The Political History of Ghana (1950-2013)

About the Book

This book is an instructive historical record of the First Republic of Ghana and the triumphs and tribulations of successive governments since 1950. It reminds us of the struggle between Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and his political opponents in the period preceding the achievement of political independence for Ghana, the events leading to his overthrow, and its impact on the course of Ghana’s history. It is perhaps the most comprehensive history to date of the Rawlings era, the establishment of the Fourth Republic, and the formation of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). The NDC came to eclipse the Convention People’s Party (CPP) as the rival of the Danquah–Busia tradition manifested in the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), the country’s oldest national political movement originally formed to pioneer the independence struggle but later eclipsed by the breakaway CPP. The UGCC has undergone several transformations since and today is represented by the New Patriotic Party (NPP). The book well documents the challenges facing independent Ghana, including those related to the growth of democracy nationwide and within political parties. The African liberation struggle, the drama of the Congo crisis of the 1960s, and the Liberian crisis of the 1990s are graphically re-enacted to highlight Ghana’s significant role in the events. It is perhaps the best account of the sacrifices Ghana and other ECOWAS countries, particularly Nigeria, made in returning peace to Liberia after a bitter civil war through the successful peacekeeping and peace-enforcement efforts of ECOWAS Monitoring Group (ECOMOG). The book sheds light on Dr. Obed Yao Asamoah’s evolution into a politician of no mean achievement during the creation of the Fourth Republic and as the longest serving Foreign Minister and Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Ghana has ever known, offices he held simultaneously between 1993 and 1997.

About the Author

Dr. Obed Asamoah was born on 6 February 1936 in Likpe Bala, Ghana. He attended Achimota Secondary School and earned a bachelor of Laws degree (LLB) with honours in 1960 at Kings College, London University. He also qualified as a Barrister-at-Law before returning to Ghana. He later attended Colombia Law School in New York, obtaining a doctorate (JSD) in 1967. In 1964 and 1965, Dr. Asamoah was the Assistant Director of the Dag Hammarskjold Seminar on International Law organised at The Hague Academy for young diplomats and lecturers from the developing world. He also worked for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in New York as a Research Assistant on Issues before the General Assembly, published in 1964 and 1965. He returned to Ghana in 1965 as a Lecturer in Law at the University of Ghana. His active involvement in politics started in 1966, after the overthrow of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. He served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of 1968 and the Consultative Assembly of 1978, both charged with drafting new constitutions following periods of military rule. He was a member of Parliament from 1969–1972, serving as the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs. In 1982, he was appointed the Secretary for Foreign Affairs by the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) headed by Flt. Lt. Rawlings. He also served as the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, holding both portfolios concurrently for four years. He left public office in January 2001. During his career, Dr. Asamoah was instrumental in the formation and growth of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the party of the current President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama. Dr. Asamoah also served as the General Secretary of the United National Convention (UNC) from 1979 to 1981 and of the All Peoples Party (APP) in 1981. He is also the author of The Legal Significance of the Declarations of the General Assembly of the United Nations (Nijhoff, 1967). Dr. Asamoah is married to Dr. Yvonne Asamoah of Syracuse, New York, with whom he has a daughter and two sons. Dr. Obed Asamoah lives in Accra, Ghana. This book is a fascinating account of the author’s life amidst the Gold Coast’s struggle for freedom from British colonial rule, the deadly rivalry between the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) led by Dr. Danquah, and many more events in the country’s history.