1482 - Portuguese set up trading settlement.
 |
GHANA'S MOST FAMOUS SON
Kofi Annan: recognised the world over as the public
face of the UN
|
1874 - British proclaim coastal area a
crown colony.
1925 - First legislative council elections take place.
1957 March - Ghana becomes independent with Kwame
Nkrumah as prime minister.
1960 - Ghana proclaimed a republic; Nkrumah elected
president.
1964 - Ghana becomes a one-party state.
1966 - Nkrumah overthrown in military coup; Russian
and Chinese technicians expelled.
1969 - New constitution facilitates transfer of power
to civilian government led by Kofi Busia.
|
|
AFRICAN TRAIL BLAZER
Kwame Nkrumah triggered a wave of liberation
movements
Hailed as hero when he led Ghana to independence
in 1957
Fell from grace as economy collapsed and he
became ever more authoritarian
Ousted in 1966
|
1972 - Busia ousted in military coup led
by Colonel Ignatius Acheampong.
1978 - Acheampong forced to resign; General Frederick
Akuffo takes over.
Rawlings era
1979 - Akuffo deposed in coup led by Flight Lieutenant
Jerry Rawlings. Acheampong and Akuffo tried and executed on
charges of corruption.
1979 September - Rawlings hands over power to an
elected president, Hilla Limann.
1981 - Limann ousted in military coup led by Rawlings
after two years of weak government and economic stagnation.
1983 - Rawlings adopts conservative economic policies,
abolishing subsidies and price controls, privatising many state
enterprises and devaluing the currency.
1992 - Referendum approves new constitution
introducing a multiparty system. Rawlings elected president.
1994 - One thousand people are killed and a further
150,000 are displaced in the Northern Region following ethnic
clashes between the Konkomba and the Nanumba over land
ownership.
|
|
COUP LEADER
Airforce pilot Jerry Rawlings ruled for two decades
1979 - Ousted military, handed power to elected
president
1981 - Seized power. Won elections in 1992 and
1996
Stood down in 2001
Leads main opposition party
|
1994 June - Seven ethnic groups involved
in violence in Northern Region sign peace agreement.
1995 - Government imposes curfew in Northern Region as
renewed ethnic violence results in a further 100 deaths.
1996 - Jerry Rawlings re-elected president.
Kufuor elected
2000 - December - John Kufuor beats Vice-President
John Atta Mills in the presidential election.
2001 February - Petrol prices rise by 60% following
the government's decision to remove fuel subsidies.
2001 April - Ghana accepts debt relief under a scheme
designed by the World Bank and the IMF.
2001 May - National day of mourning after football
stadium stampede leaves 126 dead. Inquiry blames police for
overreacting to crowd trouble.
2001 June - Government scraps public holiday
celebrating Rawling's military coup in an effort to wipe out the
legacy of his rule.
|
|
Cape Coast, once a centre of the slave trade
|
2001 June - Floods hit Accra, causing 10
deaths and forcing 100,000 to flee their homes.
2002 April - State of emergency is declared in the
north after a tribal chief and more than 30 others are killed in
clan violence. State of emergency is lifted in August 2004.
2002 May - President Kufuor inaugurates reconciliation
commission to look into human rights violations during military
rule.
2003 October - Government approves merger of two
gold-mining firms, creating new gold-mining giant.
2004 February - Former President Jerry Rawlings
testifies at commission investigating human rights offences
during the early years of his rule.
|
|
Accra, the capital, is renowned for its beaches,
nightlife
1877: Becomes capital of Britain's Gold Coast
colony
Population: 1 million
|
2004 October - Group of current and former
military personnel detained on suspicion of planning to
destabilise government ahead of elections.
2004 December - Presidential poll: Incumbent John
Kufuor wins a second term.
2005 April-May - Thousands of Togolese refugees
arrive, fleeing political violence in their home country.
2006 April - A boat capsizes on Lake Volta reservoir;
more than 100 passengers are feared drowned.
2006 June - Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
promises to lend Ghana about $66m to fund development projects.
He is on an African tour aimed at opening new export markets for
China's booming economy and at securing energy and mineral
supplies.
2007 March - Ghana celebrates 50 years of independence
from Britain.
2007 June - Major off-shore oil discovery announced.
President Kufuor says oil will turn Ghana into an "African
tiger".
2007 September - The worst floods for more than 30
years cause widespread devastation, destroying much of the
annual harvest.
Leader
President: John Atta Mills
John Atta Mills was elected in December 2008 with a
wafer-thin maring of victory over the candidate of the then
governing New Patriotic Party, Nana Akufo-Addo.
President Mills was elected on a pro-welfare
platform
|
His predecessor, John Kufuor, had to step down after
having served the maximum permitted two four-year terms.
It was Mr Mill's third attempt to win the presidency,
after defeat in 2000 and 2004 to Mr Kufuor.
During the campaign, Mr Mills, the candidate of the
National Democratic Congress, described himself as a social
democrat inspired by the social welfare ideas of the
country's first independence-era president, Kwame Nkrumah.
Between 1997 and 2000, he was vice-president to Jerry
Rawlings during the former military ruler's term as
democratically elected president.
Mr Mill's previous suggestion that he would consult with
Mr Rawlings if elected drew widespread criticism, and he
later moved to distance himself from his former boss.
John Atta Mills was born on 21 July 1944 in the western
town of Tarkwa. He studied law at the University of Ghana
and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.
Widely known as "The Prof", he went on to teach law for
nearly 25 years at his alma mater, before becoming national
tax commissioner and then vice-president under President
Rawlings.
He is a keen hockey player, at one point even playing for
the national team.
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version