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Facing Two Ways explores the interaction between European and African Cultures within the setting of Ghana's main coastal communities. Roger S. Gocking focuses on the emergence of a distinctive ethno-cultural constellation that arose from the interaction between African and European cultures and between African cultures in the heterogeneous social setting of the coast. He recognizes nationalism as the most visible, but not necessarily the most important feature of life in coastal Africa from the late nineteenth century through the 1940's. Instead, Gocking emphasizes local initiatives in shaping African reactions to the colonial situation, including the policies of the mission churches, the operation of the judicial system, political life, and the institution of the family. He also discusses the escalation of cross fertilization of African cultures, known as the "Akanization" of the Southern Ghana area indirectly caused by colonialism. ... Read more

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A very accessible, though dated, introduction to Ghana
This a very accessible, though dated, introduction to Ghana written by a political scientist (now in the Israeli Knesset) and an anthropologist.The only real problem with the book is that the story ends in 1979, just as Flt Lt Jerry J Rawlings comes to power and initiates a significant reorientation of the Ghanaian economic and political system.It is a pity that Pellow and Chazan have not updated this book.Now of interest more as a history than a description of the contemporary scene. ... Read more

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2001 to 2004 was arguably the most turbulent period of competitive democratic politics in Ghana's history. It was the period the author Dr Nii Armah Josiah-Aryeh was General Secretary of the largest Opposition Party, the National Democratic Congress. McCarthyist intrigue was directed toward NDC and its predecessor PNDC which had ruled Ghana for 19 of the 44 years of independence, with Flt Lt Rawlings as leader. Rawlings now constitutionally ineligible to stand, the NDC was defeated at the 2000 elections. Remarkably, Western powers so desperate to remove Rawlings, sat back to witness events that could easily have derailed their long cherished dream. Besieged by Government and its agencies, the author also had to contend with the ruthless, ambitious NDC Chairman Dr Obed Asamoah who, after being overlooked for NDC Presidential candidacy post Rawlings, had locked horns with factions even remotely identified with Rawlings. The eve of the 2004 elections saw the author caught in a Sting orchestrated by the Government, whereby a conversation with functionaries was doctored to indicate he would accept favours in exchange for resignation. INSIDE GHANA'S DEMOCRACY is the author's gripping account of that bombshell and Obed's war against the NDC. With undisputed integrity, the author reveals the heart of darkness of Ghana politics, both of ruthless NDC internal machinations as well as the antidemocratic intrigue of the ruling NPP. The book beats a path-blazing genre in Ghanaian political autobiography while painting a captivating cultural landscape of Ghana. It would attract a worldwide audience interested in knowing the trying conditions of democracy in developing countries. And those fascinated with Ghana, a country both careful and careless in self management, but which manages to keep afloat under adversity while her neighbours seem not quite able to achieve similar stability under lesser rancour. ... Read more

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Ghana, In Search of Illusive Positive Change: A Performance Review of the First Kufuor Administration is a referendum on governance in Ghana by the administration of President John Agyekum Kufuor from January 2001 to December 2004. President Kufuor was leader of the then ruling party, New Patriotic Party (NPP).

This book reconciles the promises of policy initiatives by the NPP in its pre-election 2000 Manifesto: Agenda for Positive change, with outcomes of actual performance by the Kufuor administration and their effects on the political-economy and people of Ghana. It discusses questions concerning the extent to which outcomes of policies executed by the Administration affected change on the political-economy of Ghana.

The author uses the material content of NPP's 2000 Manifesto as the benchmark and guideline for assessing and evaluating the policy actions of the Administration and their outcomes.

The power of the promises and proposed policies in NPP's 2000 Manifesto was the force that inspired and motivated the writing of Ghana, In Search of Illusive Positive Change. It is the author's position that had the Kufuor administration translated the promises of NPP 2000 Manifesto into reality Ghana would have been on the road towards positive change in its political-economy.

As it turned out, the Kufuor administration conducted inefficient governance by failing to execute its own stated policies to profitable conclusions, especially in the economic realm.

Another reason for writing Ghana, In Search of Illusive Positive Change was about the circumstances surrounding the election into power of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 2000 and its effect on the historical process of politics in Ghana.

Very significantly, the 2000 elections marked the first time in the 43-year history of Ghana as an independent country that political power transferred from one civilian government to another, through the ballot box.

Before the 2000 elections Ghana had been infamous for regular intervention in its political life by the military. It was significant also that the NPP had been in political opposition, in and out of parliament, for almost three decades.

That Ghanaians voted in 2000 for NPP, to replace the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), was an indication of new confidence the electorate had in the party and hence, greater expectation from its performance when in government.

For the author, yet another reason for writing this book derived from the nature of economic and political thinking and persuasion that informed the organizational direction and trajectory of NPP, relative to the governance of Ghana.

NPP 2000 Manifesto made it clear that the party's leaders were serious pro-free-enterprise idealists who promised to govern in an atmosphere of liberal democracy in Ghana. Thus, part of the attraction for writing Ghana, In Search of Illusive Positive Change arose from the curiosity to understand the process by which the Kufuor administration navigated the affairs of Ghana, a poor post-colonial African society, towards positive change with a free-enterprise ideology in an atmosphere of liberal democracy.

The author believes that having a grasp of how NPP governed Ghana would be of benefit to the party and its supporters to detect the fault lines in the performance of their leaders in the future. Understanding the outcomes of policy actions executed by the Kufuor administration would offer the NPP the chance to know which of their policies enhanced the chances towards positive change in the political-economy of Ghana and to discard those that did not work. Ghana, as a society, can also benefit from understanding the mode of governance by the NPP so that the electorate would be in a position to discern the contradictions associated with reconciling electi ... Read more

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This work contributes to the fields of political science, sociology, development, economics, and international relations to furnish an understanding of the role and impact of one of Africa's, and indeed the entire Third World's, leading political figures. ... Read more

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This is a review of Ghana and its people, providing its historical and political background and tracing it growth. Since 1981, following years of corrupt military rule, Ghana has undergone economic structural adjustment and political liberalization, and is often hailed as a success story of economic recovery. Through the personal testimonies of Ghanaian farmers, traders, school children and stockbrokers, this country profile shows how social and economic constraints are affecting daily life, and what Ghanaians themselves are doing to shape their own future. ... Read more

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Oxfam's Ghana Guide
Well written book that gives both historical background and cultural information.The book tends to focus on the northern parts of Ghana (i.e. Tamale), and some assumptions are made by the author that do not reflect the southern regions quite as accurately.This is not intended as a tourist guide! ... Read more

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This book is an attempt to recapture the liberation philosophy of Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972), first prime minister and first president of the Republic of Ghana in West Africa.The goals of this study are threefold: first, it is to make a scholarly contribution to the ongoing discussion for the development of a theoretical basis upon which modern Ghanaian sociopolitical, sociocultural, socioe-conomic, and sociohuman development can be built.Second, it is to offer the contemporary Ghanaian religious institutions a paradigm for developing an advocacy role in the building of civil society in Ghana.Ghana is in cultural, political, and religious transition and needs an indigenous conceptual basis to direct its practices now and in the future.Third, the book seeks to recapitulate Ghana’s self-dignity, self-realization, and self-subsistence by highlighting the essential assumptions, dimensions, and specificities of “African Personhood” reclaimed and repossessed through a human-oriented practice and reflection of orthopraxis. Consequently, the study claims that Nkrumah’s liberation thought and action are relevant and paradigmatic for present-day religion and state in Ghana.It is argued in this study that from the African political and economic viewpoint, Nkrumah advocated a socialist system created out of the inculturation of African religio-humanist values with the inherited Euro-Christian political culture and social tradition as a strategy to liberate, unite, and integrate Ghana and the rest of Africa.Nkrumah made the Ghanaian orAfrican people and their situations the basis of any ideological inculturation, theological discussions, and actions. Using both secular and religious sources and adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this study reappraises the precolonial social and political system in Ghana and assesses the impact of British colonial and postcolonial hegemonies on the state, religion, and civil society.With a view to reconstructing a new advocacy role for themselves in the Ghanaian society in the recapitulation of Ghana’s self-appraisal, self-dignity, self-realization, self-subsistence, and self-assertion, it is argued here that the diverse religious communities, the state, and multi-ethnic groups (indigenous states, aman) in Ghana must endeavor to coexist peacefully, eliminate ethnocentrism, act with courage and hope, and affirm and practice equitable co-existence. ... Read more

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An authoritative and comprehensive study of electoral politics by aleading professor specialising in public service reform at the Universityof Ghana. This two volume study of Ghana's 2000 presidential andparliamentary elections addresses multiple issues in the country'scontinual attempts to consolidate the achievements since 1992; and thedemocratic, political culture and practices to which they gave rise. ... Read more

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An authoritative and comprehensive study of electoral politics by aleading professor specialising in public service reform at the Universityof Ghana. This two volume study of Ghana's 2000 presidential andparliamentary elections addresses multiple issues in the country'scontinual attempts to consolidate the achievements since 1992; and thedemocratic, political culture and practices to which they gave rise. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Yale Human Rights and Development Law Journal, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2006. The length of the article is 18328 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Building on custom: land tenure policy and economic development in Ghana.
Author: Joseph Blocher
Publication: Yale Human Rights and Development Law Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 9Page: 166(37)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

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Ghana's 2004 elections were another milestone in the country's transition to a mature democracy. The essays in this volume assess various aspects of this transition. The various themes focus on problem areas that impinge directly or indirectly on the performance of the country's democratic institutions and governance. The issues they address include, conflict and reconciliation in the light of years of human rights abuses; leadership styles and the degree to which leadership since 1993 has handled various critical problems confronting a new democracy like Ghana, ethnicity and whether or not it is a salient factor in the country's political life, electoral choices and whether Ghanaians vote o n the basis of issues, ethnicity or something else; and the degree of institutional development especially of critical democratic institutions. The essays are unanimous in underscoring the tremendous progress Ghana has made in building a democratic society despite the several unresolved problems. ... Read more

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Chapters: Kufuor Government, List of Mills Government Ministers, Dompoase Mine Collapse, Ghana at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 28. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: This is a list of the ministers who have served in John Kufuor's New Patriotic Party government during the Fourth Republic of Ghana. This started on January 7, 2001, the first changeover between civilian governments in Ghana through the ballot box. John Kufuor won the 2004 elections and is serving his second term of office ending January 2009. There was a cabinet reshuffle on 28 April 2006.There was a second cabinet reshuffle to release ministers with presidential ambitions in July 2007. ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=11051758 ... Read more

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Chapters: List of Ghana Parliament Constituencies, Kufuor Government, Parliament of Ghana, Chief Justice of Ghana, Supreme Court of Ghana, List of Mills Government Ministers, Rawlings Government, Supreme Military Council, Cia Activities in Ghana, List of Heads of State of Ghana, National Redemption Council, Nkrumah Government, Lgbt Rights in Ghana, Electoral Commission of Ghana, Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, Ghana, List of Ghana Governments, President of Ghana, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Limann Government, National Liberation Council, Provisional National Defence Council, Ministers of the Ghanaian Government, West African Youth League, Charles Noble Arden-Clarke, Busia Government, List of Rulers of the Ewe State of Peki, Aborigines' Rights Protection Society, Prime Minister of Ghana, National Congress of British West Africa, Constitution of Ghana, List of Rulers of the Akan State of Akuapem Okere. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 139. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: This article is part of the series:Politics and government ofGhana This is a list of the 230 constituencies currently represented in the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana, as at the December 2004 parliamentary election. Each constituency is represented by a single Member of Parliament (MP). The number of seats were increased from 200 to 230 after the December 2000 elections. Districts of Ashanti.The number of constituencies in this region increased from 33 to 39 in 2004. Adansi North District Adansi South District Afigya-Sekyere District Ahafo Ano North District Ahafo Ano South District Amansie Central DistrictAmansie East District Amansie West District Asante Akim North District Asante Akim South District Atwima District Atwima Mponua District Botsomtwe/Atwima/Kwanhuma District Ejisu-Juaben District Ejura...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=10218265 ... Read more

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Chapters: Ministers of the Ghanaian Government,. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 12. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: This is a listing of the ministers who served in the National Democratic Congress government of John Atta Mills in Ghana starting from 7 January 2009. The first batch of ministers in the NDC government were sworn in on 13 January 2009. Betty Mould-Iddrisu who was initially out of the country was later sworn in as Ghana's first female Attorney General and Minister for Justice. Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak, the Minister for Sports, resigned on 25 June 2009 following findings of financial impropriety against him by a committee set up by government. Two additional ministers, Dr. George Yankey, Minister for Health and Ahmed Seidu, Minister at the Presidency tended their resignations on 10 October 2009, following allegations of having accepted bribes from a United Kingdom company many years prior to the formation of this government. Both ministers claim to be innocent of the allegations and are to be investigated by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice at the request of President Mills. On 25 January 2010, President Mills conducted his first cabinet reshuffle. There were changes of ministers in 7 ministries and one change of regional minister. In all, four new ministers came into government including Alban Bagbin, the Majority Leader in parliament and his deputy, John Tia. Also in were Enoch T. Mensah, a former minister in the Rawlings NDC government and Martin Amidu, the new Interior minister. On 11 May 2010, Mahmud Khalid, the Upper West Regional Minister was dismissed by President Mills. Khalid suggested members of his party lobbied for his dismissal. Alhaji Issaku Saliah, a former MP for Wa West was nominated as his replacement and approved by parli...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=5835655 ... Read more

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Chapters: Kufuor Government. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 22. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: This is a list of the ministers who have served in John Kufuor's New Patriotic Party government during the Fourth Republic of Ghana. This started on January 7, 2001, the first changeover between civilian governments in Ghana through the ballot box. John Kufuor won the 2004 elections and is serving his second term of office ending January 2009. There was a cabinet reshuffle on 28 April 2006.There was a second cabinet reshuffle to release ministers with presidential ambitions in July 2007. ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=11051758 ... Read more