After success with his first voyage, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama set out on his second voyage to India from Portugal in 1502. This expedition was ordered by King Manuel I of Portugal. da Gama set sail to Calicut in January with the aim of imposing a monopoly on the spice trade. He also planned to stop by various ports on the Eastern side of Africa to force rulers to yield to the Portuguese and vow to be loyal. This he achieved in Kilwa Island that is presently part of Tanzania.
da Gama was nothing but ruthless in this second expedition. He seized an Arab ship on its way from Mecca, claimed the merchandise on it and killed every last one of the passengers who included men, women and children. On arrival in Calicut in October 1502, da Gama made demands, including one to the Hindu King to banish all Muslims residing in Calicut. This way, Calicut and Portugal could have a decent relationship. This demand was turned down and resulted in a war. His violent approach ultimately led to the failure of his expedition, and upon his return to Portugal in September 1502, he was disregarded as Portuguese India’s first governor.
Portugal had however achieved the title of being the first European nation to secure a sea route from Europe to Asia. Eager to control trade on the coasts along the Indian Ocean – with the aim of preventing other European states from gaining access to Indian Ocean trade – the Portuguese planned to obtain control in Gede, Kilifi, Pate, Lamu, Manda and Mombasa. All resisted Portuguese rule. Mombasa was one of if not the busiest East African port in the first half of the 16th century and was under Arab rulership. In 1528, the Portuguese attacked Mombasa, but the Arab defense was stronger as they were more familiar with the port. The invasion failed. Sometime in the late 1580s, more prepared than before, the Portuguese tried again, and this their well-trained soldiers and superior weapons brought forth their success. Mombasa became one of their territories.
Knowing that the Arabs were likely to try and seize Mombasa, if not other colonial powers, the Portuguese military – under the order of King Philip I, who was then King of Portugal – constructed a fort. The fort would serve as a military base and a prison for captives.
Architect Giovanni Battista Cairati was commissioned to the project, and construction began in 1593 on the southern edge of the town. The fort was completed three years later and named Forte Jesus de Mombaca, or Fort Jesus. It was designed to protect the Mombasa Port (now referred to as the Old Mombasa Port) and included cannons that would protect the interior from invasions. It was the only fort along the Swahili coast maintained by the Portuguese, or any Western people.
Between 1631 and 1895, the fight to control Mombasa was unending. Rule changed hands several times with the Omani Arabs winning control over it in 1698. In 1895, the British transformed Fort Jesus into a prison, and held slaves in the torture rooms and cells in the inner part of the fort.
A little over a decade later, with ongoing urban planning, the road outside the fort was named Fort Jesus Road – a symbol of the massive citadel that was the road’s landmark.
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While these were the current affairs in East Africa, on the western side of the continent, a retail trader in Nkroful village in the Gold Coast gave birth to a son. He was named Kwame and later baptized a Roman Catholic. For nine years, Kwame attended the Roman Catholic elementary school in Half Assini (close by Nkroful) and in his later years attended Achimota Collage, graduating in 1930.
Kwame’s career commenced in education. He worked as a teacher, but soon gained an interest in politics. The latter informed his efforts in joining Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and the University of Pennsylvania. From both institutions Kwame obtained master’s degrees in the literature of socialism.
He returned to the Gold Coast and immersed himself in political work.
In 1945, the fifth meeting of the Pan African Congress was held in Manchester. A number of key African nationalist figures attended the conference with the aim of leading their country’s struggle for independence. Kwame was among the nationalists, and so was Jomo Kenyatta. The Congress pushed for self-rule and the Africans returned to their countries to establish movements that would strive for independence.
When Kenya became a republic, Fort Jesus Road in Mombasa was renamed Nkrumah Road, after independent Ghana’s (former Gold Coast) first president.
