GHANA:
LAND OF THE FREE 50 YEARS ON
“The independence of Africa is meaningless unless
it is linked with the total liberation of the African Continent”
(Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, 6 March 1957)
SHEILA ADDY, UNCTAD
As the nation of Ghana celebrated her 50th Independence Anniversary on 6 March 2007, the world and the whole of Africa resonated with cheer, fanfare and messages of congratulations. Ghanaians from Accra to Kentucky, from Larnaca to Zanzibar and indeed all corners of the globe stood chest strong with pride to celebrate this historic occasion. Ghana has not come all this way without trials and tribulations. The road to independence cannot be told without the history of the peoples of Ghana.
Many major civilizations flourished in the
general region of what is now Ghana. The
ancient empire of Ghana 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.
The first contact between tribal peoples of the area then called the Gold Coast and Europeans
occurred in 1470 with the arrival of
the Portuguese. The initial interest of the
Portuguese was trading in gold, ivory, and
pepper. During the 17th and 18th centuries
when other adventurers – first the Dutch,
and later English, Danish, and Swedish –
were granted licenses by their governments
to trade overseas. With the opening of European
plantations in the New World during
the 1500s, the demand for slaves in the Americas
suddenly expanded. Trade in slaves
soon overshadowed gold as the principal
export. The volume of the slave trade in
West Africa grew rapidly and rough estimates
show that about 6.3 million slaves
were shipped to North and South America.
Perhaps 5,000 slaves a year were shipped
from the Gold Coast alone. The demographic
impact of the slave trade on West Africa was
probably substantially greater than the numbers
actually enslaved because a significant
number of Africans perished in captivity.
Disease also caused high losses among the
Europeans engaged in the slave trade, but the
high profits realized continued to attract
them, until moves to abolish the trade started
in 1807.
By the latter part of 19th century the Dutch and the British were the only traders left, and when the Dutch withdrew in 1874, Britain made the Gold Coast a crown colony. The tribal kingdoms maintained varying alliances with the colonial powers and each other. Moves toward regional de-colonialization began in 1946, and the area’s first constitution was promulgated in 1951. A merger was formed between the British colony Gold Coast and the British Togoland trust territory by a UN-sponsored referendum, Ghana became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence in 1957. Osageyfo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah became an African anti-colonial leader, founder and first president of the modern Ghanaian state. He was the first African Head of State to champion Pan-Africanism, an idea he embraced during his studies at Lincoln University in the US. The independence of Ghana was a critical turning point in the struggle for independence in Africa which opened the floodgates of liberation against colonialism and apartheid. Indeed within the next ten years most African countries would achieve independence, but this struggle was not to end until the collapse of apartheid in the early 1990s. Ghana thus, became a beacon of hope and a refuge for many freedom fighters who, came to the country for inspiration and material support. In February 1966, while Nkrumah was visiting Beijing and Hanoi, he was overthrown during a military coup. After that Ghana experienced a series of short-lived democratic and military governments which ended in the ascension to power of Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings in 1979 and 1981 respectively. Rawlings’s three-month rule in 1979 was one of Ghana’s bloodiest period, with executions of numerous government officials and business leaders. His changes resulted in the suspension of the constitution in 1981 and the banning of political parties. A new constitution, restoring multiparty politics, was approved in 1992, and Rawlings was elected in free elections of that year and also in 1996. John Kufuor, the current president, is now in his second term which ends in 2008.
Present day Ghana with a population of about 22 million people is arguably one the most peaceful countries in the sub-region, standing in sharp contrast to neighbouring states such as Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone, all of which have been devastated by longstanding armed conflicts. It has a democratically elected government and boasts of one of the freest societies in Africa. Ghana is rich and endowed with natural resources such as gold, diamonds, manganese, iron ore, bauxite, timber and rich fish resources. It is the world’s second largest producer of cocoa; the main ingredient in Swiss and other chocolates around the world. It is a destination of exotic and rare plant species; vibrant traditions and cultures exemplified in her festivals. Waterfalls, world’s largest artificial lake, golden beaches, national parks, monkey and butterfly sanctuaries. Others include a National Museum, wildlife protected areas, cave explorations, natural vegetation and forests, historical slave routes and markets, and the numerous UNESCO World Heritage Monuments of Forts and Castles totalling about 33, and built in the early 1800s as European trading posts.
Last but not the least Ghana’s intellect is demonstrated in her people and to mention but a few Ghanaian UN achievers: Busumuru Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the UN “he is nevertheless the Secretary-General who was able to put the Organization firmly on the map and breathe new life into it” (10 years of UN Monthly Diary, Jakobowicz, J-M.), the late Ken Dadzie, former Secretary-General of UNCTAD, Mary Chinery-Hesse, former Deputy Director-General of ILO, Kingsley Y. Amoako, former Executive Secretary of ECA, Kwaku Aning, Secretary of IAEA Policymaking Organs and Anarfi Asamoa Baah, Deputy Director, WHO. As Ghana hosts UNCTAD XII in April 2008, the proverbial Ghanaian “hospitality” its beautiful people and colourful traditions will be in full display in recognition of Ghana’s long-standing relationship with the United Nations, which it joined on 8 March 1957. A happy 50th independence anniversary to Ghana.
For more information on the year-long celebrations
both in Ghana and Switzerland,
please visit the following sites:
www.ghana50.gov.gh
www.goldenghana.ch.
