‘I awakened their spirit’: Can the man behind the mask affect Ghana’s elections? | Ghana

IIt was a bombshell statement from the man who wants to disrupt Ghana’s two-party political scene. “I am here to represent Africa’s greatest hope,” Nana Kwame Bediako told an audience in a committee room at the Palace of Westminster in central London in October, referring to the continent’s younger people.

After the event, a social media post by Bediako suggested that the trip was a presentation in Parliament itself and not an address to a committee.

Overall, the trip and its somewhat relaxed setting were typical of the 44-year-old’s unorthodox candidacy for the presidency in the elections taking place on December 7th.

Bediako burst onto the political scene earlier this year when he revealed himself as the man behind the mysterious masked figure that appeared on billboards across the country.

Already a well-known businessman, he is running as an independent candidate with the support of the New Force Movement, a party he founded to support his bid. Although he is seen as a long-term candidate, his campaign, reflecting the Pan-Africanism of the country’s first leader Kwame Nkrumah, is credited with appealing to the expectations of younger voters in a country where the average age is 21.

Asked in an interview with the Guardian in London about his chances of winning, Bediako replied: “It depends on what victory means to you.” Becoming president is one thing, but I will respect the fact that I managed to do that Unifying people’s mindsets is what I call winning.

“I managed to win the hearts and minds of aspiring young people. I could inspire and motivate them, I could awaken their spirit.”

George Bob-Milliar, a professor of African studies at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, said Bediako had successfully entered “a very free space in Ghana that allows the population to express people’s desires.”

Bob-Milliar said Bediako’s “fun” approach and use of technology resonated with younger people, adding: “If he can deny the two major parties a first-round win, then he will be in one “Be in a good position to try to negotiate something for his movement.”

On social media, Bediako – also known as Cheddar or Freedom Jacob Caesar – boasts that he is the “Prince of the New Africa”. He was photographed with a lion skin around his neck, dressed head to toe in Louis Vuitton and posing on a Lamborghini. He has imported two tigers from Dubai to his property in Accra, which a court has ordered to be removed.

His political program, which includes harnessing national resources, preventing foreign influence and creating a single African currency, has made headlines. However, Nic Cheeseman, a political scientist and professor at the University of Birmingham, said: “It’s easy to speak out, make a big splash and attract attention, but converting that into votes and a sustainable movement and sustainable party is a lot.” more demanding.”

The vote comes against a backdrop of economic uncertainty in Ghana. Inflation was nearly 23% in June and the country received a $3 billion IMF bailout last year.

Bediako, a serial entrepreneur, said his personal wealth was not an obstacle to understanding the problems of his fellow citizens. “I have climbed the steps of struggle and witnessed the death of corporatism,” he said. “You would have thought that the wealth would disappear, but the sad thing is, as you get richer, you start to see people’s problems more clearly than when you were in that situation.”

He said his idea to participate in the presidential election came to him in a dream early one morning. When he woke up, he told his wife that he would form a political party, become president, and eventually rule all of Africa. “She looked at me and thought I was crazy. I must have been crazy at that moment,” he said.

Bediako took aim at what he described as government failures at the national level in Ghana. Discipline must come from the top down, starting “from the moment we practice democracy in terms of our electoral systems,” he said

According to a UN report, 17.4 million bribes were paid in Ghana in 2021. Additionally, 10.3% of the adult population said they were offered money in exchange for their vote before or during the 2020 general election.

Ghanaian economist Theo Acheampong compared Bedkiako to disruptors like Donald Trump, particularly in his use of social media to reach untapped voters. “He’s not necessarily going to win,” Acheampong said. “However, he doesn’t have to win, he just has to disrupt the election.”