A look into Ghana's Foreign Policy

Page 30: Daily Graphic, March 5, 2010.
Article: Albert K. Salia

Foreign policies are generally designed to help protect a country's national interest, security, ideological goals, and economic prosperity. This can occur as a result of peaceful co-operation with other nations, or through aggression, war, and exploitation.
The concepts of free, proud, confident Africa has been dominant in Ghana’s foreign policy objectives since 1957 with Dr Kwame Nkrumah, spearheading that policy as Prime Minister. Since then, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been the sector body responsible for the conduct of Ghana's external relations and now operates spelt in line with Articles 40, 41, 73 and 84 of the 1992 Fourth Republican Constitution.
Usually, creating a foreign policy is the job of the head of government and the foreign minister (or equivalent). In some countries the legislature also has considerable oversight.
It is important to indicate that some critics of Ghana’s foreign policy have described it as “follow-the-crowd type” or a country without any foreign policy at all. That, they explain, is because Ghana’s foreign policy has no coherent and distinctive doctrinal orientation and niche.
They argue that first, the markers of such a foreign policy are government officials who are reactionary rather than proactive; second, officially stated foreign policy goals are usually vague and the foreign minister frequently flip-flops; and third, the Executive rather than well-trained professionals becomes the implementer of the policy.
It has been argued that since Nkrumah administration, Ghana’s foreign policy has been marked by those three tendencies.
Many Ghanaians were unhappy at the frequent trekking of former President J. A. Kufuor during his first term. Foreign policy experts contend that frequent trips of Presidents are typical of states without any well-established foreign policy niche.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as mandated by the Constitution, is to promote and protect the interest of Ghana and those of her citizens abroad and safeguard her security and prosperity through the promotion of friendly and productive relations with all countries. This is meant to enhance Ghana's image abroad and promote economic co-operation between Ghana and other countries through increased Ghana exports, foreign investments, expanding tourism and scientific, technological and cultural links.
The ministry is also responsible for the provision of economic, political and security information and advice to the government, provision of prompt and reliable information to Ghanaian nationals abroad to encourage them to participate in Ghana's economic development. It also plays a positive and creative role in the affairs of the United Nations (UN), Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), The Commonwealth and other international organisations to which Ghana belongs, as well as the integration of member states of the African Union and ECOWAS.
Another important principle of Ghana's foreign policy involves the closest possible co-operation with neighbouring countries with which the people of Ghana share cultural and historical bonds, ties of blood and economics. The results include various bilateral trade and economic agreements and permanent joint commissions involving Ghana and its immediate neighbours, sometimes in the face of latent ideological and political differences and mutual suspicion, as well as numerous reciprocal state visits by high-ranking officials. These measures have contributed significantly to sub-regional co-operation, development, and the reduction in tension.
As an example of Ghana's interest in regional co-operation, the country enthusiastically endorsed the formation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 1975. This organisation was created specifically to foster inter-regional economic and political co-operation. It has served as a useful vehicle for contacts with neighbouring West African governments and for channelling increased Ghanaian exports to regional markets. Since 1990, ECOWAS has been engaged in a peacekeeping mission in Liberia to which Ghana has contributed a large contingent of troops. Ghana has participated in other international peacekeeping efforts as well, sending soldiers to operations of the United Nations (UN) in Cambodia in 1992-93 and Rwanda in 1993-94.
In fact, Ghana’s foreign policy since independence has been underpinned by these policy objectives with little variations, depending on the regime in power. Ghana's foreign policy since independence has been characterised by a commitment to the principles and ideals of nonalignment and Pan-Africanism as first enunciated by Kwame Nkrumah in the early 1960s.
From all these, one can conclude that Ghana’s foreign relations has been structured around three major goals: Attracting development assistance and investment capital; maintaining friendly ties with neighbours; and playing an active and constructive role in international and regional fora by engaging in peacekeeping and election monitoring missions. These goals reflect pragmatism dictated by poor economic conditions and the need to compete globally for development assistance.
For Nkrumah, nonalignment meant complete independence from the policies and alliances of both the East and the West and support for a world-wide union of so-called non-aligned nations as a counter to both East and West power blocs. Pan-Africanism, by contrast, was a specific African policy that envisioned the liberation of African peoples from Western colonialism and the eventual economic and political unity of the African continent.
For Prime Minister Kofi Abrefa Busia, despite developing strong foreign contacts and arranging various joint projects with foreign governments, his inability to negotiate favourable repayment loan terms became a major setback for his administration. He had been confident that with Ghana having reverted to constitutional rule, he could negotiate with the Western powers to reschedule Ghana's foreign debt repayments, but that was not to be.
While he patiently tried to negotiate with the Western powers Ghana's foreign debt repayments with little result, he became increasingly subjected to attacks over what appeared to be his weak stance towards Ghana's creditors, especially since his clearly pro-Western stance seemed to yield few results.
One issue for which he faced much criticism was his stance towards South Africa. Despite South Africa's adoption of the apartheid system, Dr Busia believed he could open a dialogue with a country seen by most to be a racist regime. Many in Ghana simply could not understand why the black leader of an African country would ever consider that they could negotiate with such a regime, and his attempts to better relations with South Africa were largely met with a negative public response.
When the National Redemption Council (NRC) of Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong took over power on January 13, 1972 from the Busia Progress Party (PP), its nationalist and populist Yentua (we won’t pay) policy to mounting foreign debts of the Busia regime was initially popular but was unsustainable.
While popular with the general public, who understandably did not follow economics, the policy, not long, had its disastrous side becoming apparent.
Acheampong's idea that Ghana should become self-sufficient proved to be a complete disaster, and with few Western trade partners, Ghana continued to suffer economically in ways that made the record of the Busia government look glowing in comparison.
The Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), like most of its predecessors, made serious and consistent attempts at the practical application of these ideals and principles, and its successor, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government of President J. J. Rawlings, followed in the PNDC's footsteps. Under President Rawlings’s NDC, Ghana remained committed to the principle of nonalignment in world politics. Ghana was also opposed to interference in the internal affairs of both small and large countries. That was a departure from Nkrumah's foreign policy approach; Nkrumah was frequently accused of subverting African regimes, such as Togo and Cote d'Ivoire, which he considered ideologically conservative.
The NDC government, like the PNDC before it, believed in the principle of self-determination, including the right to political independence and the right of people to pursue their economic and social development free from external interference. Another feature of NDC rule carried over from the PNDC era was faithfulness to what a leading scholar of Africa has called "one of the most successful neo-classical economic reform efforts supported by the IMF and the World Bank".
The broad objectives of Ghana's foreign policy thus included maintaining friendly relations and co-operation with all countries that desire such co-operation, irrespective of ideological considerations, on the basis of mutual respect and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. Africa and its liberation and unity are naturally the cornerstones of Ghana's foreign policy.
NDC policy was to adhere faithfully to the OAU(now AU) Charter.
Former President Rawlings’s regional co-operation efforts were rewarded in August 1994 when he became ECOWAS chairman, a post that had eluded him while he was the military dictator heading the PNDC.
He immediately undertook several initiatives to reduce tensions and conflict in West Africa. Notable among them was the Akosombo Accord of September 12 (which year?????????) , designed to end civil war in Liberia.
Under President John Agyekum Kufuor, Ghana’s foreign policy was centred on economic diplomacy, with President Kufuor taking centre stage by undertaking many travels abroad. By his fourth year in office, President Kufuor had become Ghana’s most travelled leader since independence with more than 63 visits to foreign countries.
President Kufuor’s foreign policy also sought to enhance peaceful neighbourliness with the view to removing the tension and suspicion that had characterised relations between Ghana and her neighbours, particularly Togo. The relations among Ghana, Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire became excellent as a result of the constant consultations between President Kufuor and his colleagues. Indeed, Ghana was seen as a haven of peace and a trustworthy and sincere neighbour, genuinely committed to peace and progress in the sub-region.
In February 2004, Ghana became the first country to voluntarily subject itself to NEPAD's Peer Review Mechanism, which resulted in the inspection of the government's democratic, human rights and economic objectives by a team of African observers.
The successful handover of power from former President Kufuor to President J. E. A. Mills after an acrimonious election further boosted the image of Ghana in the international community. This peaceful handover in a region where civil strife had characterised some countries saw the first black American President, President Barack Obama, visiting Ghana between July 10-11, 2009, to salute Ghanaians for their democratic credentials, as well as Ghana’s contribution to world peace and conflict resolution. Since then, Ghana has and continues to receive rare positive reviews in the comity of nations.
Foreign Minister Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, at a forum with members of the Diplomatic Corps, made it clear that there would not be a shift in Ghana’s foreign policy objectives.
He said promoting and enhancing bilateral and multilateral co-operation would continue to be key pillars in the country's foreign policy as President Mills’s government was committed to providing an attractive and conducive environment for the smooth functioning of all diplomatic missions and consulates.
The Mills’s government had been seen to be promoting good neighbourliness and placing high premium on relations with ECOWAS and African states while furthering the desire to promote friendly relations with all other countries, especially development partners.
Economic diplomacy, which requires greater attention to the promotion of trade, investment and tourism, facilitation of investment flows into Ghana, particularly towards key sectors such as energy, agriculture and agro-processing, ICT, infrastructural development and the hospitality industry, has been evident.
Alhaji Mumuni said the pursuit of peace and security would continue to be given high priority in the conduct of Ghana's foreign policy as they were essential for growth and prosperity and noted that it was his conviction that Ghana's internal peace, security and development remained inseparable from that of the sub-region.
The leadership positions occupied by Ghanaian nationals in various multilateral institutions also enhance the country’s profile in the comity of nations. Mr Kofi Annan and Dr K. Y. Amoako are the respective immediate past heads of the United Nations and the Economic Commission for Africa while Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, until recently, President of the ECOWAS Commission, is now heading the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Secretariat in Brussels, Belgium.
Indeed, the country takes credit for the work of these and other nationals in the field of international diplomacy and Ghana often supports their work by launching mediation sessions to bring peace to war-torn countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, and the Cote d’Ivoire and also by hosting conferences that enhance the prospects for democracy and development in Africa.
Despite its limited resources, Ghana has been an active participant in democracy promotion abroad. It has mediated disputes in other countries, the most recent being the one the Kofi Annan brokered in Kenya; provided technical assistance; and participated in election monitoring and peacekeeping. Ghanaian leaders have participated in international fora and been vocal by publicly condemning actions that subvert the democratic process.
Ghana has always being cognisant of its weak capacity for unilateral action in the international arena and hence augments its power by developing close ties (usually at the presidential level) with more powerful states.
Ghana’s limited capacity for unilateral action also has led it to pursue many foreign policy activities through multilateral channels such as the United Nations, the African Union (AU), and the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS). Membership of these organisations provides Ghana with a platform for protecting some of its interests, as well as to establish itself as a leader on several issues of concern to the African continent. For example, through the UN and ECOWAS, Ghana has been able to engage in numerous peacekeeping missions, which earns it international respect as a partner for global stability and a moral leader in African affairs.
It is important to also recognise that Ghana’s involvement in international peacekeeping functions is sometimes also driven more by a desire to raise funds for its military than peace and security concerns. Such pragmatism allows Ghana to influence events in neighbouring African countries, sometimes to an extent that belies her small size and resources.
Ghana’s other foreign relations “assets” include its status as a “role model” for the prominent role several Ghanaian nationals play in global affairs. Ghana’s “role model” status arises out of the country’s position as the first African state south of the Sahara to gain independence from colonial rule and the dynamic leadership of its first president, Kwame Nkrumah, in the Pan-Africanist movement.
The decision to implement World Bank-sponsored economic reform programmes two decades ago and recent democratic reforms have also reinforced the “role model” image and somewhat established Ghana as a leader of the movement for political change and rejuvenation of the African continent.
The change in government from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to the then opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and back to the NDC has been seen as symbolic lesson for other African leaders.
Clearly, the mark of Ghana’s foreign policy has been that when strategic interests are at stake, Ghana’s leaders have chosen co-operation and friendship over criticism.