General background

The 1992 Constitution of Ghana declares Ghana to be a republic with sovereignty residing in the Ghanaian people and it establishes a presidential and legislature system of governance with a president, parliament and local government assemblies. The Parliament of Ghana is unicameral and has 230 members plus a speaker, elected for a four-year term in single-seat constituencies. The last parliament (2004-2008) comprised representatives of NPP (128), NDC (94), PNC (4), CPP (3) and one independent candidate. The constitution establishes a system of checks and balances, with power shared between the president, parliament, an advisory, Council of State (a cross between an upper house and council of elders) that acts in an advisory and consultative role to the president, especially in the area of public appointments, and an independent judiciary.

Executive authority rests with the Office of the Presidency, together with his Council of State. The president is head of state, head of government, and commander in chief of the armed forces. He also appoints the vice president and the ministers of state, half of which should be selected from members of parliament according to constitutional provisions. Legislative functions are vested in parliament. To become law, legislation must have the assent of the president, who has a qualified veto over all bills except those to which a ‘vote of urgency’ is attached. Parliamentary members and the president are popularly elected by universal adult suffrage.

Ghana has an estimated population of 22 million people, comprising over 50 different language and ethnic groups. English is the official national language. The major ethic groups in Ghana are Akan (49 per cent of the population), Mole Dagbani (16 per cent), Ewe (13 per cent), Ga-Dangme (8 per cent), Guan (4 per cent), Gurma (4 per cent), Grusi (3 per cent), Mande-Busanga (1 per cent) and others (1.5 per cent) (United Nations Commission on Human Rights). The Akans live predominantly in the Ashanti, Western, Central, Brong Ahafo, Greater Accra and Eastern. The Mole Dagbani, the second largest ethnic group live in the North.

Political situation

Independence from Britain was obtained in 1957 in Ghana and the following 30 years has witnessed numerous attempts at introducing democracy punctuated with long stretches of military rule after a number of coups. However, since 1992 successive administrations have embarked on reform programmes and there has been continuous progress in guaranteeing fundamental rights which today is reflected in the consolidation of multiparty democracy in the country. Whilst Ghana therefore has a chequered political history, since 1996, democracy and the multiparty system have consolidated and the country, under the 1992 constitution, has worked to strengthen respect for civil and political rights. Past elections including those in 2000 and 2004 have been widely seen as meeting many international standards.

The current president, John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor is a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and has been in office for the maximum of two terms following the 2000 and 2004 elections when NPP defeated the party of the former president Jerry Rawlings (the National Democratic Congress (NDC)) who had been in office for nearly two decades. In the 2000 elections Jerry Rawlings was not permitted to stand because of the two-term limit on presidential office introduced by the 1992 constitution so John Evans Atta Mills, his vice president stood and lost to John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor. There is a strong two party system in Ghana that means smaller parties tend to receive very few votes at elections. The two presidential candidates of the largest parties are Nana Akufo Addo of the NPP and John Evans Atta Mills of the NDC. There are a further six candidates competing for presidential office alongside the candidates of the two major political parties. In the 2004 elections these smaller parties failed to win any significant percentage of either presidential votes or parliamentary seats. The strong position of the main two parties is therefore very much reflected in the parliamentary elections as well as the presidential race.

International and regional commitments related to elections in Ghana

Ghana has a good contemporary track record in protecting civil and political rights over the past decade and basic freedoms such as those of association, movement, speech and assembly are protected in the constitution. Ghana is also a signatory or has ratified all of the major international and regional human rights instruments related to elections. These include the 1966 ‘International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights’ (ICCPR), the 1979 ‘Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women’ (CEDAW), the 1966 ‘International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination’ (CERD), the 2006 ‘Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ (CRPD) and the 1952 ‘Convention of the Political Rights of Women’ (CPRW). As a member of the African Union and ECOWAS Ghana also obligations to meet the standards established in ECOWAS’ ‘Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance’ adopted in 2001 and entered into force in 2005 and the 2007 ‘African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance.’