Parliament of Ghana
parliament in Ghana since 1950
The Parliament of Ghana is the unicameral legislature of Ghana. It consists of 276 members, who are elected for four-year terms in single-seat constituencies using a first-past-the-post voting system.
History
Legislative representation in Ghana dates back to 1850, when the country was a British colony known as Gold Coast. The body called the Legislative Council, was purely advisory as the governor exercised all legislative and executive powers. Reforms were introduced in 1916 and 1925, although the governor's power remained extensive. In 1946, a new constitution was introduced that allowed for an unofficial member of the Legislative Council to become its president while the governor ceased to be the ex officio president of the body. This system continued until 1951 when the Legislature elected its first speaker, Sir Emmanuel Charles Quist.
1951 was also the first year that elections based on universal suffrage was held. The Convention People's Party (CPP), formed in 1949 and led by Kwame Nkrumah, won the election that was held. Another party called the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) led by J.B. Danquah performed poorly and was disbanded soon after.
“Parliament of Ghana” enters the record as parliament in Ghana since 1950. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Parliament, Ghana and parliament can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1807513. VIAF identifies the subject as 137811521. Authority coordinates are 5.557, -0.190. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1850, 1916, 1925 and 1946.
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This entry incorporates text from “Parliament of Ghana” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.