Registered But Not Free: NGO Regulation in Ghana and the Boundaries of Freedom of Association Under The African Charter

This article argues that, measured against both the ACHPR Guidelines and FATF Recommendation 8, the burden the scenario above describes is not an unfortunate but unavoidable cost of doing business, it reflects a documentable departure from commitments Ghana has already made. Section II situates that argument within the existing civic space literature. Section III sets out the applicable legal framework in full. Section IV describes Ghana’s registration regime as it currently operates. Section V analyses that regime, and the pending Non-Profit Organisations Bill, against the applicable standards point by point. Section VI considers why the gap matters in practice. Section VII closes with concrete recommendations, and Section VIII concludes.