Word: ghana
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...Ghana A Peaceful Presidential Runoff In a rare democratic triumph on the African continent, Ghana's Dec. 7 presidential vote was hailed by election monitors for being fair and transparent--even if it didn't produce a result. Neither the ruling party's Nana Akufo-Addo nor opposition candidate John Atta Mills received more than 50% of some 8 million votes cast, meaning a runoff will be held on Dec. 28. Ghana, widely seen as one of Africa's most stable and prosperous nations, has experienced massive economic growth in the past decade. Atta had campaigned on a platform...
...Ghana's presidential candidates have wrapped up their campaigns ahead of a general election Sunday - but in a sense the most important result is already in. President John Kufuor, 69, is stepping down after two terms, peacefully and voluntarily. That in itself sets Ghana's election apart from recent polls in Zimbabwe, Kenya and Nigeria, which were plagued by corruption, violence, despotism and the steadfast refusal by the ruling party to let go. It is also a reminder that governance in sub-Saharan Africa, a region of 48 nations, cannot be characterized simply by the brutal repression doled...
...That Ghana represents the more optimistic side of Africa carries great symbolism. During the continent's post-independence history, Ghana has often been a crucible of all Africa's hope. It was the first sub-Saharan African nation to gain independence from its colonial ruler, Britain, in 1957. Its first president, Kwame Nkrumah, was also a lead figure in the pan-African nationalist movement. That didn't stop Ghana from falling victim to the same demons that have plagued much of the continent since independence: Nkrumah was ousted in a military takeover in 1966 and the country has had four...
...curse, or resource curse, as economists call it, describes a tendency for countries with abundant natural resources to be more corrupt, more prone to violence and unrest, and more iniquitous and impoverished than those without, something evident across the oil-rich states of West Africa. While corruption thrives in Ghana, it is encouraging that both candidates recognize the potential pitfalls of oil. Ghana has some experience in natural resources: it is the world's second-biggest cocoa producer, after neighboring Cote d"Ivoire, and Africa's second biggest gold producer, after South Africa...
...everyone is reassured. The benefits of growth have not trickled down far enough, and most of Ghana is still poor. There are few roads in the north of the country. Few homes in the capital Accra have working sewers. Frustration over all this, say some, is made only deeper by the oil discovery. At a presentation on the election at the independent think-tank, the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development, earlier this year, the political analyst and former director of the country's Narcotic Control Board, K. B. Quantson, warned: "Ghana should not delude itself that it is living well...