ABSTRACT
By all rights the 19 51 general election should have settled matters once and for all. The people had made their position clear: they wanted independence immediately. The British officials in Ghana knew that independence could not be indefinitely postponed. What they wanted was time - time to organise and time to strengthen their hold over Ghana. This was the real meaning of the term 'transfer of power'. Power can never be transferred. It is not divisible; you either wield it or you do not. The aim of 'transferring power' is to prolong the process of decolonisation and give the imperialists time to strengthen their local allies and if possible to domesticate the nationalist leadership.
