Ghana’s Cultural Policy and (Dis)Empowerment: Three Decades Reflections on the Centres for National Culture (CNCs)

Abstract

Abstract The Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) Law 238 (1990) established the Centres for National Culture to manage the cultural life of Ghanaians. Their mandate includes enhancing the status of artists and cultural bearers as well as promoting the economic viability of cultural products in the country. Using qualitative research, this chapter discusses the thirty-year stride in the implementation of the cultural policy by state-owned agencies and their impact on the people of Ghana. The chapter, therefore, addresses the questions, how have cultural policies (dis)empowered Ghanaians? In addition, how have the government and cultural institutions promoted and/or prohibited some cultural practices of Ghanaians?