11/08/2026
On 11 August 1948, nine years before Ghana gained independence, the Gold Coast established the University College of the Gold Coast, the institution that would become the University of Ghana.
The British Government had initially backed a plan to establish one university college at Ibadan for all of British West Africa. Gold Coast campaigners, led by J.B. Danquah, successfully argued that the colony could support a university college of its own.
The College began at Achimota, awarded University of London degrees and later made Legon its permanent home. In 1961, it became the autonomous University of Ghana, with Kwame Nkrumah as its first Chancellor.
One of its traditional halls bears the name of John Mensah Sarbah, the lawyer, scholar and statesman who helped lead opposition to the Lands Bill of 1897.
Today, the University’s reach extends beyond Legon to five main campuses and a network of distance-learning centres across Ghana.
Were you taught how Legon began?
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