5.12.08

Ghana in chance to prove it's a stable democracy

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Political scientists use a simple litmus test to determine if a country has a mature democracy: Has it had not just one — but two — successful handovers of power from one legitimately elected leader to another?

Most of the nations in Africa have flunked this test. Analysts and investors now have their eyes trained on Ghana, one of the continent's rare exceptions, whose 23 million people are expected to join the ranks of the world's stable democracies when they go to the polls Sunday to elect their next president.

Unlike its neighbors whose rulers came to power in coups and never ceded control, Ghana suffered back-to-back coups in the 1970s and 1980s but then took a turn. After ruling for 11 years, ex-strongman Jerry Rawlings organized elections. He won two terms, then surprised the world by ceding power when his party's candidate lost to rival John Kufuor in the 2000 vote.

It's now President John Kufuor's turn to do so after two terms in office and analysts expect he will abide by term limits and step aside without a fuss, marking the second successful handover, a milestone not just for the country but also for Africa as whole.

Sunday's election pits the ruling New Patriotic Party's Nana Akufo-Addo against seven opposition candidates. Akufo-Addo's main challenge comes from John Atta Mills, the candidate of Rawling's National Democratic Congress.

"Moving around the continent, you can come up with — maybe — a handful of nations that have pulled this off," says Africa expert Peter Pham, director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs at James Madison University. "That's why this election is so significant."

The nations that have met the litmus test are few and include Benin, which in 1991 was the first African nation to transfer power from a dictatorship to a democracy. Recent setbacks include Mauritania, which held its first democratic elections in over 20 years last year, only for those gains to to be reversed in a coup 1 1/2 years later.

Catastrophic failures include Kenya and Zimbabwe, both of whose leaders refused to relinquish control after recent elections, causing their countries to descend into spasms of violence.

In this humid, traffic-choked capital, voters are keenly aware of the responsibility they bear. "We have an image to protect," says Sylvia Annoh, spokeswoman for the country's electoral commission. "We are an example for Africa," she says, adding that not only was Ghana the first African country to declare independence in 1957, it is now poised to become a model for the region.

Voters are also acutely aware of the stakes. With an annual growth rate topping 6 percent, the country is one of the continent's few economic success stories. Over the past four years, foreign investment has grown over twenty-fold from around $100 million in 2004 to $2.6 billion this year, according to Rosa Whitaker, a former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa who now advises the government.

"When people ask me why I am so confident this election will go smoothly, I say because people have something to lose," she says.

Even more so following the discovery last year of offshore oil reserves. The revenue from the discovery is expected to pump an extra $2 to $3 billion a year into the state purse, roughly a fifth of the country's annual budget — a huge windfall for the winner of Sunday's election.

With a record of stunning growth, it's no wonder that the New Patriotic Party is campaigning on the government's record. Akufo-Addo, a former minister in Kufuor's administration, has planted billboards throughout the capital bearing the slogan, "We are moving forward."

Yet many say there's little to show for all the statistics indicating success.

"If you think Ghana is doing so well, then hand me your British or American passport and I'll hand you mine," quips Kwesi Aning, an expert on politics who heads a department at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre.

Despite economic growth, the average Ghanaian earns just $3.80 a day and dies before their 60th birthday. Much of the country has no reliable electricity. The lack of latrines means that even in the seafacing capital, the poor are forced to relieve themselves on the white sand beach.

"When you have the nicest house in a poor neighborhood, is that really something to be proud of?" asks 55-year-old Paa Kwesi Nduom, the candidate for the Convention People's Party.

The standard of living gap has fueled the country's opposition, who argue that wealth has failed to trickle down. They accuse Kufuor's administration of corruption, pointing out that it was during his tenure that Ghana, like much of West Africa, became a key transit point for Europe-bound cocaine smuggled from Colombia.

"Are you aware that they now call us the 'Cocaine Coast' instead of the 'Gold Coast?'" says NDC deputy secretary general Elvis Ankrah.

Although Rawlings led three coups before winning his first election in 1992, he is seen as having taken the moral high ground by having handed over power. He remains deeply popular and has helped rally thousands of supporters behind Atta Mills, who has put up posters of himself standing next to a photoshop cutout of Barack Obama in an effort to emphasize that he stands for change.

The ruling party, which continues to get top marks from the international community, may well lose to the NDC on Sunday, or else in the runoff to be held if no candidate secures over 50 percent of the vote.

What this shows is that Ghana is yearning for more than just a technical definition of democracy, says Aning. To be sure, the country is expected to have its second successful handover of power — but is that really enough?

Everyone knows, he says, that in the country's impoverished interior, voters flock to political rallies in the hopes of getting a free T-shirt emblazoned with the candidate's face. It's not out of love for the candidate, says Aning, but because that T-shirt could well be the only piece of new clothing he or she will get this year.

"If people are so poor that a T-shirt, a bit of food and some music is enough to sway them to vote for one candidate, then can you really talk of democracy?" asks Aning.

"We can start talking about democracy when people have a good house, a good job and can relax and discuss the issues over a good malt whiskey — but we're at least a half century away from that."

3.7.08

President confers honour on Ghanaians

Mindful of the controversy this year's National Honours Awards had attracted, President John Agyekum Kufuor, on Thursday capitalised on his official speech to play up national reconciliation as the rationale behind the annual event.

President Kufuor who hammered on the new award: "Grand Order of the Star and Eagles of Ghana," which he created and became the first recipient, and the number of awardees of about 244, said it was a way of bringing all hands on deck for national development.

Addressing the large audience at the auditorium of the Accra International Conference Centre, he stressed that Ghanaians must reach out to one another, within the society, and bring every hand on deck for national development, irrespective of ethnic background, religion, gender, social status or political affiliation.

"This is the spirit in which nominations for this year's awards have been made to reflect government policy, the different area of the national economy and the urgent need for reconciliation."

The official list of the awardees initially included former President, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, flagbearer of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Professor John Evans Atta Mills and other members of the Party.

The list was revised when members of the NDC turned down the offer, citing political vindictiveness from the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).

President Kufuor used his 30 minutes speech, which touched on the theme for the occasion: "Branding Ghana for a Prosperous Future," to urge Ghanaians to embrace efforts by his Administration to build and strengthen the various institutions of governance to make them strong pillars of democracy.

This, he said would promote peace and reconciliation and the welfare of the citizens.

President Kufuor said the National Reconciliation Commission was established in 2002 with the sincere belief that it would be the starting point of national healing and a sense of well-being, across ethnic, religious and the political divide.

"Unfortunately, the good faith of this necessary gesture continues to be spurned with contempt by some particular group. The government's commitment and sincerity will not be shaken."

President Kufuor asked Ghanaians not to lose focus under no circumstance and permit themselves from being distracted from pressing national assignments.

He said Government would continue to uphold the laws that apply to all without fear or favour.

"It is in an environment of peace, security and a sense of goodwill towards one another that Ghanaians can develop their fullest potential."

The awardees which included Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama comprised: "Order of the Star of Ghana," "Order of the Volta-Companion," "Order of the Volta-Officer," and the Order of the Volta-Member."

Source:

GNA

24.6.08

Presidential debates slated for October, November


The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA Ghana) has fixed October 15 and November 12 for the Northern and Southern sector Election 2008 Presidential debates respectively. Tamale would host the Northern Sector debate, while Accra hosts the Southern sector, the IEA said on Tuesday.


The Debates form part of the Institute's efforts to deepen and consolidate multiparty democracy and promote issue based campaigns during the Election 2008 Presidential and Parliamentary process. In a statement signed by Mrs. Jean Mensa, IEA Ghana Administrator to the Ghana News Agency, IEA said the debate, unlike the "Evening Encounter" with flag bearers of political parties would be open to all presidential candidates.

She said the Presidential Debates would provide a forum for the candidates to come together on a single platform to dialogue and discuss their visions, policies and programmes to enable the electorate to make an informed choice as to who should govern the nation.

Mrs. Mensa described the flag bearers who have emerged so far as personalities who were fairly well-known to the Ghanaian electorate.

"What is not so well-known is what they stand for and how they intend to govern the country if elected to the high office of the Presidency.

"The Presidential Debate will therefore introduce an issue-driven approach and dimension to the electioneering campaign to enable the campaign to move away from one of personalities, acrimony, insults and attacks which have become the norm of African electoral campaigns." Mrs. Mensa said the Debate would also serve as a form of Policy Dialogue engagement at which the flag bearers would present their own viewpoints on issues and their own policies and programmes and point out weaknesses and flaws in the other flag bearers' policies and programmes and present alternatives to those policies and programmes. She said Election 2008 Presidential Debates would be unique from previous debates facilitated by the IEA in that it would be in two parts.

The first part would consist of a questionnaire which had been administered to the flag bearers for their written responses. Questions cut across key policy issues received from various organisations such as the Trades Unions Congress, Ghana Medical Association, Ghana Employers' Association, Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, Ghana National Traders and Dressmakers Association, Ghana National Association of Teachers, Ghana Registered Nurses Association, Women in Law and Development in Africa, National Union of Ghana Students, National Association of Local Authorities, Ghana Bar Association, and Ghana Federation of the Disabled.

The rest are the Association of Ghana Industries, ActionAid, Private Enterprise Foundation, Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Ghana Hairdressers and Beauticians Association.

She said the Institute would compile the responses from the flag bearers into a pamphlet and circulate them nationwide. Their responses will also be published in the newspapers. This, the IEA believed, would further stimulate and provoke debate and discussion of the policy issues raised.

The second part consists of two live debates to be organised in Tamale and Accra at which two moderators would pose questions to the flag bearers. The debates would be covered live on major radio and television networks throughout the country and on the internet. The debates will also be covered by the international press.

Source:

12.6.08

Four "New" Ministers sworn into office


President John Agyekum Kufuor on Wednesday swore into office four new Ministers and demanded from them hard work and dedicated service to assist him to end his tenure on a high note.


"You should work with me to satisfy the development needs of the people of Ghana, to prove that we are a Government of excellence," he said.


Dr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor, the Interior Minister, Mr. Felix Owusu-Adjepong, Minister of Energy and Papa Owusu Ankomah, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Presidential Special Initiative (PSI, were all former senior Ministers, who resigned their positions to seek the presidential nomination of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the upcoming December polls.


Mr. Kwabena Mensah-Bonsu, Minister of State in the Office of the President, on the other hand, served as Ghana's Ambassador to Togo. President Kufuor repeated the Government's resolve to work with relentless zeal until the last day in office and said he was confident he could count of their support.
He drew attention to the challenges the new Ministers, individually would have to address.
To Dr. Addo-Kufuor, he said, his expectation was that within the short time, he would work to streamline and help to raise the image of the country's Police Service.


The Service, he noted, was a good one with good personnel but, its public image, unfortunately, had not been the best and asked the Minister, who for seven years headed the Defence Ministry, to do everything possible to help polish it. Additionally, priority should be given to the fight against the drug menace.


Mr. Owusu-Adjepong, on his part, was reminded of the new character energy was assuming in the country following the discovery of oilfields in commercial quantities of world class quality, and asked him to pilot the necessary laws and regulatory mechanisms to ensure transparency and efficiency in the management of the resource.


Again, President Kufuor said, he should apply himself to the task of ensuring a cut back on the inefficiencies, especially on the supply side of power generation.


Touching on the PSIs, he observed that the nation was yet to fully appreciate the importance of these interventions. He said through them, the country should be able to launch the diversification of its economy and that this was something, Papa Owusu Ankomah would have to work on with renewed energy and enthusiasm.


President Kufuor recognized Mr Mensah-Bonsu's distinguished service as Ambassador and asked him to remain totally loyal to help him to accomplish what was left of his tenure.


Responding on behalf of his colleague Ministers, Dr Addo-Kufuor said they were aware of the success story of the Government and pledged to serve well to and leave behind an enviable legacy.
Source:GNA

Ghana is back on track with investment opportunities - Veep woos foreign investors

Accra, June 6, GNA-Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia says Ghana's economic opportunities for private sector investors are back on track as...