Instant reflections of life in Ghana today

Thursday, January 18^th 2024

More about the elections. Suddenly strange posters went up in a city of a man wearing a steel mask and the words “A new way” or similar.  I read this online – 

“A wealthy Ghanaian businessman revealed he is the masked presidential candidate featured on billboards that appeared across major cities in recent weeks. But his launch was most notable for highlighting the government’s apparent fear of a new youth-led populist movement similar to others sweeping the continent.

Nana Kwame Bediako, a property developer, had planned his unveiling around a convention featuring high profile populist figures who have garnered support from young voters, including Peter Obi — who came third in last year’s Nigerian presidential election — and the leader of South Africa’s far-left Economic Freedom Fighters party Julius Malema who was due to speak via video call. 

However, military personnel swooped in to prevent people attending the event at Black Star Square, in the capital Accra, shortly before it was due to begin on Sunday. A letter from the Ghanaian president’s office, stated that a permit issued on Nov. 11 to use the site had been revoked due to “an unforeseen state event scheduled to take place at the venue.” The letter was dated Jan. 7 — the same day as the event.

Politics in Ghana is a confused business. A new party would be unwelcome by the established parties,  and so their permit, strangely, did not arrive in time for the meeting. So the police intervened. As with most politics around the world, we will never know the truth of what happened. Will this party fade away or become a serious force in Ghanaian politics? Let’s see what happens.

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