The making of a president

When presented with a title of this kind, many readers think they know what to expect: drugged-up child soldiers, wince-inducing brutality, ranting demagogues, rebels in women’s wigs. This, thankfully, is not that book. It is something more nuanced, elliptical and elegant.

Ghana is in a different league from Liberia, Guinea or Sierra Leone, its traumatised West African neighbours. Even before the recent discovery that it was sitting on large oil reserves, it was routinely hailed as one of Africa’s success stories. As the ‘first’ in the title makes clear, it has certainly been through its share of political upheaval since independence from Britain in 1957. But when President John Atta Mills died unexpectedly this summer, the army remained in barracks, the constitution was respected and the Vice-President took over in an atmosphere of calm that suggested a mature democracy. He happens to be the author of this book. If there is any correlation between literary skill and political aptitude — which I rather doubt — Ghanaians are in luck.