Ghana: Government

Principal Government Officials

Chief of State: President John Evans Atta Mills
Head of Government: President John Evans Atta Mills

The 1993 constitution that established the Fourth Republic provided a basic charter for the republican democratic government. It declares Ghana to be a unitary republic with sovereignty residing in the Ghanaian people. Intended to prevent future coups, dictatorial government, and one-party states, it is designed to establish the concept of power sharing. The document reflects lessons learned from the abrogated constitutions of 1957, 1960, 1969, and 1979, and incorporates provisions and institutions drawn from British and American constitutional models. One controversial provision of the constitution indemnifies members and appointees of the PNDC from liability for any official act or omission during the years of PNDC rule. The constitution calls for a system of checks and balances, with power shared between a president, a unicameral parliament, an advisory Council of State, and an independent judiciary.

Executive authority is established in the Office of the Presidency, together with his Council of State. The president is head of state, head of government, and commander in chief of the armed forces. He also appoints the vice president. According to the constitution, more than half of the presidential-appointed ministers of state must be appointed from among members of Parliament.

Legislative functions are vested in Parliament, which consists of a unicameral 230-member body plus the Speaker. In practice, legislative powers are highly constrained by Article 108 of the constitution, which prohibits Parliament from initiating any bill that has financial implications. To become law, legislation must have the assent of the president, who has a qualified veto over all bills except those to which a vote of urgency is attached. Members of Parliament are popularly elected by universal adult suffrage for terms of 4 years, except in wartime, when terms may be extended for not more than 12 months at a time beyond the 4 years.

The structure and the power of the judiciary are independent of the two other branches of government. The Supreme Court has broad powers of judicial review. It is authorized by the constitution to rule on the constitutionality of any legislation or executive action at the request of any aggrieved citizen. The hierarchy of courts derives largely from British juridical forms. The hierarchy, called the Superior Court of Judicature, is composed of the Supreme Court of Ghana, the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice, regional tribunals, and such lower courts or tribunals as Parliament may establish. The courts have jurisdiction over all civil and criminal matters.

The government of John Atta Mills appears to enjoy broad support among the Ghanaian population as it pursues a domestic political agenda. The ruling NDC is a social democratic party that seeks to harness the power of the free market to protect worker rights and reduce poverty, while supporting the rule of law and basic human rights. The government inherited a fiscal crisis when it took office; in addition to focusing on the economy, President Mills has pursued an anti-corruption agenda and has announced plans to review the 1993 constitution and support decentralization. President Mills has expressed a willingness to confront Ghana's problem with narcotics trafficking. As part of its anti-corruption efforts the Mills government has required senior government officials to comply with the assets declaration law, changed the regulation to require public disclosure of assets, pledged greater transparency in government procurement, and fired a minister for misusing public funds.

FOREIGN RELATIONS
Ghana is active in the United Nations and many of its specialized agencies, as well as the World Trade Organization, the Nonaligned Movement, the African Union (AU), and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Generally, Ghana follows the consensus of the Nonaligned Movement and the AU on economic and political issues that do not directly affect its own interests. Ghana has played an increasingly active role in sub-regional affairs including prominent roles in ECOWAS and the African Union.

Ghana is a critically important peacekeeping partner; it is the largest African peacekeeping contributor nation to multinational peacekeeping operations (PKO) and the sixth-largest among all peacekeeping contributing nations. Currently Ghana has 3,267 peacekeepers deployed to UN peacekeeping operations. It has large contingents deployed in Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R.C.), the Darfur region of Sudan, Lebanon, Liberia, and Cote d’Ivoire, with smaller contingents deployed in Chad, Western Sahara, Kosovo, Southern Sudan, and Georgia. Ghana contributes military and police personnel to UN peacekeeping operations outside of Africa, including nearly 900 troops to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon. The United States provides military support to Ghana through a variety of programs, including the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program and the African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance (ACOTA) program. President Mills has been a key ally on all major security initiatives in the region including counterterrorism.

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