Making the Wheels Count: Railway Policies and Politics in the Gold Coast, 1874-1957

Abstract

The development of railways played a significant role in the British colonial enterprise in the Gold Coast. Even though railways were an efficient infrastructure meant to address transportation issues in the last decade of the nineteenth century, they were also central to the economic development of the colony in the twentieth century. The development of railways did not only occasion internal and external trade, economic growth and development, and the exploitation of resources but also contributed immensely to colonial politics in the Gold Coast during this period. The construction of railways was a way of entrenching colonial rule and to further control administration in the Gold Coast. In this regard, this thesis employs relevant primary and secondary sources to examine how the construction of railways impacted the politics of the Gold Coast between 1874 and 1957. The study argues that railway policies and construction were very impactful on the establishment and consolidation of British colonial power in the Gold Coast. It helped to entrench and consolidate the government’s control over the interior of the colony. Whereas the railways initially helped to consolidate colonial rule, they later became an instrument of decolonisation after the Second World War. The thesis shows that railways were crucial to the nationalist political movements in the Gold Coast and went a long way to expedite the independence struggle of the country. The study provides significant insights into the dynamics of colonialism in the Gold Coast.