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Ghana

Monthly Event Reports

February 2024 | Parliament passes new LGBTQIA+ law; President asks Court to rule on its constitutionality
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On 28 February, the Parliament passed a law that would impose new penalties not only on same-sex sexual acts (up to five years in prison), but also on people who are open about a non-heterosexual orientation (up to three years in prison). The law, entitled the Promotion of Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, had its first reading in Parliament in 2021, but received a great deal of opposition within Ghana and abroad. Ghana’s Finance Minister warned the government that approval of the law could endanger funding from the World Bank on which Ghana’s economic health depends. On 5 March, President Nana Akufo-Addo stated that he will not assent to the law and give it legal force until after a review of its constitutionality by the Supreme Court.

January 2024 | Six people sentenced to death after conviction for treason
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On 24 January, the High Court in Accra concluded Ghana’s first treason trial since 1966, convicting six people of high treason and sentencing them to death by hanging. Three others who had been charged were found not guilty. All nine co-defendants had pleaded not guilty. The group was accused of plotting to overthrow the Ghanaian government in 2019. They were arrested in 2019 in a large police operation that also seized a cache of firearms, ammunition, and three grenades. Three of those convicted were members of the armed forces. Ghana has not carried out an execution since 1993, and abolished capital punishment for most crimes in August 2023 while leaving open the possibility to impose the death penalty in cases of treason.

July 2023 | Cabinet minister arrested on suspicion of corruption

Amidst a severely challenging national economic situation that includes a shortage of foreign reserves, a Ghanaian cabinet minister was arrested in late July on suspicion of corruption after a large amount of foreign currency (one million US dollars and three-hundred thousand euros) was reported stolen from her home. After news of the reported crime became public, Cecilia Abena Dapaah resigned from her position as Minister of Sanitation in President Nana Akufo-Addo’s cabinet. She herself was arrested and questioned several days later. Dapaah’s resignation leaves only two women in the 19-person cabinet.

January 2023 | State institutions to apologize to journalist who was wrongly arrested

In June 2019, shortly after publishing articles critical of the National Security Minister, Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri (editor of the online media agency Modern Ghana) and Emmanuel Britwum (a reporter for the publication) were arrested in a manner tantamount to abduction by agents of Ghana’s National Security agency. Their electronic devices were seized, and Ajarfor claims to have been tortured during interrogations. Charges of cybercrime against the men were dismissed by the Accra High Court soon after and the journalists were released. Ajarfor then launched legal proceedings in the Human Rights Division of the High Court against the state agencies involved. On 13 January 2023, the court ordered the heads of three state agencies to apologize to Ajarfor for the violations of his rights, and to compensate him for the damage done to him.

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GSoD Indices Data 2013-2022

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Basic Information

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Population Tooltip
31 732 130
System of government
Presidential system
Head of government
President Nana Akufo-Addo (since 2017)
Head of government party
New Patriotic Party
Electoral system for lower or single chamber
First Past the Post
Women in lower or single chamber
14.6%
Women in upper chamber
Not applicable
Last legislative election
2020
Effective number of political parties Tooltip
2.14
Head of state
President Nana Akufo-Addo
Selection process for head of state
Direct election (two-round majority)
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) date
07/11/2017
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) percentage of recommendations supported
85.14%
Population Tooltip
31 732 130
System of government
Presidential system
Head of government
President Nana Akufo-Addo (since 2017)
Head of government party
New Patriotic Party
Electoral system for lower or single chamber
First Past the Post
Women in lower or single chamber
14.6%
Women in upper chamber
Not applicable
Last legislative election
2020
Effective number of political parties Tooltip
2.14
Head of state
President Nana Akufo-Addo
Selection process for head of state
Direct election (two-round majority)
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) date
07/11/2017
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) percentage of recommendations supported
85.14%
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Human Rights Treaties

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State Party State party
Signatory Signatory
No Action No action
United Nations Human Right Treaties
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
State Party
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
State Party
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
State Party
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
State Party
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment
State Party
Convention on the Rights of the Child
State Party
International Convention on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
State Party
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance 
Signatory
International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
State Party
International Labour Organisation Treaties
Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention
State Party
Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention
State Party
Equal Remuneration Convention
State Party
Abolition of Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention
State Party
Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment
State Party
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
State Party
Regional Treaties
African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights
State Party
in
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Performance by category over the last 6 months

Representation neutral Representation
Sep 2023
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb 2024
Representation neutral Rights
Sep 2023
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb 2024
Representation neutral Rule of law
Sep 2023
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb 2024
Representation neutral Participation
Sep 2023
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb 2024

Global State of Democracy Indices

Hover over the trend lines to see the exact data points across the years

Explore the indices
Representation
Representation
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rights
Rights
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rule of Law
Rule of Law
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Participation
Participation
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Annual value

Factors of Democratic Performance Over Time

Use the slider below to see how democratic performance has changed over time

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