conflict in South Asia","date":"8 October 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"A brief look at the Bangladesh Liberation War through the holdings of the BLDS Legacy Collection One of the main aims of the British Library for Development Studies Legacy Collection (BLDS) project is outreach and promotion. As part of this we are assisting with some teaching sessions at Sussex in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "BLDS (British Library for Development Studies)"","img":{"alt_text":"Front page of Pakistan News Vol. XXIII No.14 July 15, 1991","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/librarycollections\/files\/2021\/10\/Pakistan-Pakistan-News-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":67,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/librarycollections\/2020\/09\/08\/like-a-child-in-a-candy-store-a-historian-of-20th-century-west-africa-delves-into-the-blds-legacy-collection\/","url_meta":{"origin":328,"position":4},"title":"\u2018Like a child in a candy store\u2019 Gerardo Serra delves into the BLDS Legacy Collection","date":"8 September 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Before the spleen of writing, editing (and re-writing and re-editing) sets in, there is a fleeting moment in which the historian is like a child in a candy store, starry-eyed and gleefully lost. I experienced such a moment when, in 2016, I walked into the basement of what was then\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "BLDS (British Library for Development Studies)"","img":{"alt_text":"Front cover of the pamphlet Somali women in socialist construction, showing statue of woman on a plinth","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/librarycollections\/files\/2020\/12\/Somali-women-socialist-construction-scaled-e1606920568654.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1015,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/librarycollections\/2024\/06\/05\/exploring-different-approaches-to-using-tricontinental-and-mujeres-in-your-research-from-a-library-perspective\/","url_meta":{"origin":328,"position":5},"title":"Exploring different approaches to using Tricontinental and Mujeres in your research from a library perspective","date":"5 June 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Reposted from the BLDS Legacy Collection Blog By Danny Millum A little belatedly we wanted to write up the details of the \u2018Exploring different approaches to using\u00a0Tricontinental\u00a0and\u00a0Mujeres\u00a0in your research from a library perspective\u2019 workshop, which took place on Monday 22 April in the Global Studies Resource Centre. 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