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A Deeper Look Into The Life Of Mansa Musa – The Richest Human Being

Who Ever Lived

AFRICANGLOBE – When we think of the wealthiest people in the world, we

most often think of the Waltons (of Wal-Mart fame), Warren Buffett, or Bill

Gates. However, if you go a bit further back in history, you’ll discover that

the wealth of the kings, queens, and rulers of yesteryear trumps the bank

accounts of most modern day millionaires and even billionaires by a mile.

In fact, during his time, one man controlled more wealth than Bill Gates,

Warren Buffett, and the most wealthy member of the Walton family, Sam

Walton, combined. That man was Mansa Musa I. With an adjusted net

worth of approximately $400 billion, Musa is without a doubt the richest

man to have ever lived. So who was he? And why haven’t you heard more

about him?

Emperor Mansa Musa I, also known as Musa of Mali (Mansa actually

means “King of Kings”), was born in Mali, sometime in the 1280s. Mansa

Musa came to be king in a rather roundabout way. His grandfather, Abu

Bakr, was the brother of Sundiata Keita, the man who founded the Malian

Empire. Neither Abu Bakr or his son, Faga Laye, ever took the throne, and

Mansa Musa was appointed deputy ruler if the king ever went on an

extended trip or pilgrimage to Mecca. He was appointed deputy under

Abubakari II, who had visions of exploring the far reaches of the Atlantic

Ocean.

Abubakari sent 200 boats out into the sea, ordering they not return from

their voyage until they had reached the far side of the Atlantic, or until

they ran out of food and water, whichever came first. Quite a long time

later, one boat returned, with tales of a great whirlpool that had drowned

everyone. Abubakari didn’t believe the captain’s story, so he took 2,000

boats, and appointing himself head of the expedition, set off to find the

truth. As the King’s deputy, Mansa Musa became ruler in his absence.

Abubakari II never returned, and Mansa Musa eventually inherited the

throne.

Much of Musa’s wealth came from the production of mosques, madrsasas,

and universities, many of which are still standing today. The University of

Sankore was built during his time, and is still in existence. The quality of

life in urban centers, such as Timbuktu, was vastly superior to other parts

of the world at the time, largely due to the availability of work, and Musa’s

control of the gold and salt trades.

When traveling throughout his kingdom on the way to Mecca in 1324, his

procession included 60,000 people. Along the way, 12,000 of his followers

carried four-pound gold bars, which he gave away to the poor everywhere

he went. Unfortunately, this devalued the gold, especially in Cairo,

Medina, and Mecca, and Musa subsequently borrowed as much gold as he

could from money lenders in Cairo, even though it was loaned at a high

interest rate.

As a result, he now controlled the price of gold for all of the

Mediterranean. He also controlled more than half of the world’s salt

supply. Between his gold and his salt, traders from as far away as Europe

made annual trips to his kingdom from Venice, Granada, and Genoa, and

this gave him the power to set prices as high he wanted.

In 1330, Mossi invaded Timbuktu, which Musa had annexed in 1325. He

quickly recaptured the city, fortifying its boundary with a fort and a

standing army. As a major seat for trade in the region, control of

Timbuktu meant control of the flow of money. During his reign, Mali grew

to have more than 400 bustling cities. Muslim scholars from abroad

flocked to the University of Sankore to study, and Musa controlled

everything from his massive palace in Timbuktu, which was constructed

by architects imported from Andalusia in Spain. He also created one large

system of government for most of the Western Sudan. Under his rule, the

region was said to exist in “complete and general safety.”

Records of how Musa died vary greatly, so it’s unclear whether he died

soon after returning from his pilgrimage to Mecca, or whether he

continued to live for another ten years. His son, Mansa Maghan, became

ruler in 1332, and his older brother, Mansa Suleyman, became ruler in

1336. Mansa Musa’s period of rule is recorded as 25 years, but whether

his reign ended in 1332 because of his death, or his resignation, remains

unclear. What is clear, is that for over two decades, one man almost

single-handedly controlled a massively wealthy empire with multiple major

trading ports.

Today, there aren’t any billionaires who could command 12,000 people to

carry four-pound bricks of gold on an incredibly long walk. Or even

billionaires who could affect the price of gold by simply being in charge.

Mansa Musa was not only the wealthiest man to ever live, but arguably

the most powerful. This may be a good part of the reason his story is

skimmed over in most textbooks. That aside, Mansa Musa is a clear, and

perhaps rare example, of a very wealthy individual who held at least an

equal amount of power to go along with it. (By: Paula Wilson)

Profiles: Queen Mother Nana Yaa Asantewaa of West Africa’s Ashanti

Empire

By Editorial Staff - October 31, 2012

Nana Yaa Asantewaa (c.1840 – 17 October 1921) was appointed queen

mother of Ejisu of the Ashanti Empire—now part of modern-day Ghana—

by her brother Nana Akwasi Afrane Okpese, the Ejisuhene “ruler of Ejisu”.

In 1900 she led the Ashanti rebellion known as the War of the Golden

Stool against British colonialism.

Prelude to Rebellion

During her brother’s reign, Yaa Asantewaa saw the Asante Confederacy go

through a series of events that threatened its future, including civil war

from 1883 to 1888. When her brother died in 1894, Yaa Asantewaa used

her right as Queen Mother to nominate her own grandson as Ejisuhene.

When the British exiled him in the Seychelles in 1896, along with the King

of Asante Prempeh I and other members of the Asante government, Nana

Yaa Asantewaa became regent of the Ejisu-Juaben District.

After the deportation of Prempeh I, the savage British governor-general of

the Gold Coast, Frederick Hodgson, demanded the Golden Stool, the

symbol of the Asante nation.

This request led to a secret meeting of the remaining members of the

Asante government at Kumasi, to discuss how to secure the return of their

king. There was a disagreement among those present on how to go about

this. Yaa Asantewaa, who was present at this meeting, stood and

addressed the members of the council with these now-famous words:

Now I see that some of you fear to go forward to fight for our king. If it

was in the brave days of Osei Tutu, Okomfo Anokye, and Opoku Ware,

chiefs would not sit down to see their king to be taken away without firing

a shot.

No European could have dared speak to chiefs of Asante in the way the

governor spoke to you this morning. Is it true that the bravery of Asante

is no more? I cannot believe it. It cannot be! I must say this: if you, the

men of Asante, will not go forward, then we will. We, the women, will. I

shall call upon my fellow women. We will fight! We will fight till the last of

us falls in the battlefields.

With this, she took on leadership of the Asante Uprising of 1900, gaining

the support of some of the other Asante nobility.

Place in history and cultural legacy

Yaa Asantewaa remains a much-loved figure in Asante history and the

history of Ghana as a whole for the courage she showed in confronting

injustice during the colonialism of the British. She is immortalized in the

song.

Koo koo hin koYaa Asantewaa ee!

Obaa basia

Ogyina apremo ano ee!

Waye be egyae

Na Wabo mmode

(“Yaa Asantewaa

The woman who fights before cannons

You have accomplished great things

You have done we

To highlight the importance of encouraging more female leaders in

Ghanaian society, the Yaa Asantewaa Girls’ Secondary School was

established at Kumasi in 1960 with funds from the Ghana Educational

Trust.

In 2000, week-long centenary celebrations were held in Ghana to

acknowledge Yaa Asantewaa’s accomplishments. As part of these

celebrations, a museum was dedicated to her at Kwaso in the Ejisu-

Juaben District on 3 August 2000. Unfortunately, a fire there on 23 July

2004, destroyed several historical items, including her sandals and battle

dress (batakarikese) seen in the photograph above. The current Queen-

mother of Ejisu is Yaa Asantewaa II. A Yaa Asantewaa festival is also held

annually in Ejisu.

A television documentary by Ivor Agyeman-Duah entitled Yaa Asantewaa

– The Exile of King Prempeh and the Heroism of An African Queen was

premiered in Ghana in 2001.

A stage show written by Margaret Busby, Yaa Asantewaa: Warrior Queen,

featuring master drummer Kofi Ghanaba and with a pan-African cast,

toured the UK and Ghana in 2001. A radio drama by the same author was

also serialized in 2003.

Modern Ghana was created from the British Gold Coast Colony,

established in 1874, and the UK-administered Trusteeship Territory of

Togoland, incorporated in 1956 following a plebiscite.

Part of the Gold Coast Trans-Volta Togoland - had once been part of Togo

which was then a German colony. But after the defeat of Germany in WW

I, Togo was divided into two by the League of Nations (LoN), which that

was later to be replaced by the United Nations Organisation (UNO). One

part of Togo given to France to administer as a separate colony under a

League of Nations (LoN) 'mandate', while the other part was given to

Britain to administer under the same 'mandate' conditions.

In the mid-1950s Agitation for independence grew strongly after the

Second World War.

From the early 1950s, self-government was introduced with elections in

1951, 1954 and 1956 to the legislative assembly. Kwame Nkrumah’a

party, the CPP, won all 3 elections and led the country to independence,

as Ghana, in March 1957. Ghana was the first sub-Saharan country in

colonial Africa to gain its independence. Nkrumah was the first Prime

Minister, and in 1960 became President with the change of Ghana’s status

to a Republic within the Commonwealth. Kwame Nkrumah turned Ghana

into a 1-party state under African Socialism. A celebrated pan-Africanist,

he also developed close ties with the Soviet Bloc. He was overthrown in

Ghana’s first military coup in 1966. For the next 26 years until 1992,

Ghana had only short periods of civilian rule (1969-71,1979-81)

interrupted by longer periods of military rule (1966-69,1972-79, 1981-

1991). During the last period of military rule Flt Lt Jerry Rawlings brought

in populist policies, and Cuban-style revolutionary institutions, including

the CDRs, Committees for the Defence of the Revolution, and Peoples

Defence Committees. However, under pressure internally and from the

international community, in 1991 Rawlings conceded a return to

constitutional rule and multi-party politics. A new constitution was

approved in a referendum in April 1992.

Liberation struggle

When: 1949

Who: Led by Kwame Nkrumah and colleagues

Why: Colonial oppression

Outcome: Independence

Ghana is known to be the first UK colony in Africa to attain it's

independence in 6th March, 1957.

Headship since independence; Head of instrumental self-administration

and later founder president of Ghana.

Dr. Osagyefo Kwame N'krumah became founder-president for the

"Republic of Ghana" led the first sub-Saharan African country to gain

independence from colonialism in February 24, 1960. Nkrumaism sought

to transform Ghana into a modern socialist state through state-driven

industrialization. He built the Akosombo Hydro-power Dam on the Volta

River, at the time considered the “largest single investment in the

economic development plans of Ghana”. He promoted the cult of

personality and was hailed as the “Messiah”, “Father of Ghana and Pan

Africanism” and “Father of African nationalism”. He crushed the unions

and the opposition, jailed the judges, created a one-man, one-party state

and tried to make himself “President for life”. He left a bitter legacy of

one-man, one-party rule which to this day serves as a model of

dictatorship for all of Africa. Nkrumah died in Romania under medical

treatment.

Kwame Nkrumah was deposed in a military coup led by Lt. General Joseph

Ankrah, he who was Chairman of the National Liberation Council (NLC)

that replaced the government of Dr. Kwame N'krumah in February, 1966.

Dr. Kwame N'krumah was overthrown in a CIA-inspired military coup in

February, 1966. Dr. During his tenure embarked on programmes to

accelerate Ghana's economic development through the provision of free

and compulsory universal education, primary healthcare, infrastructure

development, rapid industrialisation, among others.

On the 17th April, 1967 there had been an abortive counter-coup led by

Lieutenant SB Arthur which was known as "the Guitar-Boy Coup". When

Lt. Arthur appears into Burma military barrack, he promptly arrested by

enlisted officers and put him in a guardroom, then later he was court-

martialled and executed.

There were series of coups in Ghana until the entry of Flight Lt. Jerry

Rawlings who was then able to stage a coup for a second time and

overthrew the elected government of Dr. Hilla Limann in 1981.

A Republic in West Africa

Formerly known as the "Gold coast" meaning for "Land of Gold". There

was a powerful Empire b/n 4th and the 13th century, it was a major

source of Gold and manpower (slavery) for Europeans after 1471. Ghana

was the first place in sub-Saharan Africa where Europeans arrived to trade

- first in gold, later in slaves.

A British Crowncolony of the Gold coast established in 1874 and a British

protectorate were established in 1901, then merged with British Togoland

trust territory in 1957 as the independent state of Ghana.

It became "A republic within the commonwealth of nations", as Queen

Elizabeth II, colonial head.

A British Crowncolony of the Gold coast established in 1874 and a British

protectorate were established in 1901, Ghana was formed from a merger

of former colony of Gold Coast and Togoland trust territory in 1957 as the

independent state of Ghana.

The Gold Coast is known to become the first UK colony in Africa and was

also the first black African nation in the region to achieve independence

from a colonial power, in this instance Britain in 6th March, 1957.

Upon his return back to Ghana (Gold Coast then) in 1947, Dr. Kwame

N'krumah first became secretary general of the United Gold Coast

Convention party, established by Dr. J. B. Danquah, whom he saw as

enemy when he was in power and threw him to prison. He was the leader

of Ghana and it's predecessor state the Gold coast commencing from 1952

and was to become founder-president for the Republic of Ghana in

February 24, 1960. Dr. Kwame N'krumah made the famous declaration

that Ghana’s independence was meaningless unless the whole of Africa

was liberated from colonial rule, then he went into action almost

immediately. In followed years, he called the liberation movements to

Ghana to discuss the common strategy for the liberation of the continent

from colonialism in preparation for the African Peoples Conference (APC),

which that conference lit the liberation torch throughout colonial Africa.

Dr. Kwame N’krumah was one of the most respected leaders in Africa, he

has been an exemplary leader to both the old and the young, and also

perhaps best known politically for his strong commitment, dedication,

patriotism and promotion of Pan-Africanism, he read, lectured, wrote

number of books & speeches. The idea of Pan-African was conceived by

Dr. Kwame N'krumah and he, without doubt was the prime mover of the

movement.

Nevertheless, contributions of his collaborators to make such dream come

true were undeniables. Theories were formed, meetings were conducted in

foreign lands and in situations that were very difficult to manage. When

one speaks of African unity, obviously he or she cannot separate it from

its origin in the Pan-Africanist Movement of the early 20th century, mostly

associated with Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois. In Africa, Pan Africanism was given

root by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana, who in his

student days in the United States and the United Kingdom was an active

participant in the struggles and activist movements of those days. Kwame

Nkrumah quoted as saying, “The forces that unite us are intrinsic and

greater than the superimposed influences that keep us apart” to be

optimistic that the slow pace for strong unity will pick up speed. Before

that, however, he fully engaged himself in the anti-colonial struggle to

help attain Ghana’s independence from Britain—more appropriately, home

rule at the time. Nkrumah thought he would do better in realizing the goal

of independence and his life long ambition of African unity, more

appropriately, Pan Africanism, which he not only practiced as politics but

also lived with as profound personal conviction. Therefore, in 1949 he

established his own party, the Convention People’s Party (CPP). With that

as a mass galvanizing force, he led a series of strikes and boycotts and

eventually forced independence from the British in 1957.

Dr. Kwame N'krumah as the initiator of the pan-Africanist movement in

Africa, he even endeavored to realize his dream of African Unity, making

Ghana’s external policy an instrument toward that and by experimenting

sort of loose union he had tried with Guinea in 1959 and Mali in 1960. But

equally difficult was to bring Africa together that had been divided

linguistically by the colonial masters after attaining independence and

before the May, 1963 Summit. To his surprise and dismay, not long after

Nkrumah realized that Africa was getting increasingly divided regionally

and in other ideological groupings.

Dr. Kwame N'krumah writes in his classic work "Africa must unite" he

states "the three basic aims of Ghana's foreign policy are, African

independence, African Unity, and the maintenance of world peace through

a policy of positive neutrality and non-allignment. The first two aims,

according to him were inextricably bound together, since untill Africa was

free from foreign domination, the continent could not be completely

united. Yet, to him, united action was essential if the Africans were to

achieve full independence. That was Nkrumah the visionary.

Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana had an exaggerated view of the communal

system. He said, “Africa’s traditional communalism is the natural ancestor

of modern socialism. The traditional face of Africa was a socialist-

egalitarian view of man and society; there was no sectional interest but

only the welfare of the people. Colonialism changed all this.” According to

Nkrumah, “colonialism infected the African society with capitalist ideals

through its economic, political and social activities.” He believed that “the

capitalist system is guided by the profit motive; and as a result, it is an

exploitative system.”

Nkrumah, failed to examine whether African communal values are

compatible with modernization imperatives. For instance, emphasizing

group interest, African communalism discourages individual initiative and

wealth creation. Nkrumah viewed profit as a form of exploitation. But

market economists outline profit just as a kind of income, earned by the

capitalist for taking risk and investing in newer production techniques to

increase society’s total output.

In fact, the more he tried on unity the more it became nearly impossible

for him to see light of his nirvana in African Unity on account of the fact

that Africa the division was getting deeper. At the same time, with

economic factors and the clash of ambitions and intrigues within Ghana

itself worked against him; his popularity sank at home. Despite being rich

in mineral resources, and endowed with a good education system and

efficient civil service, Ghana fell victim to corruption and mismanagement

soon after independence in 1957.

Mr. Kwame Nkrumah was the leader of Ghana and it's predecessor state

the Gold coast commencing from 1952 to January, 1966, his sincere

support for the establishment of the Organization of African Unity (OAU),

who he was actively engaged in it’s formation deposed while he was on a

state visit to North Vietnam and China had founded the ruling-Convention

Peoples Party (CPP) in early 1949 and it went on to dominate Ghana's

politics until the end of his government. Ghana’s first president and pan-

African hero, Kwame Nkrumah, was deposed in a coup, heralding years of

mostly-military rule: is one of the most respected leaders in Africa, he has

been an exemplary leader to both the old and the young, and also

perhaps best known politically for his strong commitment, dedication,

patriotism and promotion of Pan-Africanism, he read, lectured, wrote

number of books & speeches. He lived in exile as guest of President

Ahmed Sekou-Toure in Conakry, Guinea, after the Ghana military

overthrown him. He has made a remarkable achievements during his

tenure as president, education was revolutionised and schools, colleges

and vocational institutions shot-up, Ghana was only second in the world in

per-capita expenditure on education. The infrastructure of economic

development, transportation, communication facilities, hospitals, rural

health centres, and the training of personnel in various fields, lifted Ghana

to the heights. People had a unique sense of belonging and participation in

the affairs of the country. Education expanded the empire of human

reason and helped the Convention People's Party (CPP) to broaden

political orientation, those were investments which will continue to yield

positive dividends among Ghanaians.

The mono-crop (Cocoa) remained Ghana's life-blood, it provides over 70%

Ghana's foreign exchange earnings. The result was that in 1965, the last

year of N'krumah and the Convention People's Party (CPP) administration,

the production of Cocoa reached at about 494, 000 tons, it's more than

double that existing when the CPP government took over from the colonial

administration. So that, with massive industralisation under Kwame

N'krumah, and the Accra Tema-harbour as the gate-way of Ghana to

further industralisation, the stage was set for an economic take-off. The

whole criticism against his administration reduced to a figment of

imagination in order to tarnish the reputation of Kwame N'krumah, but

that hurt Ghana more, and the rehabilitation of his image which is taking

place in present Ghana today is the only option. For Kwame N'krumah,

Ghana was a vortex, and the African Unity was his diamond of hope, a

means to defuse the abject poverty which has rendered Africa virtually

impotent. To Kwame N'krumah, the answer of pan-Africanism a mission of

hope, an aspect of his concept of unity was that pan-Africa would be a

sort of mutual insurance, economically speaking, for the different regions

of Africa, they would practically be guaranteed against total collapse, and

that insurance would enable them to rationalise their agriculture.

The fight to bring about the unification of the continent, his firm stand on

the Congo crisis, and on Rhodesia, and the cry for the establishment of an

African High command, were a natural sequence of his African policy.

Among the unique institutional changes which he made were, the African

affairs centre and the Bureau of African affairs, which gave guidance to

almost all the leaders of the African freedom fighters, his battle cry was

"Africa must unite" but that came under fire. Criticism of pan-Africanism

was based on fears, imagined fantasised or fabricated, that the African

unity would put unlimited power in the hands of one man, and the

assumption was that such a person would be operating in some

underground monastic cellar impenetrable by light.

African Liberation Day was founded in 1958 when Kwame Nkrumah

convened the First Conference of Independent States. He gave one of the

greatest speeches of his life on 24th May 1963 when 32 independent

African countries met in Addis Ababa to find ways to unite the continent.

FACTS ABOUT KWAME NKRUMAH

Interesting Facts You May Not Have Known About Kwame Nkrumah

Kwame Nkrumah was born on Sept. 21, 1909, in Nkroful, Gold Coast

(Ghana).

He received his education from Catholic missionaries and later trained as a

teacher. Later on, he taught elementary schools in town. Decades after his

death in 1972, Nkrumah remained a symbol of the movement for African

independence in the 1950s and 1960s.

He became exposed to the Pan-African ideas of political activist W.E.B. Du

Bois and Jamaican Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey.

Nkrumah enrolled at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He earned a B.A.

degree in 1939 and a Master of Science in education in 1942.

In the United States, Nkrumah became active in politics and race

relations.

During the 1930s and 40s, his leadership skills started to emerge when he

joined a group of African students to create the National African Students

Association, which he was elected president.

He published his philosophical ideas in a pamphlet called Towards Colonial

Freedom.

Nkrumah preached to Presbyterian Black churches in New York and

Philadelphia during the 1940s.

His association with radical idealism attracted the attention of the FBI and

was targeted by the FBI’s Counter Intelligence Program.

Nkrumah returned to Ghana in 1947 and became secretary general of the

United Gold Coast Convention aimed at ending British rule.

He founded the Convention People’s Party in 1949, the first Black political

party in Africa.

Nkrumah returned to Ghana in 1947 and became secretary general of the

United Gold Coast Convention aimed at ending British rule.

He founded the Convention People’s Party in 1949, the first Black political

party in Africa.

On March 6, 1957, the Gold Coast or Ghana became the first African

colony to be independent of British rule.

Ghana’s independence inspired the rest of the continent to follow suit. By

the mid-1960s, over 30 African countries were independent.

He led a massive surge of socio-economic development in Ghana.

Infrastructure improved across the country. Also, dams, hospitals, schools

and universities were built.

In 2000, he was voted Africa’s Man of the Millennium by BBC World

Service listeners.

Over his lifetime, Nkrumah was awarded honorary doctorates from Lincoln

University, Moscow State University, Cairo University, Jagiellonian

University in Poland, Humboldt University, and many others.

Nkrumah wrote over 20 books. One of his most prominent books is I

Speak of Freedom (1961). An excerpt of the book explains his thinking:

"Divided we are weak; united, Africa could become one of the greatest

forces for good in the world. I believe strongly and sincerely that with the

deep-rooted wisdom and dignity, the innate respect for human lives, the

intense humanity that is our heritage, the African race, united under one

federal government, will emerge not as just another world bloc to flaunt

its wealth and strength, but as a Great Power whose greatness is

indestructible because it is built not on fear, envy and suspicion, nor won

at the expense of others, but founded on hope, trust, friendship and

directed to the good of all mankind.”

Quotes from Kwame Nkrumah

By Arthur Chatora on September 21, 2015

Today, 106 years ago, an African theoretitan was born. The first President

and Prime Minister of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, who led Ghana to

independence

A Pan-Africanism proponent, Nkrumah is undoubtedly one of Africa’s

foremost freedom fighters, nationalist, writer and thinker who was to

influence a generation of Pan-African nationalists and freedom fighters.

Also a founding member of the Organisation of African Unity.

We pay homage to him by remembering the words he left us with in his

quest to see the liberation, unification and development of Africa.

1. “I am not African because I was born in Africa but because Africa was

born in me”.

2. “We face neither East nor West; We face forward”. – Conference speech

delivered in Accra, 1960

3. “Africa is a paradox which illustrates and highlights neo-colonialism.

Her earth is rich, yet the products that come from above and below

the soil continue to enrich, not Africans predominantly, but groups and

individuals who operate to Africa’s impoverishment”. – Neo-

Colonialism: the Last Stage of Imperialism, 1965.

4. “The forces that unite us are intrinsic and greater than the

superimposed influences that keep us apart.” – Africa Must Unite,

1963.

5. “We must unite now or perish”.- Speech given at the founding of the

OAU, Addis Ababa, 24 May 1963.

6. “Independence is only the prelude to a new and more involved struggle

for the right to conduct our own economic and social affairs”. – From a

speech given at the founding of the OAU, Addis Ababa, 24 May 1963.

7. “I am in the knowledge that death can never extinguish the torch which

I have lit in Ghana and Africa. Long after I am dead and gone, the light

will continue to burn and be borne aloft, giving light and guidance to

all people.” Epitaph on Nkrumah’s mausoleum in Nkroful, the village of

his birth in southern Ghana.

8. “Any meaningful humanism must begin from egalitarianism and must

lead to objectively chosen policies for safeguarding and sustaining

egalitarianism”. – African Socialism Revisited, 1962.

9. “We were still regarded as representing the infancy of mankind. Our

highly sophisticated culture was said to be simple and paralyzed by

inertia, and we had to be encumbered with tutelage”. – Speech

Inaugurating the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana

Legon,1962.

10. “The people of Africa are Crying For Unity, Africa is one

continent, one people, and one nation”. – Class Struggle in

Africa, 1970.

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was focused mainly on building a socialist state, his

sympathies lay with the East. The Vietnam war at the time, which

deteriorated the relationship b/n the ex-USSR on the one hand and the US

and it's allies on the other, a peace mission under the commonwealth of

nations was announced in 1965 with premier Harold Wilson of Britain as

chairman of the mission and Mr. Kwame N'Krumah as a member of

mission. But then the north Vietnamese leader, the late Ho Chi Minh

refused to accept the peace mission as a whole, but he separately invited

Mr. Kwame N'krumah, as member of the announced commonwealth peace

mission, contributed enormously to the north Vietnamese eventually

agreeing to the Paris peace-talks which partially ended the Vietnam war in

1975. Then Menen Williams, then US assistant secretary of state for

African affairs, visited Accra, and it became necessary for Kwame

N'krumah to visit, ex-Peoples Republic of China and the ex-North Vietnam

and that was the end of his government, it was well understood that the

removal had been endorsed by the western nation at the time. During his

tenure, he survived several assassination plots and coup-attempts

unharmed. And the coup of January, 1966 which removed Dr. Kwame

Nkrumah from office while he was under official visits to ex-Peoples

Republic of China and the ex-North Vietnam was organized by the

Ghanaian military had it the knowledge of US and British governments.

The coup was thought two years in the works since February 1964 and

finally succeeded in 24th January 1966, The CPP was officially banned

right after the coup, the ill-fated president, then never returned to Ghana,

he had to self-exile in Conakry, Guinea, as the guest of president Ahmed

Sekou-Toure, who honoured Nkrumah co-president of Guinea. In failing

health, he flew for further medical treatment to Bucharest, Romania in

August 1971, and he died of skin cancer in April 1972 at the age of 62.

The coup organized by the Ghanaian under the regime of the National

Lieration Council (NLC) was endorsed by western intelligence agencies,

installed Lt. General Joseph Arthur Ankrah on the day of 24th February,

1966. He served as the first Commander in-chief of the Ghanaian Army

and from 24th January, 1966 to 2nd April, 1969 as the second head of

state of Ghana, he died in natural sickness on 25th November, 1992, aged

77. In 2nd April, 1969, Brigadier Akwasi Amankwaa Afrifa made a coup

against the sitting head of state, he was chairman of the military

presidential commission, and leader of the military government existed

from 2nd April, 1969 to the 7th of August, 1970, but he was executed

together with two other former Ghanaian heads of state in June, 1979. In

31st August, 1970 Mr. Edward Akuffo-Addo, a politician and a lawyer,

believed he was one of the top-six veteran politicians in Ghana in the fight

for Ghana's independence, became the chief of justice and later to

become president of Ghana between the 31 August, 1970 to 13 January,

1972 that culminated Ghana to multi-party democracy resulted in free

election to a civilian primeminister Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia from 1st October,

1969 to 13th January, 1972.

On 13th January, 1972, Colonel Ignatious Kutu Acheampong led a coup

d'etat to overthrow the democratically elected government of the Progress

Party and it's leader, Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia to head the military

government as chairman of the military ruling-National Redemption

Council (NRC), which it was later transformed into the Ghana Supreme

Military Council on the 9th of October, 1975 with Colonel Ignatius

Acheampong himself (promoted to General) as it's chairman. The official

wife of the late ex-president Nkrumah Samia Rizk, an Egyptian origin who

had left Ghana with her kids after the 1966 coup, back with her family

again in 1975 at the invitation of the head of State Colonel Ignatius Kutu

Acheampong. He was ruled Ghana for further, from 13th January, 1972 to

5th July, 1978, when he was deposed in a palace coup. He was later to be

executed by a firing squad. On the 5th of July, 1978, Lt. General Frederick

William Kwasi Akuffo, a former chief of the general defence staff of the

Ghanaian Armed Forces became the head of state and chairman of the

ruling-Supreme Military Council (SMC) in Ghana from 5th July, 1978 until

1979, he came to power by ousting his predecessor in a military coup, he

was overthrown by a military coup led by Flt. Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings

again, and three weeks later executed.

Ghana endured a long serious of coups before Flight Lt. Jerry Rawlings

tookover power in 1981 ousting military dictator Colonel Ignatius

Acheampong, banned all political parties, suspended the constitution. The

election and a transfer of power to civilian rule was made that year was

won by Dr. Hilla Limann of the Peoples National Party (PNP).

Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings staged his second coup’

However, on 31st December, 1981 Flt. Lt. Jerry Rawlings overthrew Dr.

hilla Limann's elected government once again, citing economic mis-

management. Flight Lt. Jerry Rawlings then reinstalled the Provisional

National Defence Council (PNDC) government with himself again as

chairman. The country began to move towards economic stability and

democracy.

In April 1992 a constitution allowing for a multi-party system was

approved in a referendum, ushering in a period of democracy. Flight Lt.

Jerry Rawlings won presidential elections of 1992 and 1996 but

constitutionally prevented from running for third term in 2000. Mr. John

Ageiekum Kufuor succeeded him as main opposition leader and was re-

elected in 2004. A well-administered country by regional standards,

Ghana is often seen as a model for political and economic reform in Africa.

In December, 2008, it was declared that, Mr. John Evans Atta Mills of the

opposition, Ghana's next president since the country is one of the few in

Africa to successfully transfer power twice from one legitimately elected

leader to another, proof that Ghana's democracy has truely matured after

an era of coups and dictatorships in the 1970's and 1980's. The

Nkrumahist Convention Peoples Party which it was banned after the 1966

coup, resurfaced in another name, Peoples National Party (PNP) won that

year's elections that put Dr. Hilla Liman as candidate. After he announced

retirement from the Ghanaian Armed Forces, he formally launches the

National Democratic Congress Party (NDCP).

Major conflict

Internal conflicts in Ghana's northern region

When: 1992/1994 and recurs

Who: Traditional Dagomba kingdom versus Konkomba

Why: Stalemates regarding political decisions

Outcome: Several thousands dead, several people migrate

The National Democratic Congress Party (NDCP), the up-coming election

with Jerry Rawlings as it's candidate won 58.3 % of the vote in the 1992

national elections despite electoral complaints. In 1996, Jerry Rawlings

won the general elections by 57 % of the vote, elections were judged

largely free and fair. After two terms in office, he barred by the existing

constitution from standing in any election, he then endorsed his vice

president John Evans Atta Mills as NDC presidential candidate in 2000.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) with John Atta Mills as

candidate, however, lost the elections to the National Peoples Party (NPP)

candidate, John Agyekum Kufuor, once again, elections were judged to be

free and fair. Fourty five years after his overthrow, somehow, Dr. Kwame

N'krumah has been proved right in the Ghanaian political scene, his

rehabilitation has gone full circle, he was voted one of the greatest

Africans of the 20th century, and one of hundred greatest Africans of all

time. Ghana's government under president John Agyekum Kufuor made a

national reburial ceremony to reammend the late president's Mussoleum

in Accra. President John Evans Atta Mills since coming to power, has

radically put the late president to officially back him on the agenda, and of

course to officially declare him as the "Founder of the Nation" and

proclaiming his birthday 19th of September to become a national holiday,

to be observed every year. In 2009, his centenary celebrations were

adopted by the African Union Commission, as a continental event.

Civil society has flourished.

The Electoral Commission of Ghana is one of the most respected

institutions.

The Electoral Commission has remained under the same Chair, Dr

Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, since formation in 1993.

National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) was established to review

alleged human rights abuses during the Jerry Rawlings era.

Consolidation of the democratic gains by country continues after election

of new president.

Media and academia publish seriously and freely on governance.

Economy

Ghana’s economy is heavily reliant on agriculture (35% of the total GDP).

Gold and cocoa production, and individual remittances, are major sources

of foreign exchange.

Sound macro-economic management along with high prices for gold and

cocoa helped sustain GDP growth in 2008. Ghana heavily dependent on

international financial and technical assistance.

In 2002, Ghana opted for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor

Country (HIPC) programme. Later in 2006, Ghana went for Multilateral

Debt Relief Initiative

Social

Unemployment – in 2008, it stood at 20% and has been going up

Struggle to accommodate refugees running away from Cote d’Ivoire

Housing workers returning from cocoa plantations.

Updates: For Ghana, 2011 believed should be a very good year, for one

known reason, on the 15th of December, 2010, the country produced it's

"first barrels" of cruide oil in commercial quantities from it's "Jubille Oil

Field", about fourty miles off-shore. Ghana is now turned an oil-producing

nation following Tullow Oil's discovery of the Jubilee Field in 2007. In the

words of the operating company, the UK based Tullow Oil, the Jubilee Oil

Field, is a world class Oil field with estimated recoverable resources of up

to one billion barrels. The first phase of production has a target of 370

million barrels. Full production will fetch Ghana 120,000 barrels a day

(bpd), but in the immidiate future, the field will be capable of producing

up to 55,000 bpd. The important thing, though, is that the Oil from the

Jubilee Field is known in the oil trade as "light sweet crude" with "an API

of 37 degrees". It's of high quality and in great demand. Ghana will spend

a lot of time in 2011 on what the revenue from the Oil should be spent on,

and what steps should be taken to prevent the country from going the

way of the other bad producers of Oil in Africa. The UK based Tullow Oil is

optimistic, though, it says phase one can be the catalyst for developing

Ghanaian capacity in Oil & Gas exploration and production attracting

further foreign investment and thereby diversifying the economy: and also

helping local businesses and suppliers to develop the in-country services

that Oil companies and their partners will require. More than 85% of

Tullow Ghana's employees are Ghanaians and the Company's target is to

increase the number to 90% in the next four years. 2011 will see the

intensification of these efforts, both on the part of the government and oil

companies. The Government of Ghana has studied the records of both the

good and the bad producers of Oil in the world, and it is hoped Ghana will

emulate the best practices in the industry, such as the example offered by

Norway. President John Atta Mills won recently an emphatic victory over

Mrs. Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings 97% to a 3% beating in the

presidential primaries of Ghana's ruling-National Democratic Congress

(NDC). It was the first time in Ghanaian political history ever that a sitting

president was being challenged by a member of his own political-party

who intended to stop him from getting a second term in office. To betterly

put, it was the first a Ghanaian president was being deliberately prevented

from going for a second term by the wife of the founder of his own party.

"Winning is not the end of the road, what we are in the politics for is to

raise the living standard of the people", president John Evans Atta Mills

quoted as saying, when he launches election campaign for a second term.

Updates: All charges have been dropped against Ghana's former first lady

Nana Konadu Rawlings, her lawyer has told the BBC. She was charged in

2005 with theft, fraud and conspiracy to defraud the state during the

1990s when her husband Jerry Rawlings was president. Her attorney said

the case had been dropped on the orders of John Kufuor, who stood down

as president last week. He handed over to John Atta Mills, once Mr

Rawlings' deputy, after his party's candidate lost the December elections.

Leaders of the National Democratic Congress, now in power, had dubbed

this case - and another against the former chief of Ghana's National

Petroleum Company - as politically motivated "witch hunts". Tsatu Tsikata,

who received a five-year prison term in 2008 for causing financial loss to

the state, was also pardoned by Mr Kufuor last week. The BBC's David

Amanor in the capital, Accra, says it is unclear why the cases have been

dismissed. Mr Kufuor's supporters say it is a mark of his generous spirit;

his detractors say that with his New Patriotic Party out of government, the

former president is attempting to head off recriminations.

'Dragged through mud' Mr Tsikata has vowed to ignore the pardon and

carry on fighting for acquittal in the courts. Mrs Rawlings' lawyer

expressed dismay at the handling of the case which will be formally

discontinued by Ghana's High Court on Thursday. "Her name has been

dragged through the mud for three years," Tony Lithur told the BBC's

Focus on Africa programme. "The case has damaged Mrs Rawlings'

international reputation and had no basis in the first place," he said. Mrs

Rawlings and four others were accused of misappropriating public funds

and property during the late 1990s while organising the sale of a publicly

owned canning factory in Ghana's Eastern region. The defendants had all

pleaded not guilty. Mr Rawlings first came to power in a coup in 1979, and

in 1981 again seized power from his democratically elected successor. He

won democratic elections in 1992 and 1996 but stood down at the 2000

election, when his chosen successor, Mr Atta Mills, was defeated by Mr

Kufuor. Source: BBC News Africa January 13, 2012

Updates: Booming construction, a burgeoning middle class, gleaming

shopping malls’ Ghana’s oil driven economic expansion is transforming the

country, but uneven development also means many are being outpaced

and slipping further into poverty, says the UN. The economic boom,

especially in Accra [the capital], is obvious, but inequalities are widening

as all the prices have gone up’, Eugenie Maiga of the African Centre for

Economic Transformation, a policy think-tank, told the UN news agency

IRIN. The economy grew by 14 per-cent in 2011, one of the fastest rates

in Africa, and much of southern Ghana has prospered. ’The northern part

of the country has clearly benefited less from the growing economy in the

past 10 years than the central and southern parts,' Maiga noted. 'Even if

rural poverty declined, the land in the north is not as fertile as in the

south… the difference between the quality of houses in the north and the

south of the country is obvious see.’ Since 2000, the economy has

recorded an average growth of 5 per cent per-annum, but it shot up in

2010 when oil production began. Per-capita income has more than tripled

in from $400 in 2000 and is likely to reach $1,400 in 2012, said Samir

Gadio, a West Africa analyst at Standard Chartered Bank. Boosted by oil,

Cocoa and Gold revenues, Ghana has initiated economic reforms to spur

growth and in 2011 became a middle income country, the ninth in Africa

to attain this status. Significant off-shore oil reserves were discovered in

2007. The proportion of people living in driven poverty dropped from 51

per cent in 1992 to 30 per cent in 2006, according to the UN, which noted

that Ghana was the first country in the region to meet the Millenium

Development Goal (MDG) of halving poverty by 2015. However, a similar

rate of growth has eluded the northern provinces, where there are fewer

roads and less infrastructure, poorer housing and not nearly as many

modern businesses as in the south. Inequality is also widening in Accra,

where many people from the countryside come in search of jobs, but

development in the capital has pushed up the cost of living and many fall

further into poverty, said Maiga. Rental prices in the capital are becoming

prohibitive. 'Most [landlords] are now asking tenants to pay their rent for

one of even two years in advance,’ said Maiga. Inflation has been climbing

for 14 months, weakening the currency and eroding purchasing power,

while increased demand for imports drives up the prices. The cost of food

and rent has gone up across the country. ‘This is negatively affecting

access to food in the north, where the proportion of food-insecure people

is the highest in the country’, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation

(FAO) said in a March 2012 report. Roads have improved in the capital but

power cuts and a steady water supply are still a problem. Sanitation

services in the capital and rural areas are equally poor.

Updates: January 28, 2012: Two significant yet related events were about

to take place in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. The Chinese Vice

President, Xi Jinping handed over the keys to the new gleaming

headquarters building of the African Union (AU). And an AU assembled

presidents and dignitaries witnessed the unveiling of a new bronze statue

of former Ghanaian president Dr. Kwame N'krumah at the new African

Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Despite the moment being heavy with significance, they were received in

a simple, almost subdued manner by the current AU chairman, President

Theodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, and the

chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr. Jean Ping. The

ceremony was barely over when the motely crowd of presidents with

security details in tow. Amid drumming and dancing by cultural troops

from Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia and Nigeria, Ghana's then president,

professor John Atta Mills, assisted by Jean Ping and President Theodoro

Obiang Nguema, in a hushed expectancy, unveiled a new bronze statue of

Kwame N'krumah in the company of professor Francis N'krumah and

Samia N'krumah (MP) both children of the late Dr. Kwame N'krumah as

well as several heads of state and former president Jerry Rawlings, the

bronze statue of Dr. N'krumah was revealed, standing tall, complete with

his trade mark smock, walking-stick, hand raised and outstretched, in the

same manner as he had, on 6th March, 1957, declaring the independence

of Ghana meaningless unless it was linked up with the total liberation of

Africa. Underneath, cast in golden letters on black marble, were the

historic last words of N'krumah's famous speech given at the founding of

the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Addis Ababa on 24th of May,

1963: "Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hands unto God, Africa must unite".

The significance of such event suddenly dawned on all present. The very

statue that had been angrily knocked down by Ghanaians themselves in

blind fury after N'krumah's overthrow, had been restored, only this time

round, on a much bigger continental stage - at the headquarters of the

African Union.

Updates: Ghanaian officials swore in a new president’ Hours after the

death of the West African nation's leader. John Evans Atta Mills died

suddenly at a military hospital Tuesday afternoon a few hours after

becoming ill, Chief of Staff John Henry Martey Newman said in a

statement. He was 68. In a ceremony broadcast on state television, John

Dramani Mahama - formerly Ghana's vice president -- became the

country's new president and ordered that flags be flown at half-staff for a

week. "This is the saddest day in our nation's history. Tears have engulfed

our nation and we're deeply saddened and distraught. I never imagined

that one day I will address our nation in such difficult

circumstances” ,Mahama said. "I'm personally devastated. I've lost a

father, I've lost a friend, I've lost a mentor and a senior comrade."

Officials did not specify what caused Mills' death. The president had denied

rumors about his health for months. "Does my continued living pose a

threat to some people?" he told reporters at a January event, according to

the state-run Ghana News Agency. On June 25, he returned from a

medical checkup in the United States, the news agency reported. Mills was

a former law professor and a tax expert. He was Ghana's vice president

from 1997 to 2000. Before his political career, he taught at the University

of Ghana and also was a visiting lecturer at Temple University in

Pennsylvania and Leiden University in the Netherlands. Mills ran for

president unsuccessfully in 2000 and 2004 before narrowly winning a

runoff in 2009. John Atta Mills' death came several days after he

celebrated his 68th birthday. He had said he would run for re-election in

December.In a statement read on his behalf by Ghana's information

minister Monday, Mills said his government had focused on developing the

nation's economy, according to the Ghana News Agency."We made a

promise to expand our country's infrastructural base in support of our

economy take-off," the statement said. "We also decided to invest in the

people of our country so as to make them competitive both locally and

abroad." Mahama said that Mills was a "prince of peace" who "brought a

distinctive insight into Ghanaian politics." The opposition New Patriotic

Party expressed condolences in a statement. "We join the nation in

mourning this sad loss to Ghana," the statement said. U.S. President

Barack Obama met with Mills when he visited Ghana in July 2009. Obama

praised the country as a model for democracy and stability when Mills

visited Washington this year. "Ghana has become a wonderful success

story economically on the continent," Obama said. "In part because of the

initiatives of President Mills, you've seen high growth rates over the last

several years. Food productivity and food security is up. There's been

strong foreign investment." In a statement, British Prime Minister David

Cameron described Mills as "a tireless defender of democracy in West

Africa and across the continent." Part of a former British colony, Ghana

was among the first African countries to gain independence, in 1957. It

endured a series of coups before a military dictator, Jerry Rawlings, took

power in 1981. Rawlings led Ghana through a transition to democracy

about 10 years later. Mahama, 53, is a former member of Ghana's

parliament who has served as director of communication for the National

Democratic Congress party. The new president called on Ghanaians to

respect John Atta Mills' legacy. "Our finest tribute to him at this moment is

to maintain the unity and stability of our nation," Mahama said. Obama

hailed Ghana as 'model for democracy'. Meantime, Ghana gets a new VP'

Ghana has chalked another milestone in its democratic dispensation, as

new President John Mahama's nominee for vice president was vetted by

law makers and after approval was sworn-in by the chief justice. Kwesi

Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, governor of the central bank and an economist,

was sworn-in as vice president late Monday evening in accordance with

Article 60 (10) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. Law makers in

parliament unanimously approved his nomination after posing questions

ranging from macro-economic issues, such as the depreciation of the cedi,

the country's single digit inflation against rising prices and his political

clout. In a brief statement, the new vice president expressed appreciation

to President Mahama for his nomination, adding, "I thank the house

(parliament) for doing something unprecedented in the history of Ghana.

The show of unanimity and unity by parliament as a result of the sad

event that occurred is commendable". He later called on Ghanaians "and

the many people across the countries, who have sent messages of

goodwill" adding that, "I hope I would continue to receive your prayers".

The swearing in of the vice president follows the death of President John

Evans Atta Mills on last month and the ascension of Mahama, who was the

deputy then. Amissah-Arthur is an economist and served in former

President Jerry Rawlings' government as a Deputy Finance Minister. He

served as governor of the central bank in the Mills administration, where

the late president chose Amissah-Arthur because of his role in managing

Ghana's structural adjustment programme, which turned the country's

economic fortunes around in the 1980s. Mills' state funeral will take place

in Accra, the capital, from Wednesday 8 to 10 August. Several world

leaders including the United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and

Liberian President. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf are expected to attend the

funeral. The 68-year old late president, the first Ghanaian leader to die in

office, will be laid to rest at a special designated place near the seat of

government. Mills had been the Presidential candidate for the ruling

National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the next elections, slated for

December, with political analysts predicting a tight contest. He would have

contested against Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo, the candidate for

largest opposition party, New Patriotic Party (NPP). Former Vice-President

John Dramani Mahama, who has been sworn in as the president of Ghana

following the death assumed on 7th January, 2009 , remaining in the post

until Mr. Atta Mills' death is regarded as a champion of the

underprivileged.

Updates: African Union (AU) current chairman, Dr. Yayi Boni of Benin

described the death of Ghanaian President John Atta Mills as "a great,

great, great loss" for Africa, ahead of a state funeral, that was underway

in the capital Accra. Dr. Boni was speaking ahead of the late Mills' funeral

in Accra. The AU president, who leads Benin, urged Ghanaians to keep

alive the unity and vision that late Mills had bequeathed the country. He

recalled his last visit to Mills six months ago to discuss the crisis in Mali,

during which they also exchanged ideas on the future of Africa. Dr. Yayi

Boni said he also found in John Atta Mills, the same vision as the first

President of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, for the country. "It was a great,

great loss for the country, for the continent and Benin". Other African

leaders who also paid their last respects early morning are Guinean

president, Alpha Conde, Sierra Leone's Ernest Bai Koroma, Senegal's

Macky Sall, Faure Gnassingbe of Togo, Alassane Drammane Ouattara of

Cote D' Ivoire. Other dignitaries are Dr. Mustapha Osman Secretary to the

President of Sudan, Mr. Yamina Bengnigni, the French Minister for

Francophonie, and Mr Themba Masuka, Swaziland Deputy Prime Minister.

Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson, President of the Pontifical Commission for

Justice and Peace representing Pope Benedict XVI was also there to pay

respect. Also in the country are Hifikepunye Pohamba, President of

Namibia, Mohamed Abdelaziz, President of the Saharawi Arab Democratic

Republic (SADR), President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and President of

Gabon, Ali Ben Bongo. The rest are Presidents Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of

Liberia, Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria and Mr. Kadre Quedraogo, President

of the ECOWAS Commission. Late President John Atta Mills passed away

on July 24th, 2012 after a sort illness in Accra. Mills will be laid to rest at a

specially laid to rest at a specially designated place, which will later be

developed into a Presidential Place of Rest.

Updates: Tens of thousands of people in the Ghanaian capital Accra have

attended the state funeral for President John Atta Mills on 10th August,

2012 who died suddenly in July. Some 18 African heads of state and US

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton witnessed the ceremony in Accra's

Independence Square. Mills, who had long suffered from throat cancer,

died only five months before he was set to seek re-election. A BBC

reporter in Accra says his death has united Ghanaians in grief. She says

his death was seen as a test for the country's young democracy. Mills,

who started a four-year term in January 2009, was succeeded by Vice-

President John Dramani Mahama. Ghana has won international plaudits for

the swift manner in which it handled the transition in a nation known for

its divisive politics.

Born in western Ghana on 21 July 1944

Lawyer by profession

Lectured in law for more than 20 years

Vice-president from 1997 to 2001

Became president in 2009

Married to a marriage counselor

What to know more about Ghana: Men and women in Ghana are named

according to the day they were born. Sunday born females Akosua while

for males Akwasi , Monday born females Adwoa while for males Kwadwo,

Tuesday born females Abena while for males Kwabena, Wednsday born

females Akua while for males Kwaku, Thursday born females Yaa while for

males Yaw, Friday born females Afua while for males Kofi, Saturday born

females Ama while for males Kwame

What to see: Fantasy coffins- among the Ga people, coffins made to

depict the profession of the dead. The Kakum Nature Reserve. Larabanga

Mosque- believed to be god built. Witches' settlements where people

believed to practise witchcraft were buried.

Updates: Ghana’s President John Mahama seeks serious debates'

Against a backdrop of angry political rhetoric, President Mahama insists

that the state must ensure election security, help to improve agricultural

production and develop institutions with the authority to investigate

corruption. Pedalling furiously and revelling in the thrill, a youthful John

Mahama piloted a bicycle without brakes down a hill towards a busy traffic

junction in Accra in the 1960s. It was only when his companions screamed

"Dramani, slow down," Mahama recalls in his just published memoir, that

he made the split-second decision to turn the bike at speed into a side

street. He flew over the handlebars and landed in a hedge but escaped

with a few cuts and bruises. Mahama laughed when I suggested that a

political career could be likened to riding a bicycle downhill without

brakes. Making split-second decisions does not trouble him, he assured

me. Yet Mahama comes across as a considered politician with clear goals

for the government of which he took charge on 24 July. Forty days later,

in a speech at Accra's conference centre, he set out an ambitious

programme. Although he speaks solemnly about building on the legacy of

tolerance and social reform left by his predecessor John Atta Mills,

Mahama has quickly established his own agenda. Conscious of criticism

that his National Democratic Congress (NDC) is anti-business, Mahama

insists that the private sector would lead Ghana's transition to a fully

fledged middle-income country.Last year the World Bank said Ghana's

recalibrated national income meant it had graduated from a least

developed country (LDC) to lower middle-income status. Mahama will

chair the newly launched Private Sector Advisory Council and has pledged

it will respond speedily to complaints from business of bureaucratic

obstacles. He has also set up a unit in the presidency to monitor public-

service delivery. He has called on civil society groups to work with

government to propose ways to improve services. "Make no mistake – the

way we do business in government must change," Mahama told

Ghanaians in his 4 September speech, which set out a busy schedule

ahead of elections on 7 December. The campaign is intensifying with clear

differences emerging between Mahama's platform and the policies of the

New Patriotic Party (NPP) and its presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-

Addo. Alongside his business initiatives, Mahama explains that he still

wants a strong developmental role for the state. That is anathema to

Akufo-Addo and the NPP. On the NPP's flagship policy calling for free

secondary education for all, Mahama questions the party's figures and the

practicality of its immediate implementation. Between Mahama's practised

conciliatory posture and Akufo-Addo's skills as a seasoned courtroom

advocate, the campaign offers Ghanaians a choice of political style as well

as policy substance. Much will depend on the campaigns. The most

reliable statistic to emerge from local opinion surveys is that about 25% of

Ghanaians are yet to decide on which candidate to support in December.

The Africa Report: You have said your predecessor President John Atta

Mills embodied qualities that Ghana's politics sadly lack – civility, humility,

honesty and peace. Q, Do the voters agree with you? John Dramani

Mahama: A, Those qualities were why President John Atta Mills was

elected. Since he entered politics in 1997, he showed patience, tolerance

and openly supported peace. Unfortunately, he was quite vilified in his

period in office, but Ghanaians admired the tolerance of not responding to

the personal insults thrown at him. Wasn't it crass hypocrisy for people to

vilify President Mills and then say he's a great statesman after he died?

No, I wouldn't accuse any Ghanaian of being hypocritical. We were united

in our grief at the passing of President Mills. Even people who vilified him

suddenly... Source: The Africa Report October 1, 2012

Updates: China to construct Ghana's second international airpot' China

Airports Construction Corporation (CACC) is set to begin construction of

Ghana's second international airport after Kotoka International Airport

with the capacity for large aircraft, a government official in the West

African country has revealed. CACC, owned by the Chinese government

and the only enterprise offering a full range of services in the civil airport

construction, signed a memorandum of understanding with Ghana to

undertake a feasibility study for the design of the new facility. The airport

will be constructed on a 16,000 acre land near Pampram in the Dangbe-

East District of the Greater Accra region. Kotoka Airport is also in the

same region but in the heart of the capital city. Transport minister Alhaji

Collins Dauda said the new airport would address the capacity constraints

and anticipated traffic growth at the Kotoka Airport. He did not provide

any details on the costs for the project. Ghana is in the process of drafting

a new Airport Bill for parliamentary approval that is set to improve the

aviation industry. Meanwhile, the Ghana Airports Company Limited will

continue its rehabilitation of the Kotoka International Airport under the

phase III project. The development is meant to facilitate and enhance

passenger movement and experience in the terminal as well as aircraft

movement. Regional airports are also going through facelifts to support

the growing domestic traffic. Dauda said the Ghana Civil Aviation

Authority (GCAA) would collaborate with the World Bank for the review,

drafting and development of economic regulations for the authority. He

said government had taken initiatives to seek funding from the World

Bank and other donor partners for the development of the infrastructure.

Source: The Afriica Report 15 October, 2012

Updates: Ghana's Jerry Rawlings 'backs' wife's presidential bid' The wife of

Ghana's ex-leader Jerry Rawlings has told the BBC he backs her campaign

for December's presidential election. Nana Konadu Rawlings was chosen at

the weekend as the presidential candidate of the National Democratic

Party (NDP). She defected from the ruling National Democratic Congress

(NDC) party, although Mr Rawlings has not done so. She could split the

vote of NDC candidate President John Dramani Mahama, correspondents

say. The other main challenger in the election is expected to be former

Foreign Minister Nana Akufo-Addo, the flagbearer of the New Patriotic

Party (NPP). Mr Rawlings - who ruled Ghana for 18 years and launched

the NDC in 1992 - attended the newly formed NDP's congress on

Saturday. "If he didn't believe in what I was doing, he wouldn't have

come... I'm not going in a different direction," Mrs Rawlings told the BBC's

Focus on Africa programme. "The family is always in line with the former

president's position on probity, accountability and social justice."

On October 4, Former President Mr Jerry Rawlings attended an NDC

meeting where President Mahama unveiled the party's election manifesto.

Mrs Rawlings said her husband had lost authority in the NDC and merely

fulfilled his "constitutional responsibility" as founder of the party by

attending its events. Some NDC members had used him to rally support

during elections and then ditched him, she said. "The NDC was founded on

certain values which they [party leaders] have thrown out of the window

so the NDP is taking those values to make sure there is transparency in

governance," Mrs Rawlings said. She said she was running for president

because she was worried about worsening corruption and

mismanagement, and wanted to be at the "centre" of government so that

she could improve the lives of people. When Mr Rawlings addressed the

NDP convention at the weekend, he said the party would "restore hope

and the moral values that the country needs to move forward". At the

same event, he also praised Mr Mahama, who became president earlier

this year following the death of his predecessor, John Atta Mills. "Thank

God John Mahama has taken over and agreed that he will restore hope in

the NDC… Should he win re-election, then we can join hands again," he

said. Our correspondent says NDC leaders are reportedly meeting to

discuss Mr Rawlings' presence at the NDP's congress. There is concern

that the NDC could be weakened by Mrs Rawlings' decision to fight the

election under the new party's banner, he adds. Mrs Rawlings challenged

Mr Mills last year in a bid to get the NDC's nomination, but gained only

3.1% of the vote. The BBC correspondent in the capital, Accra, says her

comments came amid speculation that her candidature could divide the

Rawlings home. Source: BBC News Africa 15 October 2012

October 19, 2012: Ghana's Nana Rawlings 'shocked' at election ban' The

wife of Ghana's ex-leader Jerry Rawlings is shocked after being barred

from contesting the December election, her spokesman has told the BBC.

Nana Konadu Rawlings was chosen last weekend as the presidential

candidate of the National Democratic Party (NDP). She defected from the

ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) party, although Mr Rawlings

has not done so. The election commission said her nomination papers had

not been completed before the deadline. The main challenger to President

John Dramani Mahama is expected to be former Foreign Minister Nana

Akufo-Addo, from the New Patriotic Party (NPP). Mrs Rawlings'

spokesperson Owusu Bempah told the BBC her disqualification was unfair.

"We suspect someone deliberately wanted her out of the race," he said.

She refused to speak to the media. Electoral commission spokeswoman

Sylvia Annor told the AFP news agency that "there were major errors on

their forms and they could not meet the deadline to rectify them hence

the disqualification." "Portions of the nomination forms were not properly

filled by the National Democratic Party," she said. Analysts had said that

Mrs Rawlings' candidacy could split the NDC vote. Before his wife's

disqualification, there was speculation about which party Mr Rawlings -

who ruled Ghana for 18 years and launched the NDC in 1992 - would

support. Mrs Rawlings said her husband would support her presidential

bid. He had previously attended an NDC meeting where President Mahama

unveiled the party's election manifesto. He praised Mr Mahama, who

became president earlier this year following the death of his predecessor,

John Atta Mills. Mrs Rawlings challenged the late Mr Atta Mills last year in

a bid to get the NDC's nomination, but gained only 3.1% of the vote. BBC

News Africa

After serving six months as an unelected president following the sudden

death of of his former boss in July, 2012, John Dramani Mahama has now

won an election on his own merits. But the main opposition party has

cried foul, saying that some Electoral Commission officials perpetrated a

fraud against its presidential candidate.

Accession to power of president John Dramani Mahama - by election.

Tentative election calendar - Presidential/Parliamentary, December.

Ghana – Timeline Diaries updates, and related key notes

1482 - Portuguese set up trading settleme

1874 - British proclaim coastal area a crown colony.

1925 - First legislative council elections take place.

March 1957 - Ghana becomes independent with Kwame Nkrumah as

prime minister.

Kwame Nkrumah - Independence leader was an advocate of Pan-

Africanism

1960 - Ghana proclaimed a republic; Kwame Nkrumah elected president.

1964 - Ghana becomes a one-party state.

March 1966 – President Kwame Nkrumah N’Krumah was deposed by a

military coup led by Brigadier General Ankrah while he was in an official

visit to China en-route to Hanoi, then North Vietnamese city; Russian and

Chinese technicians expelled.

1969 - New constitution facilitates transfer of power to civilian

government led by Kofi Busia.

1972 – Prime minister Koffi Busia ousted in military coup led by Colonel

Ignatius Acheampong.

1978 – Colonel Ignatius Acheampong forced to resign; General Frederick

Akuffo takes over.

1979 – Lt. General Fred Akuffo deposed in coup led by Flight Lieutenant

Jerry Rawlings. Ignatious Acheampong and Fred Akuffo executed.

September 1979 – Lt. Jerry Rawlings hands over power to an elected

president, Hilla Limann.

1981 – The elected Dr. Hilla Limann ousted in military coup led by

Rawlings after two years of weak government and economic stagnation.

1983 – Lt. Jerry Rawlings adopts conservative economic policies,

abolishing subsidies and price controls, privatising many state enterprises

and devaluing the currency unit, Cedi.

1992 - Referendum approves new constitution introducing a multiparty

system. Rawlings elected president.

1994 - One thousand people are killed and a further 150,000 are

displaced in the Northern Region following ethnic clashes between the

Konkomba and the Nanumba over land ownership.

June 1994 - Seven ethnic groups involved in violence in Northern Region

sign peace agreement.

1995 - Government imposes curfew in Northern Region as renewed ethnic

violence results in a further 100 deaths.

1996 - Jerry Rawlings re-elected president.

December 2000 - John Kufuor beats Vice-President John Atta Mills in the

presidential election.

February 2001 - Petrol prices rise by 60% following the government's

decision to remove fuel subsidies.

April 2001 - Ghana accepts debt relief under a scheme designed by the

World Bank and the IMF.

May 2001 - National day of mourning after football stadium stampede

leaves 126 dead. Inquiry blames police for overreacting to crowd trouble.

June 2001 - Government scraps public holiday celebrating Rawling's

military coup in an effort to wipe out the legacy of his rule.

June 2001 - Floods hit Accra, causing 10 deaths and forcing 100,000 to

flee their homes.

April 2002 - State of emergency is declared in the north after a tribal chief

and more than 30 others are killed in clan violence. State of emergency is

lifted in August 2004.

May 2002 - President Kufuor inaugurates reconciliation commission to look

into human rights violations during military rule.

March 30, 2002: The brutal murder of His Majesty, King Yakubu Andani II

of the Dagomba people in Ghana, along with at least 25 other people in

riots in northern Ghana during the week of March 24-30, 2002. The King

of the Dagomba people is second in presidence among the chiefs of Ghana

after the King of the Ashanti. Days of disorder were caused by disputes

between various clans of the Dagomba and have caused the President of

the Republic of Ghana to declare a state of emergency. Reports originally

stated that the king had been beheaded, but a statement released by his

brother indicates that the king was shot to death. The palace of the King

of the Dagomba has also been burned to the ground.

October 2003 - Government approves merger of two gold-mining firms,

creating new gold-mining giant.

February 2004 - Former President Jerry Rawlings testifies at commission

investigating human rights offences during the early years of his rule.

October 2004 - Group of current and former military personnel detained

on suspicion of planning to destabilise government ahead of elections.

December 2004 - Presidential poll: Incumbent John Kufuor wins a second

term.

April-May 2005 - Thousands of Togolese refugees arrive, fleeing political

violence in their home country.

April 2006 - A boat capsizes on Lake Volta reservoir; more than 100

passengers are feared drowned.

June 2006 - Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao promises to lend Ghana

about $66m to fund development projects. He is on an African tour aimed

at opening new export markets for China's booming economy and at

securing energy and mineral supplies.

March 2007 - Ghana celebrates 50 years of independence from Britain.

June 2007 - Major off-shore oil discovery announced. President Kufuor

says oil will turn Ghana into an "African tiger".

September 2007 - The worst floods for more than 30 years cause

widespread devastation, destroying much of the annual harvest.

December 2007 - President Kufuor says off-shore oil reserves total 3

billion barrels.

December 2008 - John Atta Mills elected president.

July 2009 - US President Barack Obama visits.

Ghana secures a $600m three-year loan from the International Monetary

Fund (IMF).

October 2009 - Controversy over sale of national communications network

Ghana Telecom, allegedly for less that it was worth.

December 2010 - Offshore oil production begins.

July 2010 - President John Atta Mills chosen as ruling National Democratic

Congress party's candidate for the 2012 presidential election, defeating

Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings, wife of former President Jerry

Rawlings.

October 27, 2010: Ghana: Total Moves Beyond its Stamping Grounds'

Ten years after buying out Elf, Total has finally left its stamping grounds

in the Arab world to concentrate on Africa, like its erstwhile rival. Since

2008, the biggest share of the French major’s production has been coming

from Africa and the company is determined to build up its operations there

August 2011 - UK-based oil exploration company Tullow Oil, says it will

spend at least $4bn to develop oil fields off the coast of Ghana.

October 5, 2011: Ghana: Accra finds downside to an oil miracle'

Ten months after the huge Jubilee field went into production, winning

Ghana membership in the exclusive club of petroleum-producing

countries, actual production is marking time: Tullow Oil hasn’t succeeded

in reaching a peak phase on Jubilee and is currently pumping 80,000 bpd

instead of the scheduled 120,000.

June 2012 - Thousands are displaced by communal violence in the east,

sparked by the exhumation of the body of a Muslim cleric.

July 2012 - President John Atta Mills dies. John Dramane Mahama

becomes interim head of state.

September-October 2012 - Ivory Coast closes its borders with Ghana for

two weeks after a deadly attack on an army checkpoint blamed on exiled

supporters of ousted President Laurent Gbagbo.

October 2012 - Ghana becomes embroiled in a row with Argentina after

impounding an Argentine naval training vessel on behalf of creditors.

A Chinese boy is killed and some 100 Chinese are detained in an operation

against illegal gold mining.

December 2012 - President John Dramane Mahama wins re-election.

February 5, 2013: Ghana: Tullow changes tack on TEN'

According to sources at Ghana’s energy ministry, Tullow Oil will very

shortly submit a new development plan for the TEN (Tweneboa, Enyenra,

Ntome) project.

March 19, 2013: Ghana: Accra points finger at Sinopec'

Delays in installing gas infrastructure have exasperated Ghana’s

government to the point it has accused Sinopec of being the chief villain.

For some, the solution lies in importing LNG.

April 30, 2013: Ghana: Why TEN is dragging on?

A plan to develop the TEN complex (named after Tweneboa, Enyenra and

Ntomma), is still under discussion between TEN operator Tullow Oil and

Ghana’s Ministry of Energy.

May 21, 2013: Ghana: Oil advances undercut by politics'

Six months after his election, Ghana’s new president, John Mahama

Dramani, hasn’t made the least headway on oil and gas issues. A

challenge to his election before the Supreme Court by his leading rival,

Nana Akufo-Addo, has held back any important decision, and created a

logjam that weighs heavily on the industry.

May 30, 2013: Ghana: Tullow lands PoD accord for TEN'

Ghana's president, John Mahama Dramana, made brief mention during a

meeting of the French employers association MEDEF on May 29 that his

government had endorsed Tullow Oil's Program of Development (PoD) for

the offshore TEN (Tweneboa, Enyenra, Ntome) oil and gas complex.

June 25, 2014: World Cup 2014: Ghana sends $3m cash to players in

Brazil’

Ghana's government has sent more than $3m (£1.8m) in cash by plane to

Brazil to pay the appearance fees owed to the national team at the World

Cup. Deputy Sports Minister Joseph Yamin told Ghanaian radio station Citi

FM the players "insisted" on cash payments. He added: "The government

had to mobilise the money and a chartered flight to Brazil." Ghana must

beat Portugal in their final Group G game on Thursday to have any chance

of staying at the World Cup. And even a win would not be enough to put

Ghana through to the knockout phase if United States and Germany were

to draw their match.

Earlier this week, there were rumours the Black Stars could boycott

training ahead of the game if their demand for payment was not met. As

unrest grew in the Ghana camp, Ghana President John Dramani Mahama

personally assured the players they would receive their money. A

statement from the Ghana Football Association said: "The government is

pre-financing the payment of the Black Stars appearance fees, which will

be reimbursed when Fifa's prize money for Ghana's participation in the

World Cup is paid."

NEWS UPDATES: Ghana Flew $3 Million in Cash to Brazil to Pay Its World

Cup Players’

(Polly Mosendz) - Ghana's World Cup team was growing quite frustrated

since the tournament began, and not just because they haven't won a

game yet. The players had not been paid their appearance fees since the

World Cup started. Deputy Sports Minister, Joseph Yamin, said the

payment delay occurred because players and officials could not settle on

the form of payment, and there were difficulties transporting the

payment. You see, the players wanted $3 million in cold, hard cash.

The players made it abundantly clear that they preferred cash to

electronic wire payments, which is how the government generally sends

them money. Yamin tried to reason with the team, explaining that sending

$3 million dollars in cash is not only difficult, but also, well... not a very

good idea, "but the players are still insisting that they wouldn’t take

anything but physical cash." As the players grew agitated, it sparked fears

of what they might do if they went unpaid — possibly even refusing to

play.

Today, Ghana President John Dramani Mahama personally saw to it that

players would not walk away from the matches. President Mahama spoke

with the players and assured them that the payment was en route.

Complying with the demands of their star athletes, Ghana government

officials pre-financed the payment in all cash, put it in a plane, and flew it

over to Brazil. Just in time for tomorrow's do-or-die match against

Portugal.

World Cup 2014: Boateng and Muntari expelled by Ghana’

ST News (June 26, 2014) Ghana threw Sulley Muntari and Kevin-Prince

Boateng out of its World Cup squad for disciplinary reasons on Thursday,

plunging the African team into further chaos ahead of its decisive group-

stage match against Portugal. Just a day after seeming to resolve a

possible player mutiny over World Cup bonus payments, the Ghana

Football Association released two separate statements saying two of the

country’s stars had been “suspended … indefinitely from the Black Stars

with immediate effect.”

Muntari was suspended “in the wake of his unprovoked physical attack on

an executive committee member of the GFA and a management member

of the Black Stars, Mr. Moses Armah” on Tuesday, one statement read.

The other statement said Boateng was dropped from the squad because of

“vulgar verbal insults targeted at coach Kwesi Appiah” during a training

session this week. “Boateng has since showed no remorse for his actions

which has resulted in the decision,” the statement added. Both players

have had their World Cup accreditation withdrawn.

Ghana, a quarter-finalist in 2010, must beat Portugal in Brasilia on

Thursday to stand any chance of reaching the second round from Group

G. Muntari was suspended for the match after collecting two yellow cards.

Ghana’s World Cup campaign was already in turmoil following a row over

appearance-fee payments that squad members had been promised but

had not yet received. The country’s cash-strapped federation had been

forced to ask FIFA for an advance on the $8 million US prize money it is

guaranteed from playing at the World Cup to pay outstanding debts to

players.

FIFA said Wednesday that Ghana’s request was “under evaluation.”

Ghana’s deputy sports minister earlier had said that as much as $3 million

in cash was being flown into Brazil from the West African nation to finally

pay the bonuses to the unhappy players, averting a possible player strike.

World Cup prize money — which ranges in Brazil from $8 million for being

knocked out in the group stage to $35 million for winning the title — is

normally paid after the tournament. Ghana midfielder Christian Atsu

dismissed fears the team would boycott its final group game in Brasilia

over the bonus-payment row. “We are not going to say we are not going

to play because of the money,” Atsu said. “We love our nation and we are

going to play for our nation.” Appiah said Wednesday that he had been

having “sleepless nights” this week, and also said he had patched up his

differences with Boateng after a training-ground altercation.

COUNTRY FACT FILE

Location

On west south coast of West Africa.

Official title of the state

Republic of Ghana

Flag description:

Three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green, with a large

black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band; red symbolizes the

blood shed for independence, yellow represents the country's mineral

wealth, while green stands for its forests and natural wealth; the black

star is said to be the lodestar of African freedom. Note: uses the popular

Pan-African colors of Ethiopia; similar to the flag of Bolivia, which has a

coat of arms centered in the yellow band.

Neighbours

Cote D' Ivoire on W, Burkinafaso on N, Togo on E.

Land boundaries; total 2,094 km. Border countries; Burkinafaso 549 km,

Cote D'Ivoire 668 km, Togo 877 km.

Local division

10 regions

Government type

Republic – presidential

Legislation chamber

Unicameral Parliament

Form of State

Republic With Constitutionally Guaranteed Multi-party Democracy

A unitary multi-party republic with one legislative house. Parliament

House with 230 seats, members are elected by direct popular vote to

serve for four-year term. President and Vice-President are elected on the

same ticket by popular vote for a four-year term. President and Vice-

President can run for maximum two four-year terms.

Executive branch

President, Vice-President, Unicameral Parliament. The president is both

the chief of State and head of Government. President elected by popular

vote to serve for four-year terms, eligible for a second term.

Former Rulers

1957 -1966- Dr. Kwame Nkrumah

1966 - 1970- Brigadier Akwasi Amankwa Afrifa

August 7, 1970 – August 31, 1970 Nii Amaa Ollennu, acting President

1970 - 1972 Edward Akufo-Addo

1970 – 1975 Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong

1975 – 1978 Lieutenant-General Frederick Fred William Kwasi Akuffo

1978 - 1979 Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings

1979 - 1981 Dr. Hilla Limann

1981 – 2001 Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings

1993 - 2001 Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, President

2001 – 2009 John Agyekum Kufuor, President

2009 - present Professor John Evans Atta Mills

Judicial chamber

Supreme Court

Capital city

Accra Altitude 61 mtrs/200 ft.

Geographic coordinates - 5.33N , 0.13W.

Originally built around a port, settled on the 15th century, its name

derived from N'kran meaning for "ants" in local Akan, a reference to the

numerous anthills seen in the countryside around Accra, founded in 1898.

Names of main towns

Kumassi, Tamale, Cape-coast, Sekondi-takoradi.

Date of Independence

6th March 1957.

Religions (Major)

Christian 68.8% (Pentecostal/Charismatic 24.1%, Protestant 18.6%,

Catholic 15.1%, Muslim 15.9%, others 11%, traditional 8.5%, other

0.7%, none 6.1%.

Main spoken languages

Asante, Ewe, Fante, Boron (Brong), Dagomba, Dangme, Dagarte

(Dagaba), Akyem, Akuapem, widely spoken including English (official) are

major languages.

Currency unit

Ghana Cedi (GHC) =100 Pesewas.

Area in Km2

238,533.00

Country area comparison in Africa

34 out of 55 states.

Demographic terms ;-

Average annual population growth rate 1.855 %

Birth rate 28.9 births per 1,000 population

Death rate 8.93 deaths per 1,000 population

Average life expectancy ; 60.55 years

Male 59.36 years ; Female 61.78 years;

Illiteracy rate (%)

Male: 23, Female:34

Average per capita income

USD 2, 500

Population density

94.5/km2

Urban population (%)

49

Contributor groups (%)

Farming, fishing:35

Industry: 20

Social service: 45

Main Export Items

Gold, Cocoa, Timber, Tuna, Bauxite, Aluminium, Manganese ore,

Diamonds, Horticulture.

Economy is based on

Agriculture.

Climate

Tropical; Warm & comparatively dry along southeast coast; Hot & humid

in southwest; Hot and dry in north.

Extremes;-

Lowest point; The Atlantic Ocean 0 mtr.

Highest point: Mt. Afadjato 800 mtrs.

Weather of the Capital city (Accra) average annual temperature 26.60c.

Altitude 27 mtrs/200 ft

Hottest Month March-April 24-31oc.

Coldest Month August 22-27oc.

Driest Month January 15mm average Rf.

Wettest Month June 178 mm average Rf.

Measures

Metric system.

Time zone

GMT/UTC+0

Public holidays

January1, March 6 (Independence day), Good Friday, Easter Saturday &

Sunday, July 1 (Republic day), Christmas, Boxing day.

Ethnic groups

Akan 45.3%, Mole-Dagbon 15.2%, Ewe 11.7%, Ga-Dangme 7.3%, Guan

4%, Gurma 3.6%, Grusi 2.6%, Mande-Busanga 1%, other tribes 9.2%.

Topographic & Environmental concern

Most of Ghana consists of low fertile plains & scrubland cut by river by the

artificial lake Volta. Lake volta is one of world's artificial lakes.

Environment: recurrent drought in north severely affects agricultural

activities; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; poaching and habitat

destruction threatens wildlife populations; water pollution; inadequate

supplies of potable water.

Economic Overview

Industry

Aluminium smelting, light industry, mining, lumbering, manufacturing,

food processing, cement, small commercial ship-building.

Chief crops

Cocoa (70% of export), coffee, rice, cassava, peanuts, corn, shea-nuts,

bananas, timber.

Natural resources

Crude-oil, Gold, Manganese ore, Industrial diamonds, Bauxites, Timber,

Fish, Rubber, Silver, Salt, Limestone, Hydro-power.

Land in use (%)

Arable land: 28

Grassland: 37

Forest woods: 24

Other: 11

Marine:

Coastline; 539 km.

Commercial Sea ports:-

Accra (Tema-Harbour), Sekondi-Takoradi

Development prospect;

Ghana is the world's second largest cocoa producer behind Ivory Coast,

and Africa's biggest gold miner after South Africa. It is one of the

continent's fastest growing economies, and newest oil producer. The

government will need to speed its revenues from oil, gold and cocoa

wisely, as prices of these commodities look likely to decline during the

year ahead. Scrutiny of the mining sector by the government's

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has become more rigorous. EPA

uses a new rating system, known as Akoben – 'war horn' in the Akan

language – to name and shame poor performers. Anglogold Ashanti,

Goldfields Ghana and Prestea Sankofa Gold had slipped down the

environmental list in 2011, and bottom was the Ghana Bauxite Company,

in which China's Bosai Minerals recently acquired an 80% stake.

Scientists at the Centre for Environmental Impact Analysis say that host

communities in the gold-rich Western Region face a wide range of medical

hazards caused by toxic chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium, mercury,

zinc, manganese, lead, cobalt and platinum. But the communities are not

blameless. When Adamus Resources began operations in Teleku-Bokazo,

they were forced to demolish 3,000 illegal, empty structures, built only to

obtain compensation.

NGOs have expressed concern about the increasing encroachment by

prospecting mining companies into the country's forest reserves. Hannah

Owusu Koranteng of pressure group WACAM says the practice

contravenes the national land policy adopted in 1999, and that at the

current rate of destruction Ghana will lose its forest reserves in 23 years.