United Gold Coast Convention
Encyclopedia
The United Gold Coast Convention was a political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 whose aim was to bring about Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

ian independence from British rule
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

 after the Second World War.

Native African merchants were, in the 1940s, ready to finance the organization of a political movement to assure their commercial interests. The party was founded by J. B. Danquah
J. B. Danquah
Nana Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah was a Ghanaian statesman, pan-Africanist, scholar and historian. He played a significant role in pre and post colonial Ghana. In fact, he is credited with giving Ghana its name...

 in 1946 as a combination of chiefs, academics and lawyers.

In 1947, Kwame Nkrumah
Kwame Nkrumah
Kwame Nkrumah was the leader of Ghana and its predecessor state, the Gold Coast, from 1952 to 1966. Overseeing the nation's independence from British colonial rule in 1957, Nkrumah was the first President of Ghana and the first Prime Minister of Ghana...

 returned to Ghana accepting Danquah's invitation to become party General Secretary
General Secretary
The office of general secretary is staffed by the chief officer of:*The General Secretariat for Macedonia and Thrace, a government agency for the Greek regions of Macedonia and Thrace...

. Big Six member Ebenezer Ako-Adjei
Ebenezer Ako-Adjei
Dr. Ebenezer Ako-Adjei was a nationalist politician from Ghana. Ako-Adjei is considered to be one of the Big Six in the history of Ghanaian independence. The Big Six are arguably some of the most famous people in Ghana's fight for independence from British rule...

 recommended inviting Nkrumah, whom he had met at Lincoln University
Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)
Lincoln University is the United States' first degree-granting historically black university. It is located near the town of Oxford in southern Chester County, Pennsylvania. The university also hosts a Center for Graduate Studies in the City of Philadelphia. Lincoln University provides...

. Nkrumah was offered a salary of £250, Paa Grant
Paa Grant
George Alfred Grant, popularly known as Paa Grant was a merchant and politician in the Gold Coast....

 paid the boat fare from Liverpool to Ghana. Danquah and Nkrumah disagreed over the direction of the independence movement and parted ways after two years. Nkrumah went on to form the Convention People's Party
Convention People's Party
The Convention People's Party is a socialist political party in Ghana, based on the ideas of former President Kwame Nkrumah.The CPP was formed in 1949 by Kwame Nkrumah to campaign for the independence of the Gold Coast. It ruled Ghana from 1957 to 1966...

 and later became the first president of independent Ghana.

The UGCC disbanded after performing poorly in the 1951 elections
Gold Coast legislative election, 1951
Elections for the Legislative Assembly were held for the first time in the Gold Coast on 8 February 1951. Although elections had been held for the Legislative Council since 1925, the Council did not have complete control over the legislation, and the voting franchise was limited to councils of chiefs...

.
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