Date of Award

6-13-2005

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Leadership (MAL)

Department

Leadership

Abstract

The effectiveness of a political leader depends on the leader's ability to formulate a vision, demonstrate genuine concern for the people, and create a constituency or following to translate the vision into concrete actions that produce change. In Ghana, these behavior patterns, which are characteristics of transformational leadership, have been demonstrated by Nkrumah and Rawlings, leading to independence for Ghana and later, the development of more stable and stronger institutions. Nkrumah rallied his colleagues and a majority of the Ghanaian citizens to seek independence. Unfortunately, Nkrumah could not maintain the commitment of his colleagues to remain focused on other aspects (e.g. economic prosperity) of the goal and his government was forcibly removed from office on allegations of corruption.

Rawlings had a "mission" to rid Ghana of corruption and decentralize the process of national decision making. His government established institutions at the level of the grassroots that provided the mechanism for "effective democracy." He pursued economic reform through structural adjustment programs that helped to strengthen the Ghanaian economy.

Identifier

SC 11.MAL.2005.Gwaikolo.JN

Download

Share

COinS