The juxtaposition of the success of Ghana's recent elections and the "basket case" that is Guinea Conakry demonstrates the promise vs. peril equation of Democracy in Africa.
Both countries achieved independence nearly contemporaneously Ghana in 1957 and Guinea in 1958 and both had their share of early stops and starts with coups and counter-coups punctuated by an occasional period of seeming stability, but Ghana seems to have figured out this democracy thing and is on its way to becoming an African powerhouse while Guinea Conakry is not much further along than it was in the early years.
Ghana has recently experienced its fifth democratic election and Guinea is once again in the hands of a petty dictator - promising to hold free elections in a few years (just long enough to loot what little treasure is available in this one of Africa's poorest nations).
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
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