SCENESETTER FOR FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR PISTOLE'S

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 002320

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/W; FBI PLEASE PASS TO DEPUTY DIRECTOR JOHN
PISTOLE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL SNAR ASEC ECON EAID GH
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR PISTOLE'S
VISIT TO ACCRA


1. (SBU) We look forward to your November 9 visit and
provide the following background:


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Ghana celebrates its fiftieth anniversary
in 2007 as Sub-Saharan Africa's first independent country. It
has emerged from a turbulent history into a period of
stability, democracy and sustained economic growth. Despite
some important successes, however, Ghana continues to
struggle to deal with persistent poverty, political
divisiveness, narcotics trafficking, corruption, governance
and security. Ghana and the United States enjoy strong ties
and bilateral relations are at an all-time high. Ghana is a
reliable partner in peacekeeping, conflict resolution,
counter-terrorism, and economic development. U.S. interests
center on sQZQQkQt seat on the UN Security Council. END SUMMARY.

2007 AN IMPORTANT YEAR FOR GHANA
--------------


3. (U) On March 6, Ghana celebrated its 50th anniversary of
independence. Secretary for Housing and Urban Development
Alphonso Jackson led the U.S. delegation marking the event.
Ghana chairs the African Union (AU) for 2007 and hosted an AU
Summit in June. Nearly every African head of state attended
this Summit, which debated but did not reach consensus on the
future of African integration. The African Growth and
Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum was held in July in Accra.
President Kufuor has traveled widely this year, including a
state visit to Britain, and attendance at the G8 Summit and
UN General Assembly.

MANY POSITIVE STEPS FORWARD...
--------------


4. (SBU) After 15 years of democratic governance, Ghanaians
are committed to democracy. Ghana has held four consecutive
free and fair national elections. While parliament is weak
and the main parties are increasingly polarized, there is
genuine political space for the opposition and almost half of
parliamentary seats are held by the main opposition National
Democratic Congress (NDC) party. Civil society groups,
particularly religious associations, are well organized.
Ghana's strong religiosity and cl \CQQX'=c.QMuslims and Christians have supported a culture of tolerance.
Ghana is relatively stable, with an apolitical military, a
strong record on human rights, and a lively, free media.


5. (SBU) Politics is increasingly focused on the 2008
presidential and parliamentary election, which promises to be
a close race between the NDC and the ruling New Patriotic
Party (NPP). However, two smaller political parties have
generated considerable interest to date and could make the
race tighter. Presently, more than 15 candidates are seeking
the presidency, but the field will be whittled down to four
or five later this year when party nominees are selected. The
NPP defeated the NDC in the two previous elections by thin
margins.


6. (U) The economy has performed generally well under
President Kufuor. Major debt relief, large inflows of donor
resources, and relatively high cocoa and gold prices have
been key to the steady improvements in real GDP growth, which
in 2004 topped 5 per cent for the first time in a decade and
reached an estimated 6.2 per cent in 2006. Overall poverty
rQQYk/tartsO#UHeflation has stayed low (currently
at 12 per cent). And in 2007, a promising offshore oil
discovery was made in Ghanaian waters.

YET DIFFICULT CHALLENGES REMAIN
--------------


7. (SBU) Despite Ghana's democracy and stability, politics is
deeply polarized, political power is highly centralized, and
democratic institutions are weak. Corruption and cronyism
are serious problems and Ghana faces human rights challenges
relating to child labor and human trafficking. Economically,
Ghana is highly vulnerable to price shocks in cocoa, gold,
and to a lesser extent, timber (which together account for 70
per cent of exports). It remains heavily dependent on
foreign inflows of aid and on remittances. Financial
services are growing but Ghana remains largely a cash society

ACCRA 00002320 002 OF 002


and access to credit is difficult, short-term and expensive.
Infrastructure necessary to support growth is poor,
particularly power generation and water supply. Over the
last year, Ghana experienced a serious energy crisis with
12-hour power outages every second day. While the crisis
seems to have subsided slightly, concerns over long-term
energy policies remain.


8. (SBU) Ghana also faces a range of security challenges,
including a rise in violent street crime and vigilante
justice, a proliferation of small arms, and narcotics
trafficking. Ghana is increasingly becoming a major transit
point for cocaine and heroin bound for Europe and the United
States. Narcotics scandals over the past year (one involving
the disappearance of 2 tons of cocaine) have implicated
senior police officials. The GOG does not have a strong
handle on this problem, although it did act effectively in
cooperating with the USG on October 22 to arrest and expel to
the U.S. two important Afghan heroin traffickers. The UK
provides assistance to the GOG primarily through its
Operation Westbridge, which targets couriers and air cargo at
Kotoka International Airport. The UK and the GOG also
launched a new public awareness campaign on October 24.

GHANA IN THE WORLD
--------------


9. (U) Ghana has lately been playing an increasingly
significant global leadership role as a non-permanent member
of the UN Security Council, active member of the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS),and 2007 Chair of
the AU. Ghana has preferred multilateral solutions to global
problems and has a history of pan-African leadership.
Founding father Kwame Nkrumah's pan-African vision is still
prominent in the Ghanaian mindset and is reflected in the
four pillars of Ghana's foreign policy: a commitment to
multilateralism, pan-Africanism, non-alignment, and "good
neighborliness."

GHANA AND THE U.S.
--------------


10. (SBU) U.S. - Ghana relations are excellent and
wide-ranging. The U.S. Mission in Ghana is the third-largest
U.S. Mission in Africa and includes the oldest Peace Corps
program in the world and a $55 million bilateral USAID
program. The U.S. also has strong commercial, political,
military-military, and people-to-people relations with Ghana.
President Kufuor has met President Bush seven times and
hosted the First Lady in January 2006. In August 2006, Ghana
signed a $547 million anti-poverty Compact with the United
States, Millennium Challenge Corporation. The Compact
focuses on accelerating growth and poverty reduction through
agricultural and rural development. The Compact has three
main components: enhancing the profitability of commercial
agriculture among small farmers; reducing the transportation
costs affecting agricultural commerce through improvements in
transportation infrastructure, and expanding basic community
services and strengthening rural institutions that support
agriculture and agri-business.
BROWN