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Opposition in Ghana: 1947–67

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2014

Dennis Austin
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Extract

How simple the Ghana picture now seems! First, the opposition of nationalist demands to colonial rule; later, the opposition of local movements to the national government, then the internal opposition of sectional groups within the single party until the military intervened to turn everything awry. The story has a familiar ring to it. Anti-colonialism, one can argue, was mistaken for nationalism; but as soon as it became clear that the British were preparing to withdraw, politics became a destructive conflict between the would-be nationalist movement and tribal interests. In terms of this argument the overthrow of the Nkrumah regime has to be seen as simply one more example of the weakness of the structure of control in the newly independent states. Frailty, thy name is African nationalism ! The African colonies became self-governing before it was clear that a single ‘self’ existed; they are states before they are nations, and lack that ‘self-aware unity’ which is needed as the basis for a stable political system. Ghanaian history under Nkrumah (one concludes) is the history of every African ex-colony, the only difference being that the rise and fall of first the opposition and then the Convention People's Party in Accra occurred a little earlier in time than comparable events in other capitals.

Type
Articles
Information
Government and Opposition , Volume 2 , Issue 4 , 01 December 1967 , pp. 539 - 555
Copyright
Copyright © Government and Opposition Ltd 1967

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References

1 As Nkrumah complained in 1962; ‘Here and there a chief’s stool becomes vacant. Two party comrades contest for enstoolment; one succeeds. Immediately the loser turns against the Party and the Government.'

2 See, for example, his condemnation of the party's ancillary organizations and the national assembly members in April 1961: ‘While I was away certain matters arose concerning the Trades’ Union Congress, the National Assembly, the Co‐operative Movement and the United Ghana Farmers' Council. These matters created misunderstanding…. Some Parliamentarians criticised the Trades' Union Congress and the other wing organisations of the Convention People's Party. The officials of these organisations objected to the criticism and made counter‐criticisms against certain Parliamentarians and this started a vicious circle of criminations and recriminations….

This is not the time for unbridled militant trade unionism in our country…. At this stage I wish to take the opportunity to refer to an internal matter of the Trades' Union Congress. It has come to my notice that dues of 4s. per months are being paid by some unions, whereas others pay 2s…. I have therefore instructed … that Union dues shall remain at 2s. per month.

Coming to the integral organisations of the Party I consider it essential to emphasise once more that the Trades' Union Congress, the United Ghana Farmers' Council, the National Co‐operative Council and the National Council of Ghana Women are integral parts of the Convention People's Party, and in order to correct certain existing anomalies the Central Committee has decided that separate membership cards of the integral organisations shall be abolished. In all Regional Head‐quarters, provision will be made for the Central Party and these integral organisations to be housed in the same building…. Also the separate flags used by these organisations will be abolished and replaced by the flag of the Convention People's Party….'

3 Government and Opposition, Vol. I, No. 4, pp. 544–5.