Accra: Mabel Dove Danquah was a journalist, political activist, and writer, recognised as one of the first women in West Africa to make significant contributions to journalism and politics. She used her voice and platform not only to inform but to challenge injustice and advocate for the empowerment of women during a transformative period in the Gold Coast era.
According to Ghana Web, in the 1930s, when journalism was dominated by males, she broke barriers by contributing to The Times of West Africa. Through her writings, she addressed social inequality, colonial domination, and the urgent need for self-governance. She demonstrated that journalism could be more than reporting events; it could be a tool for mobilising thoughts and shaping public discourse.
She started writing for The Times of West Africa, Ghana's first daily newspaper, which was founded and owned by Dr. J B Danquah, a lawyer and statesman who strongly advocated fundamental human rights while denouncing foreign dominance. Through the column "Ladies Corner," her articles won her great public popularity, and she dared women to derive inspiration from the suffragists, to denounce imperialism, and to fight for their rights.
Dove Danquah also won the admiration of J B Danquah, whom she eventually married in 1933. However, the marriage did not survive Danquah's prolonged absence during the period 1934-36 when he was in England as secretary of the Gold Coast delegation, and the couple divorced in the mid-1940s.
Dove-Danquah and Akua Asabea Ayisi, another female journalist at the time, worked side by side with Ghana's first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, on the Accra Evening News, a pre-independence anti-colonial newspaper, writing articles, demanding independence, and exposing themselves to the risks at that time.
In 1949, she further strengthened her commitment to women's advancement by founding the Women's Association of the Gold Coast. The organisation championed women's suffrage and equal opportunities at a time when women's political participation remained limited. Her efforts contributed to expanding the space for Ghanaian women in governance and national development.
She joined the campaign for the end of British rule and immediate self-government for the Gold Coast. Dove created awareness and the need for self-governance through her works. In the general election of 1954, she was committed to organising women for the Convention People's Party (CPP), and she was subsequently put up as a CPP candidate for the Ga Rural constituency, which she won. Her election made her the first female member of the Legislative Assembly of the Gold Coast and the first African woman elected to an African Legislative Assembly.
Danquah also became an influential voice within the broader Pan-African movement, engaging with thinkers and activists who were reimagining Africa's future beyond colonial rule. Her work positioned her as both a national reformer and a continental advocate for equality.