The newly independent Ghana was especially eager to prepare for the expected coming of Queen Elizabeth II because it had only achieved independence a little over two years earlier.

As if to demonstrate the bold claim made by the nation's first president, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, that "the African is capable of managing his own affairs," preparations for the queen's arrival in Ghana began in earnest in November 1959.

And when Nkrumah's government realized that she would enter the nation through its primary airport, it immediately set aside some money to clean the runway at the Accra Airport (now Kotoka International Airport).

This was contained in an old Ghana Times newspaper clipping in GhanaWeb’s possession, with the headline, “Queen’s aircraft may land on new runway.”

The April 1959 story, written by de-Graft Sampson, stated that the government was bent on ensuring that the runway at the airport was in good shape to receive the monarch of the country that had, until two years before, been its colonial master.

“The Ghana National Construction Company are to undertake one of the biggest projects under the second Five-Year-Development Plan, with the reconstruction of Accra International Airport, expected to take about 15 months to complete.

“The extension work for which Government has made available the sum of £G3 million, will be carried out in two stages, Mr. M. Boren, the G.N.C.C. sole consultant engineers and contractors told me,” the report stated.

The report explained further that the first stage of the expansion project would involve the upgrade to the runway at the airport.

And this was to be done before Queen Elizabeth II’s visit later that year.

“Mr. Boren further told me that the construction of the new runway, taxiways and the approach roads are expected to be completed before the Queen’s visit in November this year,” it added.

The report added that the second phase of the project was to look at the extension of air travel facilities to some other regions in the country so that they could benefit “directly from Ghana’s internal air service.”

Read the full newspaper report in the photo clipping below:

See the video of Queen Elizabeth II’s historic visit to Ghana in 1961:

Credit: British Pathé