| Ghana
is a unitary republic with a multiparty democratic
system. The National Democratic Congress (NDC)
won the democratic elections in both 1992
and 1996, having already ruled the country
as the Provisional National Defence Council
(7) for over a decade following a military
coup in 1981. The NDC's charismatic leader,
Jerry John Rawlings, is constitutionally barred
from contending the 2000 presidential election
and the vice-president, John Atta Mills, is
expected to stand in his place.
Ghana experienced nine changes of government, including four military coups between 1957 and 1981, but has escaped the violence that afflicted many other African countries. In contrast to much of Africa, ethnicity has played a relatively minor role in mainstream political conflicts.
The CPP government was ostensibly socialist and laid much of the basis of Ghana's current industrial infrastructure, but its policies alienated cocoa farmers and influential private-sector businesses and in 1964 it introduced a one-party state. In 1966 an economic crisis and rumours of cuts in the military's resources prompted Ghana's first (bloodless) military coup, by conservative generals, who formed the National Liberation Council (NLC). They handed over to the laisser-faire Progress Party (PP) after elections in 1969. The PP, led by Kofi Busia, continued the NLC's economic reforms. However, a fresh economic crisis brought another military coup in January 1972. The younger left-wing colonels of the National Redemption Council (NRC), led by Ignatius Acheampong, reversed the PP's policies in favour of socialist programmes. In July 1978 Mr Acheampong was removed by other defence chiefs in the NRC who favoured a return to civilian rule. Before elections could be held, however, younger officers staged a fresh coup on June 4th 1979 and formed the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). The Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) government went on to implement one of Africa's first and longest-sustained structural adjustment programmes (SAP), beginning in 1983. This stabilised the economy and brought several years of growth but inevitably alienated the PNDC's erstwhile allies.
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In the late 1980s Mr Rawlings launched "party-less" local elections which were intended to pave the way for a national system of party-less democracy, but the idea was shelved in response to bilateral donors' demands for multiparty reform.
In November 1992 the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the new face of the PNDC, held Ghana's first multiparty elections for more than a decade. They were endorsed by international observers. Mr Rawlings won the presidential race, with 58% of the vote, compared with 30% for his nearest rival, Professor Albert Adu Boahen of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). The opposition claimed fraud and boycotted the December parliamentary election. The results left the NDC with complete control of parliament, which rarely challenged the executive.
The 1996 elections stressed the government's track record on spending and infrastructural development, while capitalising on its control of the state-owned media and patronage networks. Mr Rawlings won a majority in every region except Ashanti-the NPP's heartland. In addition, in a near-repeat of 1992, he gained 57.5% of the vote to Mr Kuffour's 39.5%. The results also reinforced the NDC's position as the only party with a national support base.
Since 1996 the NDC has been preoccupied with re-organising itself for life after Mr Rawlings' departure in 2000 as he cannot constitutionally stand for a third term. Mr Rawlings has endorsed his popular but inexperienced vice-president, John Atta Mills, as his preferred successor.
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