John Mensah Sarbah (June 3, 1864, Anomabu – November 27, 1910) was a lawyer and political leader in the Gold Coast (now Ghana).
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John Mensah Sarbah was born in the Fante Confederacy in the Gold Coast. After completing his secondary education at the Cape Coast Wesleyan School (later – by Mensah Sarbah himself – renamed Mfantsipim School ), he entered Lincoln's Inn in London to train as a barrister, and was called to the English bar in 1887 – the first African barrister from his country to qualify in this way.[1]
Later, Mensah Sarbah became a leading critic of British colonial rule, especially in connection with colonial land appropriation. Sarbah argued that land in Africa belonged to someone, and that therefore any confiscation by the British was illegal.
European imperialism created complex pressures for new African leaders. John Mensah Sarbah chose a path of utilizing Western standards in defence of African rights. Mensah Sarbah used English constitutional arguments to claim that the British had no right to rule the Gold Coast and were consistently violating established African Laws. He actively urged expanded responsibilities for educated Africans who could preserve Africa's traditional communal virtues. His multi-volume Fante National Constitution (1906) followed from his elaborate research on customary law. He also founded several organizations designed to protect traditional African land titles in British legislation of 1898. Mensah Sarbah thus worked in two worlds, an early example of a leader striving to unite Western methods and African goals.
He wrote a book titled Fanti Customary Laws, a brief introduction to the principles of the native laws and customs of the Fanti and Akan districts of the Gold Coast, with a report of some cases thereon decided in the Law Courts (1904)
A)Initiative of educational scholarships
B)Dedication to the promotion of education
C)Establishment of secondary schools
D)Funding secondary education
Today a residence hall of the University of Ghana is named Mensah Sarbah Hall in his honor. reference from Aki-ola Social Studies Text book 2