Election Results...

I know that this has been a little while in coming, but, as of January 7th, 2008, Ghana has a new President: Professor John Evans Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress. Mills was the Vice-president under President J.J. Rawlings during the 1990’s and was the challenging candidate in this most recent election. Throughout the election, most polls showed him to be trailing, but still close. After a first round that saw no candidate obtain the necessary “50% plus 1” majority needed to win the election, a second round run-off was needed to determine a winner. In a very closely contested run-off, Mills was able to just barely squeeze out a victory over the incumbent party candidate. The official election results were announced on Saturday, January 3rd and Mills was inaugurated 4 days later.

All in all the election went well. I believe that many people are happy with the outcome and those that are not thrilled still want what is best for Ghana. Most importantly, the election was, for the most part, peaceful. Although the process was long and challenging (nearly a month from the first election day until the winner was announced) Ghanaians successfully rose to the challenges of democracy.

With that said, on December 30, two days after the run-off election, the results were supposed to be declared by the Electoral Commission at noon (in actuality, they were not officially declared until January 4th). I heard a rumor that morning that a large group of people had gathered outside of the EC waiting to hear the results. Myself, and a few other people from Accra Girls’ went down to the EC to see what was happening. When we got there we saw a huge crowd of thousands of people, all NDC and Mills supporters, blocking the streets and celebrating what they thought would an NDC victory. It was a cool thing to see so many people out and exercising their democratic rights. However, it was not quite what I have seen in the states. Many people were carrying bricks and two-by-fours. Ironically, some of these same people were also running around yelling “Peace! We want peace!”. As we were walking through the crowd, you could see hundreds of army officials and police in full riot gear with humvees, tear gas canisters, and fully automatic weapons. At one point a man drove through the crowd and made a gesture showing support for the NPP, the incumbent party and the crowd chased after the car, caught it and jumped on it and beat on it in a gas station parking lot. The man got away but the mayhem changed gears and the crowd tried to loot the gas station. As I was watching all of this a man ran in front of me holding a brick, saw me and yelled “This African Democracy, man! This African Democracy!”. Within a few minutes a huge van showed up and 15 or so police in riot gear jump out and subdued the crowd nonviolently.

The results announcement did not come at 12. (They did not come at 2 or 4 either, as rumor had it, but finally around 5:30 an announcement was made that the results would not come out until Saturday the 4th.) While waiting, we decided to go to a local radio station, RadioGold, that supports the NDC party and Mills. When we got there we saw a sea of people even bigger than at the EC and even more police…and a lot more tension in the air. The story was that a rumor had gone around that NPP members were going to show up at RadioGold to shut them down because the radio station is pro-NDC. Many NDC supporters would not stand for that so they went to protect the radio station. When the police heard that there may be a conflict, they sent troops. When the troops arrived, the NDC supporters assumed that they were sent by the NPP run government to shut down RadioGold as well, so the NDC supporters would not let the police enter the radio station. The people, again carrying two-by-fours, bricks, and other homemade weapons surrounded RadioGold and made a human wall, barring the police from entering the radio station! As I walked around and took pictures, one man came up to me and told me “Tell your people what is happening here.” I am not sure what exactly he meant by that, but I said yes, and took his picture. This went on all afternoon until, finally, the police left. When we left, there was still a lot of tension I the air, but it had been peaceful.

Being able to witness democracy here in Ghana is a truly unique experience, very different than the US, but, when it was all said and done, it was a relatively peaceful election that should help the people of Ghana.

Monkey's Heads and Voodoo...

Last week Andrea, one of the Fulbright researchers, and I went to Togo and Benin. We took a trotro for between 4 and 4 and ½ hour to Aflao, the town, in Ghana, that borders Togo and the capital city of Lome. We walked across the border and proceeded to get around Lome by taking “mototaxis” everywhere. Instead of having regular taxis all over the place, there are tons of small motorcycles and scooters around that are personal taxis and are really a ton of fun. The first night we had to check at a few different places, but found a place to stay relatively easily, and everyone we ran into was very nice and helpful.

The next day we were able to go to the Fetish Market, the largest one in West Africa and maybe the world. This is a market filled with items that are important in the “Voodun” religion. In the US we know it as Voodoo or Juju. Somewhere around 30% of the people in Togo still practice and the majority, more than half, of the people in Benin still practice. I learned, however, that Voodoo here is much different than what most Americans know it as. As slaves were taken from West Africa to the Americas, Voodoo came as well but changed as it made a home in the Western world. Plus, movies and books have demonized the religion as well by highlighting things like “black magic” and Voodoo dolls. These things do exist in the religion and are very real to its followers, but are not the main components of the faith. The market itself was pretty ghastly. It consisted of monkey heads, cheetah heads, monkey paws, snakes, elephant foots…you name it, it was there. It was really creepy to see and, like many things I have seen here, seemed surreal. There was a guy there that took us around and explained some of it to us and promised that all of the animals had died a natural death (not sure I really believe that). We were also able to meet the son of the Voodoo Priest (the priest himself had already left for the Voodoo Festival in Benin, more on that in a minute). The son of the Priest took us into his hut and told us about “gris gris”, charms, of sorts in Voodun. It was pretty cool and a very different experience than I have ever had before.

After a few days in Lome, we went to Benin for a Voodoo Festival that was pretty cool. There were a lot of tourists, a lot of white people, which, honestly, was a little strange to see. We walked around the festival and saw a lot of dancing and drumming and celebrations that I really did not fully understand, but neat to see because it is so different than anything I have ever seen. I am not sure if I will be able to upload it to the internet or not, but there were these large costume things that some of the people wore that looked liked a huge skirt but had no head. Again, I don’t really know what it was or what purpose it serves in Voodoo, but it was crazy.

After a few hours at the festival we decided to go and get back to Accra. Getting back through Benin was easy (again, taking mototaxi wherever we could) but getting into Togo presented a little bit of a hassle. Before having left Accra we had gone to the Togo embassy and purchased a visa that is good for all West African Francophone countries (Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo, and Benin). This was so we would save time at the borders by already having the visa and save a few bucks as well. However, the fine print on the visa stated it was only good for “single entry” into those countries. Getting in and out once is no problem, but we had already entered and exited Togo and wanted to reenter. The border official took my passport, looked at it, stamped it, signed it, and handed it back to me without hassle. As I stood there and waited, he took Andrea’s, looked at it and asked for mine back. Not thinking anything of it, I gave it back to him and he proceeded to cross out my entry stamp and told us that we each needed to pay 15,000 CF (30-35 dollars) to get another visa! We took out all of the CF we had and, all together, it amounted to exactly 14,500, not even enough for one visa. We told the guy and asked what we could do (all of this is in broken West African French by the way), and he was not happy with us. He called over another guy, who was very large and did not look particularly happy with us either, and he escorted us back across the border and told us we had to stay there until we had 30,000 CF! Luckily we had met another American at the festival who was going back to Accra at the same time we were. She saw that we had been escorted back across the border and she came over, found us, and loaned us enough money to get back into Togo. Once in Togo, we had/have multiple entry visas to get back into Ghana so the rest of the trip home went smoothly. For about 15 minutes, however, it was interesting to think about how we were going to get back to Ghana.

Traveling anywhere can be a challenge. Traveling in Africa is a whole new experience and a new challenge for me. Plus, the fact that everyone, on this trip, spoke French, but not just French, a strange combination of traditional West African languages and French, made communication difficult. Togo and Benin have been marred by political instability and Togo itself was rocked within the last decade by a bloody civil war that forced the withdrawal of much foreign investment. Everything worked out ok for us, luckily. All in all it was a great trip, but not without a little bit of drama near the end.

Angel...

I went to the Volta region of Ghana last weekend with one of the other Fulbright teachers and had a nice time. I saw (supposedly) the tallest waterfall in West Africa (Wli- pronounced ‘Vlee’- Falls), and swam in it! It was awesome. I Also went to the original Kente or “Kete” weaving village named Kpetoe. It was pretty neat. I got to try and actually do some of the weaving on the traditional looms and it was fun.

While getting on a trotro to go from Hohoe to Hoe (Wli Falls to the city near the Kente village) I met Angel. Angel is a Ghanaian girl who cannot be more than 7 or 8 years old and sells juice boxes for 10 pesewa (cents) from a tray she carries on her head. She saw Rebecca (the other Fulbright teacher) and I and could not stop staring and smiling at us. She spoke absolutely no English and the region we were in, the Volta Region, is a region that speaks “Elwe”, of which I don’t speak a word. So she just stood there staring at us and smiling, the cutest little ‘Angel’. Either she was simply awestruck be seeing two obrunis, or the best con-artist in the world because I gave her the rest of my FanYogo (a frozen yogurt treat that they sell of the streets here which really is delicious). She smiled and started to eat it and slowly walked away staring at me the entire time. However, she only got about 10 yards from the trotro and continued to just stare and smile. Rebecca had bought a “ginger drink” and did not like it so asked if I wanted it. I said sure and promptly signaled Angel to come over. I gave it to her and she again smiled and walked away staring. Same 10 yards, same smile, same stare. Eventually, she came back over and smiled and rubbed her stomach which I took as a kind thank you. She went back to her ten yards and smiled and stared. (Please keep in mind that there are these types of sellers all over, usually not as young as her, but they are all walking around and actively hawking their wares. Not Angel, she just stood, smiled, and stared.) Eventually I bought some rolls to give to her, but as I was buying them, she vanished. We sat in the trotro for another 15-20 minutes before we left, but she never came back. I asked 4 or 5 different sellers if they knew Angel and if they could show her to me, but to no avail. I did not even eat the rolls, I gave them to one of the other little vendor girls. Call me crazy or soft or whatever, but it is people like Angel and Wisdom that make me a little sad; they have so much potential, such a big heart, a limitless future, but have so little in life. The image of her standing outside the trotro window is not one that I will soon forget.

Mamobi Clash...

This afternoon I was on my way to Mamobi with Wisdom, who had just come over to hangout, and we were not but a few hundred yards outside of the campus and I saw a huge crowd of people in the street. As I got closer I realized that it was a political rally for the NPP, the incumbent party. It is important to note that Mamobi and Nima (the neighbors I live in and around) are staunchly NDC, the opposition party. I stood there with Wisdom and just watched the people as they got on 3 busses and numerous flat bed trucks and about 50 motorcycles to apparently drive around to try and drum-up support. The motorcyclists started driving around in circles in the middle of the street yelling and honking and actually standing on the seats of there bikes! One guy was riding around with another guy riding on his shoulders, not just on the back of the bike, but actually on the drivers shoulders. As I, and everyone else is watching this (and the rest of the Ghanaians who are NDC supporters are frowning upon all of this) about 50-60 NDC motorcyclists show up. All of a sudden there was a huge tension in the air. The girls at the intersection that are always there selling pure water ran off the street and all everyone watching took a collective step back. One lady came up to me, the only obruni, and asked if I wanted to go inside. We moved back some, but I wanted to see what would happen. I was thinking that this was it. This would be where and when the trouble would begin; two days before the elections in Mamobi, a notoriously lawless and rough neighborhood in Accra…and I forgot my camera!

The NDC motorcyclists turned on to the street where are the NPP supporters were and started to drive, on the wrong side of the road, directly at them, so NPP did the same thing after a few minutes of them just riding in and out of each other, the NDC supporters simply left. About 5 minutes later the NPP people were all loaded up and drove off yelling and shouting party slogans. The entire thing was peaceful. No conflict. No violence. An entirely peaceful expression of democratic ideas and freedom. It really was pretty neat to see. After the NPP group left the Mamobi ladies had nothing positive to say about the group and all seemed to want to tell me.

The runoff election will be held this Sunday and I am hoping to go around and take pictures. I think that it will be an interesting day to be out and see what is going on. On the 7th, I went out to see, but everywhere was very quiet. Rumor has it, that, with round two, it will still be peaceful, but that the city will not shutdown like it did three weeks ago. We will see, I will keep you posted as to the outcome, assuming we get one this time.

Rhythm...

On December 5th, I went to the Dubois Center for a Bead Society meeting which was ok. Afterwards, myself and one of the other Fulbrighters walked out and heard drumming so we went to check it out. We bought a coke and sat down to watch and listen. As we sat down, the two guys motioned us over next to them. They were good. They sang and played for us and it was really neat. Then, they asked us to play with them. On the extra two drums, they gave us a beat to follow and they did the improvising. It was neat. Now I would love to be able to tell you that it was easy and that I picked up on it without problem, however, that would not be the whole truth. Now, many of you may be thinking, “Well, duh! You are a white boy from the cornfields of Illinois.” In my own defense, I don’t think it is quite that simple. I play guitar, and although I am by no means talented, I can usually keep a pretty simple rhythm without too much problem. It took everything I had just to keep a basic rhythm and was frankly a little embarrassed. Later, as I left, I started to think about it and it has stuck with me ever since. I think that such an incident is a physical manifestation of the experience, as a whole, that I am having thus far in Africa. Allow me to use an analogy:

The best that I can do to explain what I am experiencing, culturally, here in Africa is to use music, and I am not sure this is even a good analogy, so please bear with me... When I first came here, everything was a blur, moving so fast, a million miles an hour, and I could not pick up any rhythm to it, I could not even hear the music. Then, slowly, I heard the background noise; that there was some type of music to hear (speaking of the culture in general), and therefore there must be a rhythm somewhere. In time, I have started to pick up the beat, the basic baseline. Every society, however, is a symphonic masterpiece, with millions of different instruments and movements. They all move together to form one song being played by 23 million people. Different towns and areas are different sections and play their own unique instruments and with their own special and one-of-a-kind style, but they fit together to make an original piece of music that can not be duplicated or identically replicated. Some other countries, societies and peoples may attempt, but they, too, will add, by nature, their own instruments and changes based on their strengths and talents.

Just to hear the beat is an incredible feeling, to hear the music is beyond words. It is a true Ghanaian who actually participates and plays in the music. I am not there yet, and, truly, don't know if I will be there in a year even. However, I think that it is important to realize a beat of the society/culture/people/country even exists. Some tourists and other obrunis that I have met I think are oblivious to the beat and music that surrounds them. I know that I am not yet part of this society, or ever will be for that matter, but I do recognize that there is music and a beat here and can therefore, strive to become part of it.

Election Update: Runoff...

After the election here on Sunday all of the votes were tabulated and the Electoral Commission officially announced the results on Wednesday afternoon; no party received the necessary 50% plus one vote to secure a victory. Therefore a second round or a "runoff" election is necessary and has been scheduled for December 28th. In this second round the two top vote-getters in the Dec. 7th election, and only those two, will face off again, thus ensureing that with only two parties one will take greater than 50% of the voter turnout.

The reaction in the country has been very mixed. Some are estatic that democracy is working, while others are a bit more skeptical and believe that a second round will just lead to more money wasted on campaigning and more tension in the country. The headmistress does not like the idea of having to prepare the school again to be a polling station and the headache and uneasiness that comes with having military personel stationed at the school.

Whatever the outcome, it is fascinating to watch and see how people react and respond. Everywhere I go I try to ask people about the election and they all seem to have their own opinions and views. Some are very open about who they support while others are quite reserved. All, however, agree on the fact, and promise me, that, like round one, the round two runoff will be peaceful.

Election Day...

“Today is a day that will live on in infamy.” FDR said this in regards to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Yesterday, all day, I had his quote ringing in my ears.

Yesterday was Election Day here in Ghana. The race between the two leading parties has been very close leading up the election and no one, with any certainty, could call the outcome. More than 24 hour later, after all the polls have been closed, the results, unofficial or official have not come out. The winning candidate must have “50 + 1”. This means that, unlike the US, Ghana does not use an electoral college, nor do they simply say whomever has the most votes wins. Here, in order to win you must get at least fifty percent of the voter turnout, plus one more vote to win. In other words you must have a majority of the number of people that voted not just simply more than all of the opponents. If, because there are four major parties here (only two of whom stand a real shot of winning), no one gets “50 + 1” there will be a run off between the top two vote getters. Those are the nuts and bolts of how the election here works, now the more interesting part…

I have been reassured by every Ghanaian that I have spoken with about the election that “it will be peaceful”. On the surface, that is a very nice and calming thought, but it actually has made me more nervous. Never in the US has someone told me, not to worry that the election will be peaceful. It is simply understood that it will be. Here, however, is a different story.

This is a country that has never had a peaceful transition of power from one democratically elected president to another; a country that has JJ Rawlings, a man who started two coups, killed hundreds (maybe thousands), and is still alive, free, and campaigning for one of the front running parties; a country where the UN has been called to monitor the election, a country where people proudly show you the ink on their finger that demarcates the fact that they voted; a country where the people must assure themselves that this will be a peaceful election; a country where people woke up and were in line to vote at 3 am though the polls would not open until 7; a country where the army stationed 30 armed military patrol men inside Accra Girls’ Secondary School (a polling station) for three days to ensure that law and order is maintained; a country that is wrought with corruption; a country that has a literacy rate hovering near fifty percent; a country that has just discovered billions of collars worth of oil; a country that is in the midst of Africa with pirates in Somalia, genocide in Sudan, riots in Nigeria, killings in the Congo, power-sharing in Zimbabwe, and countless other conflicts.

Two days before the election, I was walking around town and everyone was talking about the election. There were political rallies all over and trucks with loud speakers blaring political theme songs and speeches. I have never felt such a strong and lasting tension. That afternoon, with poetic irony, the biggest storm that I have seen since arriving in Africa poured down rain from black clouds all afternoon and most of the night. However, I went out on Election Day to Makola Market, which claims to be the largest market in West Africa, to see and feel the atmosphere. When I got there the place was like a ghost town; no one was there. Today, the day after the election I went out again to the local market, and although there were a few people and shops open, more than half were still closed. All has been entirely peaceful, but there is still much tension in the air. Rumor has it that the results will be released sometime tomorrow. This entire Fulbright experience is neat on many different levels, but to be able witness this election in Ghana is truly an historic event.