Ghana 2020

[Zinneke]

Ghanean Presidential elections on Monday then and its a repeat of the last two Presidential elections in terms of the candidates. Former President John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (centre-left, Jerry Rawlings’ old party) will take on incumbent Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (centre-right) There has been a great deal of controversy about some of the dirty tricks the incumbent has been playing with a new voting register, an incredibly arbitrary voter identification process should the biometric test fail, and lastly the old “Big Man” trick of creating chaos to sell order, with the incumbent Akufo-Addo trying hard to provoke an insurgency in the Volta region by deploying the military there and stoking ethnic tensions, whilst also accusing the opposite of registering Burkinabe nationals to vote in border towns in the north.

[CumbrianLefty]

Ah, all that sounds a tad concerning in what has been one of Africa's success stories recently.

[NewYorkExpress]

Al Jazeera's preview of the election.

[Zinneke]

Honestly the FT's headline is that all of Africa is in envy at the Ghanean's boring electoral process which shows you what the British establishment think, while France24 paint a country in chaos, probably as a slight payback to Anglo-Saxon coverage of the Ambazonian crisis. At least Al Jazeera seem a bit objective.

Anyway usually the main trend is South and West = NPP because majority Akan and North and East = NDC because ethnically diverse North and in the East the Ewe people dominate and have a fare few frustrations with the majority rule of their own. Be interesting to see if that holds up.

Ah, all that sounds a tad concerning in what has been one of Africa's success stories recently.

Thing is - and I'm not a proponent of "its the economy stupid" style logic applied everywhere or ethnic conflict entirely being about opportunity cost - Ghana probably owes its stability to its economic development more than most countries in the regions. You ask West Africans what they really envy in Ghana and its the prosperity. With Covid-led unemployment surging the scapegoats are ripe to be found again. But the signs are encouraging.

[Zinneke]

Jerry Rawlings' daughter has been elected. Also prominent : the NPP won a seat in Hohoe constituency, the Volta Region de facto capital, which is usually an NDC stronghold. So not looking good for the nDC.

[Zinneke]

Jerry Rawlings' daughter has been elected. Also prominent : the NPP won a seat in Hohoe constituency, the Volta Region de facto capital, which is usually an NDC stronghold. So not looking good for the nDC.

Looks like that was just a regional capital effect. NDC looking good in Volta now and their leader is bullishly claiming they are set to win 10 out of 16 regions.

BBC pidgin have a great map :

https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/tori-55209370

[MaxQue]

Jerry Rawlings' daughter has been elected. Also prominent : the NPP won a seat in Hohoe constituency, the Volta Region de facto capital, which is usually an NDC stronghold. So not looking good for the nDC.

Looks like that was just a regional capital effect. NDC looking good in Volta now and their leader is bullishly claiming they are set to win 10 out of 16 regions.

BBC pidgin have a great map :

https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/tori-55209370

What is Pidgin? It looks like English from a bad speech-to-text processor.

[Zinneke]

Jerry Rawlings' daughter has been elected. Also prominent : the NPP won a seat in Hohoe constituency, the Volta Region de facto capital, which is usually an NDC stronghold. So not looking good for the nDC.

Looks like that was just a regional capital effect. NDC looking good in Volta now and their leader is bullishly claiming they are set to win 10 out of 16 regions.

BBC pidgin have a great map :

https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/tori-55209370

What is Pidgin? It looks like English from a bad speech-to-text processor.

Its a lingua franca english in West Africa.

No need to denigrate it...English itself would almost certainly look like the same to Old English speakers...and don't get me started on modern vs old Dutch and then the abomination that is Afrikaans

[Former President tack50]

Jerry Rawlings' daughter has been elected. Also prominent : the NPP won a seat in Hohoe constituency, the Volta Region de facto capital, which is usually an NDC stronghold. So not looking good for the nDC.

Looks like that was just a regional capital effect. NDC looking good in Volta now and their leader is bullishly claiming they are set to win 10 out of 16 regions.

BBC pidgin have a great map :

https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/tori-55209370

What is Pidgin? It looks like English from a bad speech-to-text processor.

Its a lingua franca english in West Africa.

No need to denigrate it...English itself would almost certainly look like the same to Old English speakers...and don't get me started on modern vs old Dutch and then the abomination that is Afrikaans

I mean, if English is going to be the lingua franca of much of Africa, can't they just go with "standard" English instead? (with an accent in the spoken variety of course; but not in writing)

Does the same happen with French in the French speaking regions of Africa or do those speak "proper" French?

[Zinneke]

Jerry Rawlings' daughter has been elected. Also prominent : the NPP won a seat in Hohoe constituency, the Volta Region de facto capital, which is usually an NDC stronghold. So not looking good for the nDC.

Looks like that was just a regional capital effect. NDC looking good in Volta now and their leader is bullishly claiming they are set to win 10 out of 16 regions.

BBC pidgin have a great map :

https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/tori-55209370

What is Pidgin? It looks like English from a bad speech-to-text processor.

Its a lingua franca english in West Africa.

No need to denigrate it...English itself would almost certainly look like the same to Old English speakers...and don't get me started on modern vs old Dutch and then the abomination that is Afrikaans

I mean, if English is going to be the lingua franca of much of Africa, can't they just go with "standard" English instead? (with an accent in the spoken variety of course; but not in writing)

Does the same happen with French in the French speaking regions of Africa or do those speak "proper" French?

Somebody with more expertise in West African linguistic groups will likely have a better idea than I do, but I know that Ghanaians, as well as many educated West Africans, also regularly use standard English and that Pidgin is somewhat minor in Ghana compared to in Nigeria. I think in this case though the BBC thought it worthwhile as a soft power tool and to increase reach to create a BBC Pidgin as it is also used in most Anglophone West African countries. Nevertheless when a said it was “a lingua franca” rather than “the lingua franca” what I meant was it was born out of a requirement of a lingua franca during first contact and that it grew subsequently from there. Nowadays standard English and Akane (along with Ewe in the east) are much more spoken.

For French I am pretty sure pidgin or creoles existed but were never really officialised. They grew out organically from similar colonial contexts (as essentially an intermediary language between white traders and colonized peoples) but I don’t see them nearly as used as Pidgin.  It's an interesting research question for linguists. Likely has something to do with the English speaking world not minding as much for their language to be adapted, compared to the notorious linguistic policies of Francophonia.

[CumbrianLefty]

Jerry Rawlings' daughter has been elected. Also prominent : the NPP won a seat in Hohoe constituency, the Volta Region de facto capital, which is usually an NDC stronghold. So not looking good for the nDC.

Looks like that was just a regional capital effect. NDC looking good in Volta now and their leader is bullishly claiming they are set to win 10 out of 16 regions.

BBC pidgin have a great map :

https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/tori-55209370

What is Pidgin? It looks like English from a bad speech-to-text processor.

In a way, that's basically what it is

[Zinneke]

Comfortable NPP victory in the end it seems

https://twitter.com/mbamaobama/status/1337027229881131012

[CumbrianLefty]

Though it looks like the opposition did indeed win most regions.

(and did better in the parliamentary vote, it seems - how did that end up?)

[Mike88]

Though it looks like the opposition did indeed win most regions.

(and did better in the parliamentary vote, it seems - how did that end up?)

So far, with just one seat left to be declared, the NPP has 137 seats, NDC 136 seats and 1 is an Independent. The seat yet to be declared, Sene West, is a NDC seat, so the final tally could be a 137-137 tie.

[Battista Minola 1616]

Why in the hell do Ghanaians call split-ticket voting "skirt and blouse" lmao

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Why in the hell do Ghanaians call split-ticket voting "skirt and blouse" lmao

Well I think it’s fun.

[ottermax]

Do we have a swing or trend map?

[Mike88]

The 137-137 tie is now official.

[Zinneke]

With the one ex-NPP MP now independent being the solitary power broker in the parliament.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

With the one ex-NPP MP now independent being the solitary power broker in the parliament.

Ooh, spicy!

[Conservatopia]

With the one ex-NPP MP now independent being the solitary power broker in the parliament.

Watch as he appears with a new watch and a new Mercedes...

[njwes]

Why in the hell do Ghanaians call split-ticket voting "skirt and blouse" lmao

Well I think it’s fun.

Agreed! But I'd also love to know the reason 😆

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Why in the hell do Ghanaians call split-ticket voting "skirt and blouse" lmao

Well I think it’s fun.

Agreed! But I'd also love to know the reason 😆

Well, apparently it’s contrasted with “three-piece suit” voting, where all the pieces go together. Why they use those metaphors I don’t know.

[parochial boy]

Jerry Rawlings' daughter has been elected. Also prominent : the NPP won a seat in Hohoe constituency, the Volta Region de facto capital, which is usually an NDC stronghold. So not looking good for the nDC.

Looks like that was just a regional capital effect. NDC looking good in Volta now and their leader is bullishly claiming they are set to win 10 out of 16 regions.

BBC pidgin have a great map :

https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/tori-55209370

What is Pidgin? It looks like English from a bad speech-to-text processor.

Its a lingua franca english in West Africa.

No need to denigrate it...English itself would almost certainly look like the same to Old English speakers...and don't get me started on modern vs old Dutch and then the abomination that is Afrikaans

I mean, if English is going to be the lingua franca of much of Africa, can't they just go with "standard" English instead? (with an accent in the spoken variety of course; but not in writing)

Does the same happen with French in the French speaking regions of Africa or do those speak "proper" French?

Somebody with more expertise in West African linguistic groups will likely have a better idea than I do, but I know that Ghanaians, as well as many educated West Africans, also regularly use standard English and that Pidgin is somewhat minor in Ghana compared to in Nigeria. I think in this case though the BBC thought it worthwhile as a soft power tool and to increase reach to create a BBC Pidgin as it is also used in most Anglophone West African countries. Nevertheless when a said it was “a lingua franca” rather than “the lingua franca” what I meant was it was born out of a requirement of a lingua franca during first contact and that it grew subsequently from there. Nowadays standard English and Akane (along with Ewe in the east) are much more spoken.

For French I am pretty sure pidgin or creoles existed but were never really officialised. They grew out organically from similar colonial contexts (as essentially an intermediary language between white traders and colonized peoples) but I don’t see them nearly as used as Pidgin.  It's an interesting research question for linguists. Likely has something to do with the English speaking world not minding as much for their language to be adapted, compared to the notorious linguistic policies of Francophonia.

Créoles are pretty much the principal vehicular languages in Haiti and Mauritius at least. Certainly Mauritians I know tend to communicate with each other in créole on facebook and the like. It's not quite as easy as the pidgin english, but does tend to be reasonably decipherable (Haitian is nearly incomprehensible though, from what I can tell). They've historically been dominant in the DROM-COM too, still widely used even in somewhat of a decline in recent years. Obviously, though, as you say, the French are absolutely not going to condone that sort of thing being done to their (and only their) beautiful language