Politics in Ghana Since 1957: The Quest for Freedom, National Unity, and Prosperity

GHANA STUDIES / Volume 10 ISSN 1536-5514 / E-ISSN 2333-7168© 2007 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System 107 POLITICS IN GHANA SINCE 1957 The Quest for Freedom, National Unity, and Prosperity EMMANUEL GYIMAH-BOADI Introduction Three main themes have animated Ghanaian politics since independence: prosperity, democracy, and national unity. Yet, much of Ghana’s 50-year quest for these ideals was dominated by false starts as well as twists and turns. The lofty dreams of life after independence turned largely nightmarish in much of the first thirty years of Ghana’s nationhood. The “Black Star” of Africa became a poster child for a failing African state, cursed with incompetent, corrupt and repressive governments presiding over political instability, stagnant economic growth, and a decaying infrastructure. In recent years, however, Ghana appears to have returned to her earlier promise. The 50th anniversary of Ghanaian independence took place against a highly auspicious background, as the country has generally stayed the course with economic and political reform since the 1980s. Significantly , it has enjoyed democratic stability for nearly 15 years, has sustained positive economic growth (currently in the range of 6 percent per annum), and achieved significant poverty reduction. This essay sketches Ghanaian politics over the 50 years since independence , highlighting key elements of change and continuity, achievements, failures and challenges. It divides postindependence Ghanaian politics, albeit somewhat artificially, into two historical periods, first tracing distinct developments in democracy, unity, and prosperity before the 4th Republic and then analyzing the post-1992 period. The essay attempts to show that there has been a great deal of continuity in the patterns of politics surrounding these three chief aspirations, but that there has also been significant change. 108 Ghana Studies • volume 10 • 2007 The Quest for Democracy: 1957–1992 The 1957 (Independence) Constitution of Ghana (Ghana, 1957) provided for a British Westminster model of government: parliamentary democracy ; limited government; official opposition; quasi-autonomous regional administration (Regional Assemblies); separation of powers; independence of the judiciary; and protected human rights. This constitution was generally consistent with the “emancipatory” ethos of the anti-colonial movement . It was also the mark of an implicit bargain between the older, socially conservative professionals who had grouped under the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) on the one hand, and the radical populist nationalists in the Kwame Nkrumah-led Convention People’s Party (CPP) on the other. Almost immediately after independence, however, Ghanaian politics began to turn increasingly authoritarian. The Nkrumah government found ruling to be difficult within a constitutional and legal straightjacket, especially in dealing with the political challenges of a somewhat cantankerous opposition. As a result, the new government came to view some of the provisions of the 1957 Constitution protecting human rights as impediments to the quest for political stability, national integration and rapid social and economic development. The CPP administration proceeded to make a number of legislative and political moves ostensibly to deal with administrative challenges; included, however, was legislation aimed at shielding the government against legal challenges to the deportation of political opponents . The CPP also instituted a quasi-judiciary inquiry into the activities of some prominent Abuakwa chiefs; downgraded some Asante chiefs (Duayaw Nkwanta) and upgraded others (Bechem) to settle scores associated with anti-CPP opposition in the period immediately before independence; and passed the Preventive Detention Act (PDA) in July 1958, under which suspects could be detained for five years (Austin, 1964). The 1960 (Republican) Constitution (Republic of Ghana, 1960) and its subsequent adumbrations further centralized autocratic powers in the hands of President Nkrumah and the ruling CPP while weakening Gyimah-Boadi • Politics in Ghana Since 1957 109 countervailing institutions such as the legislature and the judiciary, and it empowered the president to appeal directly to the people over the Constitution . Specific provisions included Article 44(3), which gave Nkrumah the power to remove the Chief Justice, and Article 55(2), which gave him powers to issue Legislative Instruments. The Farmers Council, affiliated with the CPP, was given statutory recognition as the sole representative of farmers ; the Industrial Relations Act (1958) recast the Trades Union Congress as a centralized structure under CPP control; and in 1959 opposition leader Kofi Busia was...