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Richard Rathbone (1994, p. 163) describes
Ghana as"...always bewilderingly capable of doing unpredictable things
and of doing them before anyone else." Ghana is the first Sub-Saharan
African country to attain independence: it was black Africa's first parliamentary
government, as well as black Africa's first transition from military back
to parliamentary government (David Austin, 1979). It
has also set bad examples such as having one of the highest numbers of military coups on the continent. |
Ghana recently moved from an authoritarian military rule to a
democracy. The
current political system may be described as a form of Guided
Democracy because
even though Ghana has a democratic constitution, remnants of
authoritarian
behavior still exist. The 1992 elections recorded 58% of the
votes for Jerry
Rawlings, the former authoritarian leader enabling him to become
to President of
the fourth Republic of Ghana.
Ghana enjoyed a competitive election in 1952, supervised by the
then colonial
power, which elected Kwame Nkrumah, the first Ghananian head
of government.
Since the overthrow of Nkrumah's government in 1966, Ghana has
come under
military control in 1966-1969, 1972-1979, and 1981-1992. In between
the military
regimes, the country experienced democratic governance from 1969-1972,
and
1979-1981. The current democratic government, voted in on the
first week of
November 1992, went to the polls again in November 1996 and will
be voting again
in December 2000, as stipulated under the Fourth Republic Constitution.
The current Constitution makes use of certain aspects of all four
previous ones. It
was drafted by a consultative assembly, which represented all
identifiable groups in
the Ghanaian society: groups that Hincluded the professional
bodies, traditional
leaders (Chiefs), women and minority ethnic groups. It was a
conscious effort at
increasing the social base of political participation.
The constitution dictates a multi-party system as the basis for
political competition,
with a directly elected president and an appointed vice president,
a military-civilian
Security Council, a non-partisan Council of State (which plays
a mediation role as
it is done by respected opinion leaders in most African traditional
political
systems), a unicameral elected legislative body, and a special
committee on human
rights and administrative justice (Arthur Banks ed., 1996). The
Consultative
Council retained the strengths of the previous constitution's
aspects which have
been criticized as too Western (Youry Petchenkin, 1993); they
also went to extra
lengths to include some indigenous democratic practices (Constitution
of Ghana,
1992).
Respect for elders in society for instance, is a strong feature
of most Akan
traditions. It is a system where much weight is given to the
views of elders in a
community because of the notion that, with age comes experience
and wisdom. The
creation of the institution of Council of State and the criteria
for its membership
(loosely based on age and accomplishment), is meant to reflect
the ideals of this
Elder Respect system.
The institution of Chieftaincy is one tradition that has refused
to die in modern
Ghana. There have been many attempts in Ghana's political history
to strangle this
institution. During the period of establishing colonial authority
upon the
indigenous people of Ghana, there were many battles that were
fought by the
colonial powers strip the political powers of Chiefs. There were
the Chiefs who were
brought over to recognize the colonial authority, in the process
committing
political suicide in the eyes of the people because they gave
away their authority;
and thee were those who were considered too dangerous to the
colonial project,
and therefore had to be fought and physically removed from their
areas of
authority. The Ashantis, for instance bore the brunt of the British
colonial army in
many encounters. Finally, the Asantehene Nana Prempeh (1) had
to be exiled to the
Seychelles Island in an attempt to break the spirit of the Ashantis
and the political
power of the institution of Chieftaincy (Joseph Dupuis, 1966).
The assault on this august institution was continued even after
independence from
colonialism. Nkrumah's government, when confronted with the power
of the
institution of Chieftaincy and the loyalty it still commanded
among the people,
tried to use both legal and extral legal means to reduce its
political significance.
New chiefs without any claim to royal lineages were created and
recognized by the
government, who aimed to dilute the influence of powerful chiefs
who were not
friendly to the government. The institution, in spite of all
these efforts has
remained strong and continues its influence in the modern political
set up. It is to
the credit therefore, of the latest constitution drafters that
the role of the institution
of Chieftaincy has been recognized and accorded a significant
place in the new
democratic system.
To an extent, the current document marries aspects of British,
American and
French basic laws (Western philosophy of government), with indigenous
Chanaian
social norms and rules. The Fourth Republic Constitution makes
conscious efforts
to address some of the major criticisms of the past constitutions,
such as
insensitivity to traditional authority structures, norms and
institutions."
Samuel Quainoo, East Stroudsburg University
Additional Readings:
Quainoo, S.E. (2000). Transitions and Consolitation of Democracy
in Africa.
Binghamton, NY:Global Publications.