AFRICA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

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e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.—Minimum wages and working hours were established
by law through six joint industrial councils and labor, management, and
the Government were represented on these councils. The lowest minimum wage was
approximately $0.66 (12 dalasi) per day for unskilled labor. This minimum wage
was not sufficient to provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
The minimum wage law covers only 20 percent of the labor force, essentially those
workers in the formal economic sector. The majority of workers were employed privately
or were self-employed, often in agriculture. Most citizens did not live on a
single worker’s earnings and shared resources within extended families.
The basic legal workweek was 48 hours within a period not to exceed 6 consecutive
days. Nationwide the workweek included 4 8-hour workdays and 2 4-hour workdays
(Friday and Saturday). A 30-minute lunch break was mandated. Government
employees were entitled to 1 month of paid annual leave after 1 year of service. Private
sector employees receive between 14 and 30 days of paid annual leave, depending
on length of service.
The Labor Act specifies safety equipment that an employer must provide to employees
working in designated occupations. The Factory Act authorizes the Ministry
of Labor to regulate factory health and safety, accident prevention, and dangerous
trades, and the Ministry is authorized to appoint inspectors to ensure compliance
with safety standards. Enforcement was inconsistent due to insufficient and inadequately
trained staff. Workers may demand protective equipment and clothing for
hazardous workplaces and have recourse to the Labor Department. The law provides
that workers may refuse to work in dangerous situations without risking loss
of employment; however, in practice workers who do so risk loss of employment.
The law protects foreign workers employed by the Government; however, it only
provides protection for privately employed foreigners if they have a current valid
work permit. Foreign workers may join local unions.
f. Trafficking in Persons.—The law prohibits trafficking in persons; however, there
were reports of trafficking in persons. The tourist industry has stimulated a low
level of child prostitution, which was prosecuted vigorously.
GHANA
Ghana is a constitutional republic with a strong presidency and a unicameral 200seat
Parliament; multiparty elections have been held every 4 years since the country
returned to constitutional rule in 1992. In December 2000, six opposition parties
and the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) contested presidential and parliamentary
elections, which despite a few incidents of intimidation and election
fraud, domestic and international observers judged generally free and fair. In January
2001, John Agyekum Kufuor of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) was
inaugurated as president. President Kufuor was elected in a run-off election with
56.7 percent of the vote against then Vice-President John Atta Mills of the NDC.
The Constitution calls for a system of checks and balances, with an executive
branch headed by the President, a unicameral parliament, an independent judiciary,
and several autonomous commissions, including the Commission for Human Rights
and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ). In practice the system of checks and balances
was limited by a system-wide lack of resources that affected all three branches. The
Government generally respected the constitutional provisions for an independent judiciary;
however, in practice the judiciary was subject to influence and corruption
and lacked adequate resources.
The police, under the jurisdiction of an eight-member Police Council, were responsible
for maintaining law and order. A separate department, the Bureau of National
Investigations (BNI), handled cases considered critical to state security and answered
directly to the executive branch. While civilian authorities generally maintained
effective control over security forces, there were some instances in which elements
of the security forces acted independently of government authorities. Some
members of the police and other security forces committed a number of serious
human rights abuses.
The economy remained dependent on agriculture, with approximately 36 percent
of gross domestic product (GDP) and 48 percent of employment derived from this
sector, according to government statistics. The country’s population was 19.9 million.
Gold, cocoa, and timber were the traditional sources of export earnings; gold
revenues fell due to the drop in the prices of this commodity on the world market
while cocoa prices rose substantially towards year’s end. The economy grew at a rate
of 4.2 percent, up from 3.7 percent in 2001. Inflation fell from 21 percent to 13 percent.
Per capita GDP in dollar terms fell to approximately $300.
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