BRIEF FACTS ABOUT GHANA
Geography
A West African country bordering on the Gulf of
Guinea, Ghana is bounded by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso
to the north, Togo to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It
compares in size to Oregon, and its largest river is the Volta.
Governance
Constitutional democracy.
History
Several major civilizations flourished in the
general region of what is now Ghana. The ancient empire of Ghana (located
500 mi northwest of the contemporary state) reigned until the 13th
century. The Akan peoples established the next major civilization,
beginning in the 13th century, and then the Ashanti empire flourished in
the 18th and 19th centuries.
Called the Gold Coast, the area was first seen
by Portuguese traders in 1470. They were followed by the English (1553),
the Dutch (1595), and the Swedes (1640). British rule over the Gold Coast
began in 1820, but it was not until after quelling the severe resistance
of the Ashanti in 1901 that it was firmly established. British Togoland,
formerly a colony of Germany, was incorporated into Ghana by referendum in
1956. Created as an independent country on March 6, 1957, Ghana, as the
result of a plebiscite, became a republic on July 1, 1960.
Premier Kwame Nkrumah attempted to take
leadership of the Pan-African Movement, holding the All-African People's
Congress in his capital, Accra, in 1958 and organizing the Union of
African States with Guinea and Mali in 1961. But he oriented his country
toward the Soviet Union and China and built an autocratic rule over all
aspects of Ghanaian life. In Feb. 1966, while Nkrumah was visiting Beijing
and Hanoi, he was deposed by a military coup led by Gen. Emmanuel K.
Kotoka.
Military Rule Gives Way to Civilian Government and Stability
A series of military coups followed, and on June
4, 1979, Flight Lt. Jerry Rawlings overthrew Lt. Gen. Frederick Akuffo's
military rule. Rawlings permitted the election of a civilian president to
go ahead as scheduled the following month, and Hilla Limann, candidate of
the People's National Party, took office. Rawlings's three-month rule was
one of Ghana's bloodiest periods, with executions of numerous government
officials and business leaders. Two years later Rawlings staged another
coup, charging the civilian government with corruption. As chairman of the
Provisional National Defense Council, Rawlings scrapped the constitution,
instituted an austerity program, and reduced budget deficits over the next
decade. He then returned the country to civilian rule and won the
presidency in multiparty elections in 1992 and again in 1996. Since then,
Ghana has been widely viewed as one of Africa's most stable democracies.
In Jan. 2001, John Agyekum Kufuor was elected president. In 2002, he set
up a National Reconciliation Commission to review human rights abuses
during the country's military rule. He was reelected in Dec. 2004.
In presidential elections in December 2008, Nana Akufo-Addo, of the
governing New Patriotic Party, won just over 49% of the vote, and John
Atta Mills, of the main opposition party, National Democratic Congress,
took almost 48%. In the runoff election, necessary because neither
candidate received 50% of the vote, Atta Mills eked out victory, with
50.23%. It was the closest election in Ghana's history.
President Atta died in July 2012. His four years in office were
marked by stability and an increase in oil production. Vice President
John Dramani Mahama was sworn in shortly after Atta's death. Mahama won
the presidential election held in December, taking 50.7% of the vote. He
prevailed over Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party.
H.E. John Dramani Mahama is the current president of Ghana. He has tried his best to stabilize the economy of Ghana since he became president but, the economy has been doing very great, we hope the rest of his 4 years term will be able to stabilize the economy.
Quick Facts about Ghana
Source:
Fact Monster
ydia Forson
