March 6, 2007 marks the 50th anniversary of Ghana's Independence.
Europeans first arrived here in the 1400s, and they liked it so much that they stayed in control until the British ceded power on March 6, 1957 . Ghana was the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to be granted independence by its colonial master (only two sub-Saharan countries never had colonists in control). Some people, particularly people in Ghana, therefore consider March 6, 2007 to be the 50th anniversary of Africa.
After leading Ghana to independence, the country's first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, quickly moved to socialism and then outlawed all opposition political parties, occasionally with violent repercussions. He is defended by some who say that these measures were taken to combat violence and were necessary to maintain order. Regardless, Nkrumah lost power in 1966. He was deposed with the help of the CIA because of his socialism and his status as a leading African figure. Really ( http://www.seeingblack.com/x060702/nkrumah.shtml).
Ghana then had a couple decades of instability coupled with terrible poverty. Around 1980, Jerry Rawlings seized control and maintained power until 2000 when the current president, John A. Kuffuor won an election.
Depending on how you count, Ghana had nine or ten heads of state in 50 years. But with Rawlings in control for 20 and Kuffuor for seven, so that's seven or eight in 23 years, or a new leader about every 3 years. There were coups, authoritarianism and other things that are not helpful to a country's development. Nonetheless, despite all of that as well as the numerous other challenges and thanks entirely to me (that's a joke), Ghana seems to be moving forward in many ways and is now finally seen as a model African democracy.
According to the Ghanaian press, Ghana is spending $20 million on its celebrations and associated construction and cleanup. That's 200 billion cedis, which is a ton of money here. If there is any coverage at all of this in the American press, please send me it my way.
Addendum #1: President Kuffuor was just elected head of the African Union. He will serve a one-year term.
Addendum #2: What a game! Super Bowl XLI! Wow! My town was really excited for that one. Oh wait, no one cares about the Super Bowl here and I did not travel to Accra to watch it. Even though the NFL can probably include Ghana in its list of 200 countries or whatever the real number is that receive the broadcast (it's on satellite, which no one gets), no one watches it. In fact, the only foreign sport that seems to get any play is European football. Ghana's best player is on Chelsea, one of the top British teams. Besides, everyone here is seriously gearing up for the Oscars.
¶ 12:25 PM
