We are indeed Moving Forward!

Allow me as a non Ghanaian who is living in Accra to throw my 2 cents worth into the fray of the discussions that are at present heating up the entire country. The elections are on most people’s minds here. There is debate, argument and counter argument between and amongst Ghanaians (and even non Ghanaians).

When I announced to my family and friends that I would be in Accra during the recently held elections, I was immediately beset with looks and sighs of panic and concern. By way of explanation, my family like most African families these days is scattered all over the globe. Having migrated for employment purposes, I am the only member of my family here in Ghana.

Armed to the teeth as they were with all the well known stories of elections in much of Africa (most recently illustrated in countries such as Nigeria, Kenya and Zimbabwe), the concern for my safety and well being at election time became the focus of my family’s attention. What would happen when, rather than, if chaos broke out? Calls and SMS messages came in a plenty, asking what my evacuation plans were. What is the strategy? Where will you stay? You simply cannot stay in that house alone at this time; What if something happens? The panic reached fever pitch. All the while, I (with some moderate trepidation it must be said) tried to assure them that all would be well. But just in case, I’d camp at Bisi’s house across the street.

And so come election day on 7th December. I am woken up at 5.30am. Vero, my house keeper lets me know very excitedly that she is off to cast her vote. I wish her well as I close the gate behind her and fortress myself inside. Soon after that, the phone starts to ring. Mum, sister, brothers, uncles, aunts, cousins, friends, former school friends, boyfriends and so on. It occurs to me that I do not realise how much I am loved until now. The calls come through out the day. I assure them I am fine and all is well. I even tell then about the drive I have taken to do some shopping. But they seem strangely unable to believe it. It is the calm before the storm, they say; Don’t let your guard down, you never know what can happen. On and on it went.

Who can blame them for worrying like this? Given the general pessimism dolled out regularly in the international media with the same underlying message - Africa is a Basket Case! – beamed frequently into our homes and into our consciousness? And yes, one cannot ignore the ugly conduct of many in political leadership on the continent today. The contempt with which they treat their office, their countries, their continent and their fellow citizens is quite simply, staggering. It does little to broker confidence in any undertaking that in which they are a part (unless of course it involves theft and other such acts of gross misconduct).

Well, the storm that my family and friends whipped up a fever about never actually materialised. On that day, 7th December 2008, Ghanaians all over the country went to the polling stations, waited patiently, some for very long hours, in the sweltering heat to cast their votes. And cast their votes, they did. I spent the evening with Bisi and her family and some of her friends from ECOWAS who were here to monitor the elections. They informed us that everywhere they went, the situation was the same. Voting was conducted in an orderly, transparent and fair manner. Although there was no official announcement of the result until 10th December, the media was busy doing its own counting. It was a close race with no clear winner emerging. We marvelled at how in spite of there being no clear winner, so far there were no attempts to stuff the boxes or hold a gun to some poor vote counter’s head, or even a bribe which is far more effective! You mean they haven’t sent a few armed privately armed militia to remind them where to cast the vote? We laughed. Even more astonishing was that a senior military official felt the need to issue a press statement denying reports that he had held meetings with leaders of the political parties in the run up to the election.. In our countries ,there would be no cause for denial, since the military is the government, we joked.

The country and the electorate waited, patiently for the official results from the Electoral Commission. On 10th December the results were announced. There would be a second round of voting as there was no clear winner for the presidency.

The political parties and candidates accepted the result, the people accepted the result and the country moved on with its life. Not a single gun shot anywhere. No skirmishes. No loss of life. Nothing but peace and acceptance. This really is the stuff of elections.

The Head of the Electoral Commission, Dr Afari Djan and his entire team did an exemplary job of counting the votes. The media also played its part in reporting even the slightest whiff of skulduggery. The military kept out of view and kept silent. The polling stations and all the volunteers, party agents, voters, candidates, everyone made the decision that they are Ghanaians first, and conducted themselves in a manner that is befitting such an occasion.

For many in Africa today, free and fair elections are nothing but a fanciful dream. Casting one’s vote is simply a matter of life and death. Yet in the midst of all this turmoil, there are also reasons to believe that change will come. Ghana has given us a reason to believe. And we will hold on to it for all that it is worth.

In the words of yet another reason to believe, Barack Obama, Yes we can.

And we did on 7th December 2008.

Congratulations Ghana. You did Africa proud. We are indeed Moving Forward! May it continue on 28th December 2008.

You will be pleased to know that my family is not worried at all now.

Sarah Mukasa
Director of Programmes