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Short History Of Ghana and Culture
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Ghana, until independence from British colonial rule on 6 March 1957, was known as the Gold Coast. The country is named after one of the ancient Sudanese Empires which flourished between the fourth and 10th centuries. Subsequently, the area was divided among several kingdoms, of which the most important were the Fanti, and the Ashanti.
The Portuguese arrived in the late 15th century; during the next 300 years, the Gold Coast became a major trading centre, mainly in gold and slaves.
From the beginning of the 19th century, an increasingly assertive Ashanti kingdom drove out many of the European colonists.
In1957 the country became the independent state of Ghana – the first British territory in Africa to be decolonised. Three years after independence Ghana became a Republic with Dr Kwame Nkrumah, leader of the Convention People's Party (CPP) as the first President. Under Dr Nkrumah, Ghana made rapid and remarkable progress in education, industrial and infrastructure development and in the provision of social services.
At the same time, the country played a leading role in international affairs in the struggle for the liberation of other African countries from colonial rule.
However, Nkrumah's growing dictatorial tendencies at home disaffected many, especially in the armed forces, and in the end it was they who in February 1966 overthrew the CPP Government in a coup led by Colonel Emmanuel Kotoka. The most prominent figure in recent Ghanaian politics is Jerry John Rawlings, a former Air Force Flight Lieutenant, who first came to prominence as the leader of coups in 1979 and 1981.
President Rawlings the National Democratic Congress (NDC) introduced a new constitution in 1992 before submitting themselves to the verdict of the electorate and winning both the presidency and a huge majority of legislature seats. Rawlings was re-elected in 1996. In December 2000, Rawlings' former deputy John Atta Mills, standing for the NDC, against John Kufour, leader of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP); Kufour won and took office at the beginning of 2001. John Atta Mills did make it to office, however; after winning the 2008 election, he was sworn in as Ghana’s president in January 2009.
