Ghana

Ghana is a country on the Atlantic coast of Africa with the capital city of Accra. It was where Europeans first arrived for trading in gold and then later in slaves. National Geographic writes, "The precious metal that once gave its name to the Gold Coast lured Portuguese, Danes, Dutch, Germans, and British. After Ghana's independence from Britain in 1957, President Kwame Nkrumah emerged as a leading spokesman for Pan-Africanism. A series of military coups brought Jerry Rawlings to power in 1981. Multiparty democracy started with the new 1992 constitution. In December 2000, for the first time in its history, Ghana witnessed the election of an opposition party."

Media
The BBC says of the country's media:


 * Ghana enjoys a high degree of media freedom and the private press and broadcasters operate without significant restrictions. The Commonwealth Press Union has described Ghana's media as "one of the most unfettered" on the continent. The private press is lively, and often carries criticism of government policy. Animated phone-in programmes are staple fare on many radio stations.


 * Nearly one third of Ghanaians have access to the internet, and mobile telephones are becoming a significant source of news.

U.S. military bases to come to Ghana?
On February 26, 2006, Global Research wrote, "The United States of America is seriously considering the establishment of a military base in Ghana for the sole purpose of protecting its access to West African oil reports the Insight newspaper. Marine General James L. Jones, Head of the US European Command, who made the disclosure said the Pentagon was seeking to acquire access to two kinds of bases in Senegal, Ghana, Mali and Kenya and other African Countries. The new US strategy based on the conclusions of May 2001 report of the President's National Energy Policy Development group chaired by Vice President Richard Cheney and known as the Cheney report. The report simply says that African Countries provided 14 per cent of total US oil imports but by 2015, West Africa alone will supply 25 per cent of America's imported oil."

In February 2008, President George W. Bush was in Ghana. He tried to quell rumors that the U.S. will build a military base in the country. Reuters/Alternet wrote on February 20, 2008, "President George W. Bush on Wednesday said the purpose of a new Africa Command was not to build new military bases. "We do not contemplate adding new bases, in other words the purpose of this is not to add military bases," Bush said at a news conference in Ghana during a trip to Africa."

"I know there are rumours in Ghana: 'All Bush is doing is coming to try to convince you to put a big military base here.' That's baloney," Bush said. Looking to bolster the U.S. presence in Africa, already a major supplier of crude oil to the American market, the Bush administration created Africom last year as a separate entity."

The New York Times wrote about Bush's visit, "Traveling across Africa this week, President Bush has been a little like Santa Claus, a benevolent figure from another land handing out gifts — American foreign aid — and generating smiles wherever he goes. But here in the capital of Ghana on Wednesday, the smiles stopped for a moment as Mr. Bush confronted skepticism about American military policy and his AIDS initiative. Mr. Bush used a news conference to address the widespread suspicion that the United States planned to establish military bases in Africa as it expanded its strategic role on the continent."

Leaders

 * John Kufuor, President, won second term in 2004 "in a presidential poll praised for being well-run and orderly."

Related SourceWatch articles

 * William P. Mahoney, former U.S. ambassador
 * U.S. Africa Command
 * Ghana Center for Democratic Development
 * Ghana Community Radio Network
 * Ghana Journalists Association
 * US military presence in Ghana
 * U.S. military bases overseas

External articles

 * Kwaku Sakyi-Addo, "The reality of Ghana's independence", BBC, March 1, 2007.
 * Alexis Akwagyiram, "Dealing with the brain drain", BBC, March 4, 2007.

External resources

 * Ghana, World Atlas, accessed April 2008.
 * Timeline: Ghana, BBC, accessed April 2008.