Funeral Culture in Ghana

This years BBC World Service radio play competition had one Ghanaian in the top. Benjamin Kent wrote the play "Funeral Bells" which evolves around the oh-so-common Ghanaian funeral. Loads of people, food and drinks, but often you don't even know the deceased...

Listen to the play here.

In the pic, my mother-in-law and me at a funeral for someone I'd never met, in a village in Central region, Ghana .

Ghana Elections Update

So, now the elections are off to a second round, taking place on December 28th and with results probably not until just before next year starts, as Maya predicts.

When the total results were in, the "high turnout" (that I wrote about here) was also adjusted, into something much lower than last time. The Economist also questioned the high turnout from last presidential elections citing a bloated voters registry to cause the extraorinary turnout. They concluded wryly:

This time fewer votes were cast by the under-age, the multiply-registered and the dead.

This first round of elections where the opposition party NDC overtook a number of parliament seats from the ruling NPP, but left NPP on top -if just slightly - in the presidential elections, shows that people in Ghana do consider split ballots. Also, the campaign funds that probably were several times greater for the incumbents, much caused by their strong support by the middle class and Ghanaian Diaspora overseas, does not seem to have had any greater impact.

The elections were deemed free and fair by international observers and from my point of view, everybody has remained very calm, even when the two leading parties only were divided by little over 1%.

Maybe it is too soon to draw big conclusions on the quality of Ghana's democracy, but it surely looks promising.

High Turnout in Ghana Elections

Still there is no proclaimed winner of Sunday's elections here in Ghana. According to Al Jazeera the incumbent NPP holds a slight lead, but according to local radio channel Joy FM the race is still a complete tie, with more than half of the constituencies counted.

However, judging from international press it is clear is that the turnout was high, but no estimates have been given here either. According to the African Elections database the turnout was 60 % for the 2000 presidential elections and a impressing 85 % last time around in 2004. Can this year's turnout really exceed that?

In the pic a friend with a purple pinkie indicating that he had voted.

A Close Call

Election results from yesterdays elections start trickling in. We are many who think there will be a second round of elections since a full majority or 50% of the votes are needed to win the presidential seat.

It seems elections went fine, my parents in law didnt even have to queu, but could move ahead straight to the polls because of their (high) age. My friend who voted in the afternoon also came out in 5 minutes with a purple stained pinkie.

Now we just have to wait and see.

Cinema Celebrations

This weekend, I had the pleasure of visiting the newly opened Silverbird Cinemas in Accra. I am not the biggest fan of watching films in company of strangers, so bloggers Abena, Maya and Que beat me to it. However, not even having the option to go, makes the cinema love grow...For the longest time - probably since early 1990s when TV-sets and videotapes came to Ghana in bulk - Ghana's capital Accra has been without a cinema. Ok, there are the dubious "video houses" where you rent a film that comes with a private room for you and your company. The one I went to last year had a sofa bed with a rubber cover, hm, wonder what goes on in there...

However, that is now in the past and Accra has now its own five screen cinema, located in the Accra Mall, a shopping complex put together by Broll Management of South Africa, according to afridigital.net. There is popcorn scent all around, red cosy chairs, people to sell tickets (GHC 10 each) and others to rip them apart and say, "welcome, there is free seating". There is Bond and College-films, Indian Golmaal and the occasional comedy.

So now, when the sun is just too much, there is an opportunity to go into the dark, heavily air-conditioned cinema hall and be swept away. My tip is, bring a blanket and someone you can wrap your arm around. It was really very cold in there.

Pic borrowed from Abena.

Tribal Vote in Ghana?

This is the Electoral Map of the 2004 elections, blue for NPP, green for NDC. As you can see distinct areas of the country support different parties, eg. the central part of Ghana was predominately NPP and the north and the east mostly voted for NDC. As it happens, these geographical areas broadly converts into ethnic groups or tribes.

This year there has been a concern that the ethnic vote will create violence and confusion and this possibility has been met with not less than three campaigns: (1), (2), (3), to stem eventual violence. However, when I have talked to people, this is not a big concern. Some say, former presidents have been from different tribes; Ashanti, Ewe, and the main contestants this time around are from yet other tribes; Akyem and Fanti, so we have nothing to worry about. Others talk about an Electoral commission that is competent and independent, so who can then meddle with election results?

Even so, the majoritarian, winner-takes-all political system Ghana shares with USA has the disadvantage of leaving minorities unrepresented. Maybe Ghana, as a country with many ethnic groups would be better served with a multiparty, consensual political system? Read Eric Kwesi Bottah's insightful article for more arguments for a multiparty system in Ghana.

On Sunday the Ghanaian general elections are on, and the question is how Ghanaians will vote this time?

Map from excellent elections' site thinkghana.com/elections/