#EndNPPNDCRule: Social movements and the fight against entrenchment in Ghana
Ernesto Yeboah
Since 1992 in Ghana, we've witnessed various social movements rise up to demand change, but it's intriguing how many of these movements ended up indirectly supporting the main opposition parties.
Ghana is dominated by two major political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC). There isn't much that differentiates them. The unlawful overthrow of Kwame Nkrumah's government by the NLC junta reveals that key figures who constitute the NPP today were part of the civilian faction of that junta. The police/military component evolved into what is now known as the NDC. While both factions collaborated to suppress Nkrumahism in Ghana, the NPP openly expresses its disdain for Nkrumah, whereas the NDC pretends to embrace the Nkrumahist tradition.
At its final stage of mutation, the NDC emerged from the PNDC led by Jerry Rawlings, who misruled for 11 years and later transformed the PNDC to NDC. The NDC had used state resources to solidify their position. Many Ghana National Trading Corporations (GNTC) shops in Ghana became local NDC offices.
During this period, openly criticising the government was risky. A “culture of silence” was in full force. After the 1992 elections, the NPP boycotted Parliament, claiming the elections were rigged. They wrote The Stolen Verdict, a book aimed at mobilising popular sentiments against Rawlings and his NDC. But by 1995, the NPP had realised that boycotting and writing books wouldn't be enough to unseat the NDC. They resisted the unpopular Value Added Tax (VAT), and organised a massive protest called "Kume Preko," which means "kill me once and for all" in Twi. It resonated with people struggling under tough economic conditions and political oppression. Kume Preko was a significant event bringing together many notable and respected personalities from all walks of life, though it did not develop into a lasting social movement. Even though it could not immediately dislodge Rawlings’ second term bid, it certainly bolstered Ghana’s collective imagination for what is possible in the future and laid a foundation for the NPP to be seen as a credible political opposition. Following Rawlings' second term, the opportunity arose for the NPP to assume power. Ultimately, many of the instrumental activists and organisers of Kume Preko received juicy appointments within the newly established government.
After about six years of the NDC being in opposition, a social movement called the Committee for Joint Action (CJA) emerged. Unlike Kume Preko, which was a one-day event, the CJA focused on continuous demonstrations across Ghana. They protested harsh economic conditions and corruption in government. By December 2008, the NPP was out of power, and the NDC was back, with CJA members directly and indirectly joining the new government.
Suddenly, more social movements popped up, including Alliance For Accountable Governance (AFAG) and Let My Vote Count (LMVC). The biggest of them all was Occupy Ghana. Occupy Ghana attracted figures publicly perceived as nonpartisan and inspired middle class personalities in their protests against economic hardship, mismanagement, and corruption of Mahama and his NDC government. In June 2016, the Economic Fighters League (EFL) emerged. As the National Youth Organiser of the Convention People’s Party, I incurred the wrath of the compromised leadership of the party for causing Ghana’s Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to investigate the sitting President, Mr. John Dramani Mahama. For corruption and conflict of interest in a Ford Explorer bribery scandal involving a Burkinabe contractor. Eventually, the NDC lost the general election, and the NPP returned to power. The chief actors under AFAG, Let My Vote Count, and Occupy Ghana were comfortably swallowed into the belly of the new NPP administration. Only the EFL survived the usurpation.
The EFL has described itself as a radical Nkrumahist movement, a political movement that uses direct confrontation as one of its methods. It has waged protests decrying Ghana’s massive unemployment situation and harsh economic conditions. Its members marched in the streets in solidarity with Africans in Uganda and Sudan. They have stood with Palestine and mobilised relief items such as bedsheets, food, and clothes to victims of mudslides in Sierra Leone and survivors in Ghana’s Volta and Northern regions.
The EFL fed the poor during the government shutdown in the time of COVID, picketing the gates of Parliament against the signing of dangerous military pacts with the USA. Its members stormed Ghana’s Parliament to stop parliamentarians from building a new parliamentary chamber that was going to cost the state over 200 million dollars. They have stirred world attention to the racial killings of fellow Africans, highlighting the gruesome killing of George Floyd in the United States in what they dubbed #AccraBlackout. All of this has been done at great sacrifice.
Along the way a hashtag was born — #FixTheCountry. It was to become a social movement born out of popular discontent. To prevent it from being co-opted by the existing opposition, the EFL joined as the main organiser within #FixTheCountry. Their first demonstration was massive, but it became clear with subsequent engagements that this was yet another movement aimed at mobilising support for the existing opposition.
The Economic Fighters League — armed with the history and analysis of the trajectory of social movements in Ghana over the last 30 years — charged that it was time for social movements to seize political power. They were ready to team up with independent individuals and organisations to get credible people into Parliament during the next general elections.
This public announcement was a strategy intended by the EFL to smoke out those seeking to turn #FixTheCountry into just another vehicle working for the opposition. The results were instant. Clearly, the announcement did not sit well with everyone. One of its conveners was immediately instructed by his boss — formerly a prominent figure in the Mahama/NDC administration — not to invite anyone from #FixTheCountry to his media platforms. By this development alone, it was evident that the NDC had been caught pants down. The #FixTheCountry convener exited all #FixTheCountry platforms, further proving to all that he was on an NDC assignment all along.
Shortly afterwards, the vanguard movement, EFL, announced its intention to distance itself from #FixTheCountry.
With worsening conditions, many Ghanaians are hoping for an alternative force outside the NPP/NDC duopoly to emerge. Some public figures and social commentators have openly called for military intervention, pointing to similar ops in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Gabon. But the military appears too comfortable with their improved pay and benefits and isn't likely to respond to such calls. While Ghanaians seem ready for change, they are unsure of their role in making it happen.
Pursuing an electoral route is nearly impossible due to a flawed electoral system that inherently favours the two major parties. The Electoral Commission, controlled by the duopoly, works to ensure that only the NPP and NDC remain appealing choices. Disqualifications of potential credible candidates outside the duopoly are common, and court cases usually end with dismissals or delayed verdicts that leave the candidates significantly weakened.
Ernesto Yeboah is a leader of the Economic Fighters League in Ghana.
