 A COUNTRY WITH A VISION
Ghana’s President Jerry
John Rawlings turned fifty on June 22, 1997.
Seventeen of those fifty years have seen him as
head of state of the Republic of Ghana.
| The second multiparty elections, held at the end of 1996, elected the incumbent president Rawlings, underlining the fact that he continues to endear himself to his people.
Furthermore, the elections confirm political as well as economic stability and marked the first time since independence in 1957 that an elected government has served a full term with a multiparty parliament and handed over power peacefully to a newly elected government.
The first sub-Saharan African country to gain independencefrom
colonial authority, Ghana is enthusiastic about
open market, and is committed to a non-interventionist,
democratic and stable government.
It has also learned a crucial lesson : tinkering with the economy for political gain can have dire economic consequences. President Rawlings affirmed the government fiscal prudence when he said, prior to the elections in 1996 : « this government has no intention of subordinating the nation’s economic interest to political expedience. » This is not the easiest path to keep as even the richest and oldest democracies can attest, but Ghana’s current economic progress seems to support President Rawlings resolve. |
GHANA
