Beautiful lessons from Ghana

I LOVE Ghana. If I had to choose an African country other than Zimbabwe as my home, it’s fair to say Ghana would have little, if any, competition.

Perhaps it’s the fascination of a one-time visitor. Perhaps it is judgement that is clouded by the comfort of being a passer-by; by the beauty of being a visitor who often is accorded kindness, something that often fades the longer you live among your hosts. That is possible, but even my interactions with most Ghanaians outside Ghana persuades me that they are a good and cultured people. I would happily live among them.  

A couple years ago, when Ghana celebrated 50 years of independence, I wrote in these pages about my first and only trip to that beautiful country on the West African coast. I wrote about the warmth the people of Accra exuded; about the atmosphere which made it so easy – it was like I had been transported to an old country that I had once lived in centuries ago.

Ghana reminded me of Zimbabwe in many ways; a Zimbabwe that now existed in memory. It brought back a lot of memories but it also gave a glimpse of some of the pain that runs through every part of the continent.

I have always found a strong connection between my country and Ghana. Perhaps it’s the maternal connection. For this is where Zimbabwe’s original First Lady, Amai Sally Mugabe, was born and raised. I did not know much about her but I think she was a good woman. For sure, she looked and sounded like a good woman. She had a certain aura around her and seemed to always have a permanent smile.

We knew her not for her beautiful costumes but for the love that she showered upon so many children. She did not have one of her own but you wouldn’t have known, for she was always surrounded by happy kids.

Our then Prime Minister Robert Mugabe had been a teacher in Ghana and here he had found himself a beautiful wife. As I walked the streets of Accra and spoke to the cheerful men and women that I met, I couldn’t help but notice a little Sally in most of them.

They were happy to have me, a brother from Zimbabwe and many remembered the Sally connection. Even in death she remained a uniting point; someone whom diverse people from different sides of the continent could relate to and talk about with fondness. Few are so blessed whether in life or in death.

But I also had some painful moments on that trip. This was the first Sub-Saharan country to gain independence in 1957. Yet what I encountered in the suburbs, beyond the smiles and cheerful welcome were many sad stories of a people whose circumstances could only be described more kindly as ‘challenging’. Here in Accra you came face to face with the plight of a whole continent that had escaped the yoke of colonialism in the last half century.

I spoke to Ghanaians who gave various versions of their history. They are a proud people; this is the land of the legendary Ashanti Empire, a favourite subject during my history lessons in high school.

I learned of the turmoil that the nation went through in its early years. In 50 years it had seen it all – almost everything that every other African country has gone through or will go through – one-party rule, military rule, failed attempts to institute democracy and finally, the present beautiful phase of peaceful multi-party democracy.

On reflection, Ghana almost encapsulates the evolution of the continent – the challenges, trials, errors and successes, of the post-independence era. No wonder US President Barack Obama recently chose it as his first proper African destination.

Five years after my visit to Ghana, nothing has happened to diminish my affection for that country. If anything, looking at the continent’s political landscape, Ghana seems to have turned a corner. The ordinary men and women may still be struggling economically but the country has at the very least managed to tame, for now, the one institution around which chaos grows in most African countries: the election.

The last three elections demonstrate that it is possible in Africa for the election to be a facility through which people can successfully make free choices and that the incumbent does not have a divine right to remain in power at all costs.

Former President Jerry Rawlings was the last of the military rulers but by 1992 he had been re-born, leading Ghana for two four-year terms under the 1992 Constitution. That two-term requirement was observed.

The seminal election of 2000 was won by John Kufour, the opposition leader, beating John Atta Mills, the man representing former President Rawlings’ party. That this was accepted was a big positive in the life of Ghanaian politics; an important step in its evolution from a country formerly subject to the rule of force as opposed to the rule of law. It gave hope that even a ruling party can lose an election and accept the result.

And so it was that for eight years, Ghana was ruled by the former opposition and the former ruling party became the new opposition. It was not easy but it worked. It was a moment of pride when a fellow student and colleague during our days at Warwick University, Ben Kunbour, returned to Ghana as an MP on the opposition benches.

In 2008, at the end of his last term, John Kufour stepped down and his party’s candidate Nana Akufo-Addo contested the election. The main rival was Atta Mills, who had unsuccessfully contested the last two elections against Kuffour. The election was close and it went to the run-off stage where again the result was very close.

Atta Mills, of the opposition won the election by a very a small margin: 50.23% to 49.77% for Akufo-Addo. Atta Mills become President of Ghana – at the third attempt, fulfilling the old adage, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again.

So, in effect twice there has been a reversal of fortunes for the ruling party in Ghana – the ruling party between 2000 and 2008 is back again in opposition. Conversely, the opposition between 2000 and 2008 is back in power as the ruling party. And, incredibly, all this has been accepted and Ghana is moving ahead.

This is a phenomenon that one would normally observe in the older democracies in Western Europe and North America. Even South Africa, which has done well to uphold elections, is yet to be seriously tested: that is, it is yet to get to that point when the ANC faces a more serious threat to its position as the ruling party.

Ghana tells us that it is possible for the election to mean something to the voters. It tells us that it is possible for leaders to be decent enough to accept defeat, in the same way that they welcome success. It tells us that losing an election is hardly the end of the world; it educates us that there is life for a political party and its politicians after losing an election; that it is always possible to make a come back.

The last time I wrote about Ghana I finished with the following words, “One day, I hope to return to Ghana. I hope to see the finished Tetteh-Quarshie Roundabout (an extraordinarily large roundabout that was then under construction). I hope to sit down and chat to the good men and women at the chop-bars of Accra.

“I hope to talk to a new generation of leaders, ready to take on the challenges that the next 50 years present … I hope that in 50 years time, the men, women and children of Nema (an old and dilapidated residential area in Accra) will be smiling and laughing in more comfortable surroundings”.

I still have those hopes for that beautiful country. And I am pleased that they seem to have found a comfortable and smooth road after the first 50 tumultuous years. As it happens, Ghana has recently discovered that it has black gold within its borders – I hope, unlike elsewhere in Africa, this substance fuels growth and not corruption, wars and deprivation for the ordinary people. I hope it is a blessing, not a curse.

And when I say so, I also have my own home, Zimbabwe, in mind. We are travelling a similar road. But I hope we won’t have to wait 50 years to appreciate that the election can be true agent of political change; that people can contest elections freely and fairly and that winners and losers can live peacefully side by side, doing their business and waiting to contest another day.

We were fortunate to have Amai Sally Mugabe; the Ghanaian girl who became a Zimbabwean mother – I hope we take a few lessons from that beautiful land on the West coast of Africa. One day, I shall return.

Alex Magaisa is based at, Kent Law School, the University of Kent and can be contacted on e-mail wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk