GHANA, A NATION DEAD ON ARRIVAL – PART 2

Sleepy midwife NLM and Foxy midwife CPP

Pressure from US and USSR after WWII forced the British to begin to decolonize probably sooner than they had wished. Britain genuinely believed the colonies were not ready for self-governance.

[ads1]Three elections were held in the Gold Coast; 1951; 1954; and 1956.

I have only figures for Accra in the 1951 elections. Total count was 45 081. 6 candidates vied for the 2 municipal seats. Nkrumah polled 20 780 (46.1%), Thomas Hutton-Mills also of CPP polled 19 812 (43.9%). The rest; Obetsei-Lamptey, Ako-Adjei, Amaa Ollenu, and Adumuah Bossman shared the remaining 10% of the votes (Frempong 2017: 16). Nkrumah and Hutton-Mills represented Accra.

1954 Elections

1956 Elections

Discussion

Few points to orientate ourselves.

1. After Gbedemah-led CPP decimated Danquah-led UGCC in 1951, Busia-led GCP was formed.
2. After Nkrumah-led CPP crushed Busia-led GCP in 1954, Akoto-led NLM was formed.
3. Danquah got 2 out 38 seats. Busia got 1 out of 104. Akoto got 12 out of 104.
4. Number of seats was increased from 75 in 1951 to 104 for the 1954 elections. Ashanti got only 2 of the new 29 seats when because of its population, it should have had 7.
5. Nkrumah won 18 out 21 seats in Ashanti in 1954. He lost 10 of those seats in 1956.
6. These elections were for constituency-based 1^st past the post parliamentary democracy.

Why election 1956 after CPP had won an overwhelming majority in 1954? My reasons below.

1. Britain didn’t want Nkrumah to use his 2/3 majority to become a constitutional dictator.
2. Britain was desperate to keep Ashanti (giving 60% of forex) in the union, so was supportive of NLM representation in Parliament which might also reduce Nkrumah 2/3 in the House.
3. NLM wanted to represent Ashanti in parliament, reduce Nkrumah 2/3 majority, and limit his power in Ashanti. NLM fielded 39 only candidates all in Ashanti and Eastern regions. Isn’t it interesting that after 60years, NPP wins comfortably only in these regions?
4. Nkrumah resisted the 1954 elections for exactly the same reasons. He wanted all power.

I have no problem with the concerns of Britain and Ashanti, but their strategy was fatally wrong.

Look at the tables. Nkrumah didn’t have the mandate of 2/3 of Ghanaians, not even 60%. In 1954, he polled 55% and in 1956, 57%, but both gave him more than 2/3 of seats. Fair? NO.

Busia’s GCP polled 5% in 1954 but got only a seat, while Dombo’s NPP got 15seats with under 10% votes. Busia couldn’t see this as flawed. In fact, Abrefa couldn’t see beyond British thought.

In 1956, NLM more than quadrupled the votes of GCP and won 12 out of 21 seats in Ashanti. All things being equal that should have robbed Nkrumah of his 2/3 majority, but it didn’t. Why?

Foxy Nkrumah knew he would lose seats in Ashanti so he shifted his attention to independents. He lost 10 seats in Ashanti, and gained 9 from independents. He outfoxed his sleepy opponents.

With 2/3 majority, Nkrumah became a constitutional monarch over a one-party kingdom.

What should a vigilant opposition have done?

Doing the same thing and expecting different results is called INSANITY – Einstein. NLM should have called for electoral reforms based on the outcome of 1954 elections before that of 1956.

Faults in the 1954 election results:

1. Unfair party representation – CPP 55% votes gave it 69% seats, NPP 10% gave it 14% seats but GCP 5% gave it only 1% of seats. CPP and NPP over-represented, and GCP under-represented.
2. Unfair regional representation – Ashanti with 25% population, got 20% of seats, and the North with 20% of population had 25% of seats.

Recommendations to correct unfair representations in Parliament under the 1954 constitution.

1. Proportional representation (PR) – this gives the truest meaning to one-man, one-vote.
2. PR means that if Party gets 55% of votes, it gets 55% of seats in Parliament.
3. PR means if a Region’s share of total votes is 10%, it gets 10% of seats in Parliament.
4. The number of seats be reduced from 104 to 100, so that 1% of votes gets 1% of seats=1seat.

Nkrumah would still have had majority in parliament but not enough to change the Constitution and impose a unitary state, and eventually one-party state on Ghana. NLM failed the nation, and its sin of omission opened the way for Nkrumah’s sin of commission.

When I say Proportional Representation (PR), I mean fair party and regional representation. When I say PR or Tsɛmpɛ, I mean a mechanism to correct a historical error, and create a fair state.

Tswa omanye aba.

Stay tuned for Part 3 – Okaikoi, Anokye and Ghana’s political elite.