The quest for inclusion and citizenship in Ghana: challenges and prospects

Abstract

Ghana's tortuous journey to democracy received a major boost in the year 2006 with the enactments of two human-rights-related pieces of legislation. In this article the author contends, on the one hand, that the recent enactments of an amendment to the law on representation of the people and the persons with disability law in Ghana constituted a noteworthy landmark in the search for inclusive citizenship. On the other hand, the relation between society and the political authority during the processes of the enactments highlighted characteristics of a post-colonial African state. The author explores the antagonisms that surrounded the enactments of these laws. The article concludes that although the Ghanaian experience represents a new wave of re-thinking of rights in Africa, it also underscores the deep-seated issues of contestation and negotiations that unavoidably accompany the expansion of democracy and extension of rights to the excluded and the marginalized.

Promoting democracy in Ghana: exploring the democratic roles of donor-sponsored non-governmental organizations

“…80 Studying this particular case, Oduro finds a division of labour, while GFD organizes demonstrations to pressurize the government: "CDD became the intellectual powerhouse of the GFD, doing all the lobbying for the law to be passed". 81 Democratic roles of ISODEC "Every life matters" is the motto of ISODEC, which aims to enhance sustainable human development by empowering the less fortunate. ISODEC is a democratically structured membership organization with a general assembly of members as its highest decision-making body.…”

The Politics of Home: Dual Citizenship and the African Diaspora

“…The bill sparked protests among members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the former ruling party that was then in opposition, who argued that overseas voting could not be monitored sufficiently and could be used to rig elections. They also expressed concern over implementation costs (Oduro, 2009). The bill’s passage became possible in 2006 only when NDC lawmakers walked out and a vote was held in their absence.…”

The Poetics of Demythologisation in Kunle Afolayan’s The Figurine

“…Oyaro (2015) argues that beyond the CRPD, there should be an African Disability Protocol because of peculiar conditions prevailing in Africa. This indeed came into being with the adoption of the Draft Protocol on Persons with Disabilities' Rights by the African Commission in February 2016.The road towards accessible environments in Ghana has similarly not been smooth (Oduro, 2009). As a member of the global community, Ghana has not been an island with regard to issues on the rights of PWDs and accessibility and has therefore been party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR), the African Youth Charter (Article 24), the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa (Article 23) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (Article 13), all of which promote the rights of PWDs.…”

“…Gibilisco (2010) notes that the legal system is a major driving force behind inclusiveness in Australia. As Oduro (2009) contends, the political will on the part of government to enact the PDA was weak, and had to be impelled with constitutional and civil rights challenges. By implication, it would be necessary for various stakeholders to put some pressure on the government in order to see the realisation of the appropriate legal and regulatory framework for the enforcement of the law.…”