Democratization and the Media in West Africa

Abstract

After being governed by military autocracies for several years, Ghana and Nigeria -- two West African countries that share a lot of tradition in common -- have today made the transition to political democracy. Ghana was ruled by the military under Generals Joseph Ankrah and Akwasi Afrifa from 1966 to 1969; General Kutu Acheampong from 1972 to 1978; General Fred Akuffo from 1978 to 1979 and Fight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings, June 1979 to September 1979. The country was once more ruled under Jerry Rawlings’ military dictatorship from 1981 to 1993. Thus, between the premier military coup in February 1966 and the transition to civil rule in 1993, Ghana was ruled by military regimes for about twenty-one years. Accounts of the military’s intervention in Ghana’s politics are provided by Pinkney (1972), Ocran (1977 & 1968), Pellow and Chazan (1986), Afrifa (1966) and Austin and Luckham (1975). Also, see Dowse (1975), Bebler (1973) and Lefever (1970).