Below are some events that led to the first general elections in Ghana.
*A new Constitution was drawn and became operational in January, 1951.
*The following were outlined under the 1951 Constitution.
a. Parliament was made of 84 Legislators with a Speaker.
b. 38 out of the 84 members of Parliament were to be directly elected by the people.
c. 37 were to be elected by Chiefs and Traditional Council.
d. 3 were to represent European mining interest , 3 representing European trading interest while 3 ex-officio members were appointed by the governor. The remaining 3 were the Secretary for Defence and External Affairs, Secretary for Finance and Secretary for Justice.
* Dr Kwame Nkrumah and some leading members of the CPP were arrested and imprisoned after the declaration of the Positive Action in January 1950.
* Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and those who were arrested and imprisoned were allowed to vote.
The Results Of The 1951 General Elections
1. CPP - 34 Seats
2. UGCC. - 3 Seats
3. Independent Candidate - 1 Seat
Total number of seats - 38
The Reasons Why The CPP Won The Elections
1. The voting age was reduced from 25 to 21 years so many youth who supported the CPP did vote.
2. The motto of the CPP thus, "Self-government Now", inspired and convinced many people than that of the UGCC.
3. The charismatic nature nature of Dr Kwame Nkrumah pulled many people to the party.
4. The CPP was a party for all people whilst the UGCC concentrated on educated Ghanaians and chiefs.
5. The CPP was more popular to Ghanaians because it had branches throughout the country unlike the UGCC.
The 1956 Plebiscite.
A plebiscite is a political exercise which involves a direct vote of Yes or No answer of all people of voting age.
On May 9 1956, the British government held a plebiscite to determine if the British Togoland wanted to join Ghana after independence.
The chairman of the 1956 plebiscite was Espinoza Y. Prieto.
The CPP stood for the unification of British Togoland while the Togoland Congress stood for separation of British Togoland from independent Ghana.
The CPP Won the plebiscite with 58% of the votes cast while the Togoland Congress had 42%.
This made the British Togoland part of Ghana after independence on 6th March, 1957.
Political Events From 1951 to March 6, 1957.
After the general elections in 1951, the Gold Coast attained the status of internal Self-government but the Queen Elizabeth of England remained the Head of State. The colonial government was in charge of our finance, army and foreign relations of Ghana.
The Formation Of The National Liberation Movement (N.L.M)
Baffour Osei Akoto on 19th September, 1954, formed N.L.M in Kumasi.
The N.L.M was know in Twi as Matemeho.
The main reason for the formation of the N.L.M was to fight for regional or federal government so that the regions manage their own affairs.
The N.L.M had its stronghold in the Ashanti and Bring Ahafo regions.
The Northern People's Party (N.P.P)
The Northern People's Party was formed in 1954 by Amadu Baba the also fight for regional or federal government.
THE 1956 GENERAL ELECTIONS
The disagreement between Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and the advocates for the federal government (N.L.M and N.P.P) made the Governor-General of the Gold Coast to ask Dr Kwame Nkrumah to organize a general election on 17th July, 1956.
All the political parties which supported the federal government formed the United Party (U.P) to fight against the CPP in the 1956 general elections.
The CPP won 72 seats while the U.P won only 32 seats. In view of this, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah formed a unitary government to administer the country after declaration of independence.
THE IMPORTANCE OF INDEPENDENCE TO THE PEOPLE OF GHANA
1. Ghanaians were freed from colonial rule.
2. Ghana's independence enabled her to be a member of the U.N.O, now U.N.
3. It also paved the way for Ghana to be a member of the Common Wealth of Nations.
NB: The Common Wealth of Nations is an association of Great Britain (England) and her former colonies.
4. Independence United the various ethnic groups in Ghana through the unitary system of government.
