Ghanaian actress and entrepreneur, Lydia Forson, has revealed how the Ghanaian electorate is gradually moving away from voting on political or tribal lines.
This comes on the back of the defeat of the incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the December 7 election.
Expressing how “discerning” the Ghanaian voter has become, Lydia noted that Ghanaians voted out the NPP due to factors such as mismanagement of public funds and lack of accountability.
“Accountability is one of the main things a lot of young people are angry about. The reality is, is there a global crisis? Yes. But when you factor in the growing economy, we are going to be hit much harder.
“Now you have people who are frustrated and they want to be heard. They are protesting and don’t feel like they can protest, they are speaking up and they don’t think they are being heard.”
On what should be done by the incoming government to make life better for Ghanaians, the celebrated actress suggested the new leadership pays attention to the plights of the people.
“So one of the most important things is having a listening leadership. Because if people are upset about something and they come to you and you tell them ‘don’t talk about it’, or you are not allowed to be angry about it, that is a big problem.
“This election was really about the people, it wasn’t about any political party. The electorate is becoming more and more discerning. They are no longer voting necessarily based on tribal lines or loyalty to one fixed party.”
According to Lydia Forson, when it comes to this new government, it is not about whether they like it or not. “Are you going to deliver and if you can’t, we are going to hold you to your promises,” she said.
Lydia also revealed how she has been affected by the economic woes of the country,
maintaining that she has a family in the village who depend on her, and the harder things get, the more they depend on her.
She stressed that consumers are unable to buy her products and she is unable to produce so much due to the depreciation of the cedi.
“I make natural hair and skin care products. I source most of my ingredients locally but there are other ingredients that I source from outside the country. And so I have to pay for these goods in dollars and pounds. So when the cedi depreciates my cost of producing goes up and there is only so much of it you can put on the consumer.
“Now you are trying to create jobs but our ability to create those jobs is hindered by how well the cedi is doing. Because if you are producing what people don’t feel they need every day, or it is a bit of a luxury, you are affected. So no matter how well you think you are doing, you are affected.”
Lydia Forson is one of the few creatives in Ghana who are vocal about issues affecting the citizens.
In a similar vein, Ghanaian rapper, Kwame Ametepee Tsikata, popularly known as M.anifest, adduced the reason for the loss of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the December 7, 2024 election.
The ‘Suffer’ rapper mentioned that the New Patriotic Party lost power because the citizens were not pleased with the governance of the country.
He responded when asked if he thought the incoming government could salvage the nation from its problems.
“It’s difficult to be confident in any leadership here until you see how they operate. In our local parlance, we say ‘show working’ – So ultimately, I think what happened in this election was that people were unhappy that the country was not being run but the country was being run down. So I think there is a level of accountability that we as citizens are going to hold him John Mahama, and any other leaders to at this point.”
Responding to how the citizens are going to hold the new leadership accountable, M.anifest referred to various incidents of activism held over the past four years.
“I do think if you saw in the last administration, the youth especially took to the streets. There were protests about illegal mining and so many other things. I think Ghanaians, especially the young people who are most affected, unemployment is high, twice as much in the youth in Ghana.
“I think they are beginning to express their voice more frequently. We don’t wait for every four years to express that voice through votes. I do think there is a sense of everyday accountability that we are moving towards. That there is a sense of urgency that people feel.”
He, however, noted that it is not only young people who are unhappy about the operations of the current government. “We have seen pensioners in the last four years also go out on the streets,” he indicated, advising the incoming government to not repeat the ills of the outgoing government.
Source: The New Republic