In the past few months, west Africa has lived up to its reputation for political volatility. A military coup in Mali in March, resulting in a power vacuum that allowed rebels to annex part of the country, was followed less than a month later by soldiers in Guinea-Bissau overthrowing a democratically elected government.
In such an unpredictable neighbourhood, Ghana has largely stood out for its peaceful politics. This has especially been the case since 1992, when multi-party democracy was ushered in. Its reputation as one of Africa’s, let alone the region’s, most stable and democratic states was established after elections in 2000 and 2008 that both saw the ruling parties accept defeat to their opponents. The latter even saw the president cede power after losing by less than 0.5% of the vote. “That doesn’t even happen in the US without a recount,” one Ghana observer wryly notes.
