Good News in Ghana
It is sometimes tempting to regard all of Africa as poorly as Kenya and Zimbabwe, but there are beacons of hope. The Herald reports that Ghana has just sen the Opposition Leader elected President.
It was very close and the party of the incumbent (who was not standing again) had threatened to reject the results, but the President urged them to do so, and the new President has stressed he will be President for all Ghanaians, not just his own supporters.
It is that putting of the national interest ahead of tribal or party interests that is so lacking in much of Africa, and is perhaps the greatest contributor to the poverty brought about by bad governance.
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Tags: Ghana
January 5th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Ghana was one of the few nations that refused loans from the IMF.
as a result it hasn’t been dictated too and has learned to swim on its own
Probably a lot better off than Japan who after centuries of independence succumbed to the US and is now in deep cow pucky.
an unreal comparison perhaps but Ghana could well look comparatively buoyant.
January 5th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Don’t forget little known Somaliland, which is at the moment, an unrecognized breakaway region of Somalia in the north bordering Djibouti.
They have been preparing for their second set of elections which although are delayed due to voter registration difficulties and some recent terrorist attacks, are due to be held by April 2009. How they managed to organise electronic voting registration is phenomenal. All citizens have been electronically registered and given voter ID cards.
Somaliland’s effort in general is incredible. With no international aid and no international recognition, they have managed to form a constitution, courts of law, a banking system, police, army, coast guard, cellphone and internet networks, and already hold one free and fair set of elections.
All this while the south of Somalia is considered the most dangerous area in the world outside combat zones.