The story of the golden bed that led to the dismissal of a minister in 1962

A Thursday, April 19, 1962, article in the Daily Graphic had the headline, “Edusei Removed from Office” but it turned out that this was not just a usual case of a government appointee being removed from office by way of a formality.

“The appointment of Mr. Krobo Edusei as Minister of Industries has been revoked, a special release from the Office of the President stated last night,” the report said but there was a bigger fish, the minister’s wife played a huge, controversial role in his dismissal.

In an earlier report dated Wednesday, April 18, 1962, with the headline, “That bed won’t be taken back,” it details how a case of a golden bed led to the dismissal of the Ministry of Industries Minister, Krobo Edusei.

“Mrs. Mary Edusei, wife of the Minister of Industries, Mr. Krobo Edusei, can no longer return the controversial £3,000 gold-embossed bed she bought in London, a spokesman for the makers said yesterday.

“Mrs. Edusei was asked to return the bed after criticism in Ghana and a statement by her husband that a golden bed was “not socialism…”

“The makers sent a removal van but Mrs. Edusei apparently changed her mind and refused to part with the bed,” the report stated.

Giving further reasons, the company explained that the wife of the minister had failed to adhere to the one-week ultimatum for the return of products and for which reason it would no longer be possible for her to have it returned.

“The shop where she bought it told her she had until last Tuesday to return it,” a spokesman for the makers said. “The bed is not a week overdue and we are no longer prepared to take it.”

An official of the shop also said, “We have heard nothing further from anyone connected with Mrs Edusei. She obviously wants to keep the bed.”

But the bed was eventually returned. In a Wednesday, April 4, 1962, report, titled “Edusei’s wife returns the gold bed,” it spoke about how the bed was returned, the refusal of the minister’s wife to detail out what happened, and the reason the manufacturers went back on their word to receive the bed.

“Mrs. Mary Edusei, 38-year-old wife of Industries Minister, Krobo Edusei, has returned the £3,000 controversial gold-embossed bed she bought recently from a London store, Reuters News Agency reported yesterday.

“’I do not want to talk about it. My husband is a politician and people turn things against us,’ Mrs. Edusei said yesterday at her London flat.

“A spokesman for the shop where Mrs. Edusei bought the gold bed said: ‘In the circumstances, we agreed to ask the manufacturers to take it back,’” the report said.

The purchase of the bed evoked a lot of strong criticisms across the country at the time but Krobo Edusei insisted he was “surprised and terribly amazed,” because he knew nothing about the transaction.

Edusei removed from office:

With pressure mounting on the government, the president of Ghana at the time, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, relieved Krobo Edusei of his duties.

“Responsibility for the Ministry of Industries has, for the time being, been assumed by Osagyefo the President himself,” it said.

Krobo Edusei controversies:

The controversies that surrounded the political life of Krobo Edusei were extended even further than that. In 1963, Krobo Adusei is reported to have enstooled a cocoa farmer by name Appiah Kubi as a chief, after the latter promised to pay £2000 that was charged him to the former minister.

This was however quickly withdrawn when Appiah Kubi paid only £300 only from the expected charge.

Krobo Adusei told the Jiagge Commission that he owned fourteen houses, a luxurious beach hut and had bought a long lease on a London flat, all worth about £130,000.

Author: Etsey Atisu