History
Present-day Ghana has been inhabited since 4000 BC, filled by successive waves of migrants from the north and east. By the 13th century several kingdoms had developed, growing rich from the country’s massive gold deposits and gradually expanding south along the Volta River to the coast.
Power & conflict
By the 16th century one of the kingdoms, the Ashanti, emerged as the dominant power, conquering tribes left, right and centre and taking control of trade routes to the coast. Its capital, Kumasi, became a sophisticated urban centre, with facilities and services equal to those in Europe at the time. And it wasn’t long until the Europeans discovered this African kingdom. First the Portuguese came sniffing around the coast, and then came the British, French, Dutch, Swedes and Danes. They all built forts by the sea and traded slaves, gold and other goods with the Ashanti.
But the slave trade was abolished in the 19th century, and with it went the Ashanti’s domination. By that time the British had taken over the Gold Coast, as the area had become called, and began muscling in on Ashanti turf. This sparked several wars between the two powers, which culminated in the British ransacking of Kumasi in 1874. The British then established a protectorate over Ashanti territory, which they expanded in 1901 to include areas to the north. The Gold Coast was now a British colony.
The road to independence
By the late 1920s the locals were itching for independence, and they set up political parties dedicated to this aim. However, parties like the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), formed in 1947, were too elitist and detached from those they were meant to represent – the ordinary workers. So the UGCC’s secretary-general, Kwame Nkrumah, broke away in 1948 and formed the Conventional People’s Party (CPP), which became an overnight success. Nkrumah was impatient for change and called for a national strike in 1949. The British, anxious about his popularity, jailed him. Despite this, the CPP won the elections of 1951, Nkrumah was released and he became prime minister. When Ghana finally won its independence in March 1957, Nkrumah became the first president of an independent African nation. His speeches, which denounced imperialism and talked about a free, united Africa, made him the darling of the Pan-African movement.
Independence & the Nkrumah years
But back home Nkrumah was not popular among traditional chiefs and farmers, who were unimpressed with the idea of unity under his rule. Factionalism and regional interests created an opposition that Nkrumah tried to contain through repressive laws, and by turning Ghana into a one-party state.
Nkrumah, however, skilfully kept himself out of the fray and concentrated on building prestige projects, such as the Akosombo Dam and several universities and hospitals.
But things started to unravel. Nkrumah expanded his personal bodyguard into an entire regiment, while corruption and reckless spending drove the country into serious debt. Nkrumah, seemingly oblivious to his growing unpopularity, made the fatal mistake of going on a state visit to China in 1966. While he was away his regime was toppled in an army coup. Nkrumah died six years later in exile in Guinea.
Dr Kofi Busia headed a civilian government in 1969, but could do nothing to overcome the corruption and debt problems. Colonel Acheampong replaced him in a 1972 coup, but few things changed under his tenure.
Jerry Rawlings’ regime
By 1979 Ghana was suffering food shortages and people were out on the streets demonstrating against the army ‘fat cats’. Onto the scene came Jerry Rawlings: a good-looking, charismatic, half-Scottish air force pilot who kept cigarettes behind his ear and spoke the language of the people. Nicknamed ‘Junior Jesus’, Rawlings caught the public’s imagination with his calls for corrupt military rulers to be confronted and held accountable for Ghana’s problems. The military jailed him for his insubordination, but his fellow junior officers freed him after they staged an uprising. Rawlings’ Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) then handed over power to a civilian government (after a general election) and started a major ‘house-cleaning’ operation –that is, executing and jailing senior officers.
The new president, Hilla Limann, was uneasy with Rawlings’ huge popularity, and later accused him of trying to subvert constitutional rule. The AFRC toppled him in a coup in 1981, and this time Rawlings stayed in power for the next 15 years.
Although Rawlings never delivered his promised left-wing revolution, he improved the ailing economy after following the orders of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). During part of the 1980s Ghana enjoyed Africa’s highest economic growth rates
The democratic era
By 1992 Rawlings was under worldwide pressure to introduce democracy, so he lifted the 10-year ban on political parties and called a general election. However, the hopelessly divided opposition couldn’t get their act together, and Rawlings won the 1992 elections freely and fairly, with 60% of the vote. Still licking their wounds, the opposition withdrew from the following month’s parliamentary elections, giving Rawlings’ newly formed National Democratic Congress (NDC) an easy victory. In 1996 he repeated this triumph in elections that were again considered free and fair.
Ghana today
After eight years of Rawlings and the NDC (the constitution barred Rawlings from standing for a third term in the 2000 presidential elections), his nominated successor and former vice-president, Professor John Atta Mills, lost to Dr John Kufuor, leader of the well-established New Patriotic Party (NPP), which also won a slim majority in the parliamentary elections. Kufour and the NPP were victorious again in 2004, which means that each party will have had eight years in power by the time the next national elections roll around.
Kufuor and the NPP inherited some tough economic and political challenges; the party’s slogan, ‘So Far So Good’, is perhaps an uncannily accurate reflection of the confidence they and the country hold. Even though both parties continue to be criticised for cronyism and corruption, Ghana’s economy continues to grow and attract investment, and the outlook is brighter than in many other parts of Africa. That being said, in 2005 the per-capita income was an estimated US$2500 and Ghana is classified by the UN as a low-income, food-deficit country. The majority of very poor people live in rural areas. The bulk of the country’s labour force is employed in agriculture, which accounts for 37% of its GDP and 35% of its export earnings.
Copyright 2010 Lonely Planet Publications , all rights reserved, used with permission
