Day One - Travel Continued

So, this is my second attempt at this post. Save often is the lesson I just learned.

Ghana is in western Africa, just north of the equator, with Prime Meridian running through it in the east.

Up until 1957, Ghana was known as the Gold Coast for the exceptional bounty of gold found by Portugeuse and the later arrived British colonizers.

In March, 1957, Ghana declared its independence and reclaimed its name. Kwame Nkrumah, a political leader from Ghana, was instrumental in bringing about this independence and an even broader reach throughout western Africa. He became Prime Minister of Ghana shortly after independence was declared. Here's a clip of his speech at the first Conference of Independent African States held in Ghana in 1958: http://www.africawithin.com/nkrumah/snd-bite01.swf

Although Nkrumah's leadership was successful in many ways, his leadership had significant flaws over time. In 1964 he declared Ghana a one party state and named himself president for life. In 1966, while traveling abroad, Nkrumah was overthrown on a coup.

With its constitution ratified in 1993, Ghana is now a constitutional democracy. The constitution was ratified in 1993. In most recent political history, in 2008 John Atta Mills was elected president by about 44,000 votes. According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, this was the second time in Ghana's history that a "legitimately elected leader handed over power to another."

John Atta Mills