Ghana Promotes National Reconciliation for Democracy

Ghana, ruled periodically by authoritarian and military dictatorships since independence in 1957, witnessed its first legitimate general election in January 2001 - ripe time, then, to reflect on the political ills of the past. Current President Kufuor, who has actively endorsed a policy of national reconciliation, organized the NRC as a public forum on the abuses of the past decades, convening over 2000 public hearings. The final report, released in 2005, addresses the respective roles of the armed forces, universities, political parties, and the media in the protracted disintegration of Ghanaian democracy. The report proposes modest government reparations and reforms in the security services and the judiciary.