Following World War II, the European colonies in West Africa began demanding self-rule and then independence. In 1947, the newly formed United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) led by “The Big Six” called for “self-government within the shortest possible time” following the Gold Coast legislative election, 1946.
The colony’s drive for independence was led by nationalist and Pan-African leader Kwame Nkrumah, who viewed Ghana’s sovereignty as being important not only for the Ghanaian people but for all of Africa.Ghana achieved its independence from the British on 6 March 1957. Most workers have been given the day off – tens of thousands have gathered in the capital, Accra, to greet the independent country’s first prime minister, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
African-Americans, including Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X, visited Ghana, and many Africans still struggling for their own independence looked on it as a beacon of the future to come.
After a long period of colonial rule, the newly elected Assembly of Ghana, passed a motion directing the government to demand independence from Britain. According to the Ghana Independent Act, the monarch was still acting as the head of state but was represented in Ghana by a Governor-General. By 1960, when Ghana became a republic, the Governor-General was replaced by an executive president.
However, Ghana, before independence in 1957, had been the British colony of the Gold Coast, in which the British denominations of shilling and penny were traditionally used; special gold was coined to mark the declaration of a republic in 1960.
Ghana was the world’s leading producer of cocoa, boasted a well-developed infrastructure to service trade, and enjoyed a relatively advanced education system. Ghana is considered one of the more stable countries in West Africa since its transition to multi-party democracy in 1992.
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