Muslim Association Party

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The Muslim Association Party ( MAP ) was a political party in Ghana .

It was founded as an opposition party to the Convention People's Party (CPP) by Kwame Nkrumah during the independence process of the then British colony of Gold Coast in 1954, with a regional focus in the north of what is now Ghana.

Foundation and political orientation

The MAP was created in 1954 from the Gold Coast Muslim Association, which in turn had existed since the leading 1930s. As indicated by the name, the MAP essentially represented the interests of the religious minority of Muslims living in the north of what is now Ghana. Politically, the MAP can be attributed to the aim of the Northern Peoples' Party (NPP). Both parties were founded in the course of the integration of the northern regions into the Gold Coast colony, as the educated elite and the leadership elite of the northern tribes in particular feared losing influence as a result of the political union with the southern Akan- dominated regions.

Election results

Both in the elections to the legislative assembly ( Legislative Assembley ) on June 15, 1954, as well as in the elections on July 17, 1956, the MAP was able to win one of 104 seats in the assembly. The Convention People's Party (CPP) remained the clear winner.

After independence in 1957

Soon after Ghana's independence on March 6, 1957, a law to prevent discrimination ( Avoidence of Discrimination Act 1957 , CA 38) was enacted by the then Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah and later President of Ghana . This law prohibited any grouping with an orientation based on ethnic, religious, regional or similar orientation with effect from December 31, 1957.

The full title of the law read:

Law on the prohibition of organizations that use for propaganda membership of a tribe, region, race or religion to the detriment of a community or to choose people based on their membership of a tribe, region or religion or similar To secure purposes. (Engl .: An Act to prohibit organizations using or engaging in tribal, regional, racial and religious propaganga to the detriment of any community, or securing the election of persons on account of their tribal, regional or religious affiliations and for other purpuse connected therewith . )

The Muslim Association fell under the law due to the clear reference to Islam and also due to the alignment of interests only to the northern regions of today's Ghana and thus became an illegal group almost overnight, although it had been represented in parliament since your elections in 1954. Affected were the Anlo Youth Association , Togoland Congress , Northern Peoples' Party and other organizations such as Ga Shifimo Kpee .

MAP - United Party

In order to avoid a party ban, various parties formed the United Party (Ghana) in early 1958 . The UP was composed of the following parties and groups:

With the founding of the UP, the MAP no longer officially existed. In addition to the successor United Party, there was only the Nkrumahs party in Ghana, the Convention People's Party (CPP) from 1958.

See also

Web links