Gold Coast legislative election, 1951

Elections for the Legislative Assembly were held for the first time in the Gold Coast on 8 February 1951. Although elections had been held for the Legislative Council since 1925, [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1023444.stm Timeline: Ghana] BBC News, 23 October 2007] the Council did not have complete control over the legislation, and the voting franchise was limited to councils of chiefs. [Dunlop Roberts, A. (1986) [http://books.google.com/books?id=7XIi3Q74o2sC&pg=PA439&lpg=PA439&dq=%22gold+coast%22+%22legislative+council%22+election&source=web&ots=Wuexhon4m_&sig=7qHp-cA1LkoB_GiMQf_WAjqJRK4 The Cambridge History of Africa] ] This was the first election to be held in Africa under universal suffrage. [Brown, J.M. & Roger Louis, W.M. (1999) [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=N28kkSqS0xwC&pg=RA4-PA730&dq=universal-suffrage+gold-coast+1951&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&sig=04UUmGCAw4ToP5Vgw3S61DyFAYY The Oxford History of the British Empire] ]

Background

Amongst growing calls for self-governance and unrest (which led to the arrest of the Big Six), the Coussey Committee was commissioned by the United Kingdom government. Its report led to the 1951 constitution, which gave the Executive Council an African majority, and created an 84-member Legislative Assembly, 38 of which were to be elected by the people and 46 by traditional councils.

Results

Kwame Nkrumah's Convention People's Party won 34 of the 38 elected seats in the assembly, [ [http://www.black-history-month.co.uk/articles/nkrumah.html Kwame Nkrumah's contribution to the decolonisation process in Africa] Black History Month] claiming all five seats and nearly 95% of the vote in urban areas; [Iliffe, J. (1995) [http://books.google.com/books?id=dlHE51ScKTUC&pg=PA249&lpg=PA249&dq=gold+coast+election+1951&source=web&ots=v_MaRJyf2O&sig=H8UHqNzhMyIzCMwRgS9SeUbI8zo Africans: The History of a Continent] ] Nkrumah himself winning the Accra Central seat with 22,780 of the 23,122 votes cast. In rural areas the CPP won 29 of the 33 seats, taking around 72% of the vote. The main opposition, the United Gold Coast Convention, fared badly, winning only two seats, [Mason, M. (1997) [http://books.google.com/books?id=q3A6bxu7S8MC&pg=PA212&lpg=PA212&dq=ghana+election+1951+ugcc+38&source=web&ots=4Dcj11CYgg&sig=jPLDfdtNsJYMCgdAfZA22w25ZAE Development and Disorder: A History of the Third World Since 1945] ] and was disbanded following the elections. [Janda, K. (1980) [http://janda.org/ICPP/ICPP1980/Book/PART2/8-WestAfrica/81-Ghana/Ghana.htm Political Parties: A Cross-National Survey] New York: The Free Press] Former members of the UGCC went on to form the Ghana Congress Party (which later became the United Party). [Stockwell, S. (2000) [http://books.google.com/books?id=V8UZIvVZ8DgC&pg=PA93&dq=ugcc+cpp+1951&sig=8H4xzUeBM7mg-wagQMFC2yuCyCI The Business of Decolonization: British Business Strategies in the Gold] ] The elections were also contested by the National Democratic Party. [Owusu, R.Y. (2005) [http://books.google.com/books?id=sefClvfOzFoC&pg=PA109&dq=ugcc+cpp+1951&lr=&sig=zpQYwrRCDJ5_hSEx4KU2GdbfI-M Kwame Nkrumah's Liberation Thought: A Paradigm for Religious Advocacy] ]

The CPP was also supported in the Assembly by 22 of the indirectly elected members, and thus held 56 of the 84 seats.McGinnis, M.D. (1999) [http://books.google.com/books?id=MSy_EfhaPAAC&pg=PA202&dq=ugcc+cpp+1951&sig=F2MedaXxMRnG0pULeURnP50ZlbA#PPA203,M1 Polycentric Governance and Development: Readings from the Workshop] ]

Aftermath

After winning the Accra Central seat, Nkrumah was released from prison, and was appointed "Leader of Government Business", [Botwe-Asamoah, K. (2005) [http://books.google.com/books?id=OcTC2eDx5ZsC&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=gold+coast+election+1951&source=web&ots=lth8jZmxGU&sig=ccac_fh1_uM8f0uVZYY1aDKpyhY Kwame Nkrumah's Politico-Cultural Thought and Policies] ] before becoming the country's first Prime Minister the following year after a constitutional amendment.

Another new constitution was promulgated in 1954, followed by elections the same year, also won by the CPP. Following another convincing election victory by Nkrumah's party in 1956, Gold Coast became the first sub-Saharan African state to gain independence (aside from apartheid South Africa) on 6 March 1957, changing its name to Ghana.

References