Today in History: Ghana was declared a republic
The country had previously been a colony of the United Kingdom, and finally declared itself a republic in 1960.
Ghana became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence from the United Kingdom when it declared independence on 6 March, 1957.
It all started when, in 1947, when the newly formed United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) called for “self-government within the shortest possible time” following the Gold Coast legislative election in 1946. Kwame Nkrumah was the first Prime Minister of Ghana and President of Ghana and formed the Convention People’s Party (CPP) with the motto of “self-government now”.
Nkrumah won a majority in the Gold Coast legislative election in 1951, and for the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly in 1952. He was appointed leader of the Gold Coast’s government business. The Gold Coast region declared independence from the United Kingdom on 6 March, 1957, and established the nation of Ghana.
On 6 March, 1957, at 12am, Nkrumah declared Ghana’s establishment and autonomy. On 1 July 1960, following the Ghanaian constitutional referendum in 1960 and the Ghanaian presidential election in 1960, Nkrumah declared Ghana a republic with himself as the first President of Ghana.
At the time of independence, Nkrumah declared, “My first objective is to abolish from Ghana poverty, ignorance, and disease. We shall measure our progress by the improvement in the health of our people; by the number of children in school, and by the quality of their education; by the availability of water and electricity in our towns and villages; and by the happiness which our people take in being able to manage their own affairs. The welfare of our people is our chief pride, and it is by this that the government will ask to be judged.”
Though it was declared a republic, the country remained part of the British Commonwealth of Nations.
In 1966, a group of military officers overthrew Nkrumah in a coup d’état and placed Ghana under the authority of the National Liberation Council.
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