
Election 2024: Economy dominates voters’ choice - Graphic poll reveals
Majority of respondents in an online survey have identified the economy as the main factor that will influence their choice in the December 7 elections.
The 1,834 respondents who considered the economy as their most important indicator, represented 56.75 per cent of 3,232 people who participated in the poll run by the Daily Graphic on the Graphic Online news portal.
The impact of jobs, as distinguished from the state of the economy, accounted for 406 respondents, representing 12.56 per cent of the participants in a distant second position on the items listed against the question, while 371 respondents, representing 11.48 per cent, and 332 respondents, representing 10.27 per cent, chose illegal mining, also known as galamsey, and education respectively.
A further 162 respondents, representing 5.01 per cent, mentioned "other factors", while 127 more, representing 3.93 per cent, chose "no answer".
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Respondents, who indicated “other factors”, listed corruption, good governance, sanitation, peace and security, transportation, respect for rule of law, good policies, and LGBTQ among a number of items they considered relevant to their choice on December 7.
Others mentioned religion, the cedi depreciation, exchange rate, and agricultural support as issues that concern them.
Poll limitation
The poll restricted respondents to choose from economy, illegal mining, education, job creation, and “other factors” regarding which one factor would influence their choice on the ballot in December.
It did not make provision for more than one choice.
Those who preferred “other factors”, however, had the space to name the item most important to them.
Many of such participants grabbed the opportunity to vent their frustrations or to lament what they considered the country’s foremost challenges.
“Why did you make it only one response? You know all are part,” one respondent wrote.
“If jobs are created, there will not be any galamsey,” another stated.
“All of the above in addition to corruption, disregard for principles, injustices, among others,” yet another wrote.
“All the above and robbery of national coffers”, “two terms for each governing party”, “political party affiliation”, and “credibility of candidate,” others stated.
Another participant wrote: “A poisoned society! The sturdy pollution of water with poisonous chemicals raises an alarming flag of concern over health, economy, and environmental degradation. The gradual imminence of kidney and heart failures portend an apocalyptic future of a nation devoid of leadership actions to deal with this issue of greatest menace to Ghana. Is money for death the answer?”
Poll features
The poll, run across 120 hours, was available to respondents living in Ghana, and, therefore, likely voters in the December 7 elections.
The two-part poll also asked respondents if they thought the manifestos of the political parties did adequate justice to how they intended to deal with unemployment.
For that, 1,380 respondents, representing 42.7 per cent, said "yes", 914 respondents, representing 28.28 per cent, said "no", while 842 respondents, representing 26.05 per cent, answered “not sure”, with 96 others, representing 2.97 per cent, preferring a "no answer".
While it was limited to visitors to the website, and available for internet users, literates and generally the savvier electorate, it was to gauge the issues of interest to that segment of the voting public in relation to the 2024 elections.
Experts
Responding to the poll, a governance expert, Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah; an economist, Dr John Kwabena Kwakye, and a lecturer at the Political Science Department of the
University of Education, Winneba, Gilbert Arhinful Aidoo, said the economy was absolutely going to be the determinant in the election.
The economy, they said, determined everything in life for people, and that even the issue of unemployment came under the economy.
Prof. Agyeman-Duah said he was, therefore, not surprised that people were rating the economy as the most important issue, and cited the 2000 elections where the then candidate
of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), former President J.A. Kufuor, urged the electorate to vote on the basis of their economic circumstances.
“So, the economy generally, almost everywhere, tends to determine the outcomes of elections. So, I'm not surprised with the results of your poll,” he emphasised.
Prof. Agyeman-Duah said the country’s economy was badly rooted, given that it remained a dependent economy.
That, he said, was because the country depended on the global economy for almost everything, including the financing of projects.
Dependency syndrome
The statesman said until the country’s leaders were able to reconstruct the economy and move it away from such dependency syndrome, the situation would be a cycle.
“The economy is going to be in that kind of cycle until we, as a people, decide to change the fundamentals of the economy,” he said, referencing an economy built from the base through industrialisation, processing of raw materials, and export.
“Those are the things we need to develop. Until we come to that level, we are going to constantly be dependent on the global economy, and we are going to have a problem,” Prof. Agyeman-Duah said.
He said there was joblessness, and that young people who completed school ended up staying at home because there were no jobs.
Prof. Agyeman-Duah said the lack of jobs was a key factor in the illegal mining or galamsey craze, and the reason it came up as one of the determinants of the elections since there was the need to deal with the problem.
Cost of living
Dr Kwakye, who is also the Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), said as an economist he was not surprised that most Ghanaians had identified the economy as their most important issue going into the elections.
He said other countries were faced with a similar kind of situation, and cited the United States (US) as a case in point where inflation had been brought down to below three per cent, but with the citizenry still concerned that the economy, inflation and the high cost of living were still major issues going into the election.
“And for us, certainly, I mean because of the economic crisis we have gone through in the past several years, even though inflation has declined from 54 per cent in 2020 when it peaked to the current 21.5 per cent as of September, the fact is that while inflation is coming down, some people may think that then the cost of living is also declining.
But it does not necessarily follow,” Dr Kwakye said.
“We know that in 2022, prices rose by 54 per cent. In 2023, prices rose by another 23 per cent and so far this year, prices have risen by 21 per cent.
So, there is this compounding effect that most people tend to forget. So prices are not declining. Well, the rate of inflation is declining. But the price level build-up is still going up.
“That's why we still feel that the cost of living is so high. Of course, the bottom line for everybody is what you have in your pocket. In other words, your living conditions,” he said.
“So naturally, every Ghanaian is feeling the pinch. And then incomes don't normally increase to match the rate of inflation and so on. I mean, everywhere, incomes normally lag behind as prices increase.
So, it means that over time, people are becoming worse off. Worse off in real terms. So, I am not surprised that people are picking the economy as their most important issue,” the economist stated.
Dr Kwakye said other issues such as corruption, infrastructure, and so on were equally important to people, but “the thing that hits you, (what) immediately hits you hard, is the cost of living.”
Actionable plans
Mr Aidoo said the economy was unsurprisingly expected to be the central issue in Ghana’s 2024 elections, given the country’s ongoing economic difficulties.
“Voters tend to focus on economic conditions when they are under financial strain, and Ghana has recently experienced high inflation, a depreciating currency, rising unemployment, and a reliance on International Monetary Fund (IMF) support due to a debt crisis,” he said..
These factors, he said, had eroded household incomes, increased the cost of living, and created widespread dissatisfaction with the government.
“Political parties, therefore, need to prioritise economic recovery, focusing on strategies for controlling inflation, stabilising the currency, and restructuring the country's debt to regain public trust,” he said.
Mr Aidoo said job creation was another major issue closely tied to the economy, particularly given Ghana's growing youth population, saying high youth unemployment had led to frustration and social unrest.
“For many Ghanaians, sustainable employment opportunities are critical for both personal livelihoods and the country’s economic growth. Without sufficient job opportunities, the economy cannot expand.
“To address this, political parties must present concrete plans for job creation, which could involve private sector investment, entrepreneurship initiatives, and skill development programmes aimed at addressing the mismatch between education and market needs,” Mr Aidoo argued.
“In response to these pressing issues, namely economy, job creation, illegal mining, and education, political parties must offer comprehensive and actionable plans. On the economic front, they need to present viable solutions for stabilising the economy and addressing debt concerns.
Employment strategies should target both the formal and informal sectors, promoting entrepreneurship and investing in industries that create sustainable jobs. Solutions to illegal mining must include stricter law enforcement alongside rehabilitation of affected areas and support for alternative livelihoods.
“Finally, in education, parties should focus on improving infrastructure and teacher training while ensuring that the Free senior high school programme continues to deliver quality education that prepares students for the job market,” the lecturer added.
The economy, he insisted, would “undoubtedly be the defining issue of the 2024 elections”, but stressed, however, that “job creation, illegal mining, and education will also play pivotal roles”.
“Political parties must address these interconnected issues with practical solutions that resonate with voters, showing a clear vision for leading Ghana out of its current challenges and toward long-term development,” Mr Aidoo added.