African Affairs 96:53-71 (1997)
© The Royal African Society
THE CROSSING OF THE GYAMAN TO THE CROSS OF LORRAINE: WARTIME POLITICS IN WEST ARICA, 1941–1942
Nancy Lawler teachers at Oakton College in Illinois
In January 1942 virtually the entire leadership of the Gyaman kingdom of the Abron crossed the border into Ghana (then the Gold Coast), seeking sanctuary from the Vichy controlled administration of the Côte d'Ivoire. Leaving the cercle of Bonduku, the Gyamanhene, joined by several thousand followers who risked their lives and property, declared that ‘they had left a dead flag’ and had come to ‘continue war until victory and the liberation of France, our dear mother country’. The migration occurred at a time when the Gold Coast was completely encircled by hostile territory. This passage of the Gyaman court into Asante's North West Province is a little-known but extraordinary chapter in wartime politics in West Africa. This paper argues that the exodus involved a combination of ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ interests, as the Gyaman leaders skilfully manipulated the colonial system and the wartime situation to their own advantage. It reviews not only the sequence of events, but probes the role played by British intelligence organizations in facilitating, if not encouraging, the migration.