Just in case Ghanaian Politicians forget in Election Year 2012...

Ghanaians do NOT "eat" roads!

This is a common refrain heard by Ghanaians of all walks of life. It is especially heard in years when elections take place, such is this Olympic year of 2012.

When politicians go campaigning, vox pop by media houses are likely to include a piece of an agitated voter stating categorically that "these politicans think they can come after three years of doing nothing and present only a road they did for us in this community. Do  they not know we don't eat roads?"

If roads were designed for eating, I daresay there would not be enough for anyone in 
this country!

A Vignette (in TV Pictures) of How Christmas & Ghana Election 2008 Fared

Let me begin by wishing you ALL a profoundly sincere and joyous New Year. May all your dreams come to pass! As you ponder what you would like to see yourself improve over 2009, allow me to bring you a different kind of Accradailyphoto post--that of television pictures. This is because given the intensity of the Ghanaian elections, it is safe to assume a lot of time was spent by Ghanaians in front of the television!

Before I begin, let me just add that Ghana has just recently added a sixth TV station by the name of Viasat 1, so you will forgive me if most of the screen shots were from one TV station--Metro TV. The family spent most of the time shuttling between TV3 and Metro TV, and I have to say that Metro outshone TV3 in terms of graphics, drama, currency. Good stuff.

The pictures below offer you a glimpse of how Ghanaian TV can be. Enjoy!

On 30 December, Ghanaians sat down to their televisions, with radios in tow for good measure, to listen to Dr.Afari-Gyan of Ghana's Electoral Commission was to declare who the winner out of the 28 December run-off would be.

Or was he?



Just to give you a clue: the inimitable Mary-Ann Acolatse, news editor of Metro TV, (pictured here) would facilitate extensive coverage of why Dr.Afari-Gyan was most likely not going to announce a winner. You will see from the screen capture that only 229 out of 230 constituencies had been announced; one would remain...


...and so, the Electoral Commission (EC) boss would give some kind of stay of execution by announcing on the tv networks that the constituency of Tain--a rural constituency in the Brong Ahafo region needed to vote on 2 January, 2009. It would be that vote that would definitively secure the winner of the December 2008 general elections that has been described by the Western media as a "cliff-hanger".


New Year would come...and go...









...and the winner of the Tain voting on 2 January would be declared through provisional results. The screen capture clearly shows that the party to the left of the screen (incumbent [until this afternoon at 13h00 GMT] -- National Patriotic Party (NPP)) received only 9.02% of the votes, with the now-ruling government [as of 14h00 GMT today!] of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) receiving 90.98% of the votes.

Tomorrow, we get a better glimpse of Ghana's new president Professor John Evans Attah Mills.

Election Febrility to get Hotter

So it was that last week, SHOPRITE would remind the Ghanaian electorate that the shop would be closed on Sunday for elections.

After several heated hours and late nights, the papers have come out. Here's the one I chose--the Ghanaian Times


...to illustrate that there will be a SECOND ROUND of voting on 28th December. The Christmases of Ghanaians looks like it will be subordinated to politicking.

Ouch!

Incidentally, you can now reach this site on: http://accradailyphoto.com

Soul Food: Akosombo Dreaming!

This picture of serenity is not without a context: my "disappearance" from this blog has a lot to do with having very little time to access a computer to upload pictures. Although I hinted at it before I left last week, I was not as explicit in stating that a combination of heightened tensions surrounding Ghana's elections (more because of anxiety for all the ads to be over, and many discussions on Facebook over the outcome!) and a needed desire to wrap things up for the year--coupled with our regular annual retreat from Accra have all contributed to the absence.

Akosombo is no stranger to this blog; last time we were there was in January 2006. The next couple of days, I'll be bringing fresher pictures of Akosombo, located in the Eastern region of Ghana. In the meantime, I appreciate your indulgence of the absence. Am back with a bang before Christmas! Will be doing my lap of honours soon--not without a Friday 5 December break, which will be a celebration of Ghana's Farmer's Day and Monday 8 December that will be a local public holiday!

Thank you!

When Scarce Water is No one's Cup of Tea

Last time I looked, the only thing in common water had with tea was the fact that they were both liquids! So, what really takes the biscuit in this entry is the fact that for the past couple of days, even drinking tea and trying to wash the cup has rarely been any one's cup of tea, on account of needing to fetch water into a bowl, and then clean the cup separately before washing it.

As Ghanaians gear themselves up to watch the second of the Presidential debates organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in the Northern region of the country, potential and floating voters will be (re-)considering which of the major four parties will ensure that water will be running regularly, I'm sure!

Ouch, hope with all this talk of food and liquids, you're not hungry?

How about some tea?;-)

A Very Special Day for Most Ghanaians...Go Obama?

From today's edition of Daily Graphic...
...to Sunday's Sunday World newspaper, it's all the way for OBAMA!!

Ghanaian Electioneering...on Wheels

On the way back to Accra from the Central region some two weeks ago, we were "met" by this noisy bunch behind our car, carrying what looked like the flag of the incumbent administration of the NPP in power...

As they moved closer, it was clear the boisterous boys in the car waving the flags were ineluctably supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Away they went into the capital. Quick glances of observors revealed some sycophants doing the kangaroo dance that has come to epitomise the motto of the party moving the country forward once they are re-elected on 7 December.

Tonight's presidential debates organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs will go some way to bringing into sharp relief where really the political temperature is at!