Ghana United

By Kwaku Sakyi-Addo
Free online content from BBC Focus on Africa magazine

As Ghana celebrates 50 years of independence, its secondary boarding schools are the single most cited reason for the country's escape from the ethnic tensions which have brought many African countries to bloody ruin. The system puts children from the country's 70-odd ethnic groups into one pot and stirs them up to melt.

This system became particularly entrenched when Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first president, introduced a policy of mass education and established dozens more secondary boarding schools throughout the country.

Meanwhile, Nana Oye Lithur, a human rights lawyer, points out that one of the reasons there has not been a major ethnic-based conflict is because of "deliberate constitutional engineering". For example, a political party will not be registered unless all 230 constituencies are represented among its founders, and it must maintain offices in at least two-thirds of all constituencies at all times. It is also illegal to establish a party on ethnic or religious grounds, which, Mr Lithur says, ensures that "every political party is national in character in order to safeguard national integration".

Additionally, all public appointments are required by law to have ethnic and regional balance. That makes it difficult for a president to load public institutions with cousins and nephews from his village. These requirements for nationwide legitimacy have generally been part of Ghana's constitutions ever since the mid-1950s.

In the post-jubilee years, Ghanaians must find creative ways to assuage Mahama's fears, build on their exemplary multi-ethnic harmony, and ensure that children leaving their villages on their maiden long journey do not carry ethno-centric garbage in their baggage.

My Note: The above is edited from the full article found in BBC Focus on Africa. You are encouraged to read entire article.