The Parties that Formed the United Party in Ghana
On Sunday, October 13, 1957, in order to avoid being disbanded under the Avoidance of Discrimination Act of 1957, six political parties came together to form one national party, the United Party whose purpose was to project the problems and grievances of the ordinary Ghanaian and to become the voice of the voiceless.
I am not here to condemn Nkrumah, but to educate Ghanaians on why the United Party was formed in 1957. And to disprove the notion carried out by Nkrumaists that the UP was a party of traitors and betrayers of the national course. Something, history states, otherwise.
Why were the six parties formed in the first place? Before I continue, I have given references of authorities, I quoted from. So, should any one wish to take me on, he or she must first attack the authorities.
1). The Togoland Congress: The UN Trust Territory of British Togoland was administered by the British from Accra, who served notice that it would no longer administer the territory after the Gold Coast got independence. There was the need for a plebiscite for the people in the territory to decide whether to join Ghana or remain a UN Trust Territory.
The Togoland Congress formed in 1951 and led by S.G. Antor, wanted the unification of the Ewe people in British and French Togoland as a separate state.
2). The Anlo Youth Association (AYA): Formed in 1952 by Modesto Apaloo, this Ewe-based political party campaigned to have the British Togoland join the Gold Coast at independence to form Ghana so that all Ewes in the territory and the Gold Coast will remain in Ghana, which was in contrast to the ambition of the Togoland Congress.
3). The Northern Peoples Party (NPP): Formed by S.D. Dombo, in the Northern Territories, which comprised today’s Northern, Savannah, North East, Upper East and Upper West regions. Other top officers included Alhaji Mumuni Bawumia, J.A. Briamah, Yakubu Tali, B.K. Adama, Jato Kaleo and Adam Amandi.
There was growing suspicion in the North that the CPP was much more concerned with its southern heartland and not bothered about the relative underdevelopment of the north. This paved way for the formation of the Northern Peoples Party on April 11, 1954, to get the recognition the North deserved.
4). The National Liberation Movement (NLM): The Ashanti Confederacy made up of today’s Ashanti, Ahafo, Bono East and Bono regions, was largely a CPP stronghold, until Nkrumah did the following. a). He interfered with chieftaincy authority, by introducing a new local government system in 1951, which deprived the traditional leaders off their powers and sources of wealth. b). He reduced the producer price of cocoa from £4.00 per load to £3 .12s and hedged it for four years, after elected in 1951, instead of increasing the price to £5.00 as he promised during his campaign.
c). He started imposing parliamentary candidates on the constituencies, instead of leaving it to the party folks on the ground, and d). Under his authority, through the Van Lare Commission, which in 1951 reviewed seats allocated to the regions, the Ashanti Confederacy was given less number seats in the House, in comparison to less populated regions.
The Northern Territory with a population of under 450,000 had 26 seats from 19; the Trans-Volta Togoland with a population of under 400,000 had 13 seats from 8, the Colony made up of Western, Central and Eastern regions had 44 seats from 37. Meanwhile the Ashanti Confederacy with a population of 900,000 had 21 seats from 19.
The people of Ashanti, became so disappointed in Nkrumah. And on September 19, 1954, the Asantehene’s linguist, Baffour Akoto with the youth who defected from the CPP, formed the NLM. Soon, it attracted a large majority of CPP members, youth activists and leaders like Victor Owusu, R.R. Amponsah, Joe Appiah, J.C. de Graft Johnson and E. Kurankyi Taylor.
The CPP to this day brand the NLM as a lawless terror organisation, simply because its membership was largely formed by CPP defects. The NLM slogan was “mate meho,” meaning “I have separated”. This was not about secession as Ghanaians are made to believe, but for two reasons. 1). The defected CPP activists boldly proclaimed they have separated from the CPP and 2). The NLM proposed a federal form of government, so that all regions were to take full responsibility of their resources.
The bitterness the CPP had for their former colleagues now in the NLM was made manifest when on October 9, 1955, during a banter, the CPP regional propaganda secretary, Twumasi-Ankrah, stabbed to death the NLM chief propaganda secretary, E.Y. Baffoe who was earlier, a CPP youth leader. This started the violence in Kumasi. This dark history is blamed only on the NLM by the CPP.
It must be noted that in order to make the NLM fail in its desire of becoming a national party, the CPP told people in the Colony that if the NLM won elections the Asantes will come and rule them as in the time past.
5). The Muslim Association Party (MAP): The Gold Coast Muslim Association was established in 1932 as a social and welfare organisation. About twenty years later, the Muslims started having problems with Nkrumah and his CPP who among others started targeting and attacking some Muslim clergy and businessmen who were not in the CPP.
Most of the leaders of the association strongly opposed Nkrumah and his government and in 1954 the association became a political party, called the Muslim Association Party, which sought to represent the interests of Muslims some of whom, clergymen inclusive, were deported out of the country.
The list includes, Musa Derikikyi, born of foreign parents in Cape Coast in 1905; Alhaji Baba born of Nigerian parents in Kumasi in 1914; Idris Briamah born in Accra in 1904; Aliu Allao, permanently resident in Ghana since 1919 and Sam Moshie who lived in Berekum since 1911.
The deportation of these migrants was more political, since all of them were sympathisers of the Muslim Association Party and the NLM and it was a resolve to destroy the Muslim based party.
On January 28, 1958, at cabinet meeting to decide who should be deported and who should not, Musa Derikikyi was deported because he was a member of NLM, while Ghanaian citizenship was bestowed upon the CPP Secretary General, Cecil Forde, a Sierra Leonean who was not born in Ghana.
Madam MamaremaWangara, a member of MAP, said to be well behaved and mother of three children who were all full members of CPP, was nonetheless deported, in October 1957.
But was it not stated that Nkrumah decreed that all African migrants who were resident in Ghana on Independence Day, were full Ghanaians?
6). Ga-Shifimokpee: From the time of independence, tension grew between the Ga people in Accra and the CPP. It looked as if the government was going to take over Accra to the detriment of the Ga people. Whenever some of the local elders and opinion leaders met to deliberate matters, they were attacked by the CPP. This led to the formation of the Ga Shifimo Kpee, (Ga Steadfast Society) by Attoh Quarshie, in July 7, 1957.
The party was formed to address issues on the worsening socio-economic circumstances and environment of the Ga people. Due to the increasing urbanisation and government land purchases in and around Accra, it was felt that the Gas were losing a precious resource. The party thus helped channel the concerns of the indigenes and opposed the CPP government of Nkrumah as the main agent depriving the Ga people off their heritage. There were clashes between the Gas and the CPP, which led to the detention of many Gas.
Two of the original leaders of the Ga Shifimo Kpee, Ashie Nikoi and Dzenkle Dzewuhad defected from the CPP. Even though Nkrumah’s CPP held numerical power in Parliament and in society, he still felt uncomfortable because of the eloquence and force of arguments constantly marshalled by Dr. K.A. Busia and his allies.
These arguments were not only against Nkrumah’s legislative programmes but also to draw attention to the misconduct and corruption of members and supporters of Nkrumah’s government.
Nkrumah decided that he had to enact a law to make all the opposition parties illegal. Thus came, the Avoidance of Discrimination Act (1957), which on paper was to prevent the establishment and operation of political parties based on religious, racial, regional or ethnic interests. The real intention of that law was to emasculate the opposition by dissolving all opposition parties in the country.
To the disappointment of Nkrumah, the law which was meant to be a curse to the opposition, turned out to be a blessing. The Act convinced Dr. Busia and other leaders of the opposition parties that they had no choice but to come together and form a truly united national party to oppose Nkrumah and the CPP.
Thus, all leaders of the six parties named above, came together on Sunday October 13, 1957 to form the United Party (UP).
(Ref: Nkrumah & the Chiefs – The Politics of Chieftaincy in Ghana 1951-1960 by Richard Rathborne (pp 65, 77, 105-106); GHANA: Evolution and Change In the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries by Adu-Boahen (pp180, 183-184, 186,192); Danquah-Busia Tradition In the Politics of Ghana by Kantinka K. Donkoh Fordwor (pp79, 81); GHANA: A Concise History From Pre-Colonial Times to the 20th Century by D.E.K Amenumey (pp 220,) GHANA’S INDEPENDENCE STRUGGLE: The Unfinished Task by Barima PIesie Okyere Darko (pp 161-164, 165)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ga_Shifimo_Kpee (October 2025).
Hon Daniel Dugan
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