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Tarnished gold

Confusion in the markets, muddle at the top and elections ahead

The peaceful march by oppositionists to a rally at Accra sports stadium on 25 November has put the country's wobbly economy back at the political centre-stage and President Jerry John Rawlings' government on the defensive. Ghana's opposition parties, not known for their tactical acuity, claimed they drew some 5,000-10,000 supporters to the rally, at which speaker after speaker berated the government's economic mismanagement, official corruption and plans to sack more state employees. The rally was a rare flash of unity among the five biggest opposition parties, from John Kufour's stolidly bourgeois New Patriotic Party (NPP) to Goosie Tanoh's leftist Reform Party. It was the biggest political protest since the 1995 'Kume preko' (kill me now) demonstration against value added tax....

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Tarnished gold

Confusion in the markets, muddle at the top and elections ahead

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