Ghana: The culture, politics, location and history
DPI, Guyana, Saturday, June 8, 2019
Guyana and Ghana established diplomatic relations on May 14, 1979 and as we prepare for the historic state visit of President Nana Akufo-Addo to our beautiful country, what do we know about the West African territory?
Located 6,399 kilometres from Guyana, along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean, spanning a land mass 238,535 km2 is the Republic of Ghana. It is bordered by the Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north and Togo in the east. Its capital city is Accra which is also its largest city.
Ghana means ‘Warrior King’ in the Soninke language and was initially named Wagadugu after the medieval empire of West Africa.
It was the first country to gain independence in West Africa from British rule. The country had alternated between civilian and military governments until January 1993, when the military government gave way to the Fourth Republic of Ghana after presidential and parliamentary elections in late 1992.
The 1992 Constitution of Ghana divided powers among a Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, Parliament, Cabinet, Council of State and an independent judiciary. The Government of Ghana is elected after every four years.
Ghana’s current president, Nana Akufo-Addo won the Ghanaian general election held on December 7, 2016 and was sworn in on January 7, 2017.
With approximately 30 million people, culture and tradition are mixed especially due to the fact that the country boasts of several tribes that uphold their different cultural orientations, as well as their varied ways of life.
In as much as Ghanaian culture and traditional beliefs are found to vary from one ethnic group to the other, the Akan religious practices laid more emphasis on ancestral intercession coupled with beliefs in other gods, spirits, and goddesses.
Most of the Ghanaian foods are traditional, reflective of the country’s history, as well as agriculture. The delicacy for most people is boiled cassava, plantains, and yams which are rolled into balls commonly known as fufu.
The people of Ghana use English as their official language which, however has a distinctive West African Accent. Akan is the most popularly used after English and is spoken by nearly 67.1 per cent of the inhabiting people.
The flag of Ghana consists of red, gold and green horizontal strips with a five-pointed black star in the centre of the gold stripe. Red represents the blood of those who died in the country’s struggle for independence, gold stands for the mineral wealth and green symbolises the rich forest.
The economy of Ghana has a diverse and rich resource base, including the manufacturing and exportation of digital technology goods, automotive and ship construction and exportation, and the exportation of diverse and rich resources such as hydrocarbons and industrial minerals.
Image: http://flagpedia.net/ghana