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
Election 2016
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 New Rush for Parliament
In the last few weeks, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, George Andah, Phillip Addison and Abeiku Santana have expressed their intention to contest in party primaries for the right to be party candidates for parliament in the general elections in 2016. I have heard some commentators welcome the move as an indication that people are becoming more conscious of their duty towards the country and are now willing to directly contribute to governance.
The intention of Kojo and George especially 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
Parties Should Still Try to Increase Women MPs
This post was originally meant to commend the New Patriotic Party’s decision not to allow men to contest the parliamentary primaries for the seats held by women. The party was attempting to increase or at least preserve the 16 seats it has in parliament that are held by women. However, pressure from supporters has forced the party to reverse the directive.
In the 5th Parliament, women Continue reading
A Ghanaian Opinion 