The goods vanish: Government interventions in the Ghanaian marketplace, 1939--1992

This dissertation explores government interventions in the Ghanaian marketplace from the Second World War to 1992. Makola Market, built in Accra in 1924, was at the heart of urban life in Ghana. It was the chief wholesale and retail market in Accra, the center of trade in Ghana and one of the nation's most important social and cultural institutions. On the 18th of August, 1979, Makola Market was destroyed. In ordering such a drastic action, Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings declared war on Ghana's markets and the traders who ran them.; This dissertation examines the factors that led to this dramatic showdown. The confrontation between traders and the state did not begin with Rawlings' coup in 1979. From the end of the Second World War onwards, various governments have blamed traders for Ghana's economic problems. Shortages and rising prices plagued Ghana from the WWII to the early 1980s. This in turn caused urban unrest. In 1948 this took the form of riots in Accra that put the country on the path to independence. In the post-colonial period, it would lead to bloody military coups; In order to deal with urban unrest, successive governments have resorted to blaming traders for the nation's problems. They were routinely accused of hoarding scarce goods and charging exorbitant prices. It seems clear that a number of traders were violating official controls and hoarding goods. Nonetheless, this dissertation argues that it was the Government's own controls and not the activities of traders that were responsible for the severe shortages and the rise of the black-market. It was the control of imports and prices that gave rise to the problems, not the actions of traders.