[The Dummies’ Guide to]: The Ghanaian elections

It is 2016 and if you think it is acceptable for you to be unaware of what is happening anywhere from Idi-araba to Mars, you must be joking. And we are here to set you right.

Glad we got that out of the way!

Now, today, the 7th of December 2016 is the day #GhanaDecides what will be the 7th general elections in the country since the return to democratic rule in 1992. That first election, held on the 3rd of November ushered in Jerry John Rawlings as the country’s President. Rawlings’ own wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, contests this year’s elections under the National Democratic Party umbrella along side a host of others including independent candidate, Jacob Osei Yeboah.

It will be a closely contested election. However not amongst all candidate. If we can still chance a prediction in this era where only the unexpected happens #antiestablishment, our guess will be that there actually just two contenders today – not an unfamiliar situation in these parts.

The contenders? Incumbent, John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress and Nana Akufo-Addo of the opposition, New Patriotic Party.

In more ways than one, Ghana is Us for these elections. For one, the country and its masses are currently groaning under the weight of mismanaged priorities by and general discontent with the current administration. Many fingers point at the incumbent, John Dramani Mahama who now seeks a full second term as he contests the elections. Doesn’t ring a bell yet? Well, goodluck.

Also, the incumbent’s major contender, Nana Akufo- Addo contests today for the third time after failing at both the 2008 and 2012 polls. He must remind someone here in Nigeria so much of himself.

Jollof rice and all of those similarities aside, Ghanaians face a different kind of complex situation as they approach today’s polls.

Unlike Nigeria, Ghana shoulders the additional responsibility of carrying on being one of the most developed democracies in Africa. Seven times today, the country has successfully engaged her citizenry in four-year elections that are mostly free, fair and credible. Although this time, many have already raised allegations of a rigged process long before election day.

Yet, that is the least of Ghanaians’ worries. Interestingly, for many voters, the question isn’t really who wins the elections. They think that is mostly ceremonial. For them, it’s who is likely to work closely with experienced and knowledgeable pundits to make the next four years better in Ghana. While the #antiestablishment argument pales in a Ghana where the people actually like the incumbent, his lavishness and other woes aside; the expectation of many Ghanaians for the next four years and the ripened discontent with the way they are being run takes us right back to Nana Akufo-Addo’s feet. On that note, it’s a 50-50.

Powerless incumbency

Apart from the discontent of Ghanaians with the way the country’s been run by Mr. Mahama, Ghana sets itself apart in the sense that the power of incumbency many leaders elsewhere sorely depend on to secure re-election doesn’t work in Ghana.The 20018 elections proved this already when Nana Akudo-Ado was beaten by the opposition’s John Atta Mills despite the fact that he ran from the same party as the late John Kuffour.

Legacies and ideologies

While the usual power of incumbency plays a doubtful role in Ghanaian elections, legacies don’t. Any African knows who Kwame Nkrumah is and in Ghana, he is largely considered to be the best President ever. this positions the National Democratic Party at an advantage over the New Patriotic Party which has roots in Rawlings-like ideologies and is said to date back to anti-Nkrumahist movements.

However, the NPP has, in these elections claimed Nkrumahist ideologues. Yet, that all of this grammar means little or nothing to anyone one who isn’t a member of the elites club is a universal language we all understand.

What do Ghanaians really want?

To be honest, that is a very ambitious question but if we were to guess based on the impressive levels of political participation by the citizenry as well as the scope the conversations that have shaped the elections to date, we’ll say Ghanaians want to return to the era of visible development the country was experiencing after the loan obligations were lifted by the IMF. It was the era when Ghana stood shining as an example to other West African countries on how to manage a country.

Finally, in the absence of internal party wrangling that characterise Nigeria’s political landscape, the only setback that can come from this elections is if today’s process is questioned by any of the candidates or their parties and as Ghana has already shown in the past, that’s a hurdle that can be surmounted.

All the best to our neighbours today!

 

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