Coussey Committee

Last updated

The Coussey Committee was established on 14 March 1949, after the 1948 Accra riots, to draft a constitution towards self-rule for the country Gold Coast. [1] The committee was chaired by Sir Henley Coussey and published their report on 7 November 1949. [2]

Contents

History

The committee made provision for greater African representation in Government as there were increasing demands for a representative government by Gold Coasters. The Watson Commission had earlier recommended an extensive Legislative Assembly with more Ghanaians included on 26 April 1948. [3]

All the leaders of the UGCC were members of the committee except Kwame Nkrumah. He was considered a proponent of the British ideology, as his views of "independence now" were at variance with the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC). [3] His radical views led to his demotion to a treasurer in August 1948.

William Ofori Atta headed a committee convened at Saltpond, later in June 1949, to settle the differences between Kwame Nkrumah and other UGCC members. The Committee on Youth Organization (CYO), the youth wing, insisted Nkrumah not be reconciled with the intelligentsia. At the West Africa arena, he officially rejected the recommendations on 20 November 1949. Nkrumah declared the Coussey constitution as "bogus and fraudulent". A principal body, the Ghana Representative Council (ARC), was formed to initiate an appeal against the report. [4]

This event led to Nkrumah breaking away from the UGCC. He later announced the formation of the Convention People's Party (CPP) on 12 January 1949 [3] to attain his ideals of "self-government, now, now, now", which became their slogan. [5] The CPP attacked both the colonial government and the UGCC. [6]

Significance

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kwame Nkrumah</span> Ghanaian politician (1909–1972)

Francis Kwame Nkrumah was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained independence from Britain. He was then the first Prime Minister and then the President of Ghana, from 1957 until 1966. An influential advocate of Pan-Africanism, Nkrumah was a founding member of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and winner of the Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet Union in 1962.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Ghana</span>

The national flag of Ghana consists of a horizontal triband of red, yellow, and green. It was designed in replacement of the British Gold Coast's Blue Ensign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Akufo-Addo</span> 2nd president of Ghana (1970-72)

Edward Akufo-Addo was a Ghanaian politician and lawyer. He was a member of the "Big Six" leaders of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) and one of the founding fathers of Ghana who engaged in the fight for Ghana's independence. He became the Chief Justice (1966–70), and later ceremonial President (1970–72), of the Republic of Ghana. He is the father of the current (executive) President of Ghana, Nana Addo Akufo-Addo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1948 Accra riots</span> 1948 riots in Accra, colonial Ghana

The Accra riots started on 28 February 1948 in Accra, the capital of the then British colony of the Gold Coast. A protest march by unarmed ex-servicemen who were agitating for their benefits as veterans of World War II, who had fought with the Gold Coast Regiment of the Royal West African Frontier Force, was broken up by police, leaving three leaders of the group dead. They were Sergeant Nii Adjetey, Corporal Patrick Attipoe and Private Odartey Lamptey, who have since been memorialized in Accra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Convention People's Party</span> Political party in Ghana

The Convention People's Party (CPP) is a socialist political party in Ghana based on the ideas of the first President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah. The CPP was formed in June 1949 after Nkrumah broke away from the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. B. Danquah</span> Ghanaian politician and lawyer (1895–1965)

Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah was a Ghanaian politician, scholar, anglophile, lawyer and statesman. He was a politician in pre- and post-colonial Ghana, which was formerly the Gold Coast.

The United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) was an early nationalist movement with the aim of self-government " in the shortest possible time" founded in August 1947 by educated Africans such as J.B. Danquah, A.G. Grant, R.A. Awoonor-Williams, Edward Akufo Addo, and others, the leadership of the organisation called for the replacement of Chiefs on the Legislative Council with educated persons. whose aim was to bring about Ghanaian independence from their British colonial masters after the Second World War. The United Gold Coast Convention appointed its leaders to include Kwame Nkrumah, who was the Secretary General. However, upon an allegation for plans against Nkrumah's leadership, he was arrested and jailed. The UGCC leadership broke up and Kwame Nkrumah went on a separate way to set up the Convention People's Party (CPP) for the purpose of self-governance. The UGCC was founded in Saltpond.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ako Adjei</span> Ghanaian statesman, politician, lawyer and journalist

Ako Adjei, was a Ghanaian statesman, politician, lawyer and journalist. He was a member of the United Gold Coast Convention and one of six leaders who were detained during Ghana's struggle for political independence from Britain, a group famously called The Big Six. Adjei became a member of parliament as a Convention People's Party candidate in 1954 and held ministerial offices until 1962 when as Minister for Foreign Affairs he was wrongfully detained for the Kulungugu bomb attack.

The Big Six were six leaders of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), one of the leading political parties in the British colony of the Gold Coast, known after independence as Ghana. They were detained by the colonial authorities in 1948 following disturbances that led to the killing of three World War II veterans. They are pictured on the front of the Ghana cedi notes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1951 Gold Coast general election</span>

General elections were held in Gold Coast on 8 February 1951. Although elections had been held for the Legislative Council since 1925, the Council did not have complete control over the legislation, and the voting franchise was limited to residents of urban areas meeting property requirements and the councils of chiefs. The 1951 elections were the first in Africa to be held under universal suffrage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paa Grant</span> Ghanaian politician (1878–1956)

George Alfred Grant, popularly known as Paa Grant, was a merchant and politician in the Gold Coast who has been called "the father of Gold Coast politics". As a political activist, he was th founder, financer and the first president of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) in August 1947. He was also one of Ghana's Founding Fathers. He paid for Kwame Nkrumah to return to Ghana from the United States. A roundabout has been named after George Grant in Sekondi Takoradi in his memory. Many opinion leaders have said it will be right to mention his name in the struggle for Ghanas independence the same vain as the 'Big Six '.

Founders' Day is a national public holiday observed to commemorate the contributions of all the people, notably the "Big Six" who led the struggle for Ghana's independence. The Founder's Day was formerly called "Founder's Day" with the letter "S" appearing after an apostrophe and it was celebrated to earmark the achievements of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hannah Kudjoe</span> Ghanaian activist (1918–1986)

Hannah Esi Badu Kudjoe was a prominent activist for Ghanaian independence in the 1940s and 1950s. She was one of the first high-profile female nationalists in the movement, and was the National Propaganda Secretary for the Convention People's Party. She was a political activist during the government of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. She was also an active philanthropist and worked to improve women's lives in Northern Ghana. Hannah had the ability to bring people together. She was able to convince others to support and fight for independence. She helped Kwame Nkrumah in bringing people to join the CPP and support it. She once helped the Big Six when they were arrested by bringing people together to call for their release by the colonial government.

Akua Asabea Ayisi was a feminist, former High Court Judge and the first female Ghanaian journalist. During the rise of the Ghanaian independence movement, Akua Asabea Ayisi trained as a journalist with Mabel Dove-Danquah and Kwame Nkrumah, who would later become the country's first prime minister and president.

Adeline Sylvia Eugenia Ama Yeboakua Akufo-Addo was a First Lady of the second republic of Ghana as the wife of president Edward Akufo-Addo. She was the mother of president Nana Akufo-Addo.

Nii Kwabena Bonnie III, also known as Kwamla Theodore Taylor, was a Ghanaian (Ga) traditional ruler in Gold Coast, a British colony in West Africa, in 1947. He was a chief of Osu Alata Mantse and Oyokohene of Techiman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agnes Oforiwa Tagoe-Quarcoopome</span>

Agnes Oforiwa Tagoe-Quarcoopome, also known as Auntie Oforiwa, was one of the women who supported Kwame Nkrumah in the fight for Ghanaian independence. She was also a market queen.

The Association of West African Merchants (AWAM) was a trade association that sold European goods in the Gold Coast. It was originally formed in 1916 for European merchants to discuss problems relating to West African trade. The Gold Coast branch was formed during the late Second World War as suggested by the government to assist in the administration of the war-time economic controls. The acronym AWAM over the years became used to mean the manipulation of terms of trade to disadvantage customers in favour of traders. In the local parlance, it was synonymous with "Kuluulu".

Kwesi Plange was a Ghanaian politician and educationist, He was a founding member of the Convention People's Party (CPP) and the first headmaster of Ghana National College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political history of Ghana</span>

The Political history of Ghana recounts the history of varying political systems that existed in Ghana during pre-colonial times, the colonial era and after independence. Pre-colonial Ghana was made up of several states and ethnic groups whose political system was categorized by 3 main administrative models; Centralized, Non-centralized and Theocratic states. In the colonial era, the British Empire employed different forms of government among its four territorial possessions in the Gold Coast. Indirect rule was implemented in the late 19th century after its success in Northern Nigeria. From the 1940s, native Ghanaians yearned for more autonomy. This resulted in the several constitutional reforms as well as the creation of the office of the Prime Minister in 1952.

References

  1. ↑ "History | About Us". www.psc.gov.gh. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  2. ↑ "KWAME NKRUMAH: THE FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE". www.guyanaundersiege.com. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  3. 1 2 3 Ratina, Nana Ofori Kissi (2017-09-20). "Founders Day Controversy: Let's not pretend". www.ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  4. ↑ "November 20th, 1949: Nkrumah rejects the Coussey Committee recommendations". Edward A. Ulzen Memorial Foundation. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  5. ↑ Arden-Clarke, Charles (1958). "Gold Coast Into Ghana: Some Problems of Transition". International Affairs. 34 (1): 49–56. doi:10.2307/2605866. ISSN   0020-5850.
  6. ↑ "March 14, 1949: The Sir Henley Coussey Commission begins deliberations". Edward A. Ulzen Memorial Foundation. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  7. ↑ Nelson, Ekow (2017-10-09). "Reasons why the UGCC failed". Graphic Online. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.