As closely-fought electoral campaigns close before the anticipated presidential and legislative 7 December elections, observers say Ghanaians have enjoyed a rare chance to focus on critical issues.
“The largely clean campaigns this year have given the electorate an opportunity they were denied in the past to consider real options for change,” Kwesi Amakye, political science lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, told IRIN.
“We have heard discussions on good governance, rooting out corruption, promises of a better educational system, affordable housing for the poor, and improved health systems - all of which are very critical for ordinary Ghanaians,” Amakye said.
Amakye gave most of the credit for this focus to the two front-runners in the presidential race: the ruling party’s Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) party’s John Evans Atta Mills.
President John Kufuor is stepping down after two terms. Eight candidates are running for his position in what is expected to be a closely-fought race, with many election observers anticipating a run-off.
Front-runners
Akufo-Addo 64, a lawyer and former failed presidential candidate, represents President Kufuor’s New Patriotic Party (NPP). He served under the current president as attorney general and later as Foreign Affairs Minister.
His main rival, Atta Mills, 64, worked for many years as a lecturer at the University of Ghana and touts NDC’s social democratic principles. This is his third elections contest; he served as Ghana’s vice-president from 1997 to 2000 under former President Jerry John Rawlings.
The challenges both men might confront if either win are “enormous,” said lecturer Amakye.
Challenges
In the heart of the capital, Accra lies one of Ghana’s most famous slums, Sodom and Gomorrah.
Angela Aidoo, 45, lives in one of the slum’s wooden shacks. Aidoo and her four children sleep on the floor covered only with a cloth. “When it rains we stand up till the next morning - the roof leaks badly,” she told IRIN.
She said none of her children attends school; the youngest, seven-year-old Vida Aidoo joins her siblings to sell bagged iced water on the streets of the capital.
“Two of them finished the basic [primary] school but I don’t have money to enable them to continue, and the other two I find no need to put them in school - they have to help me make money,” Angela said.
She is aware of on-going political campaigning; all she needs, said Aidoo, is decent, affordable housing and some money to start a small business to fund her children’s education.
A recent Ministry of Works, Housing and Water Resources study calculated a shortage of 400,000 adequate housing units nationwide.
More than four million of Ghana’s estimated 22 million population are extremely poor, struggling to access basic social services like health, water and education, according to the UN.
Although Ghana has seen a significant improvement in its human rights record, its mining sector continues to suffer from “widespread violations”, according to the 2008 State of Human Rights in Mining Communities.
The rate of unemployment in Ghana currently stands at 20 per cent, much of it concentrated on youths in urban areas, according to government figures.
Front-runners’ solutions
“We will set up an affordable housing trust fund to be accessed by real-estate developers to build cheap housing units for Ghanaians,” communications director of Nana Akufo-Addo’s campaign, Dr. Arthur Kennedy told IRIN.
He also highlights what the party’s “housing the people scheme,” that aims to give employers tax credits if they develop housing schemes for their workers.
But, he said, the Presidential candidate’s most important policy proposal is the commitment to extend free education to the senior secondary or pre-university level, though he has not outlined how the government would afford this.
The fight against corruption will also be a key priority if Akufo-Addo wins, said Kennedy, promising to pass a freedom of information act that will open up public and state institutions to more rigorous scrutiny.
“We will grow the economy from the current 6 percent to 10 percent in the first term, which we believe will translate into a significant reduction in the number of unemployed people.”
The main opposition NDC has dismissed the ruling party’s policy proposals, describing them as unrealistic. “We will only promise what we can realistically achieve,” Alex Segbefia, NDC campaign coordinator told IRIN.
“Our desire is to reduce the walking distance of children to school by establishing basic schools in all under-served communities, with a particular focus on improving teachers’ working conditions,” he said.
The party is also pitching poverty reduction objectives to voters, with a special focus on the north of the country where more than half of Ghana’s poor live, according to the UN. The NDC proposes a development fund, the with a start-up contribution of US$200 million.
Spokesman Segbefia also promised giving women a more prominent role in the country’s affairs with a proposed quota system that will reserve 40 percent of all government positions for women.
Like the ruling party, the NDC is also promising slum dwellers affordable housing by establishing a National Home Settlement Commission, to “oversee our realistic policy of giving homes to the poor and vulnerable.”
Both parties agree on is the strengthening of state institutions to tackle corruption and abuse of human rights.
Undecided
But some are not convinced by either parties’ promises. John Benneh, 35, a teacher told IRIN he is still undecided: “They have not told us how they are going to achieve these flowery promises, which make me very sceptical.”
At Accra’s Mokala market, tomato-seller Adjoa Asare Mensah, 40, told IRIN she will vote for the party with the best policy to give her “easy access to credit to expand her business.”
Analyst Amakye told IRIN despite the lack of detailed campaign promises, “the wealth of experience shared by both of these candidates puts them in a strong position to address the many challenges that confront our country.”
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“The largely clean campaigns this year have given the electorate an opportunity they were denied in the past to consider real options for change,” Kwesi Amakye, political science lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, told IRIN.
“We have heard discussions on good governance, rooting out corruption, promises of a better educational system, affordable housing for the poor, and improved health systems - all of which are very critical for ordinary Ghanaians,” Amakye said.
Amakye gave most of the credit for this focus to the two front-runners in the presidential race: the ruling party’s Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) party’s John Evans Atta Mills.
President John Kufuor is stepping down after two terms. Eight candidates are running for his position in what is expected to be a closely-fought race, with many election observers anticipating a run-off.
Photo: Evans Mensah/IRIN  |
| Presidential candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo |
Akufo-Addo 64, a lawyer and former failed presidential candidate, represents President Kufuor’s New Patriotic Party (NPP). He served under the current president as attorney general and later as Foreign Affairs Minister.
His main rival, Atta Mills, 64, worked for many years as a lecturer at the University of Ghana and touts NDC’s social democratic principles. This is his third elections contest; he served as Ghana’s vice-president from 1997 to 2000 under former President Jerry John Rawlings.
The challenges both men might confront if either win are “enormous,” said lecturer Amakye.
Challenges
In the heart of the capital, Accra lies one of Ghana’s most famous slums, Sodom and Gomorrah.
Angela Aidoo, 45, lives in one of the slum’s wooden shacks. Aidoo and her four children sleep on the floor covered only with a cloth. “When it rains we stand up till the next morning - the roof leaks badly,” she told IRIN.
She said none of her children attends school; the youngest, seven-year-old Vida Aidoo joins her siblings to sell bagged iced water on the streets of the capital.
“Two of them finished the basic [primary] school but I don’t have money to enable them to continue, and the other two I find no need to put them in school - they have to help me make money,” Angela said.
She is aware of on-going political campaigning; all she needs, said Aidoo, is decent, affordable housing and some money to start a small business to fund her children’s education.
A recent Ministry of Works, Housing and Water Resources study calculated a shortage of 400,000 adequate housing units nationwide.
More than four million of Ghana’s estimated 22 million population are extremely poor, struggling to access basic social services like health, water and education, according to the UN.
Although Ghana has seen a significant improvement in its human rights record, its mining sector continues to suffer from “widespread violations”, according to the 2008 State of Human Rights in Mining Communities.
The rate of unemployment in Ghana currently stands at 20 per cent, much of it concentrated on youths in urban areas, according to government figures.
| Other candidates | |
 |
The Convention People's Party will be represented by Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, who promises economic and social change |
|
The People's National Convention candidate, Dr Edward Mahama, is promising agricultural revolution |
|
Youth empowerment is the focus for party Reformed Patriotic Democrats led by Kwabena Adjei |
|
The Democratic Freedom Party is led by Emmanuel Ansah-Antwi |
|
Lawyer Thomas Nuoko Ward-Brew will represent the Democratic People's Party |
|
The only independent candidate is Kwesi Amoafo-Yeboah, an engineer campaigning for accessible education and health care |
“We will set up an affordable housing trust fund to be accessed by real-estate developers to build cheap housing units for Ghanaians,” communications director of Nana Akufo-Addo’s campaign, Dr. Arthur Kennedy told IRIN.
He also highlights what the party’s “housing the people scheme,” that aims to give employers tax credits if they develop housing schemes for their workers.
But, he said, the Presidential candidate’s most important policy proposal is the commitment to extend free education to the senior secondary or pre-university level, though he has not outlined how the government would afford this.
The fight against corruption will also be a key priority if Akufo-Addo wins, said Kennedy, promising to pass a freedom of information act that will open up public and state institutions to more rigorous scrutiny.
“We will grow the economy from the current 6 percent to 10 percent in the first term, which we believe will translate into a significant reduction in the number of unemployed people.”
The main opposition NDC has dismissed the ruling party’s policy proposals, describing them as unrealistic. “We will only promise what we can realistically achieve,” Alex Segbefia, NDC campaign coordinator told IRIN.
“Our desire is to reduce the walking distance of children to school by establishing basic schools in all under-served communities, with a particular focus on improving teachers’ working conditions,” he said.
The party is also pitching poverty reduction objectives to voters, with a special focus on the north of the country where more than half of Ghana’s poor live, according to the UN. The NDC proposes a development fund, the with a start-up contribution of US$200 million.
Spokesman Segbefia also promised giving women a more prominent role in the country’s affairs with a proposed quota system that will reserve 40 percent of all government positions for women.
Like the ruling party, the NDC is also promising slum dwellers affordable housing by establishing a National Home Settlement Commission, to “oversee our realistic policy of giving homes to the poor and vulnerable.”
Both parties agree on is the strengthening of state institutions to tackle corruption and abuse of human rights.
Undecided
But some are not convinced by either parties’ promises. John Benneh, 35, a teacher told IRIN he is still undecided: “They have not told us how they are going to achieve these flowery promises, which make me very sceptical.”
At Accra’s Mokala market, tomato-seller Adjoa Asare Mensah, 40, told IRIN she will vote for the party with the best policy to give her “easy access to credit to expand her business.”
Analyst Amakye told IRIN despite the lack of detailed campaign promises, “the wealth of experience shared by both of these candidates puts them in a strong position to address the many challenges that confront our country.”
em/aj/pt
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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