The Political Ball Dance Between Ghana & The United States

On March 27, 2023, 11:37 AM

At the 10th anniversary of democratic rule under the third republic of Nigeria, events gracing the occasion which were attended by a former US Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, a hysteric Nigerian audience posed this question to Powell. ”Why is it that Nigeria is the most populous, and wealthiest yet all the attention of the United States is paid to Ghana, our closest rival in the West Africa Sub-region?

The answer that was given by the American potentate compelled the Nigerians to devise this slogan, ”we are the ultimate destination to the region if Ghana remains your gateway to West Africa,” then the auditorium in Abuja’s Transcorp Hilton hotel burst with the wildest guffaws.
There was something Gen. Colin Powell said that cements the growing ties between Ghana and the United States. He said, that Ghana keeps proving to the world that her democracy has come to stay.

From pre-independence to independence in 1957, Ghana and the United States have been traditional friends but the partnership lulled in the three decades that followed Ghana’s independence due to military interventions that dogged governance with their attendant human rights abuses. Then Ghana showed the way to the light even within the civil war turbulence that racked other parts of West Africa.

Below is a photo gallery of the long journey of the partnership between Ghana and the United States. Ghana talks and the US listens.

US Vice President, Richard Wilhem Nixon Attended Ghana’s Independence Day Events in Accra in 1957. Nixon in a tet-a-tet with President Kwame Nkrumah.

Ghana’s Leader Jerry John Rawlings was guest of Bill Clinton in the mid-nineties

The 42nd US President, Bill Clinton visited Ghana in 1998. Pictured here with President Jerry John Rawlings

Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings with Hilary Clinton

Ghana’s President John Agyekum Kufour exchanged visits with the 43rd US President, George Walker Bush Jnr in the early 2000s.

President of Ghana and Mrs. Theresa Kufuor with President Bush Jnr and Mrs. Laura Bush

US President Barrack Obama who succeeded Bush Jnr made his first stop in Sub-Sahara Africa in Ghana. John Atta Mills was the president of Ghana. 2009

US First Lady Michelle Obama meets with Ernestina Mills, First Lady of Ghana, at the State Department in Washington, D.C., March 8, 2012.

Obama’s visit to Ghana harmonized the sometimes fractious relations among the key actors in Ghana’s polity.

John Atta Mills paid a reciprocal visit to President Obama in Washington. 2012

John Dramani Mahama succeeded John Atta Mills as President of Ghana and he also paid a visit to President Obama.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama Sandwich John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana, and Mrs. Lordina Dramani Mahama, in the Blue Room during a U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit dinner at the White House, Aug. 5, 2014.

Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo had a special moment with Donald Trump, the 45th US President during the US-Africa summit in Washington. Akufo Addo succeeded John Dramani Mahama in 2017.

Donald Trump’s Wife, the US First Lady also visited Ghana. Pictured here with Rebecca Akufo Addo, Ghana’s First Lady.

US Vice President Kamala Harris In Ghana 26–03-2023. With her is Ghanaian counterpart, Mahamudu Bawumia

Kamala Harris in a discussion with Vice President Bawumia

The 46th US President Joe Biden Has Already Engaged Ghana’s Akufo Addo In Washington. His Veep’s Visit To Ghana A Follow-Up. Kamala With Biden After Their Election Victory In 2020. ,

Will Ghana leverage warm relations with the US to mediate thorny world conflicts?

Story By Napoleon Ato Kittoe

2 Comments

Anonymous says 2 years ago

Ghanaian leadership after Kwame Nkrumah were all smiles EXCEPT KWAME. Perhaps, Kwame understands exploiting and neo colonization.

Last stage of imperialism.

Anonymous says 2 years ago

Anonymous Says 1 second ago
Ghanaian leadership after Kwame Nkrumah were all smiles EXCEPT KWAME. Perhaps, Kwame understands exploitation and neo colonization.

Last stage of imperialism.