United Gold Coast Convention
The United Gold Coast Convention was a political party whose aim was to bring about Ghanaian independence from their British colonial masters after the Second World War.History
In the 1940s, African merchants, such as George Alfred Grant, were ready to finance the organization of a political movement to assure their commercial interests in the face of unfair colonial practices. The party was founded by J. B. Danquah on 4 August 1947 by a combination of chiefs, academics and lawyers, including R. A. Awoonor-Williams, Robert Samuel Blay, Edward Akufo-Addo, and Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey.
On 10 December 1947, Kwame Nkrumah returned to the accepting Danquah's invitation to become the UGCC General Secretary. Big Six member Ebenezer Ako-Adjei recommended inviting Nkrumah, whom he had met at Lincoln University. Nkrumah was offered a salary of £250, and Paa Grant paid the boat fare from Liverpool to Ghana. Danquah and Nkrumah subsequently disagreed over the direction of the independence movement and parted ways after two years. Nkrumah went on to form the Convention People's Party and eventually became the first president of independent Ghana.
The UGCC performed poorly in the 1951 elections, winning only three seats. The following year, it merged with the National Democratic Party and disaffected members of the Convention People's Party, to form the Ghana Congress Party.
