EPISODE 6 – The Cocoa HoldUps

Storyline:

Plumes of smoke are billowing in the sky across rural fields as hundreds of farmers take sacks upon sacks of cocoa to be burnt as a sign of their resolute stance not to back down and sell their cocoa.

The year is 1937, and Governor Sir Arnold Hodson tries without success to mediate between the two intractable parties, who refuse to back down from their stance. The cocoa farmers on one hand and the association of cocoa exporters on the other.

Cocoa exports from the gold Coast have risen, making it the largest foreign exchange earner for the colonial government. A cartel of cocoa buying companies maneuvers to fix the purchase price of cocoa. The farmers are unhappy about this and embark on agitations to force the colonial government to intervene. Their actions became known as the Cocoa holdups 1931-34. In the eastern region, led by Nana Ofori-Atta of Akyem Aboakwa, can the cocoa farmers resist the temptation not to capitulate to the schemes of the foriegn cocoa buying cartel?