Daily Independent (Lagos)
Maxwell Oditta
10 December 2008
analysis
At close of the voting exercise on Tuesday, in the presidential and preliminary elections in Ghana, it became increasingly clear that the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) would emerge victorious. No one, however, foreclosed the possibility of a run-off election, tentatively slated for December 28. Political analysts predicted that a run-off was imminent, as none of the candidates appeared able to muster enough votes to ensure outright victory in the first ballot, to occupy the prestigious Golden Jubilee Palace.
The outcome of the Ghana polls was, therefore, a no-surprise for observers in the former Gold Coast and beyond, especially in Nigeria, a neighbouring Anglophone country, where these elections aroused untrammeled curiosity, while it lasted. Of course, the exercise significantly differed from what obtained in Nigeria, where malpractices of all shades often perpetuated with the aid of state agencies, including operatives of the electoral umpires, have remained a phenomenal issue.
Even before the results of last elections in Ghana are announced, the world appeared literally to stand up for its credibility, many international statesmen recommending the Ghanaian example for other countries in Africa.
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Observer Mission, which was in Ghana, ahead of the election praised the country's government for exhibiting a high level of political will to deliver on democracy and ensure that a succeeding regime is inaugurated in January, 2009. The ECOWAS group led by former Nigerian Head of State, retired General Yakubu Gowon, praised all stakeholders in the elections.
"The mission wishes to commend the government, the electoral commission, political parties and the people of Ghana for their determination and commitment to the electoral process as a basis for consolidating democracy, peace and security in the country and in the region as a whole," offered Gowon.
Washington, likewise, reacted by asking other African nations to emulate Ghana in the conduct of free and fair elections. The State Department said the peaceful nature of the ballot is a testimony of the will of the Ghanaian people to freely chose their leaders "unlike what obtains in other countries, such as Nigeria."
The United States government applauded the huge turnout reported by monitors, and hailed the exercise as a shining example of democracy in action for Africa.
During the countdown to the polls, the will of the political leadership to handover power to the succeeding regime in a democratic fashion was easily noticeable in the NPP's approach to electioneering and in the absence of undue manipulation of electoral institutions.
The following preview of the Ghana polls, by David Lublin, with emphasis on ethnic-based rancour and violence highlighted the prospect of an interesting poll: His words:,
"The plague of African democracy is that elections often resemble an ethnic census with voters from each group supporting one candidate or party en masse. "The recent elections in Kenya which led to fierce inter ethnic violence are a classic example. Escaping the ethnic trap has been difficult in many divided societies but, perhaps, been an especially difficult challenge for African democracies.
"Ghana is not an exception in terms of the importance of language and ethnicity. Like most sub Saharan Africa states, Ghana contains many different groups who often speak different languages. In Ghana, the Ewe of the Volta Region in the East vote at very high rates for the NDC. In contrast, the Ashanti in the Ashanti Region vote lopsidedly for the NPP.
"Ghana may have managed to establish an increasingly stable democracy despite the continuing salience of ethnicity. For starters, not all Ashanti vote for the NPP despite that region being the party's base and home to a welter of safe NPP parliamentary seats. Moreover, neither the Ewe nor the Ashanti are populous enough to win the elections alone and much reach out to other regions of the country.
"Neither party is able to build a firm majority based on consolidating support from related ethnic groups. The Akan include a variety of groups, including the Ashanti, which speak closely related languages - as close as British and American English according to people I met here - but the NPP has not been able to get nearly as consistent or high support from non-Ashanti Akan. For example, the Fante who live in Western and Central regions along Ghana's coast are swing voters."
According to the preview, the election system may encourage parties to move beyond their ethnic base. Ghana uses the same single-member district system as the U.S. While parties can win lots of seats in their home region based on an ethnic majority, they need to attract support in a variety of regions to gain a parliamentary majority and to win the presidency.
"The result is unique within Africa. In many other African democracies, there is a dominant party. In Ghana, there are two major parties in addition to a number of smaller parties. In 2000, the NDC lost and had to turn power over the NPP. Both the NPP and the NDC are highly competitive and have a reasonable shot at winning the upcoming elections. Many think that there will have to be a run-off in the presidential election as the Convention People's Party (CPP) candidate is attracting some support.
"Ghana's success at holding a series of democratic elections - this is the fifth since the last military government - with a successful transfer of power needs to be examined more. Why has democracy taken root here? Is it the electoral system? Does Ghana have a stronger sense of being a nation than other African states, despite ethnic divisions? Regardless of its answers, Ghana's success is once again making the country a leader in Africa."
Having made up his mind to quit, 70-year old President John Kuffour did not embark on any strenuous, undemocratic imposition on the process to ensure the premeditated victory of an anointed candidate in the fashion of some other African leaders, not even for the sake of Nana Akufo-Addo, for who he actually campaigned. That way, even Prof. John Evans Atta Mills of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the other candidates felt a sense of fairness in the contest.
Kuffour's method demonstrated a binary contrast to the do-or-die politics of methodised self-succession of the ruling ethos in Nigeria, who are ardent on foisting an outgoing leader's protg on an indifferent populace. Even the most profound sceptics of the Ghana poll agreed that either of Addo or Atta Mills could emerge, when results of the election started trickling from the country's 230 constituencies. After the first day of the polls, journalists and election monitors turned in a too-close-to-call verdict. Seven presidential candidates were in the race, but the other candidates failed to attract much support.
However, all results are provisional, until the Electoral Commission of Ghana (ECG) affirms them. Even though the candidates are believed to have the full results, they keep it to their chests in compliance with the electoral laws. The Commission had until Wednesday afternoon to release the official figures.
The incumbency factor when not backed by solid achievements in office, counted for nothing in the Ghana polls. Expectedly, a number of Ministers lost their seats in the parliamentary elections. Areas where the early results were announced included Volta Region, Northern, Asoase in Kumasi, Angloga, Ablekuma, and Greater Accra. The parliamentary results showed that the NPP, a centrist party, lost at least half a dozen seats to the NDC, including that of the Information minister.
Election fixing was out of the question, as all relevant institutions for the conduct of the polls were already on ground before voting commenced. These institutions were established by laws, to which the Kuffour regime held themselves in abeyance, in deference for the elective principles. Because the enabling structures were already in place, the government did not have to indulge in solemnisation of the process as declaring restriction of movement and prohibition of commercial activities.
Moreso, the Ghanaian government did not hide under the cloak of law enforcement to commit atrocities, in a bid to neutralise the opposition and go ahead to make a contrived version of the election results public. Ghana did not proclaim a mini-emergency rule of gun-totting soldiers, armed brigands and vote-canvassing policemen. Neither was the ruling party eager to incur the wrath of the masses by some dubious victory.
Only 300 policemen were deployed nationwide, for the polls. Unlike the practice in Nigeria, where virtually every policeman gets involved in the elections for sheer pecuniary reasons.
The sincerity of the Kuffour regime engendered the comportment of the electorate to abide by the statutory regulation governing the polls. More so, the usual voters' apathy, which has become a hallmark of elections in Nigeria and some other African countries was hardly the case in Ghana. Reports indicated that there was mass turn-out of voters eager to exercise their choices and thus assert their own democratic essence.
When there is mass turn-out of voters, there are no bright prospects of rigging and falsification of results, since any fraud committed along that line would be obvious to the average person. The chances of some cabal conspiring to write election results in some strange quarter prevalent in Nigeria, was rather slim, especially in a situation where all necessary logistics were in place, and as at when due.
For instance, Nigerian dignitaries who were in Ghana to witness the polls would have observed that voting materials were available at the various polling stations as early as 5 a.m. It was only in the upper region did voting materials come late, for reasons of distance from Accra, the seat of government, and from the strategic town of Kumasi. These dignitaries also noticed that voting was free of the intimidation and violence that marred recent polls in African countries.
While the High Commissioner to Ghana, Musiliu Obanikoro, maintained that, "Nigeria must borrow from what Ghana has done," former Senate President, Ken Nnamani said Ghana has demonstrated an example that ought to put some African countries sticking to anti-democratic practices to shame. Nnamani monitored the election under the auspices of the Carter Institute.
From the process observed in the Ghana polls, other African countries must square up to the democratic challenges ahead. It is fortunate for Nigeria that the submission of the report of the Electoral Reforms Committee headed by former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Muhammadu Lawal Uwais, coincided with the round-off of the Ghana polls. The government of President Umar Yar'Adua must earnestly implement the recommendations of the panel.
Since it instituted the committee in the first place with tested hands in the service of the community, the Federal Government would have no reason to do otherwise. No narrow, parochial or partisan consideration would justify any uncanny tampering with the report. Nigeria and its beleaguered Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must self-redeem from the laughable polls it has showcased to the world in recent years.
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Well done Ghana for allowing citizens to freely choose the leaders. I think Africa will learn a lot from the Ghanaian case. Africa should learn that the advent of All Inclusive Gorvenments in some African countries like Kenya and Zimbabwe is a step towards autocracy; it's not democracy. Incumbents that lose elections should step down and not enter into some shaddy deals with the victors like Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Kibbaki of Kenya did. I think African democracies like Ghana, Senegal, Liberia and Siera Leone should establish a league of democracies in Africa where only African countries that completely adhere to democratic standards of holding elections are allowed to be members. I think the AU is quite useless as it as an all embracing organisation and the majority dictatorships in the AU are not willing to give democracy a chance.
Free and fair elections should not be a point of pride especially at the expense of other neighbouring countries that may not have been so successful. Depending on one's perspective, it is time we also acknowledged that the Kenyan experience provided some invaluable lessons on what has been an assumption that multi-partism was the answer to democracy for Africa. One could conclude that Zimbabwe built on the Kenyan experience which is why the election process did not have the same intensity as Kenya. Lets take stock of lessons on the Continent and stop this finger-pointing and suggesting that one country is better than another.
If this is true, it is a strategy in the right direction. The original campaign team was overbloated and full of deadweight(s). This lean and mean team has the potential to be more effective.
Active Discussions: Ghana Election a Win for Democracy