The Anlo Youth Organisation (also known as the Anlo Youth Association) was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

that existed in the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

and later

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. It campaigned for the

Ewe people The Ewe people (; ee, Eʋeawó, lit. "Ewe people"; or ''Mono Kple Volta Tɔ́sisiwo Dome'', lit. "Ewe nation","Eʋenyigba" Eweland;) are a Gbe-speaking ethnic group. The largest population of Ewe people is in Ghana (6.0 million), and the second ...

under British rule to stay within Ghana after independence. It ended by merging with other parties to form a united opposition to the

Convention People's Party The Convention People's Party (CPP) is a Socialism, 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 Conven ...

Before independence

The Anlo Youth Organisation was formed by Modesto Apaloo. The party mainly functioned in the south-eastern Gold Coast, where the

Anlo The Anlo Ewe are a sub-group of the Ewe people of approximately 6 million people, inhabiting southern Togo, southern Benin, southwest Nigeria, and south-eastern parts of the Volta Region of Ghana; meanwhile, a majority of Ewe are located in the ...

s are located. The Anlos are a subgroup of the Ewes found in Ghana and

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

Togoland Togoland was a German Empire protectorate in West Africa from 1884 to 1914, encompassing what is now the nation of Togo and most of what is now the Volta Region of Ghana, approximately 90,400 km2 (29,867 sq mi) in size. During the period kno ...

, where the Ewes lived was a German protectorate before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. In 1952, the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

merged the south-eastern part of the Gold Coast which was part of the Eastern Province with the southern part of Trans-Volta Togoland, the

British Togoland British Togoland, officially the Mandate Territory of Togoland and later officially the Trust Territory of Togoland, was a territory in West Africa, under the administration of the United Kingdom, which subsequently entered into union with Ghana ...

. This left the Ewe divided with one half under British rule and the other half under French rule. The party campaigned to have the British Togoland join Gold Coast at independence to form Ghana while the

Togoland Congress The Togoland Congress (TCP; was a political party formed in 1951 which had won three seats in the Gold Coast elections of April 1954 and two seats in the July 1956 elections, but did not survive for long afterwards. The Togoland Congress's goal ...

preferred the UN Trust Territory to be rejoined with

French Togoland French Togoland (French: '' Togo français'') was a French colonial League of Nations mandate from 1916 to 1960 in French West Africa. In 1960 it became the independent Togolese Republic, and the present day nation of Togo. Transfer from Germ ...

. In

the election ''The Election'' () is a political drama series produced by Hong Kong Television Network (HKTV). With a budget of HK$15 million, filming started in July 2014 and wrapped up on 28 October 2014. Popularly voted to be the inaugural drama of ...

held on 15 June 1954, the party won one of the 104 seats in the Legislative Assembly. Modesto Apaloo was the sole elected MP from this party.

After independence

After Ghana obtained independence on 6 March 1957, the Avoidance of Discrimination Act, 1957 (C.A. 38), was passed. Its purpose was to prohibit the existence of political parties that were based on predominantly " ethnic, religious, or other sectional interests, with effect from 31 December 1957".

An Act to prohibit organizations using or engaging in tribal, regional,racial and religious propaganda to the detriment of any community, or securing the election of persons on account of their tribal, regional or religious affiliations and for other purpose connected therewith.

This meant that the name Anlo which refers to a section of the Ewe people made it illegal for the party to continue to exist under that law. All the opposition parties, including the National Liberation Movement,

Moslem Association Party The Muslim Association Party (MAP) was a political party in the Gold Coast, active from 1954 to 1957. The MAP grew out of the Gold Coast Muslim Association, which was established as a welfare and social association in 1932. Involved in politics by ...

Northern People's Party The Northern People's Party (NPP) was a political party in the Gold Coast which aimed to protect the interests of those in the Northern region of Ghana. The NPP's leader was Simon Diedong Dombo, the traditional chief of Duori in the Upper Regio ...

, Ga Shifimo Kpee, Togoland Congress and the Anlo Youth Organisation merged to form the United Party, under the leadership of

Kofi Abrefa Busia Kofi Abrefa Busia (born 11 July 1913 – 28 August 1978) was a Ghanaian political leader and academic who was Prime Minister of Ghana from 1969 to 1972. As a nationalist leader and prime minister, he helped to restore civilian government to the ...

Before independence

After independence

References

See also