United States Department of State

Ghana: Human Rights United States Department of State

Publisher Marketing: Ghana is a constitutional democracy with a strong presidency and a unicameral, 275-seat parliament. In late 2008 the National Democratic Congress (NDC) won both the presidency and a small majority in parliament in an election domestic and international observers deemed generally free and fair. NDC candidate John Evans Atta Mills became president in early 2009 for a four-year term. When President Mills died in July 2012, Vice President John Dramani Mahama assumed the office of president. President Mahama won re-election in December 2012. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) alleged massive voting irregularities and filed a legal suit in the Supreme Court contesting the outcome of the election. In August the Supreme Court dismissed the case and upheld the results of the election. Authorities failed at times to maintain effective control over the security forces. Security forces sometimes committed human rights abuses. The most important human rights problems included trafficking in persons; exploitive child labor, including forced child labor; and harsh and life-threatening prison conditions. Other human rights problems included use of excessive force by police resulting in deaths and injuries; prolonged pretrial detention; arbitrary arrest of journalists; corruption in all branches of government; violence against women and children, including female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C); societal discrimination against women, persons with disabilities, and persons with HIV/AIDS; ethnic killings and vigilante violence; ethnic discrimination and politically motivated violence; and societal discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals.