38.1.van Den Bersselaar

DOORWAY TO SUCCESS?
:
RECONSTRUCTING AFRICAN CAREERS IN
EUROPEAN BUSINESS FROMCOMPANY HOUSE
MAGAZINES AND ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWS
DMITRI VAN DEN BERSSELAAR
UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL
1
I
The largely literate African employees of European businesses during the
colonial and postcolonial period have not been studied as a group, unlike
miners, railway workers and colonial intermediaries.
2
This group has never-
theless been of great importance. Many of its members became part of the
core of the management of African-owned enterprises and organizations,
others started their own businesses or became successful politicians.
3
African employees of European business, alongside government employ-
ees, formed the basis of the rapidly growing middle classes during the peri-
od after the Second World War. They gave their children a Western-style
education, often at well-respected schools. In many local communities the
History in Africa 38 (2011), 257294
1
I would like to acknowledge the support of Unilever PLC, of the Department of History
in the University of Liverpool, and of the IGK re:work, Work and Life-Cycle in Global
Historical Perspective, at the Humboldt University, Berlin. I thank Diane Backhouse and
Jeannette Strickland of Unilever PLC, as well as Bernice Natue and Theophilus Tandoh
of Unilever Ghana Ltd for all their help with the project. I also thank Stephanie Decker,
the re:work fellows, and the anonymous reviewers for their feedback on earlier versions
of this article.
2
Benjamin N. Lawrance, Emily L. Osborn, and Richard L. Roberts (eds.), Intermediaries,
Interpreters, and Clerks. African Employees in the Making of Colonial Africa (Madison,
2006).
3
Tom Forrest, The Advance of African Capital. The Growth of Nigerian Private Enter-
prise (Edinburgh, 1994); Peter C. Garlick, African Traders and Economic Development
in Ghana (Oxford, 1971); Joe Appiah, Autobiography of an African Patriot (Accra,
1996).
258 Dmitri van den Bersselaar
manager became a figure of respect. Many employees were elected to tra-
ditional office as chiefs. Such successes were not limited to those employ-
ees who made it into management. For example, a carpenter with a steady
career with a European company could build and own several houses. These
African employees domesticated capitalism in West Africa, mediated
changes in consumption and the rise of a consumer society, and adopted
European expectations of career progression and life cycle. Working for a
European business, they also found themselves at important sites of contes-
tation during colonial and postcolonial political struggles.
4
To reconstruct the experiences of African employees, we have two main
categories of sources: written company records, and oral history interviews
with former employees. Unfortunately, when historians conducted their
interviews on oral traditions for their now classic studies on precolonial
African societies, they did not record the personal histories of the literate
Africans whom they met and who provided many of their contacts.
5
Most of
these intermediaries have now passed away, and for information about their
careers we depend largely on company records that are often incomplete or
inaccessible. This article reflects on the use of these sources to reconstruct
African careers. It is limited to one company, the United Africa Company
(UAC) and its employees in Ghana. UAC was a large trading company with
its head office in London. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of the multina-
tional Unilever, but operated as a virtually independent business.
6
UAC had
extensive operations in Ghana and Nigeria, where it was highly visible, as
well as in a number of other African countries, including Congo, Kenya,
Cte dIvoire, and Sierra Leone. It occupied a dominant position in the
import and export trades, and during the 1950s it employed over 40,000
Africans in Ghana and Nigeria alone, mainly as office clerks, storekeepers
and laborers.
7
4
Stephan F. Miescher, Making Men in Ghana (Bloomington IN, 2005); Bianca Murillo,
The Devil We Know: Gold Coast Consumers, Local Employees, and the United Africa
Company, 1940-1940, Enterprise and Society (Advance Access published 8 November
2010, doi: 10.1093/es/khq106).
5
David Henige has discussed the dynamics of the collecting and sampling of oral histori-
cal data in: David Henige, Historical Evidence and Argument (Madison, 2005), 79-81.
6
David K. Fieldhouse, Merchant Capital and Economic Decolonization: The United
Africa Company 1929-1987 (Oxford, 1994), 3.
7
Unilever Archives & Records Management (UARM), United Africa Company Collec-
tion (UAC), UAC/1/11/19/20 The United Africa Groups staff and labour force, Statis-
tical and Economic Review 20 (1957), 39.
Reconstructing African Careers in European Business 259
The archive of the United Africa Company is held at the Unilever com-
pany archives in Port Sunlight, UK, where it forms the UAC collection.
8
It
contains the records created and kept at the Head Office in London (UAC
House), as well as those records created in Africa (and elsewhere) that had
been sent to London for reasons of day-to-day business or company gover-
nance. It is a very large collection, a substantial part of which was created
by UACs operations in Ghana. The Ghanaian material in the archive is
nevertheless only a small selection of the total amount of documentation
that was created there. More importantly, it is not a random sample. The
files of the Personnel Department, for instance, include over a thousand
staff cards detailing the careers of its African managers, but none for
employees below the level of management probationer; presumably the
cards relating to these lower-ranking staff never made it to London. The
records of the Personnel Department include some files on particular pro-
jects, such as the revision of salaries, reorganisations of procedures for
training and promotion of staff, recruitment drives, and the review of the
pension fund. The staff cards mentioned provide basic biographical, career
and salary information for a large number of employees. For a much smaller
number of staff, rather than just cards, there are staff files, which should
offer more detail, including staff personal development and annual review
reports, but they are often very incomplete. There is more information about
some individuals careers in the General Managers private files. In most
cases, however, the available records provide little or no indication about
the reasons for, and consequences of, individuals promotions or transfers,
working practices, roles and responsibilities, and the relations with co-
workers and superiors. Fortunately, a lot of information about these latter
aspects can be found in the UAC house magazines Gold Coast UAC News
and The Unicorn, including some details missing from individuals staff
files. The house magazines (which are also part of Unilever archives UAC
collection), combined with the files from the Personnel Department, appear
to allow for a rich reconstruction of the work environment, training and
career progression for UAC employees. However, our analysis of the mater-
ial needs to take account of the particular political context in which person-
nel policies were formulated and implemented, and house magazines were
created.
During the 1940s when there were restrictions on the prices paid for
African-grown produce, as well as shortages and price increases for import-
8
Address: Unilever Archives and Records Management, Unilever PLC, PO Box 69, Port
Sunlight, Wirral CH62 4ZD, UK. Website: www.unilever.com/aboutus/ourhistory/
unilever_archives. Email: archives@unilever.com.
ed goods UAC was accused of exploitative practices. The company
became a target for African nationalist politicians, who claimed that colo-
nial administrators worked closely together with foreign businesses like
UAC, to the detriment of African entrepreneurs and consumers alike. Ten-
sions came to a head in Ghana in 1948, when an earlier boycott of non-
African enterprises gave way to widespread rioting and looting of foreign
businesses throughout the countrys coastal and central areas; UAC was the
worst-hit company. Although Nigeria and other colonies did not experience
the same violence as Ghana, nationalist politics was an important force
there as well, and tensions were rife. By 1950 it had become clear that colo-
nial rule would end soon, and that foreign companies would have to engage
with their critics if they planned to remain in business after political
decolonisation. Goodwill advertising was one response to these political cir-
cumstances.
9
A first clue to the impact of this political context can be found in the
advertising campaigns which UAC ran in the early 1950s in Ghana and
Nigeria aimed at improving the image of the company, emphasizing the
contributions it made to West African society and the opportunities it
offered to its employees. One advertisement, captioned Doorway to suc-
cess (image 1), declared that many are finding their opportunity with The
United Africa Company which sets no limit on the promotion to which any
of its employees may attain and actively encourages the advancement of
every one of its employees, adding that: To-day, nearly one in four of the
West African Managerial Trading staff is an African, with full managerial
status and occupying a position of trust and initiative in the service of the
Company and participating in every important aspect of its administra-
tion.
10
The message is illustrated with a drawing of a smiling African man,
wearing a suit, sitting at a desk with telephone, dictating something to a sub-
ordinate. The view out of his office door with a freshly-painted sign
MANAGER is of a room full of clerks working at their desks. Door-
way to success was intended to reach audiences outside the company and
do two things: to build up goodwill for the Company, and to encourage tal-
ented Africans to consider a career with UAC. The Company needed to
recruit more educated Africans as part of its Africanization strategy: to
increase the number of Africans in responsible management positions hith-
9
Stephanie Decker, Corporate Legitimacy and Advertising: British Companies and the
Rhetoric of Development in West Africa, 1950-1970, Business History Review 81
(2007), 59-86.
10
UARM UAC/1/11/20/1 Guardbook UAC Ltd Goodwill (c.1949-1954).
Image 1: Doorway to success: an example of adverts used in West Africa during the
1950s to improve the image to the United Africa Company (UAC) and to attract new
qualified African applicants. [UARM UAC/1/11/20/1Guardbook UAC Ltd. Goodwill
(c.1949-1954)] Reproduced with kind permission of Unilever from originals in Unilever
Archives.
erto dominated by Europeans.
11
Africanization was a common response to
decolonization and the rise of African nationalism, and UAC found that it
was competing with branches of the colonial administration and other busi-
nesses for the services of a limited number of educated Africans. As many
Africans appeared drawn towards working for branches of the decolonizing
state apparatus, UAC decided to explain the advantages of a career in Euro-
pean business to prospective employees.
12
UACs doorway to success was narrow: only a small percentage of its
African staff was employed at the management level, and over 95% of
employees had roles such as clerks, bookkeepers, or laborers. In contrast,
nearly all European staff were engaged in management roles. UAC conclud-
ed that in addition to improving its image and attracting more highly quali-
fied African applicants, it had to improve relations with its existing employ-
ees. The company realized that nationalist politics and labor demands tested
the loyalty of its workers. Management thought it possible that some work-
ers could be convinced by the arguments of the nationalists. It also noted
that during nationalist protests, loyal UAC workers had faced physical
intimidation, or had been denounced by nationalists as stooges on plac-
ards all over town.
13
By fostering a sense of esprit de corps and pride in
the Company, senior management hoped that employees would work loyal-
ly and without complaining, would defend UAC when talking with mem-
bers of the public, and would decide to pursue a career within the organisa-
tion rather than take up a lucrative offer elsewhere. The methods for achiev-
ing this included long service awards, perks (such as free medical care),
staff parties, organized sports activities, and company house magazines. In
Ghana, the free company newsletter Gold Coast UAC News, later re-named
The Unicorn, was launched in December 1949. In the first issue, P.H. Fitz-
Gerald, the General Manager, summarized his ambition for the magazine as
follows: I believe this paper will help to keep the staff together and give
them a further interest in working for our Company.
14
The magazine
actively fostered a sense of team spirit among the employees, and encour-
aged them to see themselves as forming the UAC family. A good example
11
Fieldhouse, Merchant Capital, 175-82.
12
UARM UAC/1/11/18/2/19 Joseph: UAC Recruitment Cartoon Report (1955);
UARM UAC/1/11/18/2/27 Men of Tomorrow (1960); UARM UAC/1/11/18/2/28 A
Career for you with UAC [1960s].
13
UARM UAC/2/20/3/2 K.R. Adams to P.H. Fitz-Gerald, 2 February 1950.
14
UARM UAC/2/20/3/6/1 A message from the General Manager Mr P.H. Fitz-Ger-
ald, Gold Coast UAC News 1.1 (1949), 3.
of the tone sought can be found in the short contribution Mr Azu recounts
his experience in Nigeria. Mr Azu narrates how he travelled from Ghana to
Nigeria, and how, when he was taking a stroll in the street in Warri, he was
approached by a man on a bicycle: He smiled, greeted me, and asked very
pleasantly: By the way are you working with the U.A.C.? You look like a
stranger to this country but your tie... Yes indeed I was wearing my U.A.C.
tie. We were friends right off. Thanks to the U.A.C. tie.
15
A couple of
years later, E.C. Adzim reported how he was saved by the company tie,
when a stranger offered him free overnight accommodation upon recogniz-
ing his UAC tie. He concludes: I considered the mans gesture as a sort of
kindness I would have missed if I had not worn my Company tie. So next
time any member of staff travels, he should make sure he puts on his U.A.C.
tie.
16
More than fifty years later, in September 2010, I interviewed former
UAC employees in and around Accra. These interviews are part of a larger
project to document the experiences of former UAC employees living in
Ghana, Nigeria and the UK through oral history interviews. The recordings
and their transcriptions will be added to the UAC collection in the Unilever
archive. The interviews in the UK are conducted by Unilever staff with
training in oral history interview skills. The interviews in Ghana and Nige-
ria are conducted by me. Most of the individuals to be interviewed in Ghana
and Nigeria have been identified by corporate communications staff at
Unilever Ghana and Unilever Nigeria, who also arrange the appointments
and logistics. The people I have interviewed so far are two-thirds male and
most worked for UAC at the level of manager or above. No one wore a
company tie when I interviewed them, and the company spirit created
through the house magazines and other company activities was not
embraced wholeheartedly by my interviewees. Nevertheless, nearly every-
one expressed pride in having worked for UAC. Furthermore, all talked
about the existence of a distinct UAC identity and about a set of values
and business practices that UAC people ascribed to.
The creation of this collection of oral history interviews concerned
with the experiences and memories of the interviewee has more in com-
mon with the practice of oral history as it developed in Europe and North
America, than it has with the use of oral traditions to uncover precolonial
15
Mr Azu recounts his experience in Nigeria, Gold Coast UAC News 5.6 (1954), 6.
16
UARM UAC/2/20/3/6/3 E.C. Adzim, How the company tie saved me, The Unicorn
8.7 (1962), 7.
history commonly associated with African oral historiography.
17
David
Henige has highlighted some of the problems associated with the use of oral
traditions to reconstruct precolonial history, particular the presence of recent
feedback from written sources in what purport to be traditions that have
been orally transmitted through the ages.
18
Heniges methodological con-
cerns were important and influenced subsequent research in oral traditions.
The issues are somewhat different in the case of oral history interviews with
literate Africans who relate their experiences of the colonial and postcolo-
nial period. In such interviews, the written and the oral cannot, of course, be
so neatly separated conceptually.
19
In fact, one would expect that former
employees memories of working with UAC would be to some extent influ-
enced by the company magazines and other company communications, as
well as by other written texts such as published biographies, self-improve-
ment books, and religious tracts.
20
How the workplace is remembered will
also be influenced by the individuals experiences after leaving the Compa-
ny, as well as the individuals stage in the life cycle at the time of the inter-
view. As a result, the interviews reflect as much the interviewees coherent
presentation of the self through the narrating of their career history, as their
attempts to remember details about their experiences working for the Com-
pany.
In the remainder of this article I will explore the usefulness of the com-
pany magazine and oral history interviews with former employees as
sources for historians interested in the careers and work experiences of
African employees in European business. In the following section I will
introduce the UAC, with a focus on its operations in Ghana. I will sketch
some of the key changes in the company for the entire period from its for-
mation in 1929 until its merger with Lever Brothers Ghana in 1992, so far
as these changes impacted on how the company related to its African
employees. After this, I will explore how UAC work and careers are repre-
17
David Henige, Where Seldom Is Heard a Discouraging Word: Method in Oral Histo-
ry, Oral History Review 14 (1986), 35-42.
18
David Henige, The Problem of Feedback in Oral Tradition: Four Examples from the
Fante Coastlands, Journal of African History 14 (1973), 223-35; David Henige, Oral
Historiography (London, 1982).
19
David W. Cohen, Luise White, and Stephan F. Miescher, Introduction: Voices, Words,
and African History in: Luise White, Stephan F. Miescher, and David W. Cohen (eds.),
African Words, African Voices. Critical Practices in Oral History (Bloomington IN,
2001), 15.
20
Karin Barber (ed.), Africas Hidden Histories: Everyday Literacy and Making the Self
(Bloomington IN, 2006).
sented in the Gold Coast UAC News and The Unicorn. A further section
will discuss the ways in which Ghanaian former UAC employees reflect on
their careers and on their experiences working for the company. A final sec-
tion will reflect on the relation (and tensions) between corporate culture and
remembered individual experiences.
II
Any attempt to characterize working for the United Africa Company is
complicated by two factors: firstly the rapid changes the company under-
went after the Second World War, and secondly the sheer diversity of its
activities in West Africa. UAC was created in 1929 through the amalgama-
tion of a number of existing trading firms active in West Africa. This merg-
er caused a first complication, as rather than to rationalize operations under
a single UAC brand, existing operations and brands were allowed to coex-
ist. During the 1930s and 1940s, UAC focused predominantly on trading:
on the one hand the buying up of African produce such as palm oil, bulking
and transporting these to the coast for export; on the other hand the importa-
tion of a broad range of products from Europe and elsewhere, including
cloth, liquor, building materials, bicycles, haberdashery and so on. This
trade was conducted from a network of stores throughout West Africa. In
addition to the stores intended for Africans, UAC also operated a smaller
number of Kingsway Stores intended for Europeans and African elites,
which carried many luxury items including European foodstuffs. To support
these activities, UAC ran an agency providing shipping services including
the loading and unloading of vessels using surf boats and also owned its
own shipping line, Palm Line.
During this period, UAC employed several hundred Europeans as man-
agers, wholesale and retail storekeepers, and in a number of functions
requiring specialized technical expertise. The thousands of Africans were
mostly employed in subordinate positions, including as clerks and book-
keepers, drivers, watchmen, laborers, and as crews of surf boats. There were
a number of African wholesale and retail storekeepers, and a small number
of African managers: thirty-nine in 1939.
21
In addition to the people directly
employed by UAC, there also existed the category of credit customers
who, although technically customers, had very similar responsibilities as the
21
Fieldhouse, Merchant Capital, 375.
storekeepers had, and related to the company in a similar way.
22
African
storekeepers, credit customers and managers all had significant responsibili-
ties and were entrusted with large amounts of goods and money. Neverthe-
less, in 1948 an internal UAC report noted the existence of racial discrimi-
nation and racialism, documenting several instances of discriminatory
behaviour of Europeans towards African co-workers. Some European man-
agers had never invited an African into their houses, and the clubs that
European managers were members of, were not always open to African
managers. The salary structure was also racialized, and experienced African
managers resented the fact that they had to teach the job to newly arrived
and inexperienced European recruits who earned twice their salaries.
23
After 1948 two developments changed the experience of working for
UAC. The first was Africanization, already mentioned. This process not
only resulted in more Africans being promoted to managers or higher posi-
tions, but also saw a change in the gender balance of the workforce. Up
until the Second World War, the Companys employees were almost exclu-
sively male, while a large proportion of its credit customers who were key
to the business model and influential in deciding which goods of which
quality were carried against which price were female. This changed after
the war, when more and more women were employed in sales, secretarial
and other functions, and shortly thereafter also as managers. In Ghana the
first female manager was appointed in 1952: Martha Sylvia Dadzie, who
had qualified as an optician in Britain.
24
Although it was company policy to
hire young women from good families as sales assistants for the Kingsway
department stores, UAC does not appear to have had a policy aimed at hir-
ing more women as managers. The increase in females in such positions
was probably a side-effect of the competition between foreign firms and
government to recruit from among the relatively small number of qualified
Africans.
The second development was UACs expansion from trading into local
production. This meant a further diversification of the kind of businesses
and roles that UAC employees might be engaged in. New enterprises that
were started in Ghana in the decades following the Second Word War
included machete production (Crocodile matchets), plywood manufacture,
creams and pomades (Nku cream), cold storage and sausage manufacture,
vehicle assembly, beer brewing (Guinness and Star) and textile printing. A
22
Murillo, The Devil We Know.
23
24
Gold Coast UAC News 3.11 (1952), 1.
network of garages was established to service the vehicles imported or
assembled by UAC, and an advertising agency was set up to market the
products that were developed and manufactured locally. By the 1970s, UAC
employees worked across a broad range of different businesses, and new
recruits did not always realize that they were joining UAC when they first
started to work for one of the enterprises in the UAC Group.
25
Furthermore,
the relationship between UAC Group Head Office in Accra and the various
divisions was not without tensions as local divisions often felt insufficiently
resourced and supported. Tensions also arose from the teams of auditors
that Head Office sent out to check on the finances and procedures of local
operations. Hence it is not surprising that corporate management identified
the need to keep the staff together to make people who worked for dif-
ferent branches of UAC realize that they worked for the same company and
had shared interests. To facilitate career development, the company also had
to establish a diverse training program, including mechanical and technical
skills training, sales training, and financial and management training.
Generalizing about working for UAC is difficult because of the large size
of the company, the diversity of activities that UAC engaged in, and the
segmented company structure. During the 1980s, to these existing complex-
ities were added the consequences of the 1981 Rawlings revolution and sub-
sequent shortages in imported and locally produced commodities. The func-
tion of management was complicated by workers committees that were
formed as part of the revolutionary ideology, and which could wield consid-
erable influence because they had the backing of the Provisional National
Defence Council (PNDC). In 1982, for instance, UAC lost control of its tex-
tile printing business in Tema when there was a revolt in the factory over
planned redundancies, resulting in the take-over of the factory by a workers
committee. UAC continued to market the products made in the factory, but
never regained control of the production facility.
26
The limitations on the
importation of commodities and the collapse of the transport infrastructure
meant that many UAC divisions had to improvise to stay in business. For
example, the management of the upmarket Kingsway Stores, which had
become known for its luxury imported branded goods, decided to send lor-
ries to the countryside to buy up yams, spinach, plantains and other local
foodstuffs. For Kingsway Stores to sell such basic commodities was
unheard of, but they were snapped up by the customers.
27
The 1980s were
25
Interview with Kofi Boateng, Tema, 24 September 2010.
26
Interview with Kofi Bayitse, Tema, 20 September 2010.
27
Interview with Deborah Quartey, Tema, 20 September 2010.
years of insecurity for UAC employees. There were redundancies in most
divisions, and the business as a whole experienced a steady decline. When
import licences were abolished in 1989 and import tariffs lowered, most
UAC businesses were uncompetitive in a market suddenly swamped by
cheap imports. UAC embarked upon a major restructuring, closing down
certain businesses such as Kingsway Stores, and selling off others such as
the breweries. UAC Ghana ceased to exist in 1992 when its remaining busi-
ness was merged with that of Lever Brothers to form Unilever Ghana Limit-
ed. The restructuring process was very painful for UAC employees. A rela-
tively small group of employees was transferred to Unilever Ghana, which
was a much smaller business than UAC with different core competencies,
so could only absorb a small percentage of UAC people. Another group
continued to do the work they used to do as UAC employees, but now as
independent businesses for instance as key distributors for Unilever prod-
ucts. A further group were moved to another employer when their division
was sold to another company, as was the case for workers in the textile busi-
ness and the breweries. However, many employees were made redundant
and lost their jobs.
28
III
Between 1949 and 1993 UAC published its house magazine Gold Coast
UAC News, renamed in 1955 to The Unicorn. As mentioned above, Gold
Coast UAC News was started as an attempt to improve the relations between
the company and its employees at a time when the company was facing con-
siderable criticism from African nationalists. The first editor of the newslet-
ter was John Thomson Alexander, the UAC Information Officer. Alexander
had begun his UAC career in 1938 in Nigeria, and had been transferred to
Ghana in 1945 as Labor/Staff Manager.
29
There is no record of Alexander
having received specific journalistic training, but he will probably have
been familiar with existing company magazines, such as Unilevers long-
established Progress magazine and Port Sunlight News, with which the
Gold Coast UAC News had a lot in common. From the first issue, Alexan-
der intended that the magazine would not only contain articles prepared by
28
Interview with Ishmael Yamson, Accra, 20 September 2010.
29
Chart of the Companys Gold Coast Coronation Year Administrative Organisation,
Gold Coast UAC News 4.6 (1953), 4-5.
him and his staff, but also contributions written by UAC employees work-
ing at different locations and in various parts of the organisation. While he
published several poems and more general observations submitted by
employees, it is clear that he had their contributions carefully edited to help
achieve the aims of informing and motivating staff, and to foster among
them a sense of belonging to the UAC family. Most articles highlight staff
achievements or initiatives worth emulating. The contribution Staff organ-
ise canteen at Cape Coast for example concludes: () it is gratifying to
learn of the enterprise of the Cape Coast staff. Mr Simon Jonah who runs
the canteen, and his associations have certainly earned the approval and
admiration of their fellows.
30
Articles published in the UAC house magazines can be grouped into five
categories with the following themes: the sense of belonging to a UAC
family; the career development of African employees through training
and promotions; the benefits that UAC staff received; how UAC rewards
loyalty; and educating staff about aspects of the business. I will now look at
these five themes in more detail.
The articles promoting a sense of belonging to UAC make up the largest
category in terms of the number of contributions, and in many of the
newsletters issues also in terms of the amount of space taken up, even
though these articles were often quite short. Several regular sections are
devoted to this. The first is Notes from the Districts. Under this heading
are published brief notices relating to UAC employees, mainly of a personal
nature. Included are notices of staff members going on leave or being trans-
ferred to another station, and reports of the send-offs organized for them.
For instance, when F.K. Dedzo was sent on transfer from Keta to Tarkwa,
the Branch Manager attended the send-off and reportedly made a very sub-
stantial contribution to the festivities by a gift of beer. The party was a
great success.
31
When P.K. Dzathor went on leave and transfer, his col-
leagues at the Accra head office presented him with a book entitled The
Amazing Results of Positive Thinking.
32
Frequent mention is made of wed-
dings, often as part of the shorter Notes but also in dedicated articles,
which were often illustrated with large-sized photographs of the newly-
weds. When other UAC staff are among the well-wishers in the photographs
they are identified together with their job title. Births of children of employ-
30
31
32
The Unicorn 9.4 (1963), 2.
ees are mentioned (though not systematically), as are Christenings. A Baby
picture competition was held to which staff could submit photographs of
their offspring.
33
The newsletters also report the deaths of employees next-
of-kin, and extend condolences. The attainment of scholarships and acade-
mic qualifications by employees children is also reported. The house maga-
zines thus consistently write about the families of employees in terms of the
nuclear family, of father, mother and their children. It is not clear whether
this simply reflects Mr Alexanders understanding of the family based on
his own, British, experience; whether UAC employees were more likely to
have embraced the idea of the nuclear family; or whether the Company was
actively trying to nuclearize the family life of its employees.
Many contributions focus on the achievements of individual members of
staff, including their gaining additional qualifications or being interviewed
on the radio. A particular favourite for reporting was the taking up of a
chieftaincy position by staff or former staff. For instance, the September
1963 issue of The Unicorn carried a photograph captioned Former Textiles
Depot-Keeper made Chief (image 2), which shows the installation of G.E.
Bilson who had left UAC the previous May after thirty-six years of ser-
vice as Mankrado of Eyiakrom-Nkodwo.
34
Sometimes, members of staff
left the company to take up such a chieftaincy position, as Peter Wayo did,
who resigned from his job as Assistant Hardware Wholesale Storekeeper to
become the Suisu Nabtse of Odumasi Krobo.
35
Other UAC people contin-
ued to work for the Company after taking up a traditional office. Not only
would the newsletter report on their selection, there were also articles about
the traditional festivals they celebrated. For example, Celebrating
Akwambo festival shows a photograph of the durbar of Nana Kwesi
Pamfo, otherwise known as J.E. Etuah, Wholesale Storekeeper of the Hard-
ware Department at Dunkwa. It shows K.A. Coleman-Paittoo, Assistant
Merchandise Manager, paying his respects to Nana Pamfo, with D.M.
Attabra of the Merchandise Department and H.R.A. Okoe, the Company
Personnel Manager, looking on.
36
The achievements and careers of UAC
employees and pensioners are also described in their obituaries. Of course,
the funeral of a (former) employee required proper representation from the
management, and from (former) colleagues, reported in detail in the Com-
pany newsletter. For instance, when M.T.D. Lassey died, after fourteen
33
34
The Unicorn 9.9 (1963), back cover.
35
36
The Unicorn 9.11 (1963), 6.
years of retirement, The Unicorn reported that his widow was presented
with the sum of Nc 10.50 on behalf of the UAC Pensioners Association.
Mr Lassey had retired as a Storekeeper, having worked with the Company
for twenty-four years.
37
The editor of the newsletter thus pushes a clear,
consistent message: UAC workers should be interested in the well-being
and flourishing of other UAC staff, regardless of whether they have ever
met the person, simply because they all belong to the same UAC family.
A second regular section originally called Station sport highlighted
the sports activities of employees. These could be individual sporting
achievements, such as that of J.O. Majekodunmi of the UAC Accounts
Department, who won a medal in the 1950 British Empire Games held in
New Zealand, or the selection, in 1952, of A.O. Lawson for the Olympic
37
The Unicorn 14.6 (1968), 9.
Image 2: Former textiles depot-keeper made chief: Riding in a palanquin is Mr G.E. Bil-
son, a retired member of staff, on the day of his installation as Mankrado of Eyiakrom-
Nkodwo in the Eyan Denkyira traditional area. Mr Bilsons stool name is Nana Kobinah
Andoh II. He retired from the Company in May this year with 36 years service to his
credit. [UARM UAC/2/20/3/6/3 The Unicorn 9.9 (1963)] Reproduced with kind permis-
sion of Unilever from originals in Unilever Archives.
Games.
38
However, most contributions are about UAC teams and competi-
tions. The Company organized sporting activities and strongly encouraged
its employees to take part. Soccer was particularly prominent. Many towns
had a UAC football team that played in local amateur leagues. In Accra,
there were so many teams from different UAC divisions and departments,
that their fixtures such as Accra Motors vs. Distribution Centre or
Lighterage vs. Swanmill were organized into a league of their own. The
match results were of course reported in the Gold Coast UAC News together
with appropriate comment. In October 1950, when the Swanmill team was
trailing the league, the editor quipped: Poor old Swanmill! Even though
you do have dancing classes you are surely not going to let your football
suffer?
39
Special football matches were organized to celebrate specific
events, such as the departure of a manager.
40
The newsletters frequently
noted the UACs material support, as was the case when the soccer team in
Nsawam received new jerseys and shorts. The jerseys were in the Company
colors of red and black, with the text U.A.C. Nsawam in gold on the
breast pocket.
41
The Company also provided tennis courts for employees at
a number of its branches, and supported successful athletes amongst its staff
on an individual basis.
42
However, UACs Ghanaian sportsmen were also
admonished for expecting special privileges from the Company, rather than
to train hard and make sacrifices for their sport.
43
This somewhat unusual
for the pages of the Gold Coast UAC News critique of employees reflects
the dual agenda that UAC had with sports: supporting sports was about
team building and about company employees spending leisure time togeth-
er. At the same time, it was also about encouraging particular attributes in
their employees as individuals, including perseverance, competitiveness and
ambition.
44
In addition to current employees and their immediate kin, the UAC
family, as constructed in the newsletters, included those who had retired
from the company after working loyally for many years, but not those who
had resigned from the company to work elsewhere. From 1968 onwards The
38
Gold Coast UAC News 1.3 (1950), 6; Gold Coast UAC News 3.5 (1952), 1.
39
40
G.C.M.T. match of the year, The Unicorn 14.6 (1968), 16.
41
42
43
A challenge to U.A.C. sportsmen in the Gold Coast, Gold Coast UAC News 5.4
(1954), 6.
44
These last twenty-five years. A story of change and improvement, Gold Coast UAC
News 5.5 (1954), 2-3.
Unicorn contained a regular Pensioners page, while notices announcing
the retirement of members of staff can be found in every issue of the Cold
Coast UAC News and The Unicorn. Such notices typically include a brief
synopsis of the retirees career with UAC against the background of his
education, interests and personal achievements, usually illustrated with a
portrait photograph. For example, in 1952, when R.T. Abbey retired from
his position of Foreman in the Boat Building Department after thirty-nine
years of working for UAC, his life and career were the focus of a contribu-
tion titled A natural leader retires.
45
The article starts from his birth in
1884 in James Town, Accra, and then traces his career as a carpenter work-
ing in Liberia (for Hammond Brothers), Ghana (for the Public Works
Department) and Nigeria (building canoes for Chief Degbeye). R.T. Abbey
joined a predecessor company of UAC in 1913, repairing surf boats in
Sekondi and in Accra. He was promoted to Foreman in 1942. He invested
his wages wisely: he built houses in Accra and Sekondi, and set up a farm in
Kwahu, employing three laborers. The article praises R.T. Abbeys hard
work (to the best of his ability), his tact, and his leading by example. Such
notices also give an indication of the retirees future plans. Like many
retirees, R.T. Abbey looked forward to farming. Others stated their intention
to return to their places of origin, which were often in Togo, Nigeria, Sierra
Leone or Liberia.
The newsletter emphasizes that the pensioners connections with the
Company do not end with their retirement party. In addition to their pen-
sions, retired employees continued to receive copies of the company maga-
zine, and many regularly visited work sites, presumably to socialize with
their former colleagues. Others set themselves up in businesses through
which they continued to have dealings with UAC, as was reported for
F.B.O. Lindsay, who did considerable business with the Company as a
transport owner.
46
Pensioners are reported to have attended the ceremonies
during which long service awards were handed out to existing staff. Addi-
tionally, UAC organized pensioners reunions and an annual pensioners
lunch, the proceedings of which were covered in the company newsletters.
Obituaries of pensioners were a standard element of the newsletters. They
also carried regular portraits of retired but still active former employees,
usually published on the occasion of their birthday, their enstoolment as
45
A natural leader retires Mr R.T. Abbey, Gold Coast UAC News 3.8 (1952), 1.
46
Pensioners reunion at Cape Coast A great day for reminiscences, Gold Coast UAC
News 1.6 (1950), 4.
Chief, their attendance at a UAC event, or as part of the Know our pen-
sioners series of articles.
47
For example, an article published in 1968 about
eighty-two-year old G.B.A. Johnson, who had retired from the Company in
1946, stressed that he was as active today in Ada affairs as he was some
three decades ago when he was the Companys Agent in Ada.
48
He is
described as a man of importance to his people who takes his civic duties
seriously, being the president of the Church committee, the treasurer of the
church, and a former member of the Ada Local Council Development Com-
mittee. It is noted that, through his influence, five schools had been opened
in and around Ada between 1937 and 1961. G.B.A. Johnsons approach to
community affairs is described as business-like, his capacity for devoted
service having been acquired through his UAC career. He takes pride in his
personal progress, but also credits the collaborative spirit of those belonging
to the UAC family, as well as the support that the Company provided:
When things were bad the Company stood by us, we all worked hard, and
in the end we pulled through.
The second main theme in the house magazines was that of the develop-
ment of African employees through training and promotions. This theme,
like the previous, was developed through different genres of articles. Firstly,
the newsletter editors made sure to announce the promotion of African
employees to management level or subsequent higher positions. Secondly,
there were extensive explanations of the various training schools, courses,
and forms of on the job training that were provided by UAC for its staff.
Finally, there were many articles that discussed how an individual member
of staff had benefited from a particular training course or development tra-
jectory. Additionally, the topic of training was also referred to when UAC
retirees were reported to jokingly call themselves graduates from the
Unilever University.
49
The contributions announcing promotions were usually printed on the
front page and have titles such as Three new African managers, Nine
African managers appointed, or Mid-year promotion.
50
They usually
start with a statement emphasizing UACs commitment to developing its
African employees and to promoting them to management status. This is
followed by short biographies of those promoted that include their careers to
47
Old timers who still keep going, Gold Coast UAC News 2.11 (1951), 3.
48
Ada pensioner takes keen interest in local affairs, The Unicorn 14.4 (1968), 5-6.
49
Nsawam manager retires, Gold Coast UAC News 3.3. (1952), 3.
50
Gold Coast UAC News 5.2 (1954), 1; Gold Coast UAC News 5.13 (1954), 1; The Uni-
corn 9.7 (1963), 4.
date, alongside portrait photographs. One of the articles sub-titled Three
men who followed in their fathers footsteps introduces P.C.K. Tamak-
loe: At 27 years of age he is the youngest of seven members of the United
Africa Company staff who are being promoted to management status at the
beginning of 1952. His father is the Companys popular manager at Tsito.
In 1944 he arranged for his son to be given a trial in the Companys service
at Akuse.
51
The article also presents K.A. Cato, who was the son of
Ebenezer Cato. The latter had been with UAC for fifty-four years and had
another, younger, son likewise working with the Company. Also mentioned
are E.M. Ogoe (whose father worked with UAC as well) and H.C.E. Gbe-
demah, who were the first Africans promoted to management on the techni-
cal side of the business, which is of particular importance, according to the
article, as this country advances steadily towards industrialisation and
mechanisation.
52
In 1968, K.A. Coleman-Paittoo was appointed to the
Board of Directors of UAC of Ghana at the age of forty-one. The article that
reported this news provided the additional information that K.A. Coleman-
Paittoo had joined the Company in 1949, had been promoted to manage-
ment status in 1956, and had benefited from two management courses over-
seas sponsored by the Company.
53
In 1954 it was reported that Juliana Law-
son had flown to the UK at the expense of the Company to take a course in
Corset Fitting at the Berlei School of Corsetry.
54
The message of these arti-
cles is clear: UAC is keen to promote its African employees, and therefore
provides them with the training they need to reach the level where they can
get promoted. This costs the Company a heavy sum of money annually,
but this is money well spent: not only in ensuring increased efficiency of
its business but also in aiding the prosperity of the country. For as people
are trained, they acquire skills which give the nation its wealth.
55
The newsletters contain frequent features on the training courses for staff
and the technical training schools. They explain the kind of training that is
provided, which categories of staff it is intended for, and how staff will ben-
efit from taking part. They also provide general overviews of the UAC
training scheme, explaining which kind of training is done at the workplace,
51
Seven new African managerial appointments, Gold Coast UAC News 3.1 (1951), 1.
52
Seven new African managerial appointments, Gold Coast UAC News 3.1 (1951), 1.
53
New UAC director, The Unicorn 14.2 (1968), 2.
54
Miss Juliana Lawson of Kingsway Stores Accra off to UK, Gold Coast UAC News
5.6 (1954), 1; Kingsway lady supervisor takes diploma, Gold Coast UAC News 5.11
(1954), 3.
55
Training key note to progress, The Unicorn 16.3 (1970), 10-14.
which courses are taught at specialized training schools or institutes in
Ghana, and what kind of specialized instruction is provided overseas,
usually in the UK. In relation to technical training in Ghana itself, the differ-
ence between a training course and an apprenticeship is explained, specify-
ing that during his four-year long apprenticeship a young employee cannot
leave the Company.
56
In addition to these explanations, the newsletters fea-
ture many concrete examples. In December 1950, the Gold Coast UAC
News reported the introduction of a new training course about which
[e]nlightened members of the staff will be pleased to learn.
57
The course
was called Training within industry for supervisors and intended to
improve managers skills in handling their staff. It was taught through five
two-hour long discussion groups on consecutive days of the week, with
those attending providing material for discussion out of their own experi-
ence. The course was first held in Accra, then repeated throughout Ghana
to encourage a more uniform approach to staff problems and treatment.
58
Other featured initiatives included salesmanship courses, as well as courses
for typists, Sumlock operators and receptionists, held at venues throughout
the country. There were also several articles about the Technical School for
junior employees in the Motor Sales Department, where nomenclature, car
mechanics, and workplace safety were taught.
59
The newsletters made it
clear that, in addition to the training that taught or improved skills of direct
relevance to performing a particular role, UAC also offered courses to more
generally improve the educational background of UAC African employ-
ees.
60
These included courses in Economics and Accountancy, taught at the
workplace after office hours by staff from the universitys Extra Mural
Studies Department. Aimed at a higher level in the Company was the annual
residential course for managers, held at a prestigious location such as the
University of Ghana or the Ghana Institute of Management and Public
Administration. The aim of this course, according to the Chairman of UAC
56
Overseas training for staff, The Unicorn 8.1 (1962), 8; Training the mechanics of
tomorrow, The Unicorn 9.3 (1963), 5; New overseas training arrangements, The Uni-
corn 9.10 (1963), 6.
57
Innovation in staff training ascertaining the facts, Gold Coast UAC News 2.1
(1950), 3.
58
UAC continues with T.W.I., Gold Coast UAC News 3.2 (1952), 4.
59
Salesmanship course in Cape Coast, Gold Coast UAC News 5.6 (1954), 1; Techni-
cal School in M.S.D. Accra, Gold Coast UAC News 3.4 (1952), 2; Specialist training at
Kingsway, The Unicorn 8.7 (1962), 8-9.
60
P.E.A. in Swanmill, Gold Coast UAC News 2.11 (1951), 3.
of Ghana, quoted in The Unicorn, was to contribute to the production of
tomorrows senior management.
61
The editors of The Unicorn often worked with individual members of
staff to describe the experience of staff training from a personal point of
view. For instance, in 1961 The Unicorn published a report of a three-week
management training course held at the UAC Training College in Lagos,
Nigeria, from the perspective of D.A. Entsua. He devotes the first para-
graphs of his report to praising the Company for its commitment to staff
training, noting the considerable amount of money invested. He then
describes the course consisting of lectures, group discussions, debates on
business and current affairs and visits to factories and industrial areas, mak-
ing special mention of the series of lectures on the rather important sub-
jects of Marketing, The Changing Concepts of Management and
Accounts Appreciation.
62
Seventeen participants were on D.A. Entsuas
course, two of whom were from outside Nigeria. He ends his report with a
discussion of the benefits he gained from the course: The useful lectures
will definitely serve a useful purpose. Travelling from one country to anoth-
er to learn about the activities in that country, one gains more experience
and experience is an important asset in a business organisation.
63
In 1971,
Harriet Djanguah wrote about a three-day telephonist/receptionist course
that she had been privileged to attend. She reported that among other
things she had been taught the correct use of the telephone within an
organisation, and how to avoid waste in the use of telephone, the habit of
taking down messages and also how to receive and direct visitors. Her
brief contribution concludes as follows: We have all gained a lot from the
course and are resolved to put into practice what we have been taught so
that we may become more efficient in our work.
64
Stanley Blankson wrote
about the thrills in perishable foods training, detailing his travels through-
out Ghana, Nigeria, and the UK, in the course of which he absorbed techni-
cal know-how and developed management skills.
65
In 1977, The Unicorn
published a report on the UAC Managers Course held in Ghana, written by
Deborah Quartey, Haberdashery Sales Manager at Kingsway Stores. Her
61
Managers Course IV, The Unicorn 9.4 (1963), 8-10.
62
D.A. Entsua, A three-week course in Nigeria, The Unicorn 7.12 (1961), 13.
63
D.A. Entsua, A three-week course in Nigeria, The Unicorn 7.12 (1961), 13.
64
Harriet Djanguah, Report on telephonist/receptionist course, The Unicorn 17.4
(1971), 19.
65
Stanley Blankson, The thrills in perishable foods training, The Unicorn 18.1 (1972),
12-14.
report offers a detailed account of the various topics addressed during the
course, with relatively little personal reflection. Her conclusion expresses
gratitude to the course directors for the effort put into a well-organised and
very successful course which provides valuable information and gives
members an opportunity to meet other members of the family.
66
The third main topic is that of the benefits enjoyed by UAC staff, the
three key benefits being scholarships for their children, free medical treat-
ment, and a pension upon retirement. While the availability of free medical
treatment is mentioned in the newsletters (and is of course written into the
employment contract), there is very little reporting that emphasizes the
availability of this benefit.
67
More is made of the annual pension that
employees can look forward to upon retirement. In 1952, the Gold Coast
UAC News printed a lengthy explanation of the working of the UAC
(African) Pension Fund, prefaced by the observation that [i]n these days of
world anxiety as to security and the future of ourselves and families, it is
comforting to know that in some measure such anxiety is unnecessary in our
own case.
68
Similar explanations were published at regular intervals, pre-
sumably in an attempt to assuage the insecurity about the future felt by
many staff members.
69
Increases of the amounts paid out were also report-
ed.
70
The house magazines regularly printed statements from grateful pen-
sioners for the payments received.
71
The potential staff benefit most broadly advertised was the availability of
scholarships for the children of UAC workers and pensioners. The scholar-
ship scheme had been established in 1948 and covered secondary school
education with all fees and expenses paid. However, there were only a few
places available each year often as few as six although UACs 14,000
Ghanaian employees must have had thousands of children of school-going
age. The newsletters would announce the opening up of the annual competi-
tion, explaining who was eligible under the scheme and how an application
would have to be made. They emphasized that those who received the
66
Deborah Quartey, UAC Managers Course XIX, The Unicorn 23.3 (1977), 17.
67
Free medical attention for staff. Strain of doctors fees lifted, Gold Coast UAC News
1.4 (1950), 1; UARM UAC 1/10/2/2/2 UAC Personnel Department staff files second
series (1922-1981).
68
E.L. Frisby, What about the future? Gold Coast UAC News 3.8 (1952), 4.
69
UAC internal image survey, The Unicorn 17.3 (1971), 8-9.
70
Pensioners express thanks for pension increase, Gold Coast UAC News 3.12 (1952),
1.
71
Ada pensioner takes keen interest in local affairs, The Unicorn 14.4 (1968), 6; Pen-
sioners page, The Unicorn 14.6 (1968), 9.
scholarships were under no obligation to UAC: There will be ample scope
for them to use their talents and if they can make a contribution to the coun-
trys well being they will have fulfilled the purpose for which the scholar-
ships were designed.
72
The newsletters followed up with reporting on the
selection process. In 1953, the Gold Coast UAC News reported that it
looked as if all the Companys business is being done by the children of its
storekeepers, as during the interviews of applicants for scholarships a num-
ber of children had answered the question of how they spent their leisure
time by saying they helped their father in the store or took charge when he
was away.
73
When the winners were announced at the very least the names
of the successful candidates were given, often alongside either photographs
of the individual children, or a group photograph in which the girls wear
dresses and the boys shorts and short-sleeved shirts. Generally, the ratio
boys to girls among the winners was two to one. The number of applicants
and the number of scholarships actually awarded seem very low for the size
of the organisation: in 1962 there were forty-two applications, the highest
number to date, and the following year this number was down again to thir-
ty-three; the number of scholarships awarded fluctuated between six and
nine.
74
The newsletters kept up a stream of reporting about the scholarships:
the holders of UAC scholarships were invited to tea parties with UAC direc-
tor F.J. Pedler; recipients of scholarships won essay competitions, received
school prizes, or successfully graduated from their colleges; and some
members of staff had scholarships for more than one of their children.
75
They also reported about the subsequent careers of those who had received
scholarships: Wanyo Tay joined the army and received officer training at
Sandhurst in the UK; Ferdinand Tay got an executive post at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs; S.N. Amoah took up a senior appointment at the Ghana
Broadcasting System; Miss Stovie took up employment at Kingsway Stores,
Accra; Mr Entsua became a manager with UAC; and Peregrine Quist went
to the UK to study Medicine.
76
In addition to such news items, the house
magazines published testimonials of grateful employees and pensioners,
such as Mr Darku-Amoo, a manager in the UAC insurance department, who
wrote:
72
Scholarships for children of the staff, Gold Coast UAC News 1.9 (1950), 4.
73
Company awards scholarships for 1953, Gold Coast UAC News 4.2 (1953), 2.
74
1963 secondary school scholarship awards, The Unicorn 9.9 (1963), 2.
75
Tea parties for scholarship holders, Gold Coast UAC News 4.4 (1953), 1.
76
The Companys secondary school scholarship scheme, The Unicorn 8.3 (1962), 8-10.
With other responsibilities to shoulder, I am afraid it was not very easy pay-
ing the fees of my eldest daughter, Victoria at the Aburi Girls Secondary
School, and to most of my friends it seemed grand that Victorias younger
brother also passed the Common Entrance Examination and gained admit-
tance to Mfantsipim, Cape Coast, but whatever good luck it was the after
effects would certainly have been burdensome if I had had to foot both bills.
It was a great relief therefore when John won one of our Companys scholar-
ships for a whole five-year period. This spontaneous gesture of our Company
is very generous and I am sure all members of our great family are proud and
grateful.
77
The theory of the Company scholarships was that they were strictly awarded
to the most promising candidates, that they supported individuals to develop
themselves through education, and that through this they contributed to the
development of the country more generally.
Where the UAC scholarship scheme was beneficial to a minority of its
employees, what it rewarded and supported was the ability and potential of
their offspring. In addition, UAC also operated schemes that more directly
rewarded loyalty to the company. In addition to the pensions already dis-
cussed, the two main schemes were long service awards and travel to the
UK. Loyal employees who received such rewards were frequently featured
in the house magazines. Already in 1931 G.B.A. Johnson was sent to
Europe to see the factories that made the goods we were selling. Looking
back at the age of eighty-two, he commented: Im not so easy to impress,
but thats one thing I shall not forget.
78
In 1952, a long article on the front
page of the Gold Coast UAC News described the UK tour of three African
managers. In addition to a training course, the trip included social events,
such as lunch with the Directors at Unilever House in London and a dinner
party given by the British Council, as well as visits to Unilever factories and
to companies whose products UAC sold in Ghana, such as Raleigh cycles.
The article also mentions that the managers met lots of friends and
acquaintances from the Gold Coast and is illustrated with a photograph of
one of them, K. Lomo, enjoying a trip down the Thames to Greenwich.
79
Reports of such visits often contain references to certain attributes of the
European workforce compared to that of Ghana. For example, H.C.E. Gbe-
demah comments on the impressive care and control of the manufacturing
77
The Companys secondary school scholarship scheme, The Unicorn 8.3 (1962), 11.
78
Ada pensioner takes keen interest in local affairs, The Unicorn 14.4 (1968), 6.
79
Gold Coast managers tour UK combining business with sightseeing, Gold Coast
UAC News 3.10 (1952), 1.
process he observed at Electrolux in Luton, while J.A. Eghan comments on
how impressed he was by the workers he encountered in British factories,
because of their team spirit, their hard and diligent work, and particularly
their ability to do this with very little supervision.
80
Meanwhile J.K.O. Otoo
was most impressed by the discipline of the laborers he encountered, and
particularly by the complete absence of a single lazy worker, while D.A.
Entsua commented on the systematic way in which the people worked.
81
Travel to the UK usually contained an element of training, as mentioned
above, but could be largely about sightseeing. In 1953, Mr Melfa and Mr
Ebbah were invited to London as the Companys guests for the Coronation
of Queen Elizabeth.
82
The house magazines make much of the trips to the
UK, and emphasize how those who went came back, not only with new
impressions, but also somehow improved as result of their travel experi-
ence. For younger employees a trip to London often constituted a turning-
point in their UAC career, after which they were likely to be quickly pro-
moted. For older employees, a visit to Britain had more the character of a
reward for loyal service. C.C. Tamaklo, for instance, on the eve of his
retirement after forty-eight years of service, went to Scotland, Germany and
Italy for two months sight-seeing at the expense of the Company.
83
Not all loyal employees could be rewarded with a trip to Britain. Instead,
UAC operated a detailed scheme to recognize its loyal employees with long
service certificates and gifts such as gold watches, silver brooches, clocks
and medals.
84
A long service certificate was awarded after fifteen years of
service. To promote these certificates, the Gold Coast UAC News empha-
sized that U.A.C. STAFF CAN HAVE CERTIFICATES WITHOUT SIT-
TING AN EXAMINATION.
85
After twenty-five years, pensionable staff,
such as managers and bookkeepers, received a gold watch, while non-pen-
sionable staff, such as watchmen and manual laborers, received a silver
Company brooch decorated with red and black enamelling and a green
wreath.
86
It appears that the gifts, in particular, were highly coveted by the
80
H.C. Edugle Gbedemah, The sights of Britain, The Unicorn 8.1 (1962), 9; J.A.
Eghan, Work and play, The Unicorn 8.1 (1962), 10.
81
J.K.O. Otoo, My experience abroad, The Unicorn 8.1 (1962), 10; D.A. Entsua,
Opportunities for study, The Unicorn 8.1 (1962), 11.
82
Messrs Melfah and Ebbah dine with directors, Gold Coast UAC News 4.7 (1953), 1.
83
Mr C.C. Tamaklo off to U.K., The Unicorn 8.5 (1962), 3
84
UARM UAC/1/11/1/4/17 The United Africa Company Limited Management Bulletin
1.7 (1970).
85
Many loyal service certificates presented, Gold Coast UAC News 2.4 (1951), 4.
86
First presentation of badge, Gold Coast UAC News 4.9 (1953), 1.
staff.
87
The certificates and gifts were formally presented during special cer-
emonies, the proceedings of which were reported in the house magazines.
The ceremonies had a standard format: they started with a formal talk about
how much UAC valued the services of their loyal staff, followed by short
comments on each individual. They ended with the serving of
refreshments.
88
The house magazines tended to use the opportunity to print
short biographies of those who had served the Company for so long. For
example, about W.M. Ahlijah it was reported that he had joined a predeces-
sor of UAC in Accra in 1927. He was subsequently transferred to Cte
dIvoire in 1933, then to French Equatorial Africa in 1941, and came back
to Accra in 1947 as a depot keeper. He was transferred again in 1953 to
become Acting Hardware Sales Manager in Tarkwa, which role he still ful-
filled when he was awarded a gold watch in 1954.
89
In 1952, Gladys Edna
Moore was the first female employee to be awarded a long service certifi-
cate. Mrs Moore was Retail Storekeeper in Swedru, daughter of the Oman-
hene of Anomabo, and married to G.N. Moore, Produce Manager, Swe-
dru.
90
The house magazines reported on the awards to make two points. The
first was that the awards reflected how much the Company appreciated its
staff: in a 1953 ceremony, the General Manager noted that [o]ur Company
was unique in the Gold Coast, in regarding the organisation as a large and
happy family, characterised by superb team work.
91
The second point was
how pleased the recipients were with their gifts and hence with their
employer. For instance, in an interview with James Q. Annan, who had
retired from UAC after forty-six years of service, it was observed that [a]
feature of his reminiscing was the way Mr Annan kept taking out his gold
watch, the Companys long service award and putting back again.
92
The last of the main themes in the company house magazines was that of
educating staff about aspects of the business. Articles on this subject includ-
ed announcements of the opening of new branches, and the presentation of
specific aspects of the business which employees might not have been
87
UARM UAC/2/20/3/2 Bernard Fui Quarnooh to Staff Department, Unilever House,
London, 31 January 1940.
88
Watches for long service impressive ceremony at Accra, Gold Coast UAC News
1.6 (1950), 1; J. Ettson Ansah, Gold watches for long service you can claim yours if
you have given a quarter century loyal service to UAC, Gold Coast UAC News 2.3
(1951), 1.
89
Long service awards at Tarkwa, Gold Coast UAC News 5.7 (1954), 3.
90
Lady storekeepers service recognised, Gold Coast UAC News 3.12 (1952), 1.
91
Cape Coast long service awards, Gold Coast UAC News 4.9 (1953), 1.
92
aware of, such as the Vehicle Assembly Plant in Tema, ATP Samreboi (tim-
ber and plywood), the housing for Kroo boys from Liberia who worked at
Accra, and the new self-service department at Kingsway Stores. Also
included were announcements relating to UAC as an organization, such as
the appointment of new directors, the re-organization of its business divi-
sions, the functioning of the Personnel Department, and the role of trade
unions.
93
A number of articles discuss the procedures for Joint Consulta-
tion in the Company. Joint Consultative Committees had been introduced
in 1950, but according to The Unicorn, the aims and objectives of Joint
Consultation were still not fully understood in 1962. The article explained
that Joint Consultative Committees had a different remit from trade unions
and that they could not negotiate rates of pay or conditions of service. How-
ever, they could discuss matters such as efficiency, timekeeping, the tidi-
ness of the workplace, the handling of merchandise to prevent breakages,
safety and accident prevention, as well as sports and recreation.
94
It also
explained the technical procedures relating to Joint Consultation, such as:
What is an agenda?; What are minutes?; What should we talk about?;
and How should I behave at a meeting? emphasizing, for example, that
I must remember to say what I have to say during the meeting and not to
leave the meeting mumbling and grumbling about everything and every-
body.
95
In 1970, in spite of all these efforts to explain the benefits of Joint
Consultation, The Unicorn had to acknowledge that many members of staff
were still of the opinion that it did not work well.
96
Other articles explained
more general business principles, such as the concept of replacement cost,
the role of capital investment, and the importance of stock control.
97
IV
One striking aspect of the newsletters message throughout more than four
decades of publication is its consistency. In every issue the Gold Coast
UAC News and The Unicorn document: the existence of a supportive UAC
93
New quarters for Kroo employees in Accra, Gold Coast UAC News 4.3 (1953), 1;
Help yourself at Kingsway Accra, Gold Coast UAC News 5.9 (1954), 3; Group per-
sonnel services, The Unicorn 8.6 (1962), 4.
94
What Joint Consultation means to you, The Unicorn 8.6 (1962), 8-9.
95
What Joint Consultation means to you, The Unicorn 8.6 (1962), 8-9.
96
97
Why does it cost more to buy imported goods? Gold Coast UAC News 2.6 (1951), 2;
The need for foreign capital, Gold Coast UAC News 2.8 (1951), 2.
family to which employees are happy and proud to belong; the Companys
commitment to training, developing and rewarding its employees; and the
existence of transparent procedures for staff consultation, promotions, and
the awarding of scholarships. One aspect that does change over time is the
tone in which articles are introduced that comment on aspects of the busi-
ness, promotions, or training schemes: around 1950, many articles are clear-
ly written with nationalist politics in mind. For instance, an article on the
cost of living referred to speculation in the press about a proposed boycott
of UAC and predicts that such a boycott would only benefit the middlemen
and drive up consumer prices. An article on the opening of a new store in
Cape Coast quotes the well-known Ghanaian nationalist, J.W. de Graft
Johnson, who observed that [t]he Company are not only selling goods but
are also serving the country.
98
During the later 1950s and the 1960s, there
is less concern with nationalist politics in the newsletter, but an emphasis on
the Companys contribution to Ghanas development remains. In fact, the
tone of the company house magazine is much more consistent than that of
the actual position of the company in the context of Ghanaian politics. In a
recent article on UAC and the development of consumer markets in Ghana,
Bianca Murillo has drawn our attention to Kwame Nkrumahs qualified
endorsement of Unilever in 1957 as the devil we know.
99
Relations
between on the one hand Unilever and its subsidiary UAC, and on the other
hand the Ghanaian government, were complicated at the best of times, and
could change rapidly. Over the years, Unilever and UAC managed to get
government agreement for a whole range of industrial projects, but many of
these were temporarily blocked or had to be re-negotiated.
100
From around 1970 the tone of The Unicorn changes again and becomes
more defensive of UACs contributions to the country: more emphasis is
placed on the appointing of African managers and on UAC as a responsible
company which gives its staff, its customers, and the country a fair deal. In
1972, for example, it quotes Christopher Richards, the Company Chairman,
as saying: You may have seen references in the press to foreign companies
which have been a drain on the foreign exchange resources of Ghana and I
think that you should know that this is an accusation which cannot be lev-
elled at the United Africa Group of Companies. This statement is followed
by an explanation of how UAC profits are re-invested and how new invest-
98
Company opens another new building, Gold Coast UAC News 5.5 (1954), 1.
99
Murillo, The Devil We Know, 1-2.
100
ments were made through partnership agreements. Richards concludes: We
have been here a long time and a healthy and balanced economy is far more
important to us than any short-term profit advantage.
101
Although thus framed within broader agendas of corporate relations and
nationalist politics, the company newsletters provide much useful informa-
tion about aspects of the careers of individuals working with UAC, in par-
ticular about their travels, training, transfers, promotions and retirement,
and sometimes also about their engagement with sports, their marriage, and
the achievements of their children. Combined with other (incomplete) data
from staff files, it is possible to flesh out the careers of many individual
employees from all the different lines of business and from all levels in the
organisation; with relatively more information being available about those
who reached management status. The newsletters of course also provide a
straightforward indication of how the Company wanted to be regarded by
its employees, and of the attitudes and activities that it was promoting
among them.
In spite of UACs unique position in Ghana, both its communication
strategy and the content of its messages, were not very unique. They were in
many respects similar to what North American and European companies
including UACs parent Unilever were doing around the same time in
newsletters for their North American and European employees.
102
These
similarities include the idea of the company as a family, the rewarding of
loyal workers with gifts, and the representations of the Company hierarchy
and of how the workplace was gendered. The Gold Coast UAC News and
The Unicorn did, of course, include a sense of an African context, which
can be seen in the focus on chieftaincy, in the awareness of nationalism, and
in the emphasis on UACs contribution to the development of the nation
through capital investment and staff training. However, it is clear that UAC
in spite of emphasizing its knowledge of the local West African social and
economic context organized its Ghanaian business along European lines
and attempted to inculcate European business concepts, values and attitudes
in its West African employees. This brings up two related questions of rele-
vance to the use of the newsletters as sources. First, to what extent and in
what ways were UAC employees shaped by working for the company,
101
Re-union lunches for Group pensioners, The Unicorn 18.1 (1972), 18.
102
John Griffiths, Give My Regards to Uncle Billy...: The Rites and Rituals of Compa-
ny Life at Lever Brothers, c.1900c.1990, Business History 37 (1995), 25-45; Charles
Dellheim, The Creation of Company Culture: Cadburys, 1861-1931, American Histori-
cal Review 92 (1987), 13-44.
either through the messages in the newsletters or through the daily lived
experience of working in the organisation? And second, how representative
for the day-to-day experience of working with UAC were the events and
procedures that were described in the company magazines?
V
In 1970, UAC conducted an internal survey among its staff regarding their
opinion about the Company as an employer and corporate citizen. The sur-
vey suggests that many employees agreed with the house magazines repre-
sentation of UAC as employer: a large majority thought that UAC rewards
hard work and initiative, that opportunities for promotion were better than
in most organisations, that the Company selects the best man for any job,
gives enough responsibility to Managers, offers better prospects to students
and provides better training facilities.
103
In 2010, former UAC employees
still agreed with most of these points, noting that, ordinarily, UAC would
grow its own timber: identify people with talent and potential and grow
them into the various functions into the business over the years.
104
Howev-
er, several of them were quite critical about the implementation of the pro-
cedures for promotions and the opportunities for training.
In theory, the procedures were straightforward enough: throughout its
existence, UAC operated a system whereby individuals would have annual
review meetings with their superior, on the basis of which an annual report
was to be drawn up in accordance with a set template. The template
changed a couple of times, but the function of the report remained the same:
to report on the performance of the member of staff during the year and (if
appropriate) to recommend a bonus or pay-rise, to identify his or her poten-
tial and ambitions, to make recommendations to promote, transfer or retire
the member of staff, as well as to identify his or her training requirements in
this light. This report was then discussed with the staff member concerned,
whose views would be recorded on the form, and forwarded to the relevant
Divisional Manager or General Manager for comment, sign-off, and if
required a decision.
105
According to former UAC employees, this proce-
103
104
Interview with Robert Adu-Mante, Accra, 24 September 2010.
105
Examples of the documents used are included in: UARM UAC/1/10/2/2 UAC Person-
nel Department Staff files.
dure was rarely followed. When commenting on promotions and access to
training, rather than to discuss procedures, they emphasize the importance
of the personality of the individual manager, and of the working relationship
that the employee had with that manager. Also, training was not always
available to prepare employees for new roles: They developed you by
throwing you in at the deep end.
106
Workers who found themselves
employed by Unilever Ghana after the winding up of UAC, comment that,
in their experience, procedures for annual review and career development
were adhered to much more consistently by Unilever Ghana, than UAC had
ever done. UAC gave us the discipline of the job, but not too much of the
formal training to broaden your perspectives.
107
If these individual memo-
ries are representative for a general pattern, then this would help to explain
the incomplete nature of the staff files in the archive: part of the material
that appears to be missing from the files might never have existed.
Although former employees felt that rules were not always consistently
followed in the field of training and promotion, overall they emphasize the
high standards to which UAC conducted its business: In Ghana anywhere
you mention UAC, the moment you say you are from UAC you are very
respected; () when you see a UAC man, you see an honest man.
108
They
are proud of UACs values and business practices, the Companys refusal to
engage with corruption (at least in principle), and its insistence that rules
had to be followed. They consider UAC standards to be higher than the gen-
eral standards in Ghana. They also say that the fact that they have absorbed
these values and practices sets them apart from the average professional,
and that this has also made them more desirable as employees for other
companies. People who left the company were grabbed by other business-
es, and there are lots of opportunities and they are just looking for those
kind of skills.
109
According to former auditor Kwasi Okoh, everybody
wanted a UAC person.
110
One of the UAC values was that of punctuality. Elvis Armah, who
retired as a pensions specialist, remembers how he learnt about this value
upon joining the Company as a secretary. During his first weeks in employ-
ment he tended to arrive at his desk a couple of minutes after 7:30 am, even
though he had reached the building earlier, because he waited for his more
106
Interview with Emmanuel Idun, Tema, 21 September 2010.
107
Interview with Kwabena Yentumi, Tema, 24 September 2010.
108
Interview with Augustine Kofi, Tema, 15 September 2010.
109
Interview with Emmanuel Idun, Tema, 21 September 2010.
110
Interview with Kwasi Okoh, Tema, 22 September 2010.
senior colleagues to enter the office first and sign their names. In doing so,
he showed proper respect to his seniors, but incurred the wrath of his Super-
visor, who after a few weeks pointed out to Elvis Armah that he had been
coming late to work consistently as his name showed below the red line
every day. From then on, Elvis Armah made sure he signed in before 7:30
am. He reflects: It became part of you, you always made sure () other
establishments were not so strict.
111
When reflecting on their careers with UAC, former employees tend to
emphasize their achievements rather than the belonging to the UAC fami-
ly that had been promoted in the newsletters. Their individual achievement
already started with having gained employment with the Company, because
UAC only pick the best.
112
They remember a strict appointment process,
involving the successful completion of a competitive exam, an aptitude test
and a very competitive interview.
113
Where the newsletters highlighted
cases of several family members all working with UAC as being a positive
phenomenon, former employees who had family members working with
UAC stress that this had nothing to do with their own appointment. Francis
Cato, who joined the Company in 1973 as an Accounts Clerk, points out
that, although he had an uncle and an aunt who both held influential posi-
tions in the Company, he got the job on merit through doing well in a com-
petitive exam. It was only after the exam that he found out that his aunt
worked in the same Division: Some people might even have thought that
she was instrumental in getting me in. No! I went on my own in search of a
job and thats how it started.
114
Former employees also emphasise how
they achieved promotion through hard work and doing the job assigned to
them well.
Promotions often involved transfer and travel. In the interviews, all for-
mer employees talked about the travel that came with working for UAC:
sometimes short trips for training (often abroad), in many cases having to
relocate for longer periods because of a transfer. Relocation is remembered
as a very positive experience, through which they gained strength and
important skills, and which was an indication of a successful career within
the company. The strength to operate successfully in a new environment,
with often different customs, a different language and different food, and to
111
Interview with Elvis Armah, Accra, 21 September 2010.
112
113
Interview with Robert Adu-Mante; on the aptitude test: interview with Deborah
Quartey, Tema, 20 September 2010.
114
Interview with Francis Cato, Tema, 15 September 2010.
respond positively to change, is regarded as an essential personal attribute
of the successful UAC professional. UAC employees were keen to go on
transfer. Elvis Armah remembers: I had wanted to go out from Accra () I
wanted to experience how it is to stay outside of Accra.
115
Deborah
Quartey, who had joined UAC partly because they had outlets all over the
country and she loved travelling, having asked for a transfer for years,
demanded to know from her general manager: The men have been going
on transfer, so why cant I go on transfer? She was delighted when she was
eventually transferred to Tarkwa, even though she would be relocating with
her young children: I had no qualms, I wasnt worried; I wanted the experi-
ence and the adventure of it all.
116
In contrast, relocation for work is
described more ambiguously in the newsletters. For example, the pages of
Gold Coast UAC News contain a poem by E.V. Badoe titled To Helena in
which the author writes about his loneliness after having been transferred
from Kumasi to Accra:
You are lonely but so am I
Restore that twinkle to your eye
For back to Kumasi I propose to hie
On Christmas, when our sorrows well bury
And once again well be merry
Forgetting the lonely days gone by
A comment by the editor explains that E.V. Badoe had been transferred
from Kumasi two months previously, and that [t]he change of climate and
diet in Accra caused him to have some skin upheavals which prevented him
from coming to work.
117
During his sickness he had been visited by a num-
ber of staff including his European higher-up, Mr Stanbury. While the
newsletter thus acknowledges that the transfer caused distress, it also points
out that E.V. Badoe is surrounded by caring and supportive UAC col-
leagues. The consequences of relocation for work are regularly mentioned
in the newsletters. About James Q. Annan, for instance, it was noted that
during a career of 46 years of working for the Company in Nigeria, he visit-
ed his native Ghana only twice on leave.
118
In a 1972 article printed in The
115
116
Interview with Deborah Quartey, 20 September 2010.
117
118
Unicorn, Jos Anyima-Ackah had written about The joy of being at home
on leave, noting:
At home on leave we have the chance to fulfil such social obligations as
lapsed funeral rites and the paying of homage to our elders. It is a time to
refresh our minds about the traditions and customs of our people. It is also a
time for us to enjoy some of the typical home-made dishes and drinks which
we often miss for a long time by being away from home. Finally, leave at
home enables us to acquaint ourselves with the developments that are taking
place there and what contributions we can make towards them.
119
Another difference between the interviews and the newsletters is that for-
mer employees remember very little of the UAC parties, dances, and sports
activities that featured so frequently in the Gold Coast UAC News and The
Unicorn. They emphasize that they did not socialize as UAC, but had their
own networks. This is not to say that friendships did not develop between
employees, but these are remembered as individual relationships, rather
than having emerged out of a UAC belonging. Also, the relationships that
are remembered tend to be specifically those with direct superiors or with a
manager higher up, and much less about colleagues of the same level. These
can be around specific incidents such as when Emmanuel Idun was
repeatedly thrown out of the office of the General Manager of the GBO
Division, E.K. Agbenu and interpersonal problems, but they also remem-
ber emerging friendships.
120
For instance, Kwabena Yentumi comments
about the manager he relieved in Hohoe: we became friends and remained
friends ever since.
121
Some of the female UAC employees remember
instances where unwelcome attention from male co-workers or superiors
complicated the daily experience of work, as well as opportunities for pro-
motion. Comfort Essuman experienced harassment from her direct boss on
a daily basis for about a year. Her parents advised her that work is very dif-
ficult to come by and that she should put up with it. She could not, and
complained to the UAC Personnel Manager, who was really good: He
gave advice on how to handle the situation and how to carry myself.
122
He
119
J. Jos Anyima-Ackah, The joy of being at home on leave, The Unicorn 18.2 (1972),
20.
120
Interview with Emmanuel Idun, Tema, 21 September 2010; UARM UAC/1/10/2/1/18
Staff Cards Overseas Staff: Ghana.
121
Interview with Kwabena Yentumi, Tema, 22 September 2010.
122
Interview with Comfort Essuman, Tema, 15 September 2010.
encouraged her to stay on when she considered quitting her job, and eventu-
ally solved the problem by transferring her to another Division. More gener-
ally, former employees often comment on the extent to which work relation-
ships, and also career progression, were complicated by gender and age.
When Deborah Quartey started as a manager with Kingsway at age twenty-
three, she was warned that older sales girls, supervisors, and even some
managers would not like the fact that a young lady was going to be the
boss over them. Deborah Quartey learned to ignore them and didnt bother
about all those old folks.
123
The newsletters do not touch on these issues at
all. However, when read with the ex-employees comments in mind, it is
clear that the authority of older, male employees is taken as the norm, with
women in supportive roles. For instance, it is always a woman who hands
the gift to the departing manager, a pattern that is documented in many of
the photographs printed along the reports. See for example the photo pub-
lished in The Unicorn in March 1963 (image 3) in which Bertha Quashigah
is seen presenting a tie pin to J.A.Q. Tagoe. This is not to say that the
achievements of female staff members were not celebrated in the newslet-
ters they were (and quite frequently), but they were presented as the
exceptions, rather than the norm.
The winding up-phase of UAC Ghana is in the forefront of ex-employees
memories. The transformation of the business and the impact on individuals
are described much more vividly in the interviews than in The Unicorn.
Most comment on the instability of this period, the job losses, and the long
uncertainty. In contrast, they remember the earlier period as constant and
secure.
VI
When reading the UAC company house magazines alongside interviews
with former employees, it is clear that they do provide information about
more than mere factual data about individuals featured in the articles, or
about how the Company wanted to be regarded by its employees and of the
attitudes and activities that it was promoting among them. While employees
did indeed adopt many of the attitudes and views that the Company was
advocating (or perhaps they had held them already when they joined UAC),
the discrepancies and differences of emphasis between the reporting in the
123
Interview with Deborah Quartey, Tema, 20 September 2010.
newsletters and the former employees recollections, provide insights in the
particular role in between of African employees in a European business.
There are glimpses of tensions between, on the one hand, the expectations
of the employees families, Ghanaian expectations of showing respect to
seniors, and the passive attitude expected of subordinates, and on the other
hand the Companys expectations of individual initiative, discipline, an
understanding of capitalist business values, and gender roles. For example,
UAC was actively promoting a view of the Company as that of a large, all-
embracing family, while implicitly assuming that employees families
would correspond to the model of the Western nuclear family. At the
same time, UAC was also promoting a focus on individual achievement
(rather than to rely on family members) by its highlighting of such achieve-
Image 3: A tie pin for Mr J.A.Q. Tagoe: Miss Bertha Quashigah, telephone operator in
Kumasi, is presenting a tie pin to Mr J.A.Q. Tagoe. This was at a farewell party held in
Mr Tagoes honour on the eve of his departure to Lever Bros. Ghana Limited, Accra.
[UARM UAC/2/20/3/6/3 The Unicorn 9.3 (1963)] Reproduced with kind permission of
Unilever from originals in Unilever Archives.
ments in features and by promoting self improvement through training and
personal development. In this context it is telling how many self improve-
ment and how to books were given as presents to colleagues at farewell
parties. For example, when D.K. Addy, a Company driver based in Accra,
left the company, the other drivers presented him with a book called Be
Happier and Be Healthier; when R.A. Dagbovie left the Accra Ice Compa-
ny on transfer to Sekondi, he received The Key to the Secret Door of Life;
and when Mr Dzathor left the General Managers Office, his colleagues
gave him The Amazing Results of Positive Thinking.
124
Of course, individuals looking back upon their careers are likely to
remember aspects differently from how they experienced them at the time.
For example, the positive assessment of transfers reflects the positive role
they played in the individuals career trajectory (with hindsight), but that
does not mean that they may not have been experienced as disruptive,
unpleasant and difficult at the time.
Another aspect is that of the relationship with traditional culture. The
Company was particularly keen to promote that its employees take-up chief-
taincy titles or other traditional functions. It also sought to cultivate relation-
ships with traditional leaders and developed many initiatives that showed
how Ghanaian UAC was. However, to its employees one of the attrac-
tions of UAC appears to have been exactly that it was not traditional with
a different set of rules and expectations and that it brought foreign prod-
ucts, concepts and processes into Ghana.
The analysis of company house magazines and other company records,
alongside detailed interviews with former employees allows historians to
develop new insights into a broad range of topics, including business, con-
sumption, skills and knowledge development, capitalism, and changing
views on kinship, career and life cycle in African societies during the
decolonisation and independence eras, from the perspective of an important
group of cultural and economic intermediaries the African workers in
European business.
124
Accra Ice Company Limited, Accra. Send-off party, The Unicorn 8.7 (1962), 6;
Accra drivers tribute to Mr Addy, The Unicorn 8.7 (1962), 12; Party for Mr Dza-
thor, The Unicorn 9.4 (1963), 2.
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