Great Expectations… is another Ghana possible?

There is much euphoria in the air. Most Ghanaians want change. That is why they voted for a change. Expectations are high.
I remember such expectations eight years ago when the NPP defeated a complacent NDC government.
Shortly after NPP emerged winner in the elections, a huge crowd amid drumming and dancing marched to Mr Kufour’s residence near Spanner Junction now called HIPC Junction, So re-named because of the President’s controversial decision to declare Ghana as a poor and indebted country for the cancellation of her debts.
Is it a repetition of history?.
Let me talk a bit about the jubilant crowd. I did a vox pop for Radio Ghana on the expectations of people from the Kufuor government. When I asked him what his expectations were he simply said ‘I hope the economy under President Kufuor would improve so that I can also marry’.
A senior colleague found that expectation very interesting. And he advised me to playback the vox pop after four years. Well, I would be glad to meet the man and find out how he is faring in his married life. Relatively, didn’t things go well economically?
The sheer number of people who converged on the Independence Square for the swearing into office President John Attah Mills and the Vice President, John Mahama is not because Ghanaians like their new President.
The big crowd shows how ‘elephantine’ Ghana’s problems are and how high expectations are. Thousands of ordinary Ghanaians who voted for change want the new administration make the changes it has promised to bring improvement in their lives. Let me ask this question. Is another Ghana possible?
At the Africa Social Forum in Niger recently I did a vox pop on the theme of the World Social Movement.Forum. That is, ‘Another world is possible’. The social movement in Africa is also saying ‘another Africa is possible’ So, another Ghana is possible.
A South African activist, Ms Mohau Pheko (not pronounced as in photo but as in peck…) at the forum however observed that the state in Africa has failed and there is the need for a change in the way things are done. I’m posting her interview as a podcast on soundbytes.podbean.com