Intro
Contents
The first permanent state in the territory of present-day Ghana dates back to the 11th century. Numerous kingdoms and empires emerged over the centuries, of which the most powerful was the Kingdom of Ashanti. Beginning in the 15th century, numerous European powers contested the area for trading rights, with the British ultimately establishing control of the coast by the late 19th century. Following over a century of native resistance, Ghana’s current borders were established by the 1900s as the British Gold Coast. It became independent of the United Kingdom on 6 March 1957.
Kwame Nkrumah was the first African head of state to promote the concept of Pan-Africanism, which he had been introduced to during his studies at Lincoln University, Pennsylvania in the United States, at the time when Marcus Garvey was becoming famous for his “Back to Africa Movement”. Nkrumah merged the teachings of Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the naturalised Ghanaian scholar W. E. B. Du Bois into the formation of 1960s Ghana.
The government of Nkrumah was subsequently overthrown by a coup by the Ghana Armed Forces codenamed “Operation Cold Chop.” This occurred while Nkrumah was abroad with Zhou Enlai in the People’s Republic of China, on a fruitless mission to Hanoi in Vietnam to help end the Vietnam War. The coup took place on 24 February 1966, led by Col. Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka. The National Liberation Council (NLC) was formed, chaired by Lt. General Joseph A. Ankrah.
A series of alternating military and civilian governments, often affected by economic instabilities, from 1966 to 1981 ended with the ascension to power of Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) in 1981. These changes resulted in the suspension of the Constitution of Ghana in 1981, and the banning of political parties in Ghana. The economy soon declined, so Rawlings negotiated a structural adjustment plan changing many old economic policies, and economic growth soon recovered during the mid-1980s. A new Constitution of Ghana restoring multi-party system politics was promulgated in Ghanaian presidential election, 1992; Rawlings was elected as president of Ghana then, and again in Ghanaian general election, 1996.
Winning the 2000 Ghanaian elections, John Agyekum Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was sworn into office as president of Ghana on 7 January 2001, and attained the presidency again in the 2004 Ghanaian elections, thus also serving two terms (the term limit) as president of Ghana and thus marking the first time under the fourth republic that power was transferred from one legitimately elected head of state and head of government to another.
Kufuor was succeeded to the presidency of the Republic of Ghana by John Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) following the Ghanaian presidential election, 2008, and John Atta Mills was inaugurated as the third president of the fourth republic of Ghana and 11th president of Ghana on 7 January 2009, prior to John Atta Mills being succeeded as president of Ghana by then vice-president of Ghana John Dramani Mahama on 24 July 2012.
Following the Ghanaian presidential election, 2012, John Dramani Mahama became President-elect and was inaugurated as the fourth President of the Fourth Republic of Ghana and seventh President of Ghana on 7 January 2013, to serve one term of office of four-year term as President of Ghana until 7 January 2017, maintaining Ghana’s status as a stable democracy.
As a result of the Ghanaian presidential election, 2016, Nana Akufo-Addo became President-elect and was inaugurated as the fifth President of the Fourth Republic of Ghana and 8th President of Ghana on 7 January 2017, to serve one four-year term of office as President of Ghana, until 7 January 2021.
Ghana’s population of approximately 30 million[16] spans a variety of ethnic, linguistic and religious groups.[6] According to the 2010 census, 71.2% of the population was Christian, 17.6% was Muslim, and 5.2% practised traditional faiths.
Motto:
“Freedom and Justice”
Anthem: “God Bless Our Homeland Ghana”
| English translation |
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| Ghana Hail the Name of Ghana God bless our homeland Ghana, And make our nation great and strong, Bold to defend for ever The cause of Freedom and of Right; Fill our hearts with true humility, Make us cherish fearless honesty, And help us to resist oppressors’ rule With all our will and might for evermore. (repeat previous two lines) Hail to thy name, O Ghana, To thee we make our solemn vow: Steadfast to build together A nation strong in Unity; With our gifts of mind and strength of arm, Whether night or day, in mist or storm, In ev’ry need, whate’er the call may be, To serve thee, O Ghana, now and evermore. (repeat previous two lines) Raise high the flag of Ghana And one with Africa advance; Black Star of hope and honour To all who thirst for Liberty; Where the banner of Ghana freely flies, May the way to freedom truly lie; Arise, arise, O sons of Ghanaland, And under God march on for evermore! (repeat previous two lines) |
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