Independent Ghana at the Forefront of the African Revolution
On 6 March 1957, the Gold Coast (now known as Ghana) gained independence from Britain. Ghana became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and was led to independence by Kwame Nkrumah who transformed the country into a republic. The country was the first in the African continent to gain independence from European colonialism.
From his return to Ghana in 1947, as general secretary of the United Gold Coast Convention to his release from prison in 1951, Nkrumah became head of the Convention People’s Party to take over the post of Leader of Government Business. Subsequently, as Prime Minister, Nkrumah mobilised the sound forces of the country and gave direction and perspective to the militant movements of ex-servicemen, workers and youth which opened the road to independence.
His challenge to the old-line reformist and temporising leadership expressed in the slogans of “independence now” and “positive action” was effective. Independence on 6 March 1957, coming on the eve of the great wave of African political emancipation from direct foreign rule, placed Ghana automatically in the vanguard of Africa’s forward march.
It was not only the chance of timing however which placed Ghana in the forefront of the African Revolution. Kwame Nkrumah reiterated time and again that the emancipation of Ghana was only meaningful in the overall context of African freedom and unity. His militant call for united str
