Ghana: The Missing Dialogue! (Final)

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The industrial revolution has had a history to tell in Europe, within which could be found sandwiched the suffering of masses of people, diseases and social ills that accompanied the toil to survive. Diseases such as Tuberculosis, Cholera, the Black Plague, et cetera, were rampant.

Young chimneysweeps died of cancer of the bladder. Europe had, in all states, kings ruling the people, or at some stage, "The Holy Roman Catholic Empire, wielding political power too." Whichever form it took, "human torture" and dissatisfaction were factors you could not miss. In our local scenario, it once happened that senior officers in the armed forces, including former heads of state, were tried in a special court erected by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, convicted, and executed. But, planned elections took place all the same, and a former diplomat, Dr. Hilla Limann of the revamped Nkrumah's party, the Convention People's Party (CPP), emerged victorious. His regime (1979-81) was toppled also, on a fateful New-Year's day, 1981. The man responsible was, again, the very "populist" Jerry John Rawlings. He stayed in power as such for eleven years, and metamorphosed into a civilian ruler, riding on the saddle of a political party he founded, the National Democratic Congress (NDC). As NDC Chairman, he won elections for two terms consecutively, but lost power to the New Patriotic Party, led by Mr. J.A. Kufuor (JAK), a lawyer cum businessman, in AD 2000. JAK and his "boys" ruled for eight good years.

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