From: barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us (Mr Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS: GHANA: PRESIDENTIAL LINE-UP FILED FOR NOVEMBER ELECTIONS
Originator: barnhart@gagme
Organization: Evanston, Illinois
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 01:36:24 GMT

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: GHANA: PRESIDENTIAL LINE-UP FILED FOR NOVEMBER ELECTIONS


accra, oct 1 (ips) -- five parties have filed their candidates
for next month's presidential elections that will to take ghana
to a fourth democratic experiment.

the first three attempts since independence in 1957 were
disrupted by soldiers.

the race to the castle -- the seat of government -- includes
the incumbent, flt lt jerry john rawlings, chair of the ruling
provisional national defence council (pndc), and two former
senior army officers.

rawlings has resigned from the air force to lead the national
democratic congress (ndc) as its presidential candidate. he is
supported by two other parties -- the eagle party and the
national convention party (ncp)

his running mate is kow nkensen arkaah, the ncp presidential
candidate who has stepped down to run with rawlings in the
electoral alliance with the ndc.

the ncp, which claims an nkrumahist tradition of pan-africanism
(named after ghana's first president, kwame nkrumah), argues it
is better for rawlings to remain in power than the rival new
patriotic party (npp).

the npp has grown from the danquah-busia tradition which has
been in bitter -- ometimes violent -- opposition to nkrumah's
convention people's party (cpp) before and after independence.

senior ncp officials say they fear an npp victory will mean
the end of the nkrumah tradition.

a former international civil servant with the commonwealth
secretariat and now managing director of ghana oil limited
(goil), arkaah was a member of parliament and in 1979 was chair
of the parliamentary select committee on trade, industries,
tourism, science and technology.

at 65, he is the oldest candidate in the line-up and his
experience includes being principal secretary in the trade
ministry and setting up national trading corporations for
botswana, gambia and sierra leone.

arkaah is expected to prop up rawlings' private enterprise
appeal. but the other parties criticise him for not having done
enough to promote business to take advantage of the gains of the
economic recovery programme (erp) despite the many sacrifices by
the people.

the other soldier in the line-up is lt gen emmanuel erskine,
former commander of the u.n. interim force in lebanon (unifl).
(more/ips)


ghana: presidential (2)

erskine has been drafted into politics by some young men of
the nkrumahist tradition to help them gain power and stabilise
the country along democratic lines, promote human rights and
ensure social and economic justice for the people.

his party is the people's heritage party (php) with a veteran
politician, alhaji ibrahim mahama, a lawyer from northern ghana
as the running mate.

another running mate from the north is alhaji issifu
alhassan, a lawyer and former member of the 1965 and 1979
parliaments, both of which were overthrown by soldiers.

alhassan is running on the ticket of the npp, whose
presidential candidate is former history professor, albert
adu-boahen.

the fourth team is led by kwabena darko, ghana's leading
poultry farmer who is affectionately called by his supporters
the ''ross perrot'' of ghana.

darko boasts of a business empire worth billions of cedis
(ghana's currency) and says his friends include u.s. president
george bush and macdonald douglas, the american aircraft
manufacturer.

he is fighting on an nkrumahist platform with the only woman
in the line-up, prof naa afaale sackeyfio, former head of the
english department, university of cape coast.

the fifth group is dr hilla limann to whom rawlings handed
power in 1979 to begin the third republic. rawlings overthrew
him months later to take back his job.

rawlings first came to power in june 1979 through a coup,
organised democratic elections and relinquished power after
three months to limann and his people's national party (pnp).

limann has regrouped his team with most of his former
ministers and members of parliament under a new party, the
people's national convention (pnc).

his running mate is former foreign minister, dr isaac
chinebuabh, who was also foreign minister in nkrumah's regime
when he was overthrown in 1966.

from the line-up the two strong parties which may brace the
tape neck to neck will be rawlings ndc and the npp's boahen.

the government has committed itself to free and fair
elections in the light of allegations of violation of the
electoral laws made by the other parties. (end/ips/ea/apc/92)