The Coussey Committee was established on 14 March 1949, after the 1948 Accra riots, to draft a constitution towards self-rule for the country Gold Coast. The committee was chaired by Sir Henley Coussey and published their report on 7 November 1949.

History

The committee made provision for greater African representation in Government as there were increasing demands for a representative government by Gold Coasters. The

Watson Commission The Watson Commission was a commission of enquiry appointed by Sir Gerald Hallen Creasy, governor of the Gold Coast (1948–1949) to investigate the disturbances that occurred in the Gold Coast in February and March 1948. The commission was cha ...

had earlier recommended an extensive Legislative Assembly with more Ghanaian inclusive on 26 April 1948. All the leaders of the UGCC were members of the committee except

Kwame Nkrumah Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. ...

. He was considered a proponent of the British ideology, as his views of "independence now" were at variance with the

United Gold Coast Convention The United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) was a political party founded in 1947 whose aim was to bring about Ghanaian independence from their British colonial masters after the Second World War. The United Gold Coast Convention appointed its l ...

(UGCC). His radical views led to his demotion to a treasurer in August 1948.

William Ofori Atta William Ofori Atta (10 October 1910 – 14 July 1988), popularly called "Paa Willie", was a founding member of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) and one of the founding fathers of Ghana, as one of " The Big Six" detained by the British co ...

headed a committee convened at

Saltpond Saltpond is a town and the capital of the Mfantsiman Municipal District in the Central Region, Ghana, Central Region of South Ghana. Saltpond has a population of 24,689 people. Economy History Saltpond was in a state of economic decline since t ...

later in June 1949 to settle the differences between Kwame Nkrumah and other UGCC members. The Committee on Youth Organization (CYO), the youth wing, insisted Nkrumah not reconciled with the

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

. At the West Africa arena, he officially rejected the recommendations on 20 November 1949. Nkrumah declared the Coussey constitution as "bogus and fraudulent". A principal body, the Ghana Representative Council (ARC), was formed to initiate an appeal against the report. This event led to Nkrumah breaking away from the UGCC. He later announced the formation of the

Convention People's Party The Convention People's Party (CPP) is a socialist political party in Ghana based on the ideas of the first President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah. The CPP was formed in June 1949 after Nkrumah broke away from the United Gold Coast Convention (UG ...

(CPP) on 12 January 1949 to attain his ideals of "self-government, now, now, now", which became their slogan. The CPP attacked both the colonial government and the UGCC.

Significance

* It gave birth to the 1951 constitution. * First all-African government

References

{{Reflist, 30em 1949 in Africa Committees Ghana–United Kingdom relations History of Ghana Politics of Ghana