Election? What election?
Some work-related activity has brought me to the United Kingdom, where I once lived for close to two decades. All those years, I never got used to the biting cold, and coming back eight years since I moved to Ghana, I am not about to get used to it.
Suddenly, the stifling heat I have often complained of in Ghana has become an alluring, rosy attraction and I have found myself dashing into shops to buy a neck scarf, some gloves and some warm clothing to cope with the weather.
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Weather aside, it is great to be able to meet up with some old friends I haven’t seen in a while to catch up with over coffee and snacks, a pint of cider in a pub or a hearty lunch.
British Election 2019
With Ghana’s rolling, sometimes controversial news stories especially in the political space, together with the demands of work over the past two months , I have not paid much attention to British news, so it was a mild surprise to learn on arrival that there will be a general election in this country on December 12, just a little over a month away.
When I say I learned of the election, I do not mean I did so in the most visible way as we do at home, via loud and bright posters, banners and all manner of visual political party paraphernalia proclaiming a party leader as our saviour and the best possible thing that could happen to the country.
Back home, you do not need a radio or TV or newspaper to remind you of an impending election, because there are enough reminders even if you try not to know.
It is in your face 24/7.
Add the endless political screaming in the media and you’re good to go.
I first learned of the British election through a news item on the car radio on the way from the airport.
Being a parliamentary system, they do not have election dates fixed in stone, and campaign is usually done over six weeks.
Rallies are held indoors and crowds are relatively small.
Volunteers go knocking on doors in constituencies to engage voters in their homes and also shove leaflets through letterboxes.
Party leaders do not storm town in open top vehicles imperial-style with motor bikes screaming the house down.
I have watched a few debates on television and they are issue-based.
Of course, I was not surprised about the relative lack of visibility because I went through about three or four electoral cycles when I lived here.
On election day, I would simply pop over to the voting centre, which invariably was deserted and manned by sweet, middle-aged ladies.
Hardly any queues, hardly any fuss. After a quick vote, I would go on to work as would many others.
No one had time to hang around to cast an eagle eye on proceedings in case some ‘macho men’ decided funny tricks.
At 10 p.m, I would settle down behind the TV to follow the Election Night’s programme with panel analysis of exit polls and infographics. Then the constituency results would start tumbling in and by 5 a.m it would be clear which party won.
Because the British have no transition periods or inauguration, new governments hit the road running the morning the results come in.
For many years, I struggled to understand this system and found it rather staid. I have not departed much from that view.
A lively campaign?
When my host told me that this election campaign was particularly lively because of the contentious issue of Brexit, which has literally split the country, I burst out laughing.
If this was a lively campaign, then ours is clearly a carnival, which of course in many ways it is, because we are almost permanently in campaign mode.
I love carnivals, and I think it is almost intrinsic to Africans in literally every facet of our lives; baby outdooring events, weddings parties, funerals...you name it and we bring the house down.
We just don’t do things quietly, especially when we do them communally, and our elections simply plug into this.
I do wish we can focus on real issues that affect people’s lives in our election campaign and in our politics.
I do hope we can disengage from permanent campaign mode and focus on governance to make people’s lives better.
So give me a carnival election campaign season any day over a sterile one, but let’s keep it mercifully short.
By Rodney Nkrumah-Boateng ([email protected])