December 7 is here! Decision time has come. After months of campaign through a Covid 19 pandemic and a barrage of opinion polls and prophecies predicting victory for one candidate or another, 17,027,655 voters across the country will decide the fate of 12 candidates on the ballot across 33,367 polling stations in Ghana.
Of the 12 candidates, only two have a realistic chance of winning what has generally been accepted as a two-horse race. Incumbent president Nana Akufo-Addo who is representing the New Patriotic Party seeks another mandate for a second term whilst his closest contender, John Mahama who represents the National Democratic Congress seeks a return to the office he lost in 2016.
There is no love lost between the two candidates, who are meeting for the third time in elections in Ghana’s fourth Republican constitution.
In 2012, Mr Mahama, having taken over as candidate following the death president John Atta Mills in July 24, 2012, won at the polls with 50.7% margin beating candidate Nana Akufo-Addo in the process. The election was contested in court by candidate Nana Akufo-Addo but the court confirmed the verdict of the EC. Four years later in 2016, Akufo-Addo made a return with an overwhelming 53.8% victory against the incumbent president John Mahama.
In 2020, the two are back again to settle old score and to see out a four year second term they are entitled by law but only granted by vote.
Key issues
The incumbent appears to be winning the battle of issues with education and the Free SHS policy believed to be the major issue on the minds of voters ahead of the 2020 polls. Several opinion polls including that of the Center for Democratic Development named the Free SHS policy as a major deciding factor in the upcoming polls. No wonder a verbal contest of ownership ensued between the two major parties over who actually started the policy. Interestingly, a total of 2,635,050, new voters between ages 18-21, majority of whom are believed to be the beneficiary of the policy are on hand to determine which of the two parties can take credit for the policy and for a close election, 2 million votes are a huge constituency to contend with.
Corruption
Bribery, corruption and misappropriation of funds have been major issues in every election in the fourth Republican constitution. The opposition NDC and other civil society organizations have been vehement in their corruption accusation of the governing party. And there have been cases of corruption to report- the Agyapa Royalty deal, the missing galamsey excavators, and a host of others. But the opposition is not entirely saintly as far as corruption is concerned. If it lost the election in 2016, corruption or the perception of same was a contributing factor. Interestingly, results of opinion polls conducted ahead of the 2020 polls have relegated corruption to the background with education, infrastructure being the most topical. It remains to be seen whether corruption will be top on the agenda when people go to the polls.
New Regions
Six new regions have been created bringing the total number of regions to 16. It was a campaign promise delivered by the incumbent and has changed the geographic dynamics of the election in many tangible ways. The Volta Region which is touted as the ‘World Bank’ of the opposition has been divided into with the Oti Region being the new region carved out of the Volta Region. The Brong Ahafo Region has now been divided into three with Ahafo and Bono East being the new additions. In the Northern Region as well two other regions have been carved out with North East and Savannah Regions being the new additions. The object of the creation of these new regions was to ensure that development is devolved to the minutest regions in the country. It now remains to be seen if residents in these news regions have tasted the development projects they were promised under these new regions and whether their impressions will inform the decisions they make at the polls.
Media Freedoms
Another key issue to look at is the media freedom and the independence of journalists under the Akufo-Addo regime. The opposition has accused the president as largely being intolerant of dissenting views. Some radio stations have been shutdown, clearly for infractions of the laws. A journalist with Modernghana was arrested and allegedly maltreated over stories written and published. Ahmed Suale an investigative journalist was brutally murdered. Even though there is no evidence linking the perpetrators of the murder, elements within the opposition NDC have been quick to accuse the governing party of complicity. It remains to be seen if will also inform the outcome of the elections.
Electoral Commission
The Jean Mensa led EC has acquitted itself well thus far even though under an atmosphere of suspicion and second guessing. Having already organized a smooth Special Voting last week, stakeholders are waiting anxiously for yet another smooth election proper. Jean Mensa has promised to declare the results of the election in 24 hours all things being equal and Cedidollar.com will wait to report the declaration.
Ghana is seen as a beacon of hope for democracy in Africa. What has been a harbinger for war, chaos in other African countries and confusion, in the recent US election, has been peacefully organized in the past as far as Ghana is concerned.
Who wins the December 2020 polls? Time and Cedidollar.com will tell.
