ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Polling stations opened Saturday in Ghana’s presidential and parliamentary elections, poised to become a litmus test for democracy in a region rocked by extremist violence and coups.
About 18.7 million people are registered to vote in the West African country hit by one of the worst economic crises in a generation. However, the two leading candidates offer little hope of change for the nation.
Ghana used to be a model of democracy in the region. At a time when coups threatened democracy in West Africa, Ghana has emerged as a beacon of democratic stability with a history of peaceful elections. It had also been an economic power, proud of its economic development.
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But in recent years the country has faced a deep economic crisis, including rising inflation and a lack of jobs.
According to a poll published earlier this year by Afrobarometer, a research group, 82% of Ghanaians believe their country is going in the wrong direction
Although 12 candidates are running to become Ghana’s next president, Saturday’s elections – like the previous ones since the return of multi-party politics in 1992 – have become a two-horse race.
Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia is the candidate of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), which has struggled to resolve the economic crisis. He is running against former President John Dramani Mahama, the leader of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). He was voted out of office in 2016 after failing to deliver on his promises for the economy.
The NDC prides itself on being a social democratic party, while the ruling NPP bills itself as a right-leaning party. But in fact, analysts and voters said, the programs of their presidential candidates are not significantly different from each other.
276 MPs will also be elected on Saturday. The ruling NPP party and the main opposition NDC party each have 137 members in the 275-member legislature, with one independent member voting largely with the ruling party. One more constituency may vote in these elections, bringing the number of delegates to 276.
At their final campaign rallies Thursday, both candidates made a final attempt to pitch their political parties as the answer to Ghana’s economic problems.
Bawumia, 61, an Oxford-educated economist and former deputy governor of the country’s central bank, vowed to build on the outgoing government’s efforts and stabilize the economy.
Mahama, 65, on the other hand, reiterated his pledge to ‘reset’ the country on several fronts. “We must reset our democracy, governance, economy, finance, agriculture, infrastructure, environment, health sector and everything we hold dear as a people,” the former president said.
In the capital Accra, the mood ahead of the elections is optimistic, as evidenced by posters and billboards showing motorcyclists performing stunts, political rallies in the streets, election jingles and songs blaring from public speakers.
But the concern for many is also palpable about the most important thing at stake: the country’s ailing economy, which has been under pressure on several fronts in recent years.
The country defaulted on most of its foreign debt last year as it faced a worsening economic crisis that sent prices of fuel, food and other essentials soaring. Inflation reached 54% at the end of last year and although inflation has fallen since then, not many Ghanaians can still tell the difference when they go to the market.
The chronic challenge of illegal gold mining – known locally as galamsey – has also been a major issue in the campaign and a concern for voters, sparking protests and criticism of the outgoing government.
Ghana is Africa’s largest gold producer and the sixth largest in the world, but the commodity is increasingly being mined illegally as people become more desperate for jobs in an economy that is crumbling. Mining has polluted rivers and other parts of the environment, despite government measures to curb the practice.
