Description
On 12 August 1954, the first all-African Legislature of the Gold Coast called on the government to
ban political parties that were organized on the basis of ethnic or religious principles. On 6 March
1957, this former British colony became Ghana, established a unitary government, and became
the first country to the south of the Sahara to gain political independence. The national government
adopted a secular constitution that prohibited the creation of political parties based on ethnic and
religious principles. Even though civilian governments in post-independent Ghana had been over
thrown by the military on several occasions, all the emerging republican constitutions had retained
the supremacy of the state and the principle that party politics should not be conducted to excite
any religious and ethnic population.
Such a ban notwithstanding, the national governments have permitted certain freedoms. The
clearest articulation of rights is demonstrated in the articles of the 1992 constitution of the Fourth
Republic Constitution under which citizens are guaranteed human rights, freedom of speech, as
well as the right to practice one’s religion. It is not sufficient though to point to the existence of a
secular constitution or to enumerate the rights for which citizens are entitled. Rather, the popula
tion must first accept the legitimacy of the state. Furthermore, it is important that the people
recognize or at least perceive the state to be capable of addressing their concerns.
Ghana has had a long history of contacts with Muslims. Indeed, 15 percent of the population was
denumerated in the 2000 national census ascribe to the Islamic religion. Thus, for this essay in
which we discuss the place of Islam in the national context, it is important that we articulate how
the religious and social concerns of Muslims are addressed under the secular constitution. It is the
thesis of this paper that though a religious minority, Muslims in Ghana are first and foremost
citizens and should be therefore able to use all the necessary cultural and modern agencies to
negotiate with the state.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.