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INSIDE AFRICA

Ghana Celebrates 50 Years of Independence

Aired March 10, 2007 - 12:30:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FEMI OKE, HOST: Hello, I'm Femi Oke, and you're watching INSIDE AFRICA, our weekly look at life and news on the continent, coming to you from the capital of South Africa, Pretoria.
Now, this week, we're going to take a look at Africa and independence. It's been 50 years since the first sub-Saharan African country shed colonial role. The place was Ghana. The date - March the 6th, 1957. Jeff Koinange reports from Accra.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It seemed everyone wanted to be Ghanaian on this day: From the horsemen to the parading soldiers to the marching bands to the beat of big drums. And then there were the sounds of the Scottish bagpipes, a bit out of place under a hot African sun, but clearly not out of tune, nor out of step. Black Africa's first independent nation was determined to celebrate its golden jubilee in true African style.

And it didn't disappoint. African presidents and presidents of industry flocked to the Ghanaian capital to be a part of history, while the locals themselves weren't about to be upstaged on their home turf, making the most of this momentous occasion.

There was royalty as well. These are Ashanti kings, clad in full historical regalia and adorned with glittering Ashanti gold, the country's biggest source of foreign exchange.

The man of the hour, President John Kufuor, also did his best to be presidential. In his short speech, he echoed what everyone here seemed to be thinking.

JOHN KUFUOR, GHANAIAN PRESIDENT: Long live Ghana! And long live Africa! Thank you!

KOINANGE: A show of force, both in the air and on the ground. Ghana seems to have come of age half a century after the colonizers packed up and left.

PAUL BOATENG, BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER TO SOUTH AFRICA: A great day. Inspirational. I was here as a small boy fifty years ago, and then there was the sense of hope and expectation. Today, you're seeing Ghana, a stable country, a great country. But you know, its greatest resorts - the people of Ghana and the people of Ghanaian origin. There is nowhere this country and this continent can't go.

JESSE JACKSON, U.S. CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Obviously, it was a missed opportunity to have had President Bush here today, and Secretary Rice, and Secretary Powell, Democrats and Republicans. (inaudible) great healing message. We shouldn't let moments like this pass.

KOINANGE: One man, though, who let this moment pass, is none other than former Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings. After nearly 20 years in office, mostly as a firebrand revolutionary, Rawlings gave up power voluntarily. Many here still hold him in high regard, but there's little love lost between him and the man who succeeded him. And on this historic day, he wasn't willing to play second fiddle.

JERRY RAWLINGS, FORMER GHANAIAN PRESIDENT: Defiled, desecrated and violated the aspirations of this country, people who died, you know, who sacrificed for us to win our independence. I'm sorry. We're diametrically opposed when it comes to that.

KOINANGE: But most felt the day belonged to Ghana and Africa.

DON MCKINNON, COMMONWEALTH SECRETARY-GENERAL: Fifty years to get to this. Quite a long time, a lot of headache, a lot of pain, a lot of sorrow. Great joy today -- they deserved it.

KOINANGE: Ghanaians will be the first to tell you they've been through hell and back to get to this milestone. What with coups, countercoups, one-party government, and now multi-party democracy. They also hope that the road from here on down will be smooth sailing.

But perhaps it was Africa's eldest statesman, who also happens to be Nigeria's outgoing president, Olusegun Obasanjo, who summed up the feelings of most here.

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO, NIGERIAN PRESIDENT: That's been glorious. Mistakes have been made, they have been corrected, and the future looks beautiful. Not only for Ghana, for West Africa, and maybe for Africa.

KOINANGE: Many agreed Ghana has come a long way on the road to democracy, and Ghanaians, for now at least, seem ready to put their past behind them and simply celebrate an important milestone. The future, it seems, can only get better.

Jeff Koinange, CNN, Accra, Ghana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKE: That was quite a party -- a $20 million party, to be precise, and the celebrations aren't over yet. They will continue to the end of this year. Oh yes, Ghanaians certainly know how to have a good time.

Now, among those celebrating were people who were there when it all began. Jeff Koinange met one of them to catch up on some old memories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WINIFREID BARTELS, GHANAIAN CITIZEN: It was about 9:00 in the night when the Ghana flag went up and the British flag went down.

KOINANGE: 90-year old Winifreid Bartels remembers Independence Day in her native Ghana like it was yesterday. It was at these former European-only polo ground that the British flag was lowered, and the Ghanaian flag raised, signaling freedom in sub-Sahara Africa's first independent nation.

W. BARTELS: I'm so grateful. So happy. So happy. That night (inaudible).

KOINANGE: She was 40 years old, and her youngest son Ebo, now 53, was just a little toddler. He's proud to have been born when freedom rang at his nation's door.

EBO BARTELS, GHANAIAN CITIZEN: That was like (inaudible) lifted up on our shoulders. We have ushered in a new (inaudible), and the future looked so bright for us.

KOINANGE: But that bright future was quickly dimmed. The country's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, was overthrown in a coup several years into his rule, and Ghana continued to spiral out of control, with one military government after another for the next decade and a half.

That was until this man stepped into the scene. Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, or JJ to most, took over in what was described as a people's revolution. Rawlings would be credited with restoring law and order in what was then one of Africa's most troubled nations, and also helping turn Ghana's economy around. After nearly 20 years in office, Rawlings gave up power voluntarily, a move that won him respect among some and resentment among others.

RAWLINGS: Because there are those who are also seeing what is happening to Rawlings, and saying, oh, I mean, this man led his country with such high level of integrity and is being treated this way -- forget it. I'm not leaving power, I know this from certain quarters.

KOINANGE: Rawlings' successor John Kufuor is now coming to the end of his second and final term as president.

Fifty years on, Ghana is considered by many Western analysts as an African success story. The infrastructure is modern, basic social service is better than many neighboring nations, and the standard of living better than average. In a word, some, like U.S. civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, say Ghana is a shining star on a continent without too many bright spots.

JACKSON: Life is not always (inaudible) itself to a tale when it (inaudible), and there are crosscurrents, and there are curves on the road. And Ghana has amazingly survived (inaudible), crosscurrents, coups and schemes (ph) to undermine, and so one has to put Ghana in the plus category 50 years later.

KOINANGE: And 50 years later, the beneficiaries of Ghana's freedom are everywhere.

While 90-year old Winifreid Bartels continues to echo the freedom slogans of that historic night half a century ago.

W. BARTELS: The Ghana is free forever. Hip-hip-hip-hurray! Hip-hip- hurray! Ghana is free forever.

KOINANGE: Jeff Koinange, CNN, Accra, Ghana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKE: In the middle of the celebrations, Jeff also talked to Ghanaian president John Kufuor. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOINANGE: Mr. President, take us back to the 50th anniversary of Ghana's independence. What was going through your mind on that day? How were you feeling? What were you thinking on that day?

KUFUOR: What I was thinking was that I was singularly privileged to be the head of state and government of this great country on that anniversary. That's just yesterday. And so when I saw the teaming crowds coming out, everywhere - yesterday you were there yourself -- and I'm not exaggerating that there were tens of thousands of people converging at the Parade Square. And security also reported that the attendance was the same everywhere in Ghana, in all the regional capitals. Perhaps we were doing things, of which the entire nation was approving, and that really gave you some satisfaction. I thought it was fulfillment. I was very happy.

KOINANGE: Are you hopeful for the next 50 years, the next century? Are you hopeful for the future?

KUFUOR: I'm very hopeful. Because not too long ago, just about a decade and a half ago, all of Africa - you could count democratic presidents on your fingertips. But (inaudible), the majority of the presidents of Africa are all democratically elected. And all of us subscribe to the African Union, the constitution of which insists on democratization, constitutionality, accountability, transparency of governance. We talk of respect for human rights, respect for private enterprise. We talk of partnerships among ourselves and beyond, partners with the rest of the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKE: And that was President John Kufuor of Ghana, speaking to us earlier on this week. Coming up after the break, we take a look at Africa's road to independence. And has liberty lived up to its promises? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

OKE: Hello again, you're watching INSIDE AFRICA from Pretoria, South Africa.

As Ghana marks its 50th birthday as an independent nation, U.N. Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon congratulated the country on serving as an example for freedom movements across the continent. Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African country to end colonial rule. But, as Isha Sesay reports, others were soon to follow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When Ghana broke the chains of colonialism in 1957, it set in motion a tide of independence that would eventually sweep the entire continent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Freedom!

CROWD: Freedom!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Freedom!

CROWD: Freedom!

SESAY: Ghana's first president considered independence meaningless unless linked to the liberation of all African nations.

KWAME NKRUMAH, PRESIDENT OF GHANA: I'm convinced that it is dangerous for the independent Africans to just wait any longer for the United Kingdom to do its duty. The time has come for the independent African states to take the initiative in their own hands.

SESAY: Nkrumah's support for other liberation movements helped fan the flames of growing nationalism, and the dominant colonial powers, France and Britain, economically weakened by World War II, were less resistant to the idea of relinquishing control.

Ghana's independence was followed a year later by Guinea, and by 1964, most sub-Saharan British colonies also were on their own.

Independence came slower in colonies with substantial numbers of white British settlers. It took the Mau Mau Rebellion in Kenya and a decade of guerilla warfare in Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe.

In South Africa, the white government used brutality to crush the nationalism of the 1960s and `70s, until eventually the loss of Western support and an internal uprising forced government change -- a change at this point acknowledged by most former colonial powers.

HAROLD MACMILLAN, FMR. BRITISH PM: The wind of change is blowing through this continent, and whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact.

SESAY: By 1960, the majority of French colonies had also gained independence, although Paris' earlier move to introduce a common West African currency allowed the French to maintain some element of economic control.

In the Belgian Congo, independence was not granted until 1960, and was largely a result of political change in neighboring countries.

And in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau, liberation from Portuguese rule came only after lengthy guerrilla warfare.

But the transition from colony to post-independent state has not been without problems. The reality that followed has been rife with political instability, ethnic conflict and economic chaos, to many the very legacy of colonialism. And yet, 50 years after Ghana became the first black African nation to gain independence, there is perhaps now finally a sense that Africa can begin to fulfill its promise.

Isha Sesay, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKE: So, how far has Africa come, and how far is there still to go? Isha Sesay spoke to Kevin Gaines, author and professor of African studies and history at Michigan University.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN GAINES, MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY: I think that since the end of the Cold War, since the mid-1990s, there've been some encouraging signs. You've had democratic elections in several places across the continent, and moving away from the Cold War, you've seen a transition from military rule, military governments to civilian governments.

You also have seen recently the African Union take a more assertive role with conflict resolution, with peacekeeping, and African leaders also exerting diplomatic efforts to try to improve matters on the continent.

There is a huge demand for education, continent-wide, among young people and their families. There's a huge demand for education that many governments are not able to - to really satisfy, and so if education - educational opportunity could be expanded, that would be a wonderful thing.

There's an African renaissance of writers and artists, both on the continent and all over the world, who are dealing with the past and present issues of Africa. Musicians as well. So there's an incredible amount of effort and energy that's moving in a positive direction and really picking up on the - the post=-independence ideals of - of someone like Kwame Nkrumah.

SESAY: Those that say that for, well, the fact -- even though we have independence, Africa has independence, African nations are still by and large dependant on those former colonial powers.

GAINES: I think that's true. I think that there's a serious legacy in terms of the political structures, in terms of the boundaries of the colonial systems, which really translate over to the boundaries of - of the new African nations in the 1950s, in the 1960s.

At the same time, I really think that there needs to be -- and this is - is certainly starting -- starting to be a serious discussion, engagement with those kinds of problems. And a lot of - of thought and African energy is going into trying to sort of rethink the legacy of the past and to come up with an original way of doing things, of looking to civil society for models, for political and economic activity and participation, instead of relying on solutions from - from the state.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKE: That was author and professor Kevin Gaines speaking to us earlier.

Just ahead on INSIDE AFRICA, a story of rebuilding and reconciling. We take a look at the new documentary, "Rwanda Rising".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

OKE: The story of the genocide in Rwanda is one of horror and tragedy. But it's also becoming very slowly a story of hope and resilience. The new documentary "Rwanda Rising" shines a light on that change. Ralitsa Vassileva has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These are the pictures you are used to seeing from Rwanda -- the ethnic killings of 800,000 people in 1994. Now, more than a decade later, former United Nations ambassador and civil rights leader Andrew Young is determined to tell a new story, one he calls "Rwanda Rising".

ANDREW YOUNG, PRODUCER, "RWANDA RISING": Rwanda has just made miraculous changes. After the genocide, they started from scratch and wrote a new constitution. They ended up with a government that's 48 percent female. And they just approach things differently. They went about the business of healing the wounds of the genocide. They no longer even use the terms Hutu and Tutsi.

VASSILEVA: Former Ambassador Young is a frequent visitor to Africa. He has seen with his own eyes progress made here. This time, he came armed with a camera crew, wanting to let the people he's met tell their story in their own words.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm really happy, because I can see progress after 12 years after genocide. Our country is a secure. There is no war anymore. That makes me happy. That's giving me hope of the future of my country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a coffee cooperative of 2,000 coffee growers and their families. Of those 2,000 people, 800 are women, and of those 800 women, about half of them are widows of the genocide.

VASSILEVA: The movie also offers perspectives from the president of Rwanda and even Bill Clinton.

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I never ceased to be shocked by the way the Hutus and the Tutsis live together in these reconciliation villages. The stories they have of their experiences during that horrible period, and their refusal to let it shape the rest of their lives.

VASSILEVA: One of the ways Rwandans have boosted their economic condition is by making products that are being exported.

YOUNG: They've attracted back to Rwanda a number of the Rwandans who had left the previous genocides, and they came back with money and power, and they literally turned this country around in the last three years. There's been a 10 percent economic growth, and they made public education available to all children.

VASSILEVA: Some of those products, like the peace baskets, have found their way to the shelves of major U.S. department stores.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Being able to sit together, especially to weave together has given us the means to overcome what happened and reduce our problems.

VASSILEVA: Young hopes that seeing this movie will give people a chance to share his view of Rwanda through the eyes of his people.

Ralitsa Vassileva, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKE: You know, it feels good to end the program on a positive note. And that's it from INSIDE AFRICA. We hope to see you again next week, when we try to make this show your window to the continent.

I'm Femi Oke. Until the next time, take care.

END

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