In March this year Elnathan John, the Nigerian author of Born on a Tuesday, was in Ghana to promote his novel. I attended a reading he held at Vidya bookstore in Osu and I had a fun time. When we had the chance to ask him questions, a lot of them focused on his identity and the experience of growing up as a minority in Northern Nigeria (I admit I asked that question). One woman specifically asked him whether he felt the tale of a Hausa Muslim in Northern Nigeria was his to tell Continue reading
Africa
What exactly is an enabling environment?
An entrepreneur, Naa, is deciding to expand her business beyond her country. She has two choices – Country A and Country B. Both countries are developing countries but they have two distinct ideas of how to progress and they’re both interested in creating an enabling environment for business.
Country A believes the responsibility of the state is to provide infrastructure and security and to allow the private sector to do the rest.
The business Continue reading
John Mahama’s campaign is flawed
With the party primaries of the NDC coming off on November 21, one cannot help but notice the several posters, banners and billboards bearing the faces and slogans of men and women hoping to get into or remain in parliament. There are several competitive match ups in the primaries that call for this level of campaigning however, the most visible campaign belongs to the contestant in the easiest primary race Continue reading
Is the Ghanaian Left Missing out on Socially Liberal Voters?
In many political environments around the world the political parties on the Left are not only progressive in economic policies but also progressive in social issues. However, from my review of policy and ideological positions of political parties in Ghana I realised that only one party in the country, the GCPP, had sought to appeal to social liberals in its party platform. The rest of the political parties Continue reading
Is Partisanship a Good or Bad Force in Ghana Politics?
Partisanship is usually listed among the issues derailing Ghana’s march to development. And in truth, it is sometimes amusing to see how minds can change on issues depending on the position of a political party on it. This type of alignment of public opinion to the views of political parties is more remarkable because of the ideological flipflopping of the two major political parties.
It appears then that rather than ideology Continue reading
A Guide to the Ideologies of Political Parties in Ghana
A political party’s ideology guides its economic, social, governance, legal and foreign policies. One of the most vivid methods by which an ideology can be visualised is by the description of an ideal world as envisioned by the adherents of that ideology. For example, if your ideal world is one in which everything is owned by everyone (no privately-held property) and shared according to need, you are a Continue reading
The Other Victims of Al-Shabaab
At times when people have tried to draw attention to the other side of a story, they have been accused (sometimes legitimately) of glossing over the glaring crime that has been committed. Pointing at someone’s burnt house while another’s is currently on fire can sometimes be unseemly. But in the case where someone has to pay for another’s crime, we have to speak up.
At least one hundred and forty-seven people were brutally murdered by Al-Shabaab on Thursday, April 2, 2015 at the Garissa University College. Continue reading
#SaiBuhari – Nigeria Has Decided
With only results from Borno State left to be declared, the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, has an unassailable lead over the incumbent President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The APC leads with 14,951,378 (53.24%) to PDP’s 12,827,552 (45.67%) Continue reading
Why Ghanaians are closely following the Nigerian Election
As Nigerians await the declaration of the winner of what would eventually be their closest election since 1999, Ghanaians also appear to have taken a keen interest in the elections. From the interview of Nigerian politicians on Ghanaian media houses to the publishing of provisional results from some states, it appears no other foreign election has captured the attention of Ghanaians this much since Obama’s re-election battle in 2012.
Part of this can be explained by the fact that Continue reading
Goodluck or Buhari – The World awaits Nigeria’s Decision
After months of flamboyant but bitter campaigning, President Goodluck Jonathan and General (rtd) Muhammadu Buhari anxiously await the verdict of the Nigerian people. With less than 48 hours to go until voting, the ruling PDP and the opposition APC must be frantically putting measures in place to ensure that the turnout at their gargantuan rallies translates into the much needed votes.
For the first time since the return to democratic rule in 1999, the PDP is meeting a party which matches it Continue reading
A Ghanaian Opinion 