Was The Election Of Dr. Nkrumah A Mere Plebiscite As Paul Otchere Darko Claimed?

First, I must congratulate Paul Adom Otchere for presenting his findings. True there was a plebiscite on the 19th, 23rd And 27th April 1960 for voters to decide on these two questions;

1. Do you accept the draft republican Constitution for Ghana as set out in the White Paper issued by the Government on 7th March 1960?

2. Do you accept Kwame Nkrumah or Joseph Boakye Danquah as the first President under the new Constitution?

Personally, I think Mr. Otchere has clouded the fact that there was a plebiscite to overshadow what the election between Dr. Nkrumah and Dr. J.B. Dankwah was about. Dr. Nkrumah even stated in the book that Mr. Otchere read to his followers that there was a plebiscite, but I am confident the book that he read to his followers went into detail what the election between the two candidates was implying. It was not just a mere plebiscite in the case of the election between Dr. Nkrumah and Dr. J.B. Dankwah, the government at that time pointed out that the election of the candidates "would correspond very nearly to a general election." So some people should not assume that it was just a mere plebiscite in the case of Dr. Krumah and Dr. J.B. Dankwah rather the contest was considered nearly a general election by the then government. Below is my evidence to support my claim.

Reading from the Constitutional Law of Ghana by Francis Bennion Part I- The Republican Constitution page 89-90, "The White Paper had stated that the Government would propose to the Constituent Assembly that voting should be on a parliamentary constituency basis, so that the people of Ghana would know not only the total number of votes cast but also the state of opinion in each constituency. This was accordingly provided for in the detailed regulations made by the Assembly to govern voting procedure. The regulations closely followed those in force for general elections. Both the Opposition and Government parties were entitled to have polling agents present in every polling station as a check

against irregularities, and also to have a counting agent in each constituency to witness the counting of votes. There were four ballot boxes in each polling station, and the voter was given two papers. One was to be put either in the box bearing the word " yes " in white on a red ground or the box bearing the word " no " in black on a white ground, indicating approval or disapproval of the draft Constitution. The other was to be put either in the box bearing the photograph of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and the red cockerel symbol of the C.P.P. or in the box bearing the photograph of Dr. J. B. Danquah and the cocoa tree symbol of the United Party. Apart from answering the two questions posed, the votes were to serve an additional purpose. The Government had pointed out that the plebiscite would correspond very nearly to a general election. The Presidential candidates were the respective leaders of the only two political parties in the country, and voting was on a constituency basis. It would thus be possible to tell in which constituencies the Government and the Opposition had a majority. The Government had accordingly announced that if the Presidential election showed that there would be little change in the balance of parties in the Assembly if a further general election were held, they would treat this as a mandate to extend the life of the existing Assembly, which was due to be dissolved by July, 1961 at the latest. The public were informed of the holding of the plebiscite, the issues involved and the method of voting in a number of ways. Apart from the issue of the White Paper and the widespread newspaper coverage, a large number of posters were put up all over the country. Among these were posters setting out the seven points listed in the White Paper. The posters were printed in English and in nine of the vernacular languages, including Twi, Fante, Ga and Ewe. The plebiscite was held on 19th, 23rd and 27th April, 1960, and proved a triumph for the Government. Dr. Nkrumah was elected as first President in all but two of the 104 constituencies, obtaining 1,015,740 votes as against 124,623 cast for Dr. Danquah. Only in one constituency was there a majority against the draft Constitution, which was approved by 1,009,692 votes to 131,393. The great interest aroused was indicated by the fact that more than half the registered electors voted."

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