Ghana is often referred to as one of the most peaceful
countries in Western Africa. However, political turmoil since the November 2012
elections are causing a major divide between the people here and tensions are
running high. Just today, we have heard rumors of a revolutionary movement
against the New Patriotic Party (NPP) by supporters of the National Democratic
Congress (NDC). (The two major parties in Ghana) The NPP have been in power in
Ghana since 2000, but are currently under fire as the NDC has brought forth
accusations of cheating at the polls.
President John Drahami Mahama was elected in November 2012,
but shortly afterward irregularities at 11,138 of the 26,002 polling stations
in Ghana were being reviewed. The Pink Sheets, which are “Records of the
Statement of Poll Declaration of Result for the President and Parliament”,
allegedly show instances of over voting, identical copies at different stations
and failure of officer signatures/approval. The NDC has demanded a through
investigation of the NPP and of the election outcome as they claim the NPP has
“stolen the government”. The Supreme Court is handling the case, but it has
been close to seven months since the accusations have come out and nothing has
been solved. Furthermore, promises made by the NPP have not been fulfilled nor
has any progress even been made towards reaching the goals outlined in the
campaign.
Everything revolves around politics here, though few people
realize it. For example, a new football (soccer) stadium has been in the works
for quite a few years now but a friend has explained that the NDC, prior to
losing control of the government, proposed building the new stadium to win
votes, but now that they are no longer in power, little progress has been made
on the stadium. It just seems backwards to spend money on something like a new football
stadium (when the old one is perfectly functioning) when the general welfare of
the people here is far below where it should be. Yet nothing is being done to
change the way the government works here. This same friend, when asked about a
potential revolution, stated that it would be good for Ghana to restructure the
government, but “Ghanaians don’t know what a revolution is”, disregarding any
rumors and undermining the determination of those who actually do care.
In just a few discussions with the locals it became clear to
me that many don’t have faith in the political system as it is and therefore
pay little attention to the situation at hand. Another reason behind political
disinterest is the overwhelming lack of literacy. Most people don’t pay
attention to elections and outcomes, but are persuade to vote in favor of the
party that offers the most appealing bribe. Some coworkers of mine enlightened
me on how elections work, but basically people in rural villages and fishing
villages (which is a significant part of the population) would not turn out t
vote, but party affiliates will go into the villages and purchase votes for as
little as 5 cedi ($2.50 US). Corruption and bribery are a way of life in the
political realm, so distrust and lack of confidence in the government are
common attitudes in Ghana.
Updates on work I’ve been doing at my internship coming in
my next post.
Thanks for reading! Until next time…
