Ghana
The History of Ghana
The history of Ghana before the last quarter of the 15th Century is mainly from oral tradition. From Oral tradition we know that the people of Ghana were migrants from the ancient kingdoms of the western Sahel which is now known as the area between Mauritania and Mali.
Ghana was originally called Gold Coast a land of Gold. Gold Coast has been a British colony since 1901. After World War I part of the German colony of Togoland was given to the British, who governed it administratively with the Gold Coast colony.
The country Gold Coast was named Ghana after an ancient West African kingdom which flourished from 300AD to 1100AD.
Ghana or Gold coast is rich in mineral resources, particularly in Gold; and endowed with a good educational system and efficient civil service. Ghana’s main exports are raw Cocoa and Gold.
The country is divided into 10 regions, currently subdivided into about 110 districts.
Regions in Ghana
The regions of Ghana are as follows:
Western, Central, Eastern, Greater Accra, Volta, Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, Northern Region, Upper East & Upper West
Independence
Ghana was the first black African nation to become independent from Britain. On 6 March 1957, Ghana was declared independent.
Kwame Nkrumah – ('Osagyefo' - 'victorious leader') became the Prime Minister of Ghana.
Post- Independence
On February 24 1966, the Ghanaian Army and police - (National Liberation Council- NLC) overthrew Nkrumah's government –The reason for coup was Nkrumah's abuse of individual rights and liberties, corruption, oppressive, and dictatorial practices, and the rapidly deteriorating economy.
2nd Republic
Ghana returned to civilian administration under the Second Republic in October 1969 after a parliamentary election which was led by Dr Kofi Busia of the Progress Party.
In a special election on August 31 1970 former Chief Justice Edward Akufo-Addo was made president, and Dr. Busia became prime minister.
With mounting economic problems, Busia's government undertook a drastic devaluation of the currency in December 1971. Inflation escalated and the government's was unable to control inflation. This led to discontent, and military officers seized power in a bloodless coup on January 13, 1972.
The coup leaders were led by Col. Ignatius Kutu Acheampong. He formed the National Redemption Council – the NRC. In 1975, a government reorganization led to the replacement of NRC by the Supreme Military Council (SMC), also headed by General Acheampong.
Acheampong's was replaced in July 1978 by his chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Fredrick William Kwasi Akuffo.
On June 4, 1979 his government was deposed by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC)--with Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings as its chairman.
The AFRC scheduled presidential and parliamentary elections to take place in June and handed over power to the newly elected president and parliament of the Third Republic on September 24, 1979.
3rd Republic
Dr. Hilla Liman, a career diplomat from the northern region led the People National Party (PNP) to victory.
On December 31 1981, Fl. Lt. Rawlings with a small group soldiers launched a coup that succeeded against President Limann. They established the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC),
The PNDC and its supporters formed a new party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), to contest the elections. Presidential elections were held on November 3 and parliamentary elections on December 29 of that year.
The Fourth Republic
November 1992: Multi-party elections in Ghana. Rawlings wins the presidential election with nearly 60% of the votes.
Fourth Republic – the Constitution came into force on January 7, 1993.
1996: Rawlings is re-elected with 57% of the votes.
December 2000: Rawlings' presidency ends as the constitution only allows two terms in office. John Kufour from NPP wins the election and becomes the new president of Ghana.
Other interesting facts about Ghana
Ghana is located in West Africa near the equator and on the Greenwich meridian. It is bounded on the north and North West by Burkina Faso (Upper Volta), on the east by Togo, on the south by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the west by La Cote D'Ivoire (known as the Ivory Coast).
Ghana's
total area is 238,537 sq. km (92,100 sq. miles).
The capital of Ghana is
Accra. Other cities are Cape coast,
Kumasi,
Takoradi,
Tema, Tamale and
Sekondi-Takoradi. The terrain is composed of plains and scrubland, rain forest
and savanna. Ghana has a tropical climate and has a population of
22,409,572.
(July 2006 est.)
Natural Resources
Ghana is endowed with great natural resources. This includes gold, timber, industrial diamonds, bauxite, manganese, fish, rubber, hydropower, petroleum, silver, salt, limestone
Economy
Well endowed with natural resources, Ghana has roughly twice the per capita output of the poorer countries in West Africa. Gold, timber, and cocoa production are major sources of foreign exchange. The domestic economy continues to depend on subsistence agriculture, which accounts for 34% of GDP and employs 60% of the work force, mainly small landholders. Receipts from the gold sector helped sustain GDP growth in 2005 along with record high prices for Ghana's largest cocoa crop to date. (2006).
Ghana Country code : 233
Internal area code:
Accra 21 Agona Swedru 41 Bechem 632 Bolgatanga 72
Cape coast 42 Ho 91 Koforidua 81 Kumasi 51
Navorongo 742 Sekondi 31 Suhum 858 Sunyani 61
Takoradi 31 Tamale 71 Tema 22 Yendi 744
Mobile 20, 24, 27, 28
To call UK from Ghana :( 00 44)
To call Ghana from UK : (00 233)
Links
Kwame Nkrumah works - KwameNkrumahworks
Yen ara asase ni - Yenaraasaseni