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The Fifth Pan- African Congress
One of the people that helped organise the Fifth Pan African Congress was Kwame Nkrumah from the Gold Goast -
Kwame Nkrumah founds WANS
Nkrumah founded the West African National Secretariat. Its aim was to work for the decolonisation of Africa. Nkrumah became Secretary General of WANS and developed links with the Communist Party Of Great Britain. -
Nkrumah Returns To The Gold Coast
Nkrumah was invited in autumn of 1947 to become General Secretary of the United Gold Coast Convention. He arrived in December that year and WANS became inactive.
The Untied Gold Coast Convention was a nationalist party lead by J.B.Danquah who had founded the party in 1946. The UGCC was dedicated to achieving independence from British rule for the Gold Coast -
Riots in Gold Coast Backed By The UGCC and UGCC Leaders Arrested.
In February 1948 , there were riots by African ex-servicement in the Gold Coast. The were protesting at the high cost of living. The authorities suspected that the UGCC was behind these riots and arrested its leaders , including Nkrumah , but swiftly released them. -
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Nkrumah Builds Support
Nkrumah toured the country after his release and built a broad power base which included cocoa farmers, the trade unions , women and the young. -
Nkrumah Founds The CPP
In 1949 he founded a political party to represent the groups in his power base and called it the convention Peoples' Party. The party held socialist beliefs and campaigned for independence. -
Nkrumah Organises Positive Action Day- Is Imprisoned For Three Years
The colonial government was moving cautiously towards self- determination in the Gold Coast , but it was not nearly fast enough for Nkrumah and the CPP. In January 1950 Nkrumah organised a day of civil disobedience which he called " Positive Action Day". There were demonstrations, strikes and boycotts . Nkrumah and may CPP leaders were arrested and he was sentenced to three years in prison -
Convention Peoples' Party Is Successful
Despite the imprisonment of its leaders , the CPP was very successful in the local elections in the Gold Coast that year , winning all seats in the municipal and legislature elections. -
British Politician Fenner Brockway Argues For The Independence Of The Gold Coast
At the end of June , Labour MP Fenner Brockway asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies a question in the House of Commons as to whether the indication of popular support for the CPP by the people would change the British Government's position? Would the Governor of the Gold Coast be urged to release Nkrumah and the CPP leaders? Was the government prepared to accept in principle that the Gold Coast should now become a self -governing Dominion?. -
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Victory For the CPP As The British Government decides to Leave
The British Government made a decision to leave the Gold Coast . It announced a General Election in the Gold Coast from 5-10 February 1951 in which every adult citizen would be entitled to vote. Nkrumah and the CPP won a landslide victory winning 34 out of 38 seats in the Assembly. -
Nkrumah Is Released From Prison
On the 12th of February 1951 Nkrumah was released from Prison -
Nkrumah Is Asked To Form A Government
The British Government asked Kwame Nkrumah to form a government for the Gold Coast one day after his release from prison -
Nkrumah Is Elected Prime Minister
In March 1952 , Nkrumah was elected as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast by the Assembly -
The Gold Coast - Now Ghana Gains Its Independence
In 1953 Nkrumah requested independence for the Gold Coast within the British Commonwealth " as soon as the necessary constitutional agreements are made" in 1953. At 12:00 on the 6th of March 1957 , Nkrumah declared independence for the Gold Coast under the new name of Ghana - which means warrior king.
He had lead Ghana to independence , without bloodshed and disruption, without help from the US and by constitutional means- although it did help that Ghana lacked regional rivalries. -
Ghana Becomes The Republic Of Ghana
Three years after independence Nkrumah announced a new constitution which made Ghana a Republic -
Prime Minister Nkrumah is Elected As President Nkrumah
In the elections of April 1960 , Nkrumah was overwhelmingly elected as President of the Republic of Ghana. He officially became President on the 1st July 1960 -
Nkrumah Arrests Striking Workers
President Nkrumah ordered the arrest and detention of striking industrial workers- Dissatisfaction with his increasingly autocratic rule increased. -
Ghana Becomes A One Party State
In 1964 Nkrumah made all opposition political parties in Ghana illegal. He declared himself President for Life and the country effectively became a dictatorship -
Nkrumah's Regime Is Overthrown
On a visit overseas in 1966 , Nkrumah's regime was overthrown by a military coup, probably with the help of the USA. Nkrumah went into exile in Conakry , Guinea , also on the West Coast of Africa, and he never returned to Ghana where he continued to work for Pan - Africanism. -
Kwame Nkrumah Dies
Kwame Nkrumah died on the 27th of March in Bucharest, Romania -
Nkrumah Is Voted Africa's Man Of The Millennium
Despite his dictatorship and exile , Nkrumah had been an early enthusiast of the Pan African Movement and he became a revered figure among the first generation of post-colonial African leaders.He was voted Africa's Man Of The Millennium by BBC World Service listeners in 2000. He straddles the divide between competing regional interests and Pan Africanism. it was helpful that the Gold Coast / Ghana did not have the same regional rivalries as existed in other African colonies.