The mid-1990s saw a resurgence in Ghana-United States relations. The lift from the basement to a vertical course in Ghana’s Fourth Republic came unexpectedly under the corresponding regimes of both countries. America’s acceptance of Ghana which had emerged from military rule with a tinge of civilians in the top echelons of the administration, was a shocking move by the world’s most enduring democracy.
The alluring prospects implied in a relationship with the United States had forced even the diametrically opposite into the hands of the greater benefactor even though this was relations between two sovereign nations. Working assiduously, these Ghanaian diplomats succeeded in laying a firm foundation before the subsequent ones padded in to create a worthy superstructure on the foundations.
The three Ambassadors to the United States in the period under review were Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Mr. Kobby Koomson, and Mr. Alan Kyeremanten. Their stewardship spanned the governments of Jerry Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufuor. Progressively, the Mills, Mahama, and Akufo-Addo administrations worked to enrich cooperation between the two countries.
Gradually, political space in Ghana has presented itself like an aquarium of hot water uninhabitable by amphibians. As factors made some contending forces flee and eventually actors on the stage downsized, Ghana boasts two powerful political parties of nearly equal strengths. This takes after the remarkable traditions of the United States where all other attempts to create a third force have fallen on the rocks to the advantage and dominance of two parties.
The New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress in Ghana have shared the political spoils in Ghana just the way it pertains in America with the Republicans and the Democrats. They do not form a constellation due to their irreconcilable positions grounded in ideologies that explain distinct pathways to common destinies. In the forex market, the US Dollar has been the benchmark of the Ghana Cedi, with Ghana trading on American stock markets.
Migration predicated on economic factors and education is heavily disproportionate, and the momentum weighed against Ghana.
Since the first contemporary visit to Ghana by the 42 US President Bill Clinton to Ghana in 1998, in reciprocity of the earlier made by Ghana’s Jerry Rawlings in 1995, there has not been any let up in the high-level diplomatic and political exchanges. Succeeding leaders have also been engrossed in these handshakes, lifting off from a rapprochement to international political allies.
The United States therefore granted Ghana, fabulous amounts of money under the Millennium Challenge Accounts, MCA which Ghana applied to critical areas of national endeavour. Unhesitatingly, Ghana had offered her territory for a US military base.
Election outcomes have had symmetries. Re-election and defeat of incumbents in the polls have been carbon copies. Both Ghana and the US face crucial presidential and parliamentary elections, having in view the November election results in the US echoing in Ghana with greater amplitude.
It is however not clear whether the proposal in Ghana to change the 2024 election date from December to November is to forestall the mutual resonance. The throws-of-the-dice results often become predeterminate for the weaker one in their partnership.