UGCC: How Ghana's 1st Political Party was Formed on August 4, 1947; it Never won an Election
- UGCC was the very first political party to be formed in Ghana during the Gold Coast era
- Interestingly, it never won an election as Dr Kwame Nkrumah's CPP won against the UGCC massively in the first general election in 1951
- Nkrumah made great history as he won the election although he was in prison at the time
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On August 4, 1947, 74 years ago, Ghana's very first political party called the United Gold Coast Convention was formed.
Ghanaianmuseum.com reports that UGCC was formed in August 1947 by educated Africans such as J.B. Danquah, A.G. Grant, R.A. Awoonor-Williams, and Edward Akufo Addo (all lawyers except for Grant, who was a wealthy businessman).
In 1947, when the UGCC was created in the Gold Coast to oppose colonial rule, Dr Kwame Nkrumah was invited from London to become the movement’s general secretary.
Source: UGC
However, in March 1948, Dr Kwame Nkrumah was arrested and detained together with other leading members of the nation's first local political movement for activism.
In an interesting turn of events, Nkrumah left the UGCC after the other members of the UGCC were invited to make recommendations to the Coussey Committee, which was advising the governor on the path to independence.
The visionary and passionate leader, Nkrumah, then set up his own party, the Convention People's Party (CPP) which punished the UGCC mercilessly in the general elections that were subsequently held in 1951.
Nkrumah's CPP's moto was 'self-government now' which was vibrantly embraced by the masses as opposed to that of UGCC that said, 'self-government within the shortest possible time'
On February 8, 1951, the Convention People's Party (CPP) contested every seat, while the United Gold Coast Convention and National Democratic Party provided its main opposition.
Kwame Nkrumah's Convention People's Party won 34 of the 38 elected seats in the assembly, claiming all five seats and nearly 95% of the vote in urban areas.
After winning the Accra Central seat, Nkrumah was released from prison and was appointed "Leader of Government Business", before becoming the country's first Prime Minister the following year after a constitutional amendment.
UGCC never got to win any election in its history.
Meanwhile, famous Ghanaian media personality, Captain Smart, who is known for his powerful and controversial demands on authorities to do right, has joined the Fix The Country demonstration.
In a video that is now circulating on social media, Captain Smart was captured as he poured libation to Ghana's first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
Captain Smart, while at it, told the late Pan-Africanist to bring his wisdom back to the leaders of Ghana because Ghanaians are in pain, due to mismanagement of the country's resources.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
