Two major parties struggled for Gold Coast's independence, namely: the UGCC and the CPP. Both were mass political parties and in both Kwame Nkrumah played a leading role.

1. The UGCC was formed in 1947 by a group of intellectuals for example J.B. Danquah, Grant, Ofori Atta and others. Its main objective was to fight for Gold Coast's independence through the use of constitutional means'.

2. The UGCC was an mass party, which recruited people from all, walks of life for example lawyers, disgruntled cocoa farmers and ex-service men, traders etc. This non-sectarian approach won the UGCC a number of supporters.

3. The UGCC came out as a voice of the aggrieved farmers whose cocoa plants had been cut down by government officials due to the outbreak of the Swollen Shoot Cocoa disease. UGCC interpreted this as a deliberate move to make Gold Coastians poor. It called for the compensation of farmers.

4. It also condemned the wide spread unemployment, exploitation of farmers by English businessmen and inflation. This attracted a number of people to join the party.

5. In 1947, Nkrumah returned home and was made the secretary general of the UGCC. Having witnessed Western politics and democracy, and having attended the 5th Pan African Congress Nkrumah gave the UGCC new life. He worked tirelessly for the party.

6. The UGCC pointed out the weaknesses of the 1946 Burns constitution. It had favoured the illiterate chiefs and left the elites out of the legislative Assembly. It had also vested too much power into the hands of colonial masters since they occupied the ministerial posts (the executive). It had also ignored the needs of Northern Gold Coast. The UGCC demanded for a more representative constitution.

7. The UGCC reached out to the influential but parochial Asante people and attracted them into the party. This was a big step towards national unity.

8. In 1948, the UGCC backed up the ex-service men when they organised a peaceful demonstration to Accra. The ex-service men were poor, unemployed and hungry. Yet they had been promised heaven on earth before being recruited to serve in the Second World War, when the colonial government shot some of the demonstrators, the UGCC came out and openly critisized the British as murderers. It called upon all Ghanaians to unite against such acts of terrorism. Although this earned Nkrumah and Danquah an arrest, at least it served to widen support for the UGCC and its leaders.

9. On their release, the UGCC leaders toured the whole country mobilising the people to fight for independence. They succeeded in recruiting a number of new members.

10. The UGCC pointed out the weaknesses of the 1949 Coussey report, which had been appointed to study the causes of the 1948 riots. It recommended the expansion of African representatives in the Legco and colonial cabinet but to the UGCC, this was not enough. It advocated for full independence.

11. Misunderstandings between Nkrumah and Danquah led to his breaking away from the UGCC to form the CPP. Nkrumah's breaking away greatly weakened the UGCC but the party still pressed for Gold Coast's independence - this is a credit.

12. The UGCC must be hailed for participating in the various pre-independence elections for example in 1951, 1954 and 1956 parliamentary/Legco elections. It is credited for struggling to Africanise Ghana's politics.

13. The UGCC sensitised people about the oppressive and exploitative nature of the British colonialists.

14. It also reminded the people about their past glories for example the Anglo-Asante wars of the 19^th Century during which the Asante had defeated the British twice, the great ancient Ghana empire etc. All these aroused nationalistic feelings.