HISTORY
The history of the Gold Coast before the last quarter of the 15th century is derived primarily from oral tradition that refers to migrations from the ancient kingdoms of the western Soudan (the area of Mauritania and Mali). The Gold Coast was renamed Ghana upon independence in 1957 because of indications that present-day inhabitants descended from migrants who moved south from the ancient kingdom of Ghana. The first contact between Europe and the Gold Coast dates from 1470, when a party of Portuguese landed. In 1482, the Portuguese built Elmina Castle as a permanent trading base. Thomas Windham made the first recorded English trading voyage to the coast in 1553. During the next three centuries, the English, Danes, Dutch, Germans, and Portuguese controlled various parts of the coastal areas.
From 1826 to 1900, the British fought
a series of campaigns against the Ashantis, whose kingdom was
located inland. In 1902, they succeeded in establishing firm control
over the Ashanti region and making the northern territories a
protectorate. British Togoland, the fourth territorial element
eventually to form the nation, was part of a former German colony
administered by the United Kingdom from Accra as a League of Nations
mandate after 1922. In December 1946, British Togoland became
a UN Trust Territory, and in 1957, following a 1956 plebiscite,
the United Nations agreed that the territory would become part
of Ghana when the Gold Coast achieved independence.
The four territorial divisions were
administered separately until 1946, when the British Government
ruled them as a single unit. In 1951, a constitution was promulgated
that called for a greatly enlarged legislature composed principally
of members elected by popular vote directly or indirectly. An
executive council was responsible for formulating policy, with
most African members drawn from the legislature and including
three ex officio members appointed by the governor. A new constitution,
approved on April 29, 1954, established a cabinet comprising African
ministers drawn from an all-African legislature chosen by direct
election. In the elections that followed, the Convention People's
Party (CPP), led by Kwame Nkrumah, won the majority of seats in
the new Legislative Assembly. In May 1956, Prime Minister Nkrumah's
Gold Coast government issued a white paper containing proposals
for Gold Coast independence. The British Government stated it
would agree to a firm date for independence if a reasonable majority
for such a step were obtained in the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly
after a general election. This election, held in 1956, returned
the CPP to power with 71 of the 104 seats in the Legislative Assembly.
Ghana became an independent state on March 6, 1957, when the United
Kingdom relinquished its control over the Colony of the Gold Coast
and Ashanti, the Northern Territories Protectorate, and British
Togoland
In subsequent reorganizations, the
country was divided into 10 regions, which currently are subdivided
into 110 districts. The original Gold Coast Colony now comprises
the Western, Central, Eastern, and Greater Accra Regions, with
a small portion at the mouth of the Volta River assigned to the
Volta Region; the Ashanti area was divided into the Ashanti and
Brong-Ahafo Regions; the Northern Territories into the Northern,
Upper East, and Upper West Regions; and British Togoland essentially
is the same area as the Volta Region.
Post-Independence Politics
After independence, the CPP government under Nkrumah sought to
develop Ghana as a modern, semi-industrialized, unitary socialist
state. The government emphasize political and economic organization,
endeavoring to increase stability and productivity through labor,
youth, farmers, cooperatives, and other organizations integrated
with the CPP. The government, according to Nkrumah, acted only
as "the agent of the CPP" in seeking to accomplish these goals.
The CPP's control was challenged
and criticized, and Prime Minister Nkrumah used the Preventive
Detention Act (1958), which provided for detention without trial
for up to 5 years (later extended to 10 years). On July 1, 1960,
a new constitution was adopted, changing Ghana from a parliamentary
system with a prime minister to a republican form of government
headed by a powerful president. In August 1960, Nkrumah was given
authority to scrutinize newspapers and other publications before
publication. The political evolution continued into early 1964,
when a constitutional referendum changed the country to a one-party
state.
On February 24, 1966, the Ghanaian
Army and police overthrew Nkrumah's regime. Nkrumah and all his
ministers were dismissed, the CPP and National Assembly were dissolved,
and the constitution was suspended. The new regime cited Nkrumah's
flagrant abuse of individual rights and liberties, his regime's
corrupt, oppressive, and dictatorial practices, and the rapidly
deteriorating economy as the principal reasons for its action.
Post-Nkrumah Politics
The leaders of the February 24 coup established the new government
around th National Liberation Council (NLC) and pledged an early
return to a duly constituted civilian government. Members of the
judiciary and civil service remained at their posts and committees
of civil servants were established to handle the administration
of the country.
Ghana's government returned to civilian
authority under the Second Republic in October 1969 after a parliamentary
election in which the Progress Party, led by Kofi A. Busia, won
105 of the 140 seats. Until mid-1970, the powers of the chief
of state were held by a presidential commission led by Brigadier
A.A. Afrifa. In a special election on August 31, 1970, former
Chief Justice Edward Akufo-Addo was chosen president, and Dr.
Busia became prime minister
Faced with mounting economic problems,
Prime Minister Busia's government undertook a drastic devaluation
of the currency in December 1971. The government's inability to
control the subsequent inflationary pressures stimulated further
discontent, and military officers seized power in a bloodless
coup on January 13, 1972.
The coup leaders, led by Col. I.K.
Acheampong, formed the National Redemption Council (NRC) to which
they admitted other officers, the head of the police, and one
civilian. The NRC promised improvements in the quality of life
for all Ghanaians and based its programs on nationalism, economic
development, and self-reliance. In 1975, a government reorganization
resulted in the NRC's replacement by the Supreme Military Council
(SMC), also headed by now-General Acheampong
Unable to deliver on its promises,
the NRC/SMC became increasingly marked by mismanagement and rampant
corruption. In 1977, General Acheampong brought forward the concept
of union government (UNIGOV), which would make Ghana a non-party
state. Perceiving this as a ploy by Acheampong to retain power,
professional groups and students launched strikes and demonstrations
against the government in 1977 and 1978. The steady erosion in
Acheampong's power led to his arrest in July 1978 by his chief
of staff, Lt. Gen. Frederick Akuffo, who replaced him as head
of state and leader of what became known as the SMC-2.
Akuffo abandoned UNIGOV and established
a plan to return to constitutional and democratic government.
A Constitutional Assembly was established, and political part
activity was revived. Akuffo was unable to solve Ghana's economic
problems, however, or to reduce the rampant corruption in which
senior military officers played a major role. On June 4, 1979,
his government was deposed in a violent coup by a group of junior
and non-commissioned officers--Armed Forces Revolutionary Council
(AFRC)--with Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings as its chairman.
The AFRC executed eight senior military
officers, including former chiefs of state Acheampong and Akuffo;
established Special Tribunals that, secretly and without due process,
tried dozens of military officers, other government officials,
and private individuals for corruption, sentencing them to long
prison terms and confiscating their property; and, through a combination
of force and exhortation, attempted to ri Ghanaian society of
corruption and profiteering. At the same time, the AFRC accepted,
with a few amendments, the draft constitution that had been submitted,
permitted the scheduled presidential and parliamentary elections
to take place in June and July, promulgated the constitution,
and handed over power to the newly elected president and parliament
of the Third Republic on September 24, 1979.
The 1979 constitution was modeled
on those of Western democracies. It provided for the separation
of powers among an elected president and a unicameral parliament,
an independent judiciary headed by a Supreme Court, which protected
individual rights, and other autonomous institutions, such as
the Electoral Commissioner and the Ombudsman. The new president,
Dr. Hilla Limann, was a career diplomat from th north and the
candidate of the People's National Party (PNP), the political
heir of Nkrumah's CPP. Of the 140 members of parliament, 71 were
PNP.
The PNP government established the
constitutional institutions and generally respected democracy
and individual human rights. It failed, however, to halt the continuing
decline in the economy; corruption flourished, and the gap between
rich and poor widened. On December 31, 1981, Flight Lt. Rawlings
and a small group of enlisted and former soldiers launched a coup
that succeeded against little opposition in toppling President
Limann.
The PNDC Era
Rawlings and his colleagues suspended the 1979 constitution, dismissed
the president and his cabinet, dissolved the parliament, and proscribed
existing political parties. They established the Provisional National
Defense Council (PNDC), initially composed of seven members with
Rawlings as chairman, to exercise executive and legislative powers.
The existing judicial system was preserved, but alongside it the
PNDC created the National Investigation Committee to root out
corruption and other economic offenses, the anonymous Citizens'
Vetting Committee to punish tax evasion, and the Public Tribunals
to try various crimes. The PNDC proclaimed its intent to allow
the people to exercise political power through defense committees
to be established in communities, workplaces, and in units of
the armed forces and police. Under the PNDC, Ghana remained a
unitary governmen
In December 1982, the PNDC announced
a plan to decentralize government from Accra to the regions, the
districts, and local communities, but it maintained overall control
by appointing regional and district secretaries who exercised
executive powers and also chaired regional and district councils.
Local councils, however, were expected progressively to take over
the payment of salaries, with regions and districts assuming more
powers from the national government. In 1984, the PNDC created
a National Appeals Tribunal to hear appeals from the public tribunals,
changed the Citizens' Vetting Committee into the Office of Revenue
Collection and replaced the system of defense committees with
Committees for the Defense of the Revolution.
In 1984, the PNDC also created a
National Commission on Democracy to study way to establish participatory
democracy in Ghana. The commission issued a "Blue Book" in July
1987 outlining modalities for district-level elections, which
were held in late 1988 and early 1989, for newly created district
assemblies. One-third of the assembly members are appointed by
the government.
The Fourth Republic
Under international and domestic pressure for a return to democracy,
the PNDC allowed the establishment of a 258-member Consultative
Assembly made up of members representing geographic districts
as well as established civic or business organizations. The assembly
was charged to draw up a draft constitution to establish a fourth
republic, using PNDC proposals. The PNDC accepted the final product
witho revision, and it was put to a national referendum on April
28, 1992, in which it received 92% approval. On May 18, 1992,
the ban on party politics was lifted in preparation for multi-party
elections. The PNDC and its supporters formed a new party, the
National Democratic Congress (NDC), to contest the elections.
Presidential elections were held on November 3 and parliamentary
elections on December 29 of that year. Members of the opposition
boycotted the parliamentary elections, however, which resulted
in a 200 seat Parliament with only 17 opposition party members
and two independents.
The constitution entered into force
on January 7, 1993, to found the Fourth Republic. On that day,
Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings was inaugurated as President and
members of Parliament swore their oaths of office. In 1996, the
opposition fully contested t presidential and parliamentary
elections, which were described as peaceful, free, and transparent
by domestic and international observers. In that election, President
Rawlings was re-elected with 57% of the popular vote. In addition,
Rawlings' NDC party won 133 of the Parliament's 200 seats, just
one seat short of the two-thirds majority needed to amend the
Constitution, although the election returns of two parliamentary
seats face legal challenges.
The December 2000 elections ushered in the first democratic presidential change of power in Ghana's history when John A. Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) defeated the NDC's John Atta Mills--who was Rawling's Vice President and hand-picked successor. Kufuor defeated Mills by winning 56.73% of the vote, while the NPP picked up 100 of 200 seats in Parliament. The elections were declared free and fair by a large contingent of domestic and international monitors. After several by-elections were held to fill vacated seats, the NPP majority stood at 103 of the 200 seats in Parliament, while the NDC held 89 and independent and small party members held eight.
In December 2004, eight political parties contested parliamentary elections and four parties, including the NPP and NDC, contested presidential elections. This election was reported to have a remarkable turnout of 85.12% according to the Election Commission. Despite a few incidents of intimidation and minor irregularities, domestic and international observers judged the elections generally free and fair. There were several isolated incidents of election-related violence, but the election was generally peaceful in most of Ghana. John Agyekum Kufuor was re-elected president with 52.45% of the vote against three other presidential candidates, including former Vice-President John Atta Mills of the NDC. Thirty constituencies were created in the period between the 2000 and 2004 elections, resulting in a 230-member Parliament. Ghana's next presidential election will be held in 2008, and the race to succeed President Kufuor is well underway, with more than 15 candidates seeking the office.
On March 6, 2007, Ghana celebrated its 50th anniversary since becoming independent. As the first African nation to win its struggle for independence, Ghana hosted delegations from around the world during its year-long Jubilee event.
