C O N F I D E N T I A L ACCRA 000612

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/29/2019
TAGS: PGOV XA XY GH
SUBJECT: PARTY POLITICS IN GHANA

Classified By: Ambassador Donald Teitelbaum for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Ghana is a stable democracy after having
completed five presidential elections in the past 17 years,
two of which involved a transition of power between parties.
Although Ghana has the best record of inter-party transfers
in Africa, the peaceful transitions mask an underlying
animosity within the middle ranks of each party. The very top
leaders in the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and
opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) "get it" and behave as
statesmen, and the vast majority of low level party workers
peacefully coexist with their political rivals. But relations
between the middle ranks of each party are rancorous because
they stand to win or loose the most following a change in
government. The peaceful transitions of power mask the often
strident partisan politics that followed each party's move
from opposition to government. Post is concerned that
Ghana,s young democracy may be setting a precedent of
political vendetta. President Obama,s visit provides us
with an excellent opportunity to help them. END SUMMARY


2. (U) Since the return to constitutional democracy in 1992,
Ghana has successfully completed five multi-party elections,
and as a result of elections, each of Ghana's two main
parties has won an election and assumed power then lost an
election and stepped down peacefully, a rarity in Africa. The
NDC candidate John Evans Atta Mills won the most recent
election in December 2008 by a little over 40,000 votes out
of 9 million cast. The campaign was hard fought and, at
times, acrimonious, but after the ballots were tabulated,
former President John Kufour and NPP candidate Nana
Akufo-Addo urged his NPP supporters to accept defeat. The
transfer of power was done without violence, which also
occurred when Kufour defeated Mills, the incumbent NDC
vice-president, eight years prior.


3. (U) At the other end of the political hierarchy,
relations between the majority of grass roots NDC and NPP
supports are civil. An example of their civility during the
last election was the behavior of party members that served
as poll watchers. They were clearly partisan but remained
respectful. Poloff visited over a dozen polling stations in a
large city and rural communities and witnessed a collegiality
between political opponents and neighbors.


4. (U) It is the levels just below the very top that cause
the most inter-party friction. These are often party leaders
who stand to win or lose the most following a change in
government in terms of jobs, contracts, influence, and perks.
Once in office, both parties have accused individual
followers of the previous government of corruption,
accusations which often have merit. Since leaving office in
January 2009, the former: Chief of Staff; Minister and Deputy
Minister of Foreign Affairs; Minister and two Deputy
Ministers of Information; and Deputy High Commissioner to
India have all been called to the Bureau of National
Investigation (BNI) to answer questions about business
dealings conducted when they were in office. The Minister
for Information was denied boarding for a flight to London en
route to the US by BNI agents who met him at the airport. His
wife and two small children were present, and his wife was
involved in a scuffle with BNI agents that resulted in her
being invited to BNI offices for questioning. Many in the NPP
view stopping the Minister at the airport as grandstanding
and politically motivated humiliation. They say that the NDC
is using BNI to harass and intimidate former government
officials. NDC officials, however say that similar actions
were taken by the NPP when it came to power following two
terms of NDC government. They point to cases in which high
profile party members like Nana Rawlings, wife of former
president Jerry Rawlings, was accused of corruption or the
jail sentence served by Tsatsu Tsikata which they view as
particularly egregious.


5. (C) COMMENT: Although the last election was peaceful and
Ghana,s interparty transition was remarkable merely for
taking place, Post is concerned that Ghana,s young democracy
may be setting a precedent of political vendetta, perhaps
real, perhaps perceived, perhaps a combination of the two.
They can do better, and we should find ways to help them.
President Obama,s visit provides us with an excellent
opportunity to lead by example.
TEITELBAUM