Vol 54 No 24 | GHANA Deficit blues 28th November 2013 Tough times are looming after years of high growth and political stability in an oil and gold producing economy The harsh realities behind Finance Minister Seth Terkper’s budget speech on 19 November suggest a turbulent year ahead for the government. Officials recommend some tough and unpopular corrective...
Vol 54 No 20 | GHANA Drill-ship in the dock 3rd October 2013 Top politicians are battling it out in the courts again, this time over claims of corruption the two main parties are throwing at each other Power-brokers in the governing National Democratic Congress and opposition New Patriotic Party are squaring up for a fresh courtroom battle after the Supreme Court upheld President John Mahama’s...
Vol 54 No 18 | GHANA The Court lowers the curtain 5th September 2013 The judges’ finding for President Mahama raises as many questions as it solves but the focus will shift quickly to economic matters The final act lasted just 20 minutes. That is how long Justice William Atuguba, Chairman of the nine-member Supreme Court panel, spent on 29 August on delivering the...
Vol 54 No 18 | GHANA Opposition turns to tax and graft 6th September 2013 After the 29 August Supreme Court judgement, the political theatre will shift to economic policy and accountability issues. Oppositionists accuse the National Democratic Congress government of relying too...
Vol 54 No 18 | GHANA Economic tests looming 6th September 2013 There are only two-and-a-half years before the next election cycle. It may not be long enough to improve the fiscal position Finance and Economic Planning Minister Seth Tekper has a tricky message for Ghanaians. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has been in charge of the economy for nearly five...
Vol 54 No 16 | CÔTE D'IVOIREGHANA Row over exiles 29th July 2013 Claims that Ivorian secret agents are targeting pro-Laurent Gbagbo exiles in Ghana raise tensions again between Accra and Abidjan President Alassane Dramane Ouattara’s government is sending undercover agents to Ghana to abduct or assassinate supporters of former President Laurent Ggabo there, according to senior security sources in...
Vol 54 No 15 | GHANA The vote on trial 18th July 2013 The Supreme Court’s hearings on last year’s polls have changed Ghana’s politics for good. Now the fractious parties face their own demons After 43 days in session and an avalanche of technical delays, the 2012 election petition hearings are crawling towards a climax. A ruling is likely within a month....
Vol 54 No 15 | GHANA How the parties judge the judges 18th July 2013 Politicians from both the governing National Democratic Congress and the opposition New Patriotic Party have developed an obsessive interest in the nine judges sitting on the Supreme Court’s...
Vol 54 No 13 | GHANA Presidential exports 21st June 2013 Foreign trips seem to hold a special magic for President John Mahama, who has spent most of his first six months in office struggling with chronic power and...
Vol 54 No 9 | GHANA A tough one hundred days 26th April 2013 President Mahama says his government has been denied the six-month honeymoon his predecessors enjoyed The economic and political prospects may be bright in the medium term but on 17 April John Dramani Mahama reached his first 100 days in office without much...
Vol 54 No 9 | GHANA On live TV, a swarm of lawyers 26th April 2013 On 16 April, the Supreme Court began hearings on the petition from the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) to annul John Mahama’s victory in December’s presidential election. This...
Vol 54 No 5 | GHANA Why are they waiting? 1st March 2013 Neither the governing party nor its opponents seem in a hurry to resolve the complex case in the Supreme Court on last year’s elections The leaders of the main opposition New Patriotic Party are stepping up their campaign to delegitimise December’s presidential election, in which John Dramani Mahama was declared winner with...
Vol 54 No 2 | CÔTE D'IVOIREGHANA Blé Goudé arrested 18th January 2013 The arrest in Tema port of Ivorian militia leader Charles Blé Goudé on 17 January will do much to improve relations between Ghana’s President John Mahama and Côte...
Vol 54 No 1 | GHANA Politics goes to court 10th January 2013 International organisations say it is a model of probity and efficiency, but the Electoral Commission must answer detailed claims of vote rigging The year started with the presidential inauguration of John Dramani Mahama on 7 January and then consideration by the Supreme Court of a petition claiming his election had...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 9 | GHANACHINA Miners out but no funds in 2nd July 2013 Accra-Beijing relations are tested by growing concerns about illegal gold mining and a slowdown in finance for the Chinese-built gas plant Ghana’s expulsion of some 200 Chinese accused of involvement in illegal gold mining and more delays in disbursements from the China Development Bank for the gas plant in...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 7 | GHANACHINA Crackdown on illegal miners 2nd May 2013 Gun battles, environmental degradation and tensions with local communities force the government to take a tough stance on illegal Chinese miners The Ghana Immigration Service is to tighten up security at the country’s borders to stop the illegal entry of Chinese artisanal and small-scale miners (ASMs). Police Commissioner Peter...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 7 | GHANACHINA Sinopec strike 2nd May 2013 Sinopec, the lead contractor on Ghana’s US$850 million gas project, halted work on 30 April citing payment delays and disputes with Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC).
Vol 6 (AAC) No 3 | GHANA John Dramani Mahama 15th January 2013 President, Ghana Newly elected as President in December 2012, John Dramani Mahama will continue to deepen Ghana’s ties with its Asian trading partners. When former Vice-President Mahama served...