Ghana Presidential Election (1960)

	1979 →
Ghana Presidential Election (1960)
1960 year
April 27th
Election result	Kwame Nkrumah was elected the first president of Ghana.

The presidential election in Ghana was held on August 27, 1960 . The first presidential election in Ghana was held simultaneously with the constitutional referendum , which addressed the issue of introducing a presidential system in the country. If the creation of a presidential republic is approved, the election winner becomes the first president of Ghana.

Content

Candidates

Two candidates ran for election:

Kwame Nkrumah , Prime Minister, leader of the People’s Party of the Convention and one of the representatives of the Big Six.
Joseph Dankwoy, leader of the United Party, one of the representatives of the Big Six, key figures of the former United Convention of the Gold Coast .

Results

Candidate	The consignment	Votes	%
Kwame Nkrumah	Party convention	1 016 076	89.07
Joseph Dankwoy	United party	124,623	10.93
Total		1,140,699	100
Voting Voters / Turnout		2 098 651
Source: African Elections database

Consequences

After winning the election and approving the new Constitution as a result of the referendum, Nkrumah assumed the presidency on July 1, 1960, replacing Governor General William Hare as head of Ghana. Dankwa was convicted the following year and was held in prison for a year. After his release, he was elected President of the Ghana Bar Association . In 1964, Dankwa was again sent to prison, where he died in 1965.

Four years later, as a result of a new constitutional referendum of 1964, Nkruma further strengthened his power by introducing a one-party system.

Links

1960 Elections in Ghana: Presidential Election (Neopr.) . InterIzbirkom . African Elections Database (September 28, 2016). Date of treatment December 4, 2016 ..