Election Season

Just like the United States, Ghana is currently in the midst of a heated presidential election campaign. Ghanaians will go to the polls on November 7, the day before we do the same in the U.S. That is especially interesting because there’s a strong correlation between the Ghanaian election results and our own over the last quarter century. In every election since 1992, the Ghanaian electorate has voted in the more liberal candidate when the US has chosen a Democrat, and the more conservative party has triumphed in Ghana in the years that a Republican won in the U.S. The parallels don’t stop there.

Driving through the streets of Accra and beyond, campaign posters are a huge part of the advertising landscape. One difference from the U.S. is that many minor political parties and candidates have a visible presence in the political advertising space. Despite that, there are only two major parties whose candidates are considered real contenders. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) leans to the left like our own Democratic party, and the National People’s Party (NPP) is more conservative, like the Republican party in the U.S. The NDC candidate is the incumbent president, John Mahama, and the NPP’s flag bearer is Nana Akufo-Addo. Members of these parties have won every election since 1996, and they are the only parties represented in the parliament.

The complexities of Ghanaian politics largely escape me and it’s hard to find a news source that is not soaked in opinion, but there are a few interesting facts I’ve noted. The story dominating the headlines when we arrived was that of John Mahama accepting a gift of a $100,000 Ford SUV from a private contractor in Burkina Faso. The ensuing allegations of corruption and backroom deals with big business sound similar to the criticisms levied at Hillary Clinton. On the other side, a schism is unfolding in the NPP that looks a bit like the Never Trump movement in the Republican party. In December, the chairman of the NPP was suspended by his own party for refusing to fall in line with their chosen candidate.

The news coverage of the campaign reminds me of the US in that it’s not hard to see which side a particular outlet is supporting, though I’d say it’s even more obvious here and most news sources don’t make any claims to objectivity. Many of the newspapers are openly aligned with certain parties, and they make no secret of it.

Here’s an example of the Politics page from Ghana’s most popular independent newspaper, the Daily Guide, which is aligned with the NPP. Note two stories criticizing the NDC and Mahama on the left and two very supportive stories about Addo and the NPP on the right.

To the Ghanaian media’s credit, I have seen many articles on both sides of the political spectrum calling for a peaceful election season. Politicians, their supporters, and the media itself are frequently warned to keep their rhetoric in check to avoid violence. Ghana is no stranger to political coups and military dictatorships, so it’s easy to see why this matter stays at the forefront of many people’s minds. As we approach the Republican and Democratic conventions in the U.S., I’ve seen some similar calls for nonviolence in our own press. Let’s hope that both countries can conduct the business of electing their leaders peacefully this year.