Posted by Chester Morton / Tuesday, 6 December 2016 / No comments
The features of the Nkrumah Constitution of 1954
The Legislature
One of the main features of the 1954 Nkrumah constitution was
that it made provision for a Legislature which was referred to as the National
Assembly. The Legislature was made up of 104 members which was an increment
from 85 in the previous constitution.
Composition of the Legislature
Of the 104 members in the National Assembly, 26 of them
represented the Northern territories and Northern Togoland. 19 of them
represented Ashanti. 13 members represented Trans-Volta and Southern Togoland.
39 members represented the Gold Coast area, that is, the three Provinces of
Western, Eastern and Central. Finally, 7 members represented the four
Municipalities of Accra, Cape Coast, Kumasi and Sekondi-Takoradi. One of the
main functions of the House of Assembly was to debate bills and give approval
or reject where necessary.
The Speaker of the House
The constitution also made provision for the position of a
Speaker of the National Assembly. The Speaker was elected from within the
National Assembly by the members. The main function of the Speaker of the House
was to steer the deliberations in the house and maintain general order and
proper behaviour.
The Executive
The constitution also made provision for an executive which
was called the Cabinet. It allowed for eight ministers and created the office
of a Prime Minister. All the members of the cabinet were Ghanaians. The main
function of the cabinet was to formulate and implement policies of the
government.
Collective responsibility
The constitution introduced the concept of collective
responsibility as was then practiced in colonial metropolis of London. This
means the cabinet was collectively responsible to the National Assembly for
their actions or in-actions.
THE POSITIVE ASPECTS OF
THE CONSTITUTION
Internal self-government
One of the positive aspects on the Nkrumah 1954 constitution
was the attainment of internal self-control over the reign of affairs of the
Gold Coast. In other words, the political administration of the entire country
had been handed over to the Africans.
Removal of British members from the Legislature and Executive
The other positive side of the constitution was that it led
to the removal of the British official members from the Legislature and the
Cabinet. This means the Legislature and the Executive was now full of only
Africans.
Abolishing of the Electoral College
Under the 1951 constitution, there was an Electoral College
which elected some of the members of the Legislative Assembly. However, in the
1954 constitution, the Electoral Colleges were abolished.
Increased membership of the Legislative Assembly
It is also worthy of mention that under the 1954 constitution,
the membership of the Legislative Assembly was increased from 85 to 104. This
was good because it afforded a lot more people to be represented from the
constituencies.
All-African Cabinet
Another good side of the constitution is that it created an
all-African Cabinet. All the members of this cabinet were elected directly by
the people. Apart from that, all the African Cabinet members were given
ministerial positions.
The Governor
The constitution continued to reserve the position of the
Governor in the Gold Coast. The Governor was given responsibility over areas
like External Affairs and defense.
THE NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF
THE NKRUMAH CONSTITUTION
Governor still to preside over Cabinet meetings
One of the shot-comings of the 1954 constitution is that it
made provision for the Governor to continue to preside over the meetings of the
all-African Cabinet.
Governor retained his reserved power
The Governor continued to exercise his veto powers under the
new constitution. The Governor was given the power to reject any Ordinance that
was passed by the Legislative Council. The Governor also had the power of
Certification where he could force a law to be passed even if the majority of
the members of the Legislative Council thought otherwise. He also had a casting
vote so that whenever there was a deadlock in decision, the Governor casts a
final vote.
Issue of Trans-Volta
Another down side of the constitution is that it was unable
to bring Trans-Volta under the direct rule of the Gold Coast. In other words,
it continued to be administered by the Gold Coast on behalf of the United Nations
Organization.
It did not bring full independence
The 1954 constitution was criticized for the fact that in
spite of the great improvement over previous constitutions, it could not bring
the independence that the Gold Coasters were clamouring for. They, therefore, had
to make do with the little concession that they got.
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
1. a. What were the main features of the Nkrumah constitution
of 1954?
b. Highlight four
outstanding benefits of the constitution.
2. Highlight three advantages and three disadvantages of the
Nkrumah constitution of 1954.
