Forward in Unity, One Nation with Love
Before today, I'd given myself, this blog and Reporting Ghana's Presidency a self imposed hiatus on reporting on politics.
I love politics and as a political scientist (my 1st/college degree certifies my cred), it was one of the most difficult things to do but Ghana's political climate called for cooler heads than inadvertent fanning of disgruntled political flames.
During the elections with the Ghana Decides team, we were able to report on the elections from polling stations through to collating offices and the party headquarters of the respective parties. After the electoral commissioner announced the NDC as the winner, the divide in the country became very very apparent. Besides isolated incidents of violence on the streets of Accra by the opposing NPP supporters, the general sentiment among peace-seekers was for us not to incite the already disgruntled NPP. I hate to admit it, but most Ghanaians' Christmas celebrations were tampered down because of the uncertainty caused by the NPP and other political parties refusing to concede and accept the electoral commissions results. The matter has been sent to Ghana's Supreme court.
But the swearing-in of the president-elect H.E. John Mahama was still an august occasion. It was colorful, patriotic and the pride tens of thousands of Northerners, a region John Mahama is from, showed by driving 12+ hours to attend the occasion made it a joy to document on camera. The Ghana Decides coordinator trashed out on epic proportions (slang for did a terrible job at coordinating) and I ended up by myself most of the day and not having the assistance/feeling comfortable to record video. Then again, a picture shares 1000 words, so enjoy:
I love politics and as a political scientist (my 1st/college degree certifies my cred), it was one of the most difficult things to do but Ghana's political climate called for cooler heads than inadvertent fanning of disgruntled political flames.
During the elections with the Ghana Decides team, we were able to report on the elections from polling stations through to collating offices and the party headquarters of the respective parties. After the electoral commissioner announced the NDC as the winner, the divide in the country became very very apparent. Besides isolated incidents of violence on the streets of Accra by the opposing NPP supporters, the general sentiment among peace-seekers was for us not to incite the already disgruntled NPP. I hate to admit it, but most Ghanaians' Christmas celebrations were tampered down because of the uncertainty caused by the NPP and other political parties refusing to concede and accept the electoral commissions results. The matter has been sent to Ghana's Supreme court.
But the swearing-in of the president-elect H.E. John Mahama was still an august occasion. It was colorful, patriotic and the pride tens of thousands of Northerners, a region John Mahama is from, showed by driving 12+ hours to attend the occasion made it a joy to document on camera. The Ghana Decides coordinator trashed out on epic proportions (slang for did a terrible job at coordinating) and I ended up by myself most of the day and not having the assistance/feeling comfortable to record video. Then again, a picture shares 1000 words, so enjoy:
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| Foreign observers at the swearing-in ceremony |
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| A packed Independence Square, Accra |
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| Supporters of the the NDC & President-elect Mahama |
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| Venue for the swearing-in: Independence Square, Accra |
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| Supporters and fans of NDC |
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| Abedi Pele, Former Football and FIFA Ambassador |
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| Forward in Unity, One Nation with Love |
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