# Referendum creates a one-party state (31 January 1964)

URL: https://allhistories.com/ghana/timeline/1964-referendum-creates-a-one-party-state
Location: Ghana
Themes: main-event

In late January 1964 Ghana held a referendum on constitutional amendments that made the Convention People's Party the sole legal party and gave the president the power to dismiss judges. The results announced by the government showed overwhelming approval, with figures of over 99 per cent, but the process was widely criticised as unfree. Opposition groups were largely banned or in detention. Nkrumah argued that a one-party system fit African conditions and would unify the nation. Critics, including exiled opponents and later the NLC, said that it removed legal opposition and entrenched the personality cult. The constitutional change formed part of a broader trend of centralising power. It was reversed after 1966, when multi-party politics returned under the National Liberation Council and the Second Republic. At the date of this event the principal authority over the largest part of present-day Ghana, by the convention of this dataset, lay with Kwame Nkrumah, President of Ghana (1960–1966). The one-party constitution is a central reference point in Ghanaian debates about democracy and the dangers of concentrated power. The referendum is regularly cited when Ghanaians discuss why the Fourth Republic's 1992 constitution contains strong guarantees for multi-party competition, as well as protections against arbitrary detention and one-party rule.

## Why it matters
The one-party referendum ended legal opposition and became a key charge against Nkrumah's government.

Ruler at the Time: [Kwame Nkrumah](https://allhistories.com/ghana/rulers/kwame-nkrumah-1951)

## Sources
- [One-party state](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-party_state)
- [Convention People's Party (Ghana)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_People's_Party_(Ghana))
- [Kwame Nkrumah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwame_Nkrumah)