Political parties that have ruled Ghana since independence

Political party is an organized group of people with defined aim and objectives who strive to capture political power through Election so as to implement their policies and programs and control the personnel and the policies of government.

Political parties play a vital role in democratic settings where they select individuals to manage the affairs of the country and also oppose the sitting government into a correct path.

Political parties are different from Pressure groups whose core mandate is to influence the government in favour of their members welfare. Every political party aimed at capturing a political power.

United Gold Coast Convention is the first political party to be formed in Ghana. It was formed by educated elite and business merchants in the country.

It was formed in Saltpond in the year 1947. The founding fathers of UGCC were George Alfred Grant (Paa Grant), Joseph Boakye Danquah among others.

Convention People’s Party (CPP) was the second political Movement in Ghana formed by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in 1949 after he broke away from  the UGCC.

There are numbers of Parties that have governed country since independence .

Political parties that have governed the so far include

1. Convention People’s Party (CPP): It was the first political party to win Election in Ghana. They won the 1951,1954 and the 1956 election with their founder, Dr.Kwame Nkrumah as their candidate. They won the election due  to popularity of the presidential candidate and the nature of their party.

They run the administration of the country for nine years until they were outskirted from power in the 1966 Coup.

CPP was subsequently banned and Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s ministers were dismissed from office

Progress Party(P.P)

The Progress Party (PP) was formed following the the lifting of the ban on political campaign by the National Liberation Council (NLC) government.

On 3rd September,1969, Kofi Abrefa Busia was sworn in as the Prime Minster of Ghana in the ticket of Progress of Party.

The party assumed the running of the country after winning the 1969 elections.

The party aimed at to work on the Ghanaian economy to ensure a steady growth of the economy but the introduction of huge taxes  resulted in several strikes and boycotts which led to their downfall when the Supreme Military Council (SMC I) overthrown them on 13th January,1972.

People’s National Party (PNP)

The PNP was formed when the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) lifted the ban on political campaign in 1979. The party was formed to contest the elections under the Third Republican Constitution. The party’s leaders included Dr. Hilla Limman, Ekow Daniels,Krobo Edusei,Kojo Botsio and other members of the CPP.

The main aim of the PNP was to continue the the good policies of Dr.Nkrumah and also promote national unity and reconciliation.

The PP government respected the fundamental human rights of Ghanaians, freedom of speech and other natural  rights guaranteed.

Inflation rate was a problem of the PNP.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC)

The National Democratic Congress was formed in 1992 following the return the country to civilian rule. The country had been under military rule since 1981 under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) government. The NDC emanated from the PNDC. Flt.Lt. Jerry John Rawlings,Dr. Obed Asamoah and others are the leaders.

They won the 1992 and 1996 elections with Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings as their Candidate, 2008 elections with Professor John Evans Atta Mills and John Dramani Mahama in the 2012 general elections.

The NDC is a mass party which it membership is open to everyone irrespective of their social status.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP)

NPP was formed in the year 1992 when the country return to cilvilian rule.

Dr. Adu Boahen, was one of the key founders of the NPP.

The party won it first presidential election in the 2000 general elections with John Agyekum Kuffour as their presidential candidate.

They lost the 2008 and 2012 elections to the incumbent NDC.

They came back to win the 2016 and 2020 elections respectively with Nana Addo Akuffo as their candidate.

Some of the existing political parties in Ghana includes; People National Congress (PNC), Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), All People’s Congress (APC), Ghana Union Movement (GUM), Liberal Party Ghana (LPG) and many.

National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP) have dominated in the Ghananain political scene since 1992