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 Republic of GHANA
Humanitarian Country Profile |
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Background |
Last update: February 2007 |
The territory that forms Ghana was once called the Gold Coast, after the Portuguese arrived in the 15th century and began to export gold taken from Ashanti tribesmen. Soon after, the slave trade dominated and other Europeans, including the Dutch, British and Danes, took interest in the region. Fierce competition broke out and each built forts along the coast.
With the end of the slave trade, the British took over the forts and made them trading posts. They signed agreements with Fanti chiefs, paving the way for colonial takeover, and after fierce battles with the Ashantis in the interior, controlled most of the area.
The British developed the cocoa trade and the colony flourished based on this and other exports, including gold, timber, manganese, bauxite and diamonds.
Ghana became one of the most prosperous colonies in Africa, with excellent schools and a thriving civil service.
An independence movement began to take shape and in 1949, political leader Kwame Nkrumah brought the country to a halt when he called a national strike. The British responded by imprisoning him for two years.
Ghana gained independence in 1957, the first sub-Saharan colony to do so, and the territory that formed British Togoland was joined with the rest of the country.
In 1960, Ghana became a republic and Nkrumah was elected president. He promoted socialist policies but became increasingly authoritarian, detaining people without trial and screening the press. He outlawed all parties and put in place economic policies that put the country in massive debt. What followed was a period of military takeovers as one leader after another allowed corruption to run rampant and failed to make good on promises for economic recovery.
In 1979, air force lieutenant Jerry Rawlings staged a brutal coup and in an attempt to root out corruption, staged public executions of senior military officials. He introduced a new constitution and handed power to an elected president but within two years he overthrew that government and took charge.
He introduced conservative economic policies, decentralised the government and continued to target corruption. He has been accused of committing human rights abuses during this period.
Under international pressure, Rawlings ushered in Ghana’s Fourth Republic, which provided for multi-party elections. Rawlings won the first vote in 1993. He stayed in power until 2000, winning second elections in 1996.
During this period, Ghana experienced ethnic clashes in the north of the country between the Konkomba and Nanumba over land ownership. One thousand people were killed and a further 150,000 displaced.
Opposition leader John Kufuor won the 2000 elections and subsequent ones in 2004. While in office, Kufuor established the National Reconciliation Commission to bring to light human rights abuses committed under previous governments and provide reparations to victims. He has also liberalised media laws and economic policies.
Peace and security
Ghana’s current political stability has provided the country with a sense of security, but there are still some internal security issues.
The country faces a host of bitter ethnic and chieftaincy conflicts, especially in the north. In 1994 and 1995, there was a war between the Kokomba and Nanumba people that left more than 1,000 dead.
There is also the unresolved Dagbon conflict that erupted in 2002 in the northern town of Yendi when the paramount chief of the Dagbon ethnic group was murdered with 40 of his followers.
In January 2006, a new chieftaincy feud erupted among the Nanumba in the town of Bimbilla, also in the north. Supporters of two rival candidates for the vacant chieftaincy clashed with machetes and small arms, injuring several and forcing the Ghanaian government to send in troops to enforce a dusk-to-dawn curfew.
According to the West African Peace Building Network, the handling of ethnic violence by the government could lead to an escalation of violence, particularly in view of elections in 2008.
Ghana has also seen a proliferation of small arms. The Ghana National Commission on Small Arms estimates there are 100,000 illicit weapons in circulation in the country. Inexpensive semi-automatic weapons that easily cross borders are partially to blame, but Ghana also has an active arms manufacturing industry. Studies by a former professor at the University of Ghana found there were 2,500 blacksmiths with gun-making capacities in the central Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions alone. As a consequence, armed robberies have been increasing.
Ghana has also been implicated in trafficking diamonds that fuel conflict in Côte d’Ivoire. At a recent plenary session on the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, set up to eliminate the illegal trade of diamonds, delegates were put under pressure to act against Ghana, and the country was given three months to control the situation.
IDPs/Refugees
Present and past conflicts in surrounding countries have made Ghana a popular destination for refugees. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as of November 2006, there were 46,000 refugees and 5,500 asylum-seekers in the country.
The majority are Liberians who fled the 14-year civil war there. Refugees were directed to two camps, the large Buduburam camp, near the capital Accra, which hosts 38,000 refugees, and the smaller Krisan camp, which is close to the border with Côte d’Ivoire and hosts 1,700 refugees from several African nations.
Since the end of the Liberian civil war in 2003, repatriation efforts have been under way. In 2007 the UNHCR plans to assist 15,000 Liberian refugees to return to their country and will most likely close the Krisan camp by the end of the year.
In 2005, Ghana also received an influx of refugees from Togo due to violence sparked by elections. About 15,000 Togolese crossed the border into Ghana, residing mostly with host families in the Volta region in the north of the country.
Once violence ceased, many Togolese began to return, but the UNHCR estimates there are still 12,500 Togolese refugees in the region and in the summer of 2006 began a verification process to facilitate the determination of refugee status by the authorities and ensure services are provided to those in need.
Democracy and governance
The introduction of the 1993 constitution, which ushered in Ghana’s Fourth Republic, was a milestone for democracy in Ghana. It established a democratic system of checks and balances, including an independent judiciary, and an independent human rights commission. Under the law, sovereignty resides with the Ghanaian people and provides for a power-sharing government. The hope is that this will prevent coups, dictatorial rule and a one-party state, as seen in the past. Parliament has 230 seats, and by law more than half the appointed ministers must be taken from elected members of parliament.
The constitution, however, still allows for a strong presidency. The president is head of state, head of government and commander in chief of the armed forces and he has the power to veto bills passed before parliament for legislation. The president is limited to two terms in office, and Ghana had its first peaceful transition to a new government in 2000 when the opposing candidate, John Kufuor, won the vote.
Opposition parties can operate and express their views freely and won nearly a majority of the seats in parliament in the last elections in 2004.
Kufuor is in his second term and is not eligible to run in elections in 2008. Analysts see this second handing-over of government by ballot box as a test of how firmly rooted democratic governance has become in Ghana.
Media
At one time, the press in Ghana was screened and vetoed by the government but since the election of Kufuor in 2000, the government has supported freedom of expression. It has repealed colonial-era criminal libel laws and dropped a number of libel suits against journalists.
Reporters Without Borders ranked Ghana 34 out of 168 countries on its Press Freedom Index for 2006. It noted that Ghana had risen 32 places since 2005 and was now the fourth-highest ranked country in Africa after Benin, Namibia and Mauritius. It also said that although the media in Ghana was less threatened by authorities, it still faced difficult economic conditions.
Nonetheless, the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) reported regular incidents of journalists being threatened or detained by police.
The relatively open atmosphere in Ghana has created a vibrant media. There are more than 70 newspapers. The state owns three dailies, two weeklies, 11 FM radio stations and a public television network. Although state-owned media broadcast a wide range of topics and viewpoints, some opposition parties complained of limited coverage.
Private media outlets are common, although most are concentrated in the capital, Accra. Radio, however, is widespread and there are more than 100 radio stations in the country.
Foreign publications are widely available as is access to foreign broadcasters, including the BBC, Radio France International and Voice of America.
Economy
Ghana’s economy has had several ups and downs, with changing governments proving unable to counter accumulating debts and skyrocketing inflation rates.
In 1983, the government, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), introduced stringent economic reforms to encourage real growth. In 2001, the government also decided to seek debt relief from the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC). Under this plan, the government raised electricity and municipal water fees to market rates, introduced taxes and began deregulating the oil sector, which is still ongoing.
Funds made available through this plan have been earmarked for increased spending on health and education, to improve services and infrastructure in rural regions and to improve governance.
The fiscal improvements meant Ghana was eligible for debt relief at the Gleneagles summit of G8 leaders in 2005, and qualified for an anti-poverty grant from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). The five-year MCC grant is worth US$547 million and is the largest to date for the MCC. It is expected to benefit more than one million Ghanaians and aims to improve the lives of the rural poor by raising farmers’ incomes by developing agriculture as a private sector business.
The country continues to develop its rich mineral and agricultural resources. Cocoa and cocoa products make up about two-thirds of export revenues, and the country also exports pineapples, cashews, peppers, timber products, coconuts, shea nuts and coffee. Its mineral resources include gold, diamonds, manganese and bauxite, and exploration for gas and oil reserves is ongoing.
Population
There are 21.7 million people in Ghana and most of the population is concentrated along the coast. The population growth rate is 1.9 percent and women have on average 4.4 children.
There are more than 50 ethnic groups and an equal number of languages and dialects. Akan is the most common ethnicity. It includes the Fanti and Ashanti tribes and makes up about 40 percent of the population. Other main groups are the Mossi, the Ewe and the Ga. English is the official language, although African languages associated with the main ethnic tribes are also widely spoken.
Christianity is practised by 55 percent of the population, 25 percent have indigenous beliefs and 20 percent are Muslim.
Development indicators
Ghana is ranked 136 out of 177 countries on the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Human Development Index. It is one of the highest ranked countries in West Africa. According to the UNDP, life expectancy at birth is 57 years and 72.3 percent of the population is likely to survive past the age of 40.
The combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio is 47.2 percent and the adult literacy rate is 57.9 percent. In terms of health, 25 percent of the population does not have access to an improved water source and 22 percent of children younger than five are underweight.
Ghana has been cited as one of the few African countries with the potential to attain its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the prescribed date of 2015.
The UK’s Department for International Development (DfID)
found that with regards to the MDGs in Ghana, poverty has fallen nationwide, access to potable water has increased by 10 percent in rural areas since the 1990s, primary school enrolment has risen from 79.5 percent in 1999 to 92.1 percent in 2005 and that for every 100 boys in primary school there are 95 girls.
It noted, however, that progress had stalled in the areas of child health outcomes and life expectancy. The child mortality rate had increased slightly and the maternal mortality rate was stagnating.
Education
The Ghanaian government has shown a strong commitment to education and has one of the most ambitious pre-tertiary education programmes in West Africa. The constitution mandates free, compulsory and universal basic education at primary and junior secondary school level. Since the early 1980s government spending on education has risen from 1.5 percent to more than 5 percent.
This commitment is reflected in enrolment rates that are higher than in most African countries. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO),
58 percent of boys and 58 percent of girls attended primary school in 2004. Out of these, 65 percent completed the full course of primary school. At the secondary level, net enrolment was 39 percent for boys and 33 percent for girls.
In 2005, in a move to make education more accessible to the entire population and help meet the MDGs, the government removed all school fees. This has caused a major influx of students into Ghana’s school system.
Last year, there was an increased enrolment of more than 616,000 students, equalling a 16.6 percent rise in the number of students in the first through ninth levels, and the net primary enrolment rate went up by 10 percentage points in the span of a year.
The abundance of students, however, has placed strains on Ghana’s limited educational resources. According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, the country needs 17,000 teachers and 13,400 classrooms. Some schools have resorted to a shift system, whereby students will attend school during just one of several shifts throughout the day.
According to the UNICEF office in Ghana, in some northern districts fewer than 50 percent of teachers are qualified and fewer than 40 percent of primary school-aged children attend class.
Children
Ghana has a Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs, established in 2001 to promote the welfare and rights of children and the law prohibits defilement, incest, under-age marriage and sexual abuse against minors.
Aberrations persist in the violation of children’s rights. The most widespread problem is the use of child labour.
According to UNICEF, northern Ghana used to be a key source of child migrants but now other regions, including the Volta, eastern and central regions, have become common sources as well. Children are used in market centres, for fishing, stone quarrying and food vending. The International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPECL) estimates that there are 800,000 child labourers in Ghana, of whom 20,000 work on the streets of Accra.
A 2005 study on street children in the capital Accra, conducted by the Norwegian research foundation FAFO, found that 75 percent of street children in Accra were girls, that most of the children came from within Ghana and that 55 percent of the children had never attended school. When children were asked why they did not attend school or why they did not continue with their education, 68 percent of the children cited family poverty as the main reason.
The US State Department also reported that female child labourers were particularly vulnerable as they were sometimes forced into prostitution or were sexually exploited in exchange for protection while living on the streets.
Sexual abuse and sexual harassment remain particular threats to young girls. There were frequent reports that male teachers sexually assaulted and harassed female students. The girls were often reluctant to report these incidents to their parents, and social pressure often prevented parents from going to authorities. A 2003 survey reported that 27 percent of school girls interviewed said their teacher had pressured them for sex, and 79 percent said they were sexually harassed by male classmates.
Under-age marriage continues and in 2004, the Acting Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice declared that forced marriage was the main human rights abuse occurring in the northern part of the country.
Child health is also problematic in the north, where the infant mortality rate is twice as high as in the capital region and the under-five mortality rate is three times as high. Malaria, acute respiratory infections, diarrhoea, malnutrition and measles remain the leading killers of children.
Health
In 2004, the government launched the National Health Insurance Scheme, where adults could receive unlimited medical treatment for an annual fee of US$9, and children could be seen free of charge if both their parents were registered.
Progress with the scheme has been slow, however, and two years after implementation at least 17 million Ghanaians had still not bought into it. There have also been glitches in implementation, including long delays in issuing health cards - necessary for receiving services, and pharmacies and dispensaries designated to supply drugs to members of the insurance scheme have been turning patients away on the basis that drugs are not available or not covered by the plan.
There have also been complaints that state hospitals are in poor condition and the cost of medical services too high. The Institute for Policy Research found that only 43.8 percent of Ghanaians consulted a medical practitioner when sick.
The maternal mortality rate, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), is 540 for every 100,000 live births and 47.1 percent of births are assisted by a skilled attendant.
Ghana was selected as one of the countries for field trials for a new malaria vaccine. The trials started in November 2006.
HIV/AIDS
According to the Ghana AIDS Commission, the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in Ghana is 2.7 percent.
HIV sentinel survey results from 2004 (the most recent from the Ghana AIDS Commission) indicated that the epidemic was slowing after rising steadily for five years. Increases remained, however, in the 15 to 19 age group and the 25 to 29 age group.
In the 15 to 24 age group, however, decreases were registered two consecutive times between 2001 and 2004. This might be attributed to special attention being given to this age group for prevention.
According to the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), there are 320,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Ghana, including 25,000 children younger than 14. There are also 270,000 children under the age of 17 that have been orphaned by the disease.
The Ghana AIDS Commission identified areas that need strengthening in a bid to control HIV/AIDS. It noted there should be an increase in the number of rural survey sites to have a fair balance of rural and urban sites that are monitored and for improved analysis. It also found that there was greater need for behavioural surveillance and that key groups to be targeted are youth, sex workers and adults living around sentinel sites.
Food security
The World Food Programme (WFP) reported that Ghana was among the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa to have reached and even surpassed the 1996 World Food Summit goal of reducing by half the number of undernourished people in the country by 2015.
Between 1990 and 1992 and 2001 and 2003, the number of undernourished people fell from 5.8 to 2.4 million - a 59 percent reduction. However, pockets of food insecurity remain in certain areas, mainly in the northern region between May and September, when the previous year’s crops are reaching their end.
The food deficit in the north is reflected in countrywide statistics on nutrition. National indicators for underweight and stunting among children under five are 22 and 30 percent respectively, compared with 33 and 48 percent in the north.
The government, however, plans to phase out external food aid by 2010 by focusing on developing the private agricultural sector within the country.
Gender issues
Traditional patriarchal views continue to limit women’s rights in Ghana. The NGO Women in Development and Law in Africa (WILDAF)
reported that the low status of women was reinforced by religion, marriage and cultural norms.
Customary law frequently denied women the right to inherit property or land from a husband or other family member, even when children were involved. At times, this left women and their children destitute. In some communities, widows are mistreated and shunned. They are forced to undergo harmful rituals, such as pepper in the eyes, and sometimes are banished on accusations of witchcraft.
In marriage, women are often regarded as property. WILDAF stated that some parents saw their daughters as a means of gaining wealth and forced marriages upon them. Early and forced marriage of girls was usually justified by parents claiming that the girl had been promised to the man when she was young and that the man had spent money looking after her while she was growing up.
According to WILDAF, the inequalities in marriage perpetuate domestic violence. It is even reported that among some ethnic groups, the man is given a small cane during the marriage ceremony as an indication that he can discipline his wife.
A study by the International Federation of Women’s Lawyers found that one in three women experienced domestic violence, and most abuses went unreported.
Filed complaints rarely went to court. Statistics from the Domestic Violence Victim Support Unit of Ghana indicated that of 11,335 cases reported to its Accra branch between 1998 and 2004, only 19 percent led to a court appearance and fewer than 3 percent resulted in convictions. Part of the reason is that many victims did not have the means to access medical assistance, resulting in insufficient evidence.
Excision continues to be practised in Ghana despite laws against it. According to UNICEF, 5 percent of women in Ghana have undergone excision, and it is usually performed around the age of 15. A recent study conducted by the Ministry of Health found that the rate in the three northern regions among 12-19 year-olds was 15 percent, although some observers believed the real rate was as high as 30 percent.
Proposed revisions to the law against excision aim to punish anyone - especially parents and other family members - who give their consent to practitioners.
Trokosi is another traditional practice that is problematic. Young girls, usually virgins, are offered to shrines to atone for a crime committed by a family member. While in bondage, the girls become not only free labour, but also sex objects for the fetish priest. If the trokosi bears a child while enslaved, the child becomes the property of the shrine.
Politically, women hold 9 percent of seats in parliament.
Ghana has not yet ratified the African Union Protocol on Women's Rights, which is a regional document that promotes the advancement of women’s rights.
Human rights
Ghana has a Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), established through the last constitution. Its independence is guaranteed and it is not subject to the control of any government department or person.
According to the CHRAJ, the human rights situation in Ghana has improved since the 1980s, but problems remain in several areas. Among other things, police and municipal security forces continue to use excessive force, prison conditions remain harsh, and the government continues to pressure the independent media.
In 2000, newly elected President John Kufuor faced widespread demands for the government to address past human-rights abuses, particularly during the military rule of Jerry Rawlings, including religious persecution, arbitrary detentions, extra-judicial killings and the disappearance of 200 people. But the 1992 Constitution had indemnified all military personnel against judicial scrutiny, making it impossible for convictions to be handed down.
Despite this legal protection of the old regime, the new regime put in place the National Reconciliation Commission to compile an accurate historical record of past human rights violations by providing a forum for victims to tell their stories.
Many of the 2,000-plus testimonies spoke of summary executions, ‘disappearances’, torture, arbitrary imprisonment, confiscation of property and ill-treatment.
The commission made recommendations for reparations to be paid to victims. Individual payments began in October 2006 and range from about $217 to $3,300 depending on the extent of abuse or violations, according to the attorney-general’s office, and total payments will add up to $1.5 million.
In a report on human rights, the US State Department said there has been a sharp increase in incidents of vigilante justice.
Humanitarian needs
Although Ghana is one of the most developed countries in West Africa, there are still humanitarian needs that require attention, particularly in the northern part of the country, which lags behind the south. Issues there include pockets of food insecurity, weak infrastructure and poor health.
The country will continue to require assistance in the repatriation of Liberian refugees and with the integration of those who choose to stay in Ghana. |
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| Ghana in figures | · Population: 21.7 million
· Pop. growth rate: 1.9%
· GDP per capita: US$2,240
· Pop. below poverty line: 39.5%
· Life expectancy: 57 years
· Infant mortality: 68/1,000 live births
· Access to med. services: N/A
· HIV prevalence: 2.7%
· Access to clean water: rural 68%, urban 93%
· Access to electricity: rural 21%, urban 82%
· Literacy rate: men 66%, women 50%
· Doctors/people: 0.15/1,000
· Displaced people: N/A
· Refugees: 46,000
· Human Development Index: 0.532 (HDI 2006 Rank 136)
Sources: UNDP, World Bank, UNAIDS, UNHCR, UNICEF |
| Basic facts | Capital: Accra
Language: English (official), Akan, Moshi-Dagomba, Ewe, and Ga
Ethnic Groups: Akan 41.6%, Mossi 23%, Ewe 10%, Ga-Adangme 7.2%, Gurma 3.4%, Nzima 1.8%, Yoruba 1.6%, other 11.4%
Religions: Christian 55%, indigenous beliefs 25%, Muslim 20%
Geography: Mostly low plains with dissected plateau in south-central area
Border countries: Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Togo
Natural resources: Gold, timber, industrial diamonds, bauxite, manganese, fish, rubber, hydropower, petroleum, silver, salt, silver
Agriculture products: Cocoa, yams, plantains, rice, sorghum, palm oil, coffee, cassava (tapioca), peanuts, corn, shea nuts, bananas, timber
Sources: Encyclopedia Britannica, Africa South of the Sahara 2005 |
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