NAME OF MECHANISM

National Reconciliation Commission

PERIOD OF OPERATION

6 May 2002 – 14 October 2004. The National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) mandate stipulated the length of operation as 12 months from the commission’s inauguration and the appointment of commissioners on 6 May 2002, with the option of a six-month extension. The NRC only began operations on 14 January 2003 and concluded them on 14 October 2004. The NRC final report was made public on 22 April 2005

MANDATE AND OPERATIONS

Mandate: Established by the National Reconciliation Commission Act (611/2002) to “seek and promote national reconciliation among Ghanaians by establishing an accurate historical record of human rights violations and abuses inflicted on persons by public institutions and public officers between 6 March, 1957 and 6 January, 1993 and to recommend redress for the wrongs committed.”

The commission had the power to compel presence, as it did in the case of former President Jerry Rawlings.

Staff: Nine Ghanaian commissioners, appointed by President John Agyekum Kufour. Chaired by Justice Kweku Etrew Amua. Members included Rev. Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, Maulvi Abdul Wahab Bin Adam, Prof. Florence Abena Dolphyne, Lt.-Gen. Emmanuel Alexander Erskine, Dr. Sylvia Awo Mansah Boye, Mr. Christian Appiah Agyei, Uborr Dalafu Labal II and Prof. Henrietta Joy Abena Nyarko Mensa Bonsu. Members were appointed by President Kufour in consultation with the Council of State. The commission had approximately 70 additional staff members.

Structure: The NRC had six committees: Legal Profession, Professional Bodies Other than Legal, the Press, the Labour and Students Movement, the Security Services and Religious Bodies and Chiefs.

RESOURCES

National Reconciliation Commission Act [2002]
NRC Final Report, Ch. 1 [2005]
NRC Final Report, Ch. 2 [2005]
NRC Final Report, Ch. 3 [2005]

RESULTS

Out of 4,240 received submissions, the NRC selected just over 2,000 victims to testify publicly. Seventy-nine alleged perpetrators also testified. The report included an introduction to the establishment, membership, objectives, mandate, functions and powers of the NRC; an overview of the activities, methods and values of the commission; a discussion of the historical context of human rights abuses in Ghana; a summary of the role of state institutions and civil society organisations in promoting human rights and resisting human rights violations in Ghana; an overview of the commission’s key findings; and recommendations for redress, reparations and institutional reform.

The NRC has been accused of being overtly politicised. The main criticism leveled at the commission is that its mandate was limited to investigating violations committed by the previous military regime, to the exclusion of the violations of other post-independence regimes and the repression of the colonial period. Some argue that this was the result of political maneuvering and self-interest on the part of the new government and that it may have resulted in biased findings and a less credible commission. Another criticism is that the commissioner appointment process was undertaken behind closed doors, despite a more consultative process proposed by Ghanaian civil society, which elicited allegations of bias from the political opposition and other local actors [ICTJ/CSVR |Sep 2006].

In the wake of civil society criticism regarding delayed implementation of the NRC’s recommendations [All Africa| 19 Dec 2005], Ghana began paying reparations to 2,000 victims in October 2006 in a process slated to end two months later. The individual payments ranged from about US$217 to US$3,300, depending on the nature of the violation [IRIN | 17 Oct 2006]. The NRC recommended that the government pay US$1.5 million in reparations.

The government has chosen not to push for the prosecutions recommended in the NRC’s final report, citing a need to strengthen Ghana’s fragile democracy. This approach has met with a mixed response within Ghana [ICTJ/CSVR| Sep 2006].

BACKGROUND

Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, who was instrumental in the formation of the Organisation of African Unity (now the African Union), was overthrown in 1966, which led to a succession of coups that ended in 1981 with Jerry Rawlings’ coup. Although Rawlings was twice elected president in the 1990s, in the wake of a new constitution being adopted, his rule was marked by repression and human rights abuses, which were the focus of much of the NRC’s proceedings.

SOURCES

[All Africa | 19 Dec 2005]
[Ghana Center for Democratic Development | Jun 2005] 
[International Center for Transitional Justice/Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation | Sep 2006]
[IRIN | 17 Oct 2006]