The Ghana Independence Act 1957 is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

that granted 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 ...

fully responsible government within the

British Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

under the name of

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 ...

. The Act received the

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...

on 7 February 1957 and Ghana came into being on 6 March 1957. Independence within the British Commonwealth could not be attained by a dependent territory like the Gold Coast without legislation passed at

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

. The main provisions of the Act closely follow the Statute of Westminster and the Ceylon Independence Act 1947. The grant of independence to the Gold Coast was achieved by two separate legislative operations, namely, the passing of the Act and the making of the Ghana (Constitution) Order in Council 1957. A matter that complicated the legislation was that what was to become Ghana was not a single, constitutional unit but rather four distinct areas: The

Gold Coast Colony The Gold Coast was a British Crown colony on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa from 1821 until its independence in 1957 as Ghana. The term Gold Coast is also often used to describe all of the four separate jurisdictions that were under the ad ...

which was a

Crown Colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Counci ...

and therefore part of Her Majesty's dominions; Ashanti which was likewise a Crown Colony and part of Her Majesty's dominions; the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast which was a British Protectorate and not part of Her Majesty's dominions; and

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 Ghan ...

which was a

United Nations trust territory United Nations trust territories were the successors of the remaining League of Nations mandates and came into being when the League of Nations ceased to exist in 1946. All of the trust territories were administered through the United Natio ...

and not part of Her Majesty's dominions. With respect to the Northern Territories, the legislation terminated the agreements with the native chiefs on which the protectorate status was based. With respect to

, a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

was held to determine the consent of its people to being united with the rest of what would become Ghana. With effect from when the Act entered into force all of what became Ghana became part of Her Majesty's dominions as a single, unified dominion named Ghana. The independence legislation began to take shape following the return of 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 ...

to power at the Gold Coast general election of 1954. The party won 79 out of 104 seats. The Gold Coast government expressed its hope of achieving independence within the lifetime of the new assembly. A dispute within the Gold Coast about the form of Constitution after independence was still unresolved as late as 1956. The same year the United Kingdom government publicly stated that provided it had the support of a "reasonable majority", the United Kingdom was prepared to legislate for the Gold Coast to have independence within the British Commonwealth. The

Secretary of State for the Colonies The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, British Cabinet government minister, minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various British Empire, colonial dependencies. Histor ...

added that " ll membership of the Commonwealth is, of course, a different question and is a matter for consultation between all existing members of the Commonwealth." This distinction reflected the view that full Commonwealth membership required the consent of all Commonwealth members. Ultimately, Ghana's full Commonwealth membership was consented to by all Commonwealth members. The Commonwealth's agreement to this was announced by the United Kingdom prime minister on 21 February 1956.

Letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

constituting the office of the

Governor-General of Ghana This is a list of the heads of state of Ghana, from the independence of Ghana in 1957 to the present day. From 1957 to 1960 the head of state under the Constitution of 1957 was the queen of Ghana, Elizabeth II, who was also the queen of the Un ...

and

royal instructions Royal instructions are formal instructions issued to governors of the United Kingdom's colonial dependencies, and past instructions can be of continuing constitutional significance in a former colonial dependency or Dominion. Content Traditional ...

to the Governor-General were issued on 23 February 1956 and became effective on 6 March 1956. An

Order in Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' Ki ...

provided Ghana with its first constitution. The 6 March independence date was chosen for its historical significance: On 6 March 1844, a group of chiefs in Ghana had signed a treaty with the then British governor. That treaty, which became known as the Bond, came to symbolise the sovereignty of the local government of indigenous authorities.

References

{{reflist 1957 in international relations 1957 in Ghana February 1957 events in the United Kingdom February 1957 events in Africa Ghana–United Kingdom relations History of Ghana Independence acts in the Parliament of the United Kingdom United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1957 Ghana and the Commonwealth of Nations United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations