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Mrs Lordina Mahama, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, Mrs Yvonne Nduom
Mrs Lordina Mahama, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, Mrs Yvonne Nduom

‘First Ladies’ campaign on social media. Who means business?

The race for the presidency has always been a tougher journey for presidential candidates and their families.

The financial, physical, psychological and emotional stress on the flag bearer and his family is as huge as it is on the party from which the presidential candidate leads.

The wife and children of a flag bearer, unarguably, have the biggest interest in an election. After all, they get to be called the First Family, not to talk of the endless opportunities at their beck and call at the end of the day.                                                                                                                                                              

Since 1992 when Ghana opted for the democratic system of ruling, the role of first ladies in support of their husbands has been phenomenal. The First Lady of the fourth republic, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, with her strong character was very instrumental in Ghana’s politics from 1992 to 2000. With her assistance, ex-President Jerry John Rawlings secured a 58.3 per cent and 57.4 per cent in the 1992 and 1996 general elections respectively.                                                                                                                                         Then the quiet and calm Theresa Kufuor took over the title from Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings in 2000, supporting her husband, John Agyekum Kufuor, through two terms of political administration. With her support,  Mr Kufuor won the presidency with 56.90 per cent and 52.45 per cent in 2000 and 2004 respectively.                                                                        Mrs Ernestina Naadu Mills succeeded Mrs Kufuor in 2009 when Prof. John Evans Attah-Mills attained 50.23 per cent of votes in the 2008 election, only to lose the title not long afterwards to the current First Lady, Mrs Lordina Mahama, in July 2012 when her husband died. It is, therefore, right to assert that the campaign strategy of Mrs Mahama in the 2012 election contributed to the 50.70 per cent that President Mahama secured.

First lady

To be called the first lady is a great honour that comes with many unimaginable opportunities. The questions, however, remain; who is working hard enough and who will have the crown of fame and glory after the December polls?

Over the years, the emergence of social media has become a new and effective tool for political campaigns, and politicians who make maximum and efficient use of this platform together with the traditional methods of campaigning always have an upper hand over their opponents who only adopt the traditional campaign medium.                                                                                               

As aspiring first ladies in this high stake election, their campaigns on social media platforms show their proactiveness and seriousness to use every opportunity available to them to increase the number of votes for their husbands.  Since the candidates of the two main parties hope to have a one touch victory, no stone should be left unturned.                                                                                                                    

This writer made some quick checks on the social media accounts of Mrs Yvonne Nduom, Mrs Lordina Mahama and Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo to know the importance they attach to their social media handles as campaign tools for the dissemination of campaign information to the electorate.                                                                                                                                           

Yvonne Nduom

                                                                                                                                                                On her Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages, Mrs Nduom seems not to pay any attention to social media as a possible campaign tool for her husband. These accounts have very few personal photos, comments and personal views on other matters and I hope she will ‘wake up’ for her husband if indeed she believes in his political ambition. In the last election, Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom could not pull one per cent of the total votes cast and so if he hopes to get more votes this time around, he will need to reach out to a good number of Ghanaians with his message and his wife has a major role to play too.                                                                       

Lordina Mahama                                                                                                                                                     

This is an active and up-to-date account with a cover photo of the First Lady and the President which does not communicate any political message to people. With a total number of 384 photos posted here, it’s worrying to know that with less than 20 days to the much anticipated election where the President seeks a one-touch re-election, almost all photos in this account are those of Mrs Mahama’s donations and personal charity works which do not send any clear political message to the electorate. Her Twitter account (@FirstLadyGhana), with 4,967 followers, 528 tweets and 173 photos, has the same story, as well as her Facebook account.

Though there are few photos of campaign activities of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and President Mahama, majority are photos communicating Lordina Mahama’s charity works.                                                                                                                                                                       

My checks on Instagram could not produce any authentic information on the first lady. I do hope the first lady will adopt a special interest in using social media to mobilise support for her husband by posting more campaign messages and party activity photos on her social media accounts. Besides, Ghana’s electoral history from the fourth republic has taught us that in the second term of every sitting president, his vote percentage drops, thus should history repeat itself, the President’s ‘One Touch Victory’ will be mere words.                                                      

Rebecca Akufo-Addo                                                                                                                                   

The Facebook account of the wife of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate is the most vibrant, active and interactive of the three accounts where all 627 photos, 29 videos and a catchy cover photo show party activities, programmes and messages.                                 

 Her Twitter account (@RAkufoAdoo), with 5,887 followers, 306 tweets and 55 photos as of the time of writing this piece, has the same story as her Facebook account.                                                                                                              

On Instagram (rakufoaddo), she interacts with 9,559 followers on a daily basis on party messages and programmes, appealing to them to vote for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the NPP. I say kudos to Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo for the massive social media campaign done so far.

With less than 20 days to the election, our first ladies-to-be should be getting ready to put finishing touches to their campaign works for their husbands. The most important issue, however, is that they should also remember that the few days left are equally enough to enable them to utilise every unused platform effectively.                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

When election results are declared after December 7, the lucky first lady should feel proud that she contributed fully and not partly to her husband’s election campaign.

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