E. I.2.1.a.ii. - Ghana

Volume One -> E. I.2. Resisting Repressive and Authoritarian Regimes -> E. I.2.1. Popular Movements for Multiparty Democracy: 1988-1992 -> E. I.2.1.a. Movements for Multi-Party Democracy in English-Speaking Countries -> E. I.2.1.a.ii. Ghana and Nigeria: Constitutional Change but Leaders Remain in Power -> E. I.2.1.a.ii. - Ghana

By the end of the 1980s, the Rawlings government in Ghana was under increasing criticism from the Bar Association for its human rights record and at odds with the churches and the trade unions. The Movement for Freedom and Justice (a broad opposition coalition) was formed in August 1990 to press for democratic change. The regime tried to maintain control through constitutional reform and finally legalised political parties to contest presidential and parliamentary elections in November 1992. Rawlings was returned to power with 58.3% of the vote (despite opposition claims of rigging, Commonwealth observers validated the result). However, at least a regular electoral process had been established with the right of opposition parties to contest elections.

Nugent, Paul, Big Men, Small Boys and Politics in Ghana: Power, Ideology and the Burden of History, 1982-1994, London, Frances Pinter, 1996, pp. 306

Oquaye, Mike, Politics in Ghana, 1982-1992: Rawlings, Revolution and Populist Democracy, Accra, Tornado, 2004, pp. 626

The author has been prominent in Ghanaian politics and a professor of political science at the University of Legon.

Panford, Kwamina, Elections and Democratic Transition in Ghana: 1991-96, In Gros, Democratization in Late Twentieth Century Africa: Coping with Uncertainty (E. I.2.1.i. General Overviews), Westport CT and London, Greenwood Press, pp. 113-126

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E. I.2.1.a.ii. - Ghana

A Guide to Civil Resistance

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