As
pointed out earlier, the Burns Constitution of 1946 failed to meet the changes
brought by the Second World War. In order to satisfy the people, the Governor, Sir
Gerald Creasy, set up a thirty-nine all Ghanaian-member Committee
under the Chairmanship of Sir Henley Coussey, a prominent
Ghanaian judge to draw up a new Constitution that gives the people a real say
in the government and also to make the recommendations of the Watson Commission
on the 1948 riots acceptable to the people of Gold Coast. Hence, it is
sometimes referred to as the Coussey Constitution. The recommendations of this
Committee formed the basis of the 1951 Constitution. The Constitution was again
named after the Governor Arden Clarke who took over from the governor, Sir
Gerald Creasy.
Composition of the Committee
The
committee was made up of chiefs, ministers of religion, members of the upper
elite of intellectuals, lawyers and businessmen, among whom all the six leaders
of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), the ‘Big Six' with the exception of
Kwame Nkrumah.
Ironically,
Nkrumah was the most popular leader in the country by then. Nevertheless, he
was not made a member of the committee. The obvious reason being that he was
considered too radical.
Features
of the 1951 Constitution
The Executive Council
1. There
was to be an Executive Council (Cabinet) consisting of three (3) ex-officio
members and eight (8) Ghanaian ministers drawn from the Legislative Assembly.
2. The
Executive Council was to be responsible to the Governor as well as to the
Assembly.
3. One
(1) of the eight (8) Ghanaians members was to be leader of government business
(later Prime Minister) and approved by the Assembly.
The Legislative Council
1. The
Legislative Council (now Legislative Assembly) was to have a chairman and
eighty four (84) members distributed as follows: three (3) ex-officio
members-whites; six (6) representing mining and commercial interest;
thirty-seven (37) chosen by the chiefs; 38 to be elected directly by the
municipalities of Accra, Cape Coast, Sekondi-Takoradi and Kumasi.
Merits
/Significance of the Coussey Constitution
1.
The 1951 Constitution was significant
because it granted internal self-government to the people of the Gold Coast.
2.
The Constitution afforded the
Ghanaians the opportunity to be in the majority on the Executive Council and
for the first time the executive council was responsible to both the Governor
and the Legislative Assembly.
3.
The Constitution charged the Ghanaian
ministers on the Executive Council with the responsibility to formulate and
implement policies.
4.
The Constitution enlarged the
membership of the Legislative Council from 31 under 1946 Constitution to 84. It
also increased the number of seats for direct election from 5 in the 1946
Constitution to 38.
Demerits
/Weaknesses of the Coussey constitution
1. The
Executive Council was still presided over by the Governor. Therefore he could
veto any legislation from the council.
2. The
Governor could dismiss any Minister.
3. The
Governor could forcibly pass any bill into laws in the event that the Legislative
Assembly refuses to pass it. By implication, the Constitution allowed the
Governor to retain his extraordinary power of veto.
4. The
ex-officio members appointed by the Governor controlled the key areas of defense,
external affairs, finance and justice.
5. The
Governor retained the power to dissolve the Legislative Assembly.
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