Ghana and Ghanaian News

Country Profile

Ghana,Officially the Republic of Ghana is a Country in West Africa.The word Ghana means "Warrior King"
Ghana is divided into 10 Administrative Regions, which, in turn, are subdivided into a total of 170 Districts.

Capital                            Accra
Currency                         Ghana Cedi
Population                      25 Million(2011 Estimate)
Ethnic Groups                70% Akans and Others 30%
Official Language           English
Flag

Red represents the blood that was shed towards independence; the Gold represents the mineral wealth of Ghana; the Green symbolises the rich agriculture; and the Black Star is the symbol of African emancipation




History
Following conquest by the British in 1896 until independence in March 1957, the territory of modern Ghana, excluding the Volta Region(British Togoland)was known as the Gold Coast

Kwame Nkrumah formed the Convention People's Party(CPP) with the motto "Self-government Now". He began a "Positive Action" campaign, gained the support of rural and working-class people and was once again imprisoned for being the leader of a party that caused boycotts, strikes and other forms of civil disobedience

Kwame Nkrumah was released and appointed leader of government business,after winning a majority in the Legislative Assembly in 1952. After further negotiations with Britain, on March 6,1957 at 12 a.m. Kwame Nkrumah declared Ghana "free forever"

Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first prime minister and subsequently president of the modern Ghanaian state, sought a united Africa that would not drift into neo-colonialism
                                                                                                                

Kwame Nkrumah played an instrumental part in the founding of the 'Organisation of African Unity(OAU), which was succeeded in 2002 by the African Union(AU)

Govt. and Politics
Ghana was created as a Parliamentary Democracy at independence in 1957.The 1992 constitution divides powers among a president, parliament, cabinet, council of state, and an independent judiciary.

 Political Parties under the Fourth Republic - 
National Democratic Congress which won presidential and parliamentary elections in 1992, 1996 and 2008
New Patriotic Party, the major opposition party which won elections in 2000 and 2004
People's National Convention and
Convention People's Party(CPP)successor to Kwame Nkrumah's original party of the same name

Parliament of Ghana

Political groups

  National Democratic Congress(114)

  New Patriotic Party(107)

  People's National Convention (2)

  Convention People's Party(CPP) (1)

  Independents(4)

 

The country is divided into 230 single-member Constituencies. Members serve 4-year terms.The Speaker cannot be a Member of Parliament though he/she must possess the qualifications to stand for elections as a Member of Parliament. The Speaker is assisted by two Deputy Speakers (First and Second Deputy Speakers), who are elected at the commencement of every Parliament. They must come from different political parties.

2012 Ghana General Election - Dec 7,2012

 

                                                        

          

 

General elections to be held to select a President and Members of Parliament on Friday Dec 7,2012, with a Run-Off  on Dec 28, 2012, if no Presidential Candidate receives an absolute majority of 50% plus one vote.

• 14 million people are eligible to vote in the West African country, and a biometric voter identification system is being used for the first time.

• President John Mahama is seeking re-election in the newly oil-rich country - one of the world's fastest-growing economies.

• Nana Akufo-Addo is the main challenger who narrowly lost the 2008 race

• The electoral commission said that voting could be extended until Saturday if there were any problems with the biometric technology. Ghana is seen by many observers as a model for democracy in Africa.

Presidential Candidates

 

1)President John Dramani Mahama is the candidate of the'National Democratic Congress'

2)Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo is the candidate of the'New Patriotic Party'

3)Hassan Ayariga is the candidate of the 'People's National Convention'

4)Michael Abu Sakara Foster is the candidate of the 'Convention People's Party'(CPP)

5)Paa Kwesi Nduom is the candidate of the ' Progressive People's Party(Ghana)

6)Akwasi Addai Odike is the candidate of the 'United Front Party '(Ghana)

7)Henry Herbert Lartey is the candidate of the 'Great Consolidated Popular Party'

8)Jacob Osei Yeboah is Independent Candidate

General Election Voting enters second day

 

Voting in Ghana for a new president and parliament has entered its second day to Saturday Dec 8,2012 after technical glitches led to long delays in some areas.Breakdowns in a new biometric voting system meant many were unable to cast ballots on Friday.It was not clear how many polling stations had been affected by Friday's glitches. The new biometric system requires electronic fingerprints from voters.

 

John Mahama Declared Winner

 

Ghana's presidential election has been won by incumbent John Mahama.TheElection commission said that  John Mahama had won 50.7% against opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo on 47.74%

The election was declared free and fair by observers of the regional body, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas)

However, the opposition NPP says it will contest the result, accusing the governing NDC party of conspiring with commission staff to fix Friday's poll.

n his first address after the result, President Mahama urged "all leaders of all political parties to respect the voice of the people".

"The voice of the people is the voice of God," he added.