Politics in Ghana

Ghana was formally known as the Gold Coast. This name came about as a result of colonial interest, in the 19th century, in its tremendous precious minerals, especially gold and other potentials like agriculture .Ghana was ruled by the British until March 1957 when the people of the colonial state of the Gold Coast secured their independence. It was the first state in Africa to obtain independence from the colonial control. (Austin, 1976, p.1-10; LaVerle, 1995, p.30).

The first general election was organized in 1951. The Convention People's Party (CCP) led by Kwame Nkrumah dominated the government. The CPP control of the government was enhanced by considerable electoral success in 1954 and 1956, which secured it more than 70 percent of the seats in the legislature Assembly. This party was to rule Ghana under the independence constitution from 1957 to 1960. In 1960 a national referendum preceded the creation of the first republic and Nkrumah was installed as the first president. Ghana's rulers proceeded to illegalize opposition and to create a one-party state. (Austin, 1976, p.87-90, 100-120, ; LaVerle, 1995: p.33-45).

The CPP was overthrown from office by a military coup in 1966. The country was governed by a military council, the National Liberation Council (NLC), with the presidency being held by Lieutenant-General Joseph A. Ankrah. Fresh elections were organized in 1969 in which the Progress Party (PP) won. The PP was led by Prof. Kofi Busia who held the post of prime minister after the victory.

The Busia regime, which enjoyed only the briefest moment of popularity, was overturned by a further military coup d'etat in 1972 led by a young group of officers. The reins of office were seized by the National Redemption council (NRC), a military group. Colonel Ignatius K. Acheampong was installed as the president of the state.

In 1978, Acheampong was overthrown from office by a palace coup. His council, NRC was replaced by General Akuffo and his Supreme Military Council (SMC). At this point, a new constitution was drafted by a constituent assembly and from 1979 political parties were legalized. But in the midst of these developments a young air force officer, Flight-lieutenant J. J. Rawlings and a group of radical military men of all ranks staged a coup d'etat; he and his Armed Forces Revolutionary council (AFRC) briefly took power in the months of May and June 1979. The AFRC returned to the barracks to allow elections to go ahead as originally scheduled in June, 1979. The People's National Party (PNP) won the election, with its leader, Hilla Limann. They stayed in office for 2 years. (Austin, 1976, p.100-120, p.156-157 ; LaVerle, 1995: p.33-45).

The Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) led by Flight-lieutenant J. J. Rawlings overthrown the PNP in 1981. The PNDC ruled Ghana until 1992 when an election was held. A new constitution was drafted between 1991 and 1992. Following this, an election was held. Rawlings contested and won the presidential election. The parliamentary election was organized later in the year but was boycotted by the opposition parties, reason being that there were malpractices in the presidential election, leaving only Rawlings' National Democratic Congress (NDC) to contest. Rawlings and the NDC ruled Ghana until 1996 when another general election was held. Rawlings won again for a second term. This time the opposition contested in the parliamentary elections but won few seats. Since 1992, Ghana has been under democratic rule and general elections are held every four years for both presidential and parliamentary. (LaVerle, 1995, p.46-58; Gyimah-Boadi, 1993).

In 2000, a new general election was held and the major opposition party, New Patrotic Party (NPP) led by Mr Kufour defeated the then incumbent NDC party which was led by Prof. Atta Mills. The opposition parties also won majority of the parliamentary seats. Till today the country is being ruled by the NNP government led by President Kufour. There will be another general election in 2004 when the NPP governments's term will be over.