GHANA: Union Now with Guinea

Two months ago. led by a young black strongman named Sekou Toure, Guinea became the only territory in French Africa to reject the constitution of Premier Charles de Gaulle. Last week Touré, threatened with the loss of all his economic ties with France, flew off to Ghana. Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah was at the Accra airport with bands, a 21-gun salute, and a cheering crowd bearing placards saying, WELCOME LABORMAN . . . LIBERATOR OF GUINEA! Toure had made no secret of the fact that he wanted intimate ties with Ghana. But just how close those ties were to be came as a real surprise.

After only two days of discussion, Touré and Nkrumah issued a ringing communiqué: “Inspired by the example of the 13 American colonies, which on attainment of their independence constituted themselves into a confederacy which ultimately developed into the United States of America,” the two nations, though separated by the French Ivory Coast. would join in a United Republic. “As a first step, we have agreed to adopt a union flag and to develop between our two governments the closest contacts . . . especially in the fields of defense and foreign and economic affairs.”

Next steps: to draw up a common constitution and to invite other African states (mostly in French West Africa) to join the union, too. As a dowry, Nkrumah promised Guinea a credit of £10 million. Both Prime Ministers agreed not to pass up any of the advantages their old colonial masters might still offer, with Ghana remaining in the British Commonwealth, and the republic of Guinea seeking ties with the new “French Community.”