THE UNSUNG HERO OF 28 FEBRUARY 1948:

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ON 28TH FEBRUARY 1948, A BULSA COLONIAL POLICE Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) ISSAH KANJARGA, PREVENTED THE MASS MURDER OF VETERANS.
RSM ISSAH KANJARGA, ( ISSAH ABALANSAH, his real name, was the second-in-command after Major Imray, the infamous British colonial officer who snatched the rifle of his second-in-command and shot Sgt Ajetey, Cpl Attipoe and Pvt Odartey Lamptey dead.

On this faithful day, 28th February 1948, veterans matched to the Christianborg Castle in protest against their poor conditions and treatment from the colonial administration.

Major Imray, then commander of colonial guard forces quickly mobilized his men and mounted a blockade at Osu Castle crossroads.

He ordered the advancing veterans to retreat but the unarmed veterans kept moving towards the Castle so they can present their grievances to the Governor, Sir Gerald Creasy. An incensed Major Imray then ordered his men to open fire on the unarmed and peaceful protesters. RSM ISSAH ABALANSAH KANJARGA, his second-in- command, realizing the order was unlawful, gave a counter-order to them in the Hausa language not to fire into the crowd but into the air!

Realizing his orders had been disobeyed, Major Imray snatched RSM ISSAH KANJARGA’S weapon and shot at the veterans, resulting in the death of Sgt Adjetey, Cpl Attipoe and Private Odartey Lamptey.

RSM ISSAH ABALANSAH KANJARGA through his counter-order, prevented the mass murder of unarmed Africans demonstrating for their rights to certain benefits after risking their lives in the service of the British crown.This event sparked off the riots that culminated in our independence.

Funny enough, RSM ISSAH ABALANSAH KANJARGA is conspicuously missing from our history books. He does not even have a street named after him anywhere like the Salifu Dagartes.

WHO WAS RSM ISSAH ABALANSAH KANJARGA?
He comes from Sinyangsa-Wiaga was called ISSAH ABALANSAH until he was conscripted into the Colonial army whereby he was compelled to adopt the name “ISSAH KANJARGA “
His wife, Agoalie, also hails from Yesobsa-Wiaga, specifically from Wiaga Chief’s Palace.

Following his retirement, RSM ISSAH KANJARGA and his family settled in Nima-Accra, and he lived there until his demise. His descendants still live in Nima.

MAY HIS SOUL AND THE SOULS OF ALL THE GALLANT BULSA WARRIORS WHO DIED IN OR AFTER SERVICE IN GOLD COAST ARMY REST IN PERFECT PEACE!
AMEN!

READ FULL STORY BELOW
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The story of the Kanjargas in the British Colonial Army and Police.
In the days of the Gold Coast army and police, forceful conscription of strong able- bodied men from the northern territories, it was an acceptable practice for recruits to use their home town or ethnic group as their surnames in active service. Names like Issifu, Yakubu, Ayaade Dagarti, Moshie, Grunshie, Builsa or Frafra or Gonja or Dagomba were common place in the various regiments of the Gold Coast. If you have ever visited the war memorial monument at Burma Camp, more than half of those names have a Kanjarga or Builsa surname.

The use of tribal or hometown names, in my view, served two purposes: 1. For ease of identification of the identity and ethnic origin of serving Gold Coast soldiers; 2. To save the British the trouble of mentioning difficult-to-pronounce surnames of their Gold Coast recruits.

Indeed, a lot of Bulsas were recruited into the Gold Coast British Regiment to fight in places like Burma during the second World War. The preference for Bulsa men was not surprising because Koning’s book captures vivid descriptions of how the advancing British colonial army was mesmerized by the bravery and fighting tactics of Bulsas who resisted their advancement into Sandema or Bachonsi areas. In fact, the British colonial advancement force had it tough making incursions into the Bulsa area due to the tough resistance they encountered from the locals. KANJARGA( originally, “KANJARK”) is a town in Bulsaland, was noted as one of the earliest busy militarized zones of the colonial era as the British colonial force, French colonial troops, Babatu and his army of slave raiders as well as Babatu’s own renegade commander Amaria sought to outsmart each other for hegemonic supremacy around there.

Amaria, an indigene of Kanjarga, even forged a military alliance with the British forces in that decisive battle which annihilated Babatu’s army, forcing him to flee towards Yagaba. It is, therefore, easy to see why the first group of Bulsa British army recruits all bore the surname “Kanjarga.” Eventually their bravery, determination, honor, honesty, hard work, and integrity was so beyond reproach that people in Southern parts of Ghana begin to call the Bulsa people “Kanjarga.” Nonetheless, Kanjarga is just the name of one of the 13 communities of Buluk but the exploits of people from there wherever they served, either in the army or cocoa farms or as security, soon made it synonymous with the Bulsa tribe as a whole.

Let me now zero in on the discussion on what the name “SALIFU KANJARGA” means as far as serving in the Gold Coast army is concerned. There are two famous Gold Coast soldiers bearing the name Salifu Kanjarga. The first, Cpl Salifu Kanjarga, died in action in 1940 and was buried/ commemorated at Durban, South Africa (see picture of grave stone attached). This Salifu Kanjarga was very instrumental in the British colonial incursions into the northern territories of the then French Togoland.
The second Salifu Kanjarga was awarded a British military medal for his excellence in the service of the British crown in 1945.

The case of ISSAH KANJARGA a.k.a ISSAH ABALANSA, deserve special mention. He was still in active Service by 28th February 1948 when the 1948 riots which resulted in the death of Sgt Adjetey, Cpl Attipoe and Pvt Odartey Lamptey occurred. On that faithful February 28th, Major Imray, Commander of the British Gold Coast Regiment, ordered his men, including ISSAH KANJARGA, to open fire on the unarmed veterans. ISSAH KANJARGA, being an excellent policeman and knowing the order was unlawful, ordered his colleagues in HAUSA to shoot into the sky rather and they did.

Major Imray realised that his orders had been disobeyed by his men decided on the spell of the moment to take an alternative action. At this juncture, an obviously livid and trigger happy Major Imray grabbed ISSAH KANJARGA’s weapon by force and shot into the unarmed veterans, killing Sgt Adjetey, Cpl Attipoe and Pvt Odartey Lamptey instantly.

RSM ISSAH Kanjarga, by his act of bravery in getting his platoon to resist an unlawful order to shoot unarmed veterans, prevented what would have been a needless mass murder of fellow Ghanaians. However, RSM ISSAH ABALANSA KANJARGA’s name is hardly mentioned during the yearly memorial ceremony and wreath laying ceremony in honor of fallen heroes of the 28th February 1948 riots.
Nonetheless, we have every reason to be proud of these gallant brave men and others who laid down their lives in service of the Gold Coast, Ghana, and the world, at large. Therefore, on February 28th 2021, when you see them mention and lay wreaths in honor of Sgt Adjetey, Cpl Attipoe and Pvt Odartey Lamptey, remember that the real hero who never got due recognition for his life saving role on that 28th day of February 1948 is none other than that proud Bulsa from SINYANGSA-WIAGA, RSM. ISSAH ABALANSAH KANJARGA

LET’S REMEMBER HIM AND OTHER GALLANT SOLDIERS WHO WERE THE TRUE DEFINITION OF SOLDIERING IN THE COLONIAL AND EARLY POST-COLONIAL ERA