Proclaiming African Renaissance from the Midwest: Portrait of a budding State

Introduction

It’s early March and the snow storms are sweeping across with ferocious intensity. Iowa is being gagged with early campaign visits by presidential hopefuls and there’s endless talk about a so-called ‘ethanol revolution’ and a burgeoning alternative energy industry. Somewhere along the sun baked seams of the West African coastline, far away from the pitiless capitalism that so often exposes the fragility of America’s ethos, there will be national parades, daredevil aerobic displays and wild traditional celebrations across the length and breadth of a nation that encapsulates in no small way the quintessence of African success.

Karin Brandt, a senior in Political Science and International Studies, spent seven months working and studying at the University of Ghana last year. She still has fond memories of the independence celebrations while she was there: “Witnessing the celebration at Independence Square was one of the most encouraging events for me because thousands of Ghanaians were celebrating their country's achievements and calling for further progress in development”. It was fifty years ago in the parliament of the then Gold Coast that an illustrious son of Africa Dr Kwame Nkrumah moved the motion of destiny for Ghana’s independence. That single most important move by Nkrumah was the precursor to colonialist struggles across the continent sparking a wave of independence victories for many African countries. Ghana was the first sub Saharan African country to gain independence. It is not often that we hear of success stories from Africa. Not especially in the United States where other issues such as the war in Iraq, the threat of Iran, sensational senatorial squabbles, the pending presidential primaries, Obama’s surge among the black population, the debate over Anna Nicole’s burial, worries of overweight kids and gay military rights dominate mainstream American media. Yet the continent that has concomitantly been known as the heart beat of the world and a ‘scar on the world’s conscience’ (apologies to Tony Blair) is bursting with good news- Ghana. It is my contention that the case of state success in Ghana. is not just an isolated one but a simmering replica of the new tide of renaissance that is sweeping across 21st century Africa. The jubilee celebrations in Ghana have only but just began.

Euphoric Nation

Even here in the United States from the North east to the south west , across the Midwest to the west and in central and southern states, Ghanaians all over are putting up events to celebrate fifty years of Ghana’s journey as an independent democratic state. Africa is certainly not the world’s ‘rock star’ in politics. But there is a growing reality and glad fully so that the dull and dry tales from Africa are turning gritty and glamorous. Ghana is one of such stories. Named after the rich ancient Ghana empire, the country is one of Africa’s best answers to first world pessimism. With a population of about twenty million the nation’s neighbors include Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the East and Cote d’ Ivoire to the West. Let’s face it; Africa’s credentials in the West are well famed. The continent has the world’s poorest nations, experienced humanity’s most brutal wars and it is in African that the world’s worst humanitarian crisis exists. For instance ISU senior Karin was stunned by the urban rural dichotomy that exists in Ghana and she sums it up poignantly saying “a great concern is the disparity in development between the more urban south and the rural north. A fundamental task facing Ghana is to overcome ethnic divisions which are deeply in grained in society. My university classmates would argue that northerners did not deserve hospitals or development in general because they were merely 'fighting people.’ Nevertheless for all the challenges that the country faces the genuine commitment by the people and government at addressing them has brought success knocking at its door. Thus Ghana may be a deviation from the African stereotype. The country has experienced unblemished democratic practice for the past fifteen years. Some have praised Ghana’s time tested electoral systems with others even claiming that the United States 2000 election that brought Bush to power was far more flawed than those organized by Ghana’s electoral commission. The economy has experienced exponential growth with current G.DP at 5.7%. Ghana’s president announced a golden age of business on assumption of office and with it came a booming trajectory of private participation and entrepreneurial imitative. The streets of Accra are in great contrast to those of say Johannesburg or Mogadishu where one’s security cannot be guaranteed even by state agencies. Accra Ghana’s capital like many other towns and cities in Ghana is a bustling cultural and historical centre adorned with cultural centers, castles, museums and galleries that display rich traditional and contemporary arts, textiles and ceramics amongst many others.


Ghana was the first country to have been reviewed under the African peer review mechanism by the African Union and the country scored high marks in all sectors. The nation’s John Kufuor currently heads the African Union. The hope and optimism that had blazed through the country at the time of independence is back on course and it is difficult to disagree with what Patrick Smith, the editor of Africa Confidential, calls "one of the best functioning multi-party democracies in the continent” Ghana’s education is fabled and its institutions are hot attractions to other nationals from West Africa. Access to education has further been boosted by the country’s free school feeding programme, and prospects for human resource development and growth are extremely high. So as Ghana celebrates 50 years as a nation there is a lot to be happy about. There are euphoric and overly nationalistic sentiments beaming all over the country.


Democratic plurality has been entrenched and there is a genuine commitment by all parties to promote a culture tolerance and economic expansion. Today it is not only a golden age of business that has been born in Ghana but a golden age of the press where journalists and media men can practice their professional duties without fear of censorship or brutal state controls. All over the country the chords of development are resonating and there exists an inherent confidence and unshakable optimism for state success.

Telling the African Story

I often get surprised when American students in Iowa dabble in the all too familiar ‘ignoramus syndrome”. Are there trains in Africa? ‘Was that the first time you used a drive through?’ Do you have internet? Are your newspapers in African language? Do you have jeans in Africa? Oh your English is so good! It is easy to pass some of these comments off as genuine inquiry but when they keep coming with such rapidity, you know there is more to it. This culture of slant and slander against Africa is both bottom up and top-down. It is reflected in the West’s relations towards the continent- in trade, business and in international agreements. Currently only five countries — Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden — have met the United Nations aid target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income. Farmers are facing great constraints throughout the continent, trade barriers exist and subsidies on agricultural products in the developed world are still stagnating the potential for the development of Africa’s own agricultural industry. And the global green revolution has bypassed Africa. Yet there are good stories from Africa. Ghana is a successful example that has shown the potential that the continent has. One of Africa’s ‘basket cases’ which used to be known as the Ghanaian experiment is now being talked of as the ‘Ghanaian model’ or better still the Ghanaian experience. Africa needs to tell its own story.

Ghana for instance is basking in unprecedented democratic pluralism, with all three arms of government serving as checks and balances even within the strict separation of powers. Ghana perhaps exemplified the world’s most practical form of civil participation with the constitution of the country as written not by legal legends or elite intellectuals but by the ordinary men and women including barbers and fishermen and lawyers. Even in a complex and well advanced ‘senior prefect’ status America, black representation is astonish low. America with all its legendary super power status and a well romanticized democratic reputation has only had its third black senator since independence. When Deval Patrick was sworn in as Governor of Massachusetts on January 4 this year he became not only the first Black governor of that state, but he is only the second Black governor ever elected in the United States. His own personal “rags-to-riches” story may truly be an inspiration. However it is the clearest testimony yet that America for all its worth may still be grappling with basic democratic tenets such as equality, pluralism and equal representation. However for all the irascible and sometimes derogatory ways that Africa is viewed there is a nation from the coastlines of the world’s cradle of civilization that has managed to guarantee equal participation for over forty tribes.

Reviving Optimism

The verve and dynamism of Ghana’s citizens is unmatched even by the size and population. It’s early days yet into the new millennium and Ghana has returned to the idealism that gave rise to the birth of a nation from the hands of colonial imperialists. Like our 20th century predecessors, we are seeking to revive a structured and disciplined community that will lead to a just and prosperous society. Again speaking to Karin she was optimistic as well about Ghana’s future: “I was continually impressed by many Ghanaians political knowledge and passion to be informed and voice their opinions. Such an active civil society speaks well for the future of Ghana's democratic status.” Although the strategic and substantive issues of citizen participation, government accountability, and ethnic dissents still permeate the fabric of political landscape, there is an intractable optimism that had largely been lacking in previous decades now sweeping across state and society. Even though projectionists and cynics may prattle all they want, I like to be a realist and assume that between idealism and dogmatism we find the groundswell for pragmatism and rationality. For instance Engel’s presented the Marxian critique of utopianism when he said ‘The final causes of all social changes and political revolutions are to be sought not in men’s brains, not in man’s better insight into eternal truth and justice, but in changes in the modes of production and exchange.


Utopian thinkers such as Roberts Owen and Charles Fourier could not succeed because they developed a social ideal that did not coincide with a material reality still dominated by capitalist interest. (2003. Scott and Fainstein). As Ghana matches on to state success it will be crucial to keep these thoughts in mind. It is not just the sustainability of the current optimism that is crucial to entrenching national development but the translation of such hopes into practical achievement that shall guarantee true national success. Godwin Etse Sikanku Iowa State University