Claim: The member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) communication team, Saaka Salia, has said that in Africa, Ghana has always been ranked number one or two on the Global Peace Index.
Verdict: False! Data from the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) shows that in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, Ghana slipped beyond the first two ranked countries in Africa on the index.
Full Text
Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States of America, visited Ghana. The matters arising from her meeting with the press became topical discussions on morning television and radio in Ghana.
In discussing the visit to Ghana on TV3’s New Day programme, the NDC’s former deputy youth Organiser and Ketu North Parliamentary aspirant, Edem Agbana, urged the President to move the bilateral talks with the American Vice President beyond economic assistance to ensure that peace reigns in our democratic practices.
He criticised the NPP government’s press freedom credentials, saying under this government a journalist was killed and another threatened. He further admonished the government to conduct free and fair elections in 2024, which will not lead to the killing of eight civilians.
The member of the communication team of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Saaka Salia, in responding to the accusations from his co-panellist on TV3 New Day, mentioned that Presidents of the USA have been visiting Ghana since 1998 when Bill Clinton visited. He also added the visits of George W. Bush and Barrack Obama were a great testimony to the strength of Ghana-US relations. He said the reason for this relationship, among other things, is the relative peace Ghana has been enjoying over the years.
“Ghana is number 1 or 2 [on the Global Peace Index]. We (Ghana) have never moved away from either number 1 or 2, he said on TV3 New Day.” He commented from 27.59s to 28:30s.
Verification
The Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank that rates peace within 163 countries across the globe. The index ranges between one and five. The lower the index, the more peaceful the country. The institute is dedicated to shifting the world’s focus to peace as a positive, achievable, and tangible measure of human well-being and progress.
According to IEP on its website, this is achieved by developing new conceptual frameworks to define peacefulness; providing metrics for measuring peace; uncovering the relationships between business, peace and prosperity; and promoting a better understanding of the cultural, economic, and political factors that create peace.
The Global Peace Index covers 99.7% of the world’s population, using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from highly respected sources, and measures the state of peace using three thematic domains: the level of Societal Safety and Security, the extent of Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict, and the degree of Militarization.
From the records of IEP between 2016 (pages 9,10&11) and 2022 (page 10), Ghana was among Africa’s top most peaceful countries. On two occasions in 2021 (page 9) and 2022 (page 10), Ghana came second after Mauritius. The same data source shows that in 2016, 2017 (page 10), 2018 (page 8), 2019 (page 8) and 2020 (page 8), Ghana was not part of the first two most peaceful countries in Africa. Data confirms that even in 2016, Ghana had an index of 1.809, placing Ghana behind other African countries like Mauritius, Botswana, Zambia and Sierra Leone.
| Year | Ranking Country | Index |
| 2016 | 1st – Mauritius2nd – Botswana3rd – Madagascar 4th – Zambia5th – Sierra Leone6th – Ghana7th – Malawi | 1.5591.6391.7631.7831.8051.8091.817 |
| 2017 | 1st – Mauritius 2nd – Botswana3rd – Sierra Leone4th – Zambia5th – Ghana6th – Madagascar | 1.5341.6221.761.7861.7931.797 |
| 2018 | 1st – Mauritius 2nd – Botswana3rd – Sierra Leone4th – Madagascar 5th – Ghana 6th – Namibia | 1.5481.6591.741.7661.7721.806 |
| 2019 | 1st – Mauritius 2nd – Botswana3rd – Malawi4th – Ghana5th – Zambia | 1.5621.6761.7791.7961.808 |
| 2020 | 1st – Mauritius 2nd – Botswana3rd – Ghana4th – Zambia | 1.5441.6931.7761.794 |
| 2021 | 1st – Mauritius 2nd – Ghana3rd – Botswana | 1.5921.7151.753 |
| 2022 | 1st. – Mauritius 2nd – Ghana3rd- – The Gambia | 1.571.7591.792 |
Conclusion
From the data above, DUBAWA confirms that even though Ghana performs well within sub-Sahara Africa and West Africa, the nation’s performance within the African continent has not always been either first or second.
