GHANA AT 50: ENDURING LEGACY OF AFRICAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 000478 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON GH PGOV PHUM PINR PREL SUBJECT: GHANA AT 50: ENDURING LEGACY OF AFRICAN LEADERSHIP REF: A. ACCRA 285 ¶B. ACCRA 286 ¶C. ACCRA 314 AND ACCRA 321 ACCRA 00000478 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) Summary: This is the sixth in a series of cables looking at Ghana at 50 and the second in a series focused on Ghana's external relations. Ghana,s legacy of continent-wide leadership began with its first president Kwame Nkrumah. Nkrumah's legacy includes a commitment to multilateral organizations and the non-aligned movement, support for African unity and an emphasis on maintaining good relations with neighboring countries. These have been consistent themes in Ghana's foreign policy, which has at times veered to the left and right with changes in government and Cold War calculations. Ghana has enjoyed consistently strong relations with Europe and the United States since the mid-1980s. End summary. -------------- Nkrumah,s Enduring Vision -------------- ¶2. (U) Ghana's first president laid the foundation of Ghana,s foreign policy. In particular, he left four enduring pillars of foreign policy: Ghana's strong commitment to multilateral organizations, its commitment to the non-alignment movement, its leadership in promoting African unity, and its partnership with neighboring states. ¶3. (U) Nkrumah referred to himself as the &Gandhi of Africa8 and he stated &The Independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked up to the total liberation of Africa.8 He formed the Bureau of African Affairs (its focus was assisting non-independent African states break free from colonial rule) and African Affairs Secretariat (traditional diplomatic work). Nkrumah supported &freedom fighters8, opposition groups, and labor unions elsewhere in Africa, and created an African liberation radio. Nkrumah traveled to capitals all over the world to plead for African freedom and was personally involved in the internal struggle of African states. In 1960, Ghana sent peacekeepers for the first time to the Congo as part of a United Nations contingent (Ghana today is still a major contributor to UN peacekeeping). In the Congo, Nkrumah was very vocal about the UN mandate, arguing that the UN was interfering in internal African affairs. Once an African state received its independence, Nkrumah turned his attention to its integration within a greater Africa. ¶4. (U) Nkrumah envisioned a &United States of Africa8 and championed the Pan-African movement. In 1958, he sponsored an All-African Peoples Conference in Accra, the first Pan-African conference to be held on African soil. When Guinea became the only French African colony to vote no for closer integration with France in 1958, Nkrumah took the first step towards African Unification by signing an agreement with Guinea,s leader to unite the two countries. Mali joined this union in 1961. ¶5. (U) Starting in 1960, the African Caucus became a formidable voting block in the UN. In 1963, Nkrumah organized a conference of the 32 independent African States in Addis Ababa, where the Organization of African Unity was formed. Although, Nkrumah never saw his dream of African Unity become a reality and the Ghana-Guinea-Mali union eventually dissolved, elements of his vision were adopted and are evident today in regional and Africa-wide organizations. ¶6. (U) Beginning in 1961, Ghana became a socialist state and its foreign policy agenda followed suit. Nkrumah was a founding member of the non-alignment movement. Ghana gained a reputation for being independent-minded in foreign affairs and vocal on international issues. Although Ghana was officially in the non-alignment movement, it developed close ties to the Soviet Union, China and Cuba. ¶7. (SBU) Nkrumah,s aggressive foreign policy was a contributing factor to his downfall. According to Mr. K.B. Asante, former head of the African Affairs Secretariat in Nkrumah,s government, Nkrumah on numerous occasions would comment that &his work in Ghana was finished and he must now concern himself with the rest of Africa.8 Asante further commented that because of Nkrumah,s earlier successes he ACCRA 00000478 002.2 OF 002 became &larger than life8 and started to think he was invincible. Nkrumah lost touch with Ghana and Ghanaians. His failure to grasp the economic suffering of many Ghanaians and the impact of his authoritarian policies contributed to his ouster in a military coup in 1966. -------------- Aftermath of Nkrumah: Ad Hoc Foreign Policy -------------- ¶8. (U) In the next two decades, Ghana experienced five military coups, and numerous coup attempts and political experiments. Ghana's GDP fell by 24 percent from 1970 to 1981 (ref c). Instability led to inward-looking leadership with an improvised and pragmatic foreign policy. At times Ghana turned to the West for assistance, and at other times to the former Soviet Bloc. ¶9. (U) In a notable change from Nkrumah,s foreign policy legacy, Prime Minister Kofi A. Busia (1969-1972) drew closer to the West. Busia also advocated dialogue with the apartheid regime in South Africa, instead of condemning or actively trying to overthrow the government. This broke foreign policy unity with other African countries. -------------- The Rawlings Years -------------- ¶10. (U) J.J. Rawlings seized power for the second time in ¶1981. Using revolutionary and Marxist rhetoric, he called for a new order that &must be anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist and must aim at instituting a popular democracy.8 He used the examples of Cuba, China and Libya in establishing Workers, and People,s Defense Committees and remained close to these countries throughout his presidency. ¶11. (SBU) Nonetheless, Rawlings shifted decidedly toward the West in the mid-80s. This was in part a response to internal pressures. Ghana's economy was near collapse. Rawlings, PNDC government claimed that there were 32 attempted coups between 1981-1983, partly triggered by Rawlings' Soviet orientation and the foundering state of the economy. In 1983, Rawlings adopted a World Bank/IMF Economic Reform Program that began to stabilize the economy and attracted Western financial aid, in spite of Rawlings' continued authoritarian rule. The end of the Cold War and Ghana's democratic transition further solidified Rawlings' shift toward the West. ¶12. (SBU) Rawlings initially had strained relations with Burkina Faso and Cote d, Ivoire because they were conservative and pro-French. For similar reasons and because of perceived outside threats to his regime, he actively sought to destabilize Togo, sending in troops, backing opposition groups and attempting regime change. According to James Victor Gbeho, a former foreign minister in the Rawlings, government, Rawlings felt he could not escape the belief that Western countries were &ganging up on him.8 Gbeho acknowledged that Rawlings eventually made conciliatory overtures to Ghana's neighbors. He also became more interested in a broader African leadership position, assuming the ECOWAS Chair in 1994-1996. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶13. (U) Ghana's external relations have impacted the entire continent. Ghanaian analysts overwhelmingly cite Ghana's role in African liberation and leadership in African solidarity as the country's greatest foreign policy accomplishment. Despite periodic shifts toward the former Soviet Block, the Nkrumahist "pillars" have guided Ghana's foreign policy through the years and are still very influential today. Ghanaians view President Kufuor's election to the AU Chair in this broader historical context. The Busia shift to the West, which Rawlings was eventually forced to adopt and was reinforced by the end of the Cold War, laid the groundwork for Ghana's current pro-US and pro-Europe foreign policy (septels). BRIDGEWATER