CAB129-78 — Page 154

Printed for the Cabinet. November 1955

Page 154

SECRET

C.P. (55) 183

28th November, 1955

CABINET

Copy No. 63

THE GOLD COAST: CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

MEMORANDUM EY THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES

This Paper describes political developments in the Gold Coast and provides a background to C.P. (55) 182 by the Commonwealth Secretary. It calls for no action itself.

2. The Convention People's Party (C.P.P.), led by Dr. Nkrumah, has provided the Government of the Gold Coast since 1951. At the last General Election in June 1954 it won 71 seats out of 104, and now has a strength of 78 in that Legislature as a number of Independents have subsequently joined the Party. The main Opposition Party is the Northern People's Party with 14 members, and some of the Independent members also oppose the Government. On a wide range of subjects Dr. Nkrumah's Government has shown itself to be responsible and efficient; its financial policies have been restrained and sensible and great attention has been given to measures to promote the cocoa industry, which is of course the mainstay of the country's economy. The Government has also co-operated fully in the work of the Preparatory Commission for the Volta River Project. Perhaps the most difficult problem in the relations between Dr. Nkrumah's Government and Her Majesty's Government has been that of the future of the Trust Territory of British Togoland, and, despite manifold difficulties, agreement on the policies which should be followed has always been reached.

3. There is another side to this picture. The progressive reduction of senior European staff has not been matched by the supply of trained African replacements. What is more serious, Gold Coast Ministers have not in the past shown themselves at all times completely determined to stamp out corruption. In addition, their natural wish to promote economic and social development has led them to think in terms of action by a strong central Government, and they have unfortunately provoked widespread resentment culminating in a serious dispute about the form of the Gold Coast constitution.

4. The main opposition to Dr. Nkrumah's

Dr. Nkrumah's Government is extra- Parliamentary. Shortly after the General Election last year the National Liberation Movement (N.L.M.) was started in Ashanti and was from its beginning strongly supported by the Ashanti Chiefs led by the Asantehene. The Movement also receives support from the Northern People's Party (Northern Territories), the Togoland Congress Party (Southern British Togoland) and numerous minor political groupings. The N.L.M. maintains the fiction that it is itself non-political: it is not represented in the Legislative Assembly but its line is followed by most of the members who do not support the Government.

5. The growth of the Movement derives from a deep distrust of Dr. Nkrumah and his Party, the wish to preserve the traditional independence and unity of Ashanti, and the fear of the Chiefs and traditional authorities that a strong central Government will take away from them most of their remaining importance and power. The N.L.M. has, for example, fiercely resisted recent legislation proposed by the Gold Coast Government which has taken away certain powers of major chiefs over subordinate ones. The Government removed some of the more offensive features of the legislation which may prove to be acceptable in its final form.

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