ABSTRACT
The value of the study of elections in an African context—rare though they may now be —is the way in which elections bring into the open the political claims of the periphery upon the centre, claims which the analyst might otherwise ignore. Thus, disputes over land and allegiance, the difficulties of cocoa farming, and conflict between rival towns, go a long way to explain the clash of party interests prior to 1972, and something needs to be said about each of these areas of controversy in the Abuakwa constituency before looking at the actual details of the election.
