The appearance of Former President Jerry John Rawlings before the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) in response to two subpoenas from the Commission came to an anticlimactic end after 30 minutes hearing on Thursday. The Chairman of the Commission, Mr Justice Kweku Etru Amua-Sekyi discharged Rawlings after the Former President had said he did not have a video and audio recordings of two events. Former President Rawlings was to produce a video recording of the torture and killing of some soldiers, who allegedly attempted to overthrow his government.

Domestically, Ghanaian democracy is thriving amidst a virulent opposition that is gearing to stage a come back to the political podium. Parliamentary and Presidential elections are billed for 2004 and the atmosphere is (as it has been since the 2000 elections) already rife with politics. Ghanaians seem to talk and live politics every day. Local FM radio talk shows have all been about politics, dominated by the scramble for visibility and consolidation of gains by officials, supporters, or sympathizers of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) or the opposition and former ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC). The picture of Ghana painted above is quite rosy, but is the impression as positive under the surface? This article takes a cursory look at the strengths of the present Ghanaian dispensation, the stakes, and the grey areas of the Ghanaian drive towards democracy and economic consolidation as a West African peace house.