Press "Enter" to skip to content

Why Covid-19, Unemployment And Corruption Dominates Ghana’s Election Debates

On December 7, 2020 general elections are scheduled to be held in Ghana. Although 12 candidates are vying for the top job, the contest mainly pits incumbent Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) against his predecessor John Mahama of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) – their third electoral showdown.

The president, who serves as head of state and head of government, is directly elected for up to two four-year terms. International and domestic observers generally praised the 2016 presidential election, and all major political parties accepted the outcome. Akufo-Addo, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, won with 53.9 percent of the vote, while incumbent John Mahama of the NDC took 44.4 percent.

This has centred on enhancing domestic resource utilization through improved tax compliance and digitalisation of government services to reduce administrative corruption, lowering inflation, and cleaning up the banking sector and financial system.

The 2020 presidential election will be a rematch as the NPP has nominated Akufo-Addo for re-election and NDC has nominated Mahama. In fact, this will be their third consecutive matchup. Although party primaries were slightly delayed due to COVID-19, NPP held its primaries on June 20, 2020 to select parliamentary candidates.

In comparison to other developing countries, Ghana’s unemployment rate is promising. Issues faced by the current government, such as managing the Covid-19 crisis and tackling corruption, are likely to be decisive factors. Also, there were pockets of violence during the biometric registration exercise, and some minors and foreigners managed to register to vote. The NDC has since called for an independent audit.

Both candidates are moderate, and regardless of the victory, economic policy should remain broad market-friendly. The NPP is running on a program of policy continuation focused on stimulating growth, development and investment in the real economy, partly through industrialization and digitalization.

In the industrial sector, the NPP would focus on supporting locally produced goods, including through finalizing the bauxite refinery and establishing an iron and steel industry. Meanwhile, there would also be a focus on upgrading physical infrastructure, which should benefit productivity and thereby growth.

Covid-19

The current government has won public support for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which included providing free water and subsidised electricity to households. In late July, President Nana Akufo-Addo announced that the Ghanaian people “are not dying of the virus in the hundreds and thousands that were earlier anticipated and predicted.” As of August 26, the government has recorded about 44,000 cases but only 270 deaths.

Akufo-Addo’s swift introduction of public safety measures probably saved many lives. The government, however, faces the triple challenges of maintaining its robust Covid-19 response and ensuring infections do not spike and salvaging its economy.

COVID-19 Pandemic Socio-economic Impact in Ghana

Ghana concluded a biometric registration exercise Aug. 6 under strict observance of safety protocols at registration centres. Every voter at registration centres had to wear a face mask, sanitize hands and ensure physical distancing. About 15 million Ghanaians were registered to take part in the election.

In Ghana, the country’s electoral commission put in place procedures to protect its poll workers and voters during its election, however, there were the challenges of the campaign trail.

However, Ghana’s Health Service recently estimated that more than 80% of Ghanaians are not wearing face masks, a drastic drop from previous compliance levels.

The government has taken steps to ensure public safety during the December elections. Between July and August, the government registered voters through an updated biometric system and tested potential protocols, including an online queuing platform to avoid crowds.

In November 2020, President Nana Akufo-Addo urged Ghanaians to put on the masks during rallies for the December 7 election. But at campaign events across the nation, for both Akufo-Addo’s New Patriotic Party and the opposition National Democratic Congress, supporters are flouting the rules.

Unemployment

The state of the economy continues to be a key topic. As one of the common themes in the political debates, unemployment and wages will feature in the race for the Jubilee House. Unemployment is not unique to Ghana, but it is particularly widespread in the West African nation, especially among university graduates.

Macro-fiscal Impact of the COVID-19 on Ghana’s Economy

Outlined in a December 2019 survey by non-partisan research institution Afrobarometer, unemployment and the management of the economy were identified by Ghanaians as two of the five major concerns facing the country.

On paper, the NPP has a lot of positive economic indicators it can point to, with reduced top-line inflation, high GDP growth figures and a reduced government deficit. Notwithstanding, the opposition will seek to capitalise on dissatisfaction with personal living conditions, high youth unemployment and a widening income gap.

In spite of major investments by both government and private sector, this challenge will intensify if job opportunities remain limited. To tackle youth unemployment, the report highlights the importance of having disaggregated data on youth job seekers by location, gender, skills and capabilities to inform policy and funding decisions and respond with appropriate and tailored employment programs.

The World Bank noted that, Ghana is faced with 12% youth unemployment and more than 50% underemployment, both higher than overall unemployment rates in Sub-Saharan African countries. In 2020, the unemployment rate in Ghana was at about 4.51 percent of the total labour force, according to Statista.

One vital area is Ghanian minimum wage policy which is incommensurate with the necessary living expenses of citizens. The necessary living expenses or cost of living is how much money a person actually needs to get by and have a decent accommodation, food, clothing, pay bills and support personal and family growth.

The 2020 National Daily Minimum Wage (NDMW) experienced an upward review from ¢10. 65 in 2019 to ¢11. 82, effective January 1, 2020.Although many Ghanaians earn above the daily minimum wage, very few jobs pay a living wage (i.e. a wage corresponding with actual ‘necessary living expenses’). Some jobs also pay less than the current daily minimum wage.

Yet, there is a need for sustainable national policies to reduce unemployment and raise the standard of living of Ghanaians.

Corruption

In 2017, Ghana recorded its lowest score on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index in five years, gaining only 40 out of a possible 100 points. It has since maintained a score of 41. In the 2019 Transparency International Corruption Perception index, Ghana ranked 41 out of 100, with 100 being the cleanest.

While the judiciary has demonstrated greater levels of impartiality in recent years, corruption and bribery continue to pose challenges. In 2018, President Akufo-Addo suspended four High Court judges based on allegations of bribe taking that dated back to 2015.

Jerry Rawlings 1947-2020: The Father of Modern Day Ghana

Pervasive corruption in the public sector is undermining Ghana’s progress. This costs the country $3 billion (€2.47 billion) every year, according to the Ghana chapter of Transparency International. That is a third of what the state needs to stop perennial flooding.

In 2018, Akufo-Addo nominated popular anti-corruption campaigner Martin Amidu, a member of the NDC opposition party, as Special Prosecutor a nomination which was approved by Ghana’s lawmakers.

[h5p id=”615″]

This was heralded as a positive development; however, survey data from 2019 showed that a majority (53%) of Ghanaians felt that corruption had increased in the past year, with only 19% feeling a decrease. There was a 27-percentage-point drop in approval ratings regarding the government’s performance in fighting corruption between 2017 and 2019, with 40% of respondents considering the government to be doing a “fairly” or “very” good job when it comes to tackling corruption.

At the same time, Martin Amidu resigned from the office of Special Prosecutor citing among many other threats to his being following his undertaking of the Agyapa Royalties Limited Transactions anti-corruption assessment report.

Disclosed Martin Amidu, who personally announced his resignation publicly, his decision to go public with his resignation was advised by developments proceeding his report on the Agyapa Royalties Limited Transactions and related matters, describing those developments as “traumatic experience”.

Amidu subsequently described the president as the “mother serpent of corruption” and accused him of leading the “greatest corruption plot in the history of Ghana” in a 27-page letter addressed to Akufo-Addo and released online.

Although, government officials and members of the ruling party have defended the Agyapa scheme as a way to secure additional value from Ghana’s position as the world’s largest exporter of gold, while limiting its exposure to volatile shifts in global commodity prices. But civil society groups have criticized the use of a Jersey-based company due to the jurisdiction’s secretive financial regulations and its vulnerability to money laundering.

Another blow to Ghana’s fight against corruption came when the president placed the Auditor General, Daniel Domelevo, on mandatory leave in July 2020. Domelevo was investigating the country’s Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Maafo for a $1 million (€828,000) suspicious transaction.

 

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply

Mission News Theme by Compete Themes.