Elizabeth Ohene: "This Is How We Campaign In Ghana"

Tribal chiefs like these gentlemen hold a lot of political power over voters

The former Ghanaian government minister in Ghana and member of the center-right New Patriotic Party discusses her country's upcoming Dec. 7 presidential election: "The political parties are running advertisements in the newspapers, on radio and television like they do everywhere else but nobody really knows if the adverts change anybody' s mind. It is imperative, however, that you get a very catchy piece of music to accompany whatever message you are trying to convey to the people. You can have the most well thought out programme for dealing with the many woes that afflict our nation, but if you do not have a catchy tune, you are not going to make any headway."

She continues her commentary: "But if you want to know what political campaigning really is, then you have to follow a parliamentary or presidential candidate for a day or two. Each day starts early, very early. The candidate is at the chief's palace at 05.30 because he is obliged to see the chief and get permission before he can campaign in his town or village. The candidate presents the obligatory two bottles of gin or schnapps and a token sum of money to the chief who then assures the candidate of his wholehearted support. This is all very well really for as long as the candidate understands that the chief will be giving his wholehearted support to every other candidate that comes to his door. That is the way it works here, in much the same way as there is no guarantee that the people who are scrambling for T-shirts bearing a particular candidate's image will necessarily vote for him."