1960 Ghanaian presidential election

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1960 Ghanaian presidential election

Presidential elections were held for the first time in Ghana on 27 April 1960. The elections were held
alongside a referendum on creating a republic with an executive presidency. The winner of the
elections would become the country's first president if the new republican constitution was passed,
which it did.

Candidates 1960 Ghanaian presidential election

There were only two candidates:

Kwame Nkrumah, incumbent


27 April 1960
Prime Minister and leader of the
Convention People's Party

J. B. Danquah, United Party leader


and one of the Big Six

Results

Nominee Kwame J. B. Danquah


Nkrumah

Party CPP United Party

Popular vote 1,016,076 124,623

Percentage 89.07% 10.93%

Elected
President

Kwame
Nkrumah
CPP
Candidate Party Votes %

Kwame Nkrumah Convention People's Party 1,016,076 89.07

J. B. Danquah United Party 124,623 10.93

Total 1,140,699 100.00

Registered voters/turnout 2,098,651 –

Source: African Elections Database (http://africanelections.tripod.com/gh.html#1960_Presidential_Election)

Aftermath

After winning the election, and the passing of the new constitution in the simultaneous referendum,
Nkrumah was inaugurated on 1 July 1960, replacing Governor-General William Hare as head of
state. Danquah was imprisoned the following year under the Preventive Detention Act, but only held
for a year. On his release, he was elected President of the Ghana Bar Association. He was
imprisoned again in 1964 and died in jail.

Four years later, another referendum strengthened Nkrumah's powers and turned the country into a
one-party state (with an official result of 99.91% in support).

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