ACCRA (dpa) – Ghana has had its share of ethnic problems where differences between tribes have led to misunderstandings and clashes, but skin colour has so far not been a issue. Until now.
The colour of the skin has suddenly sprung to the top of the political agenda and it could determine who wins next month’s historic presidential and parliamentary elections.The reason? Ghana’s president Jerry Rawlings, who has dominated the political scene for more than 20 years, is bowing out after serving his second four-year term under constitutional rule.Rawlings, whose father is Scot, is fair skinned, but his handpicked successor to lead his National Democratic Congress (NDC), Professor John Atta Mills is a black citizen.That may not mean much, but one of the contestants in the presidential election, Augustus “Goosie” Tanoh, is as fair as Rawlings and his supporters are making a meal of it.Ghana’s ballot papers have the name and photograph of every candidate and the party’s symbol. Goosie, a former close ally of Rawlings, broke away from the NDC last year to form the National Reform Party (NRP) after his presidential ambitions evaporated when Mills won the nod from the president.“The similarity of looks between Goosie and Rawlings may be a moot point, but in politics these little things count,” said Ben Ephson, Editor of the Despatch, a private newspaper in Accra. “It should not surprise Ghanaians why the president was appealing to NDC supporters not to vote for the fair-skin person on the ballot paper,” Epson said.Goosie, 44, is about 10 years younger than Rawlings, who wears a beard and is greying. Rawlings, a former flight lieutenant with the Ghana Air Force, has been a favourite of the population by his looks, his charisma and empathy, among other things.With a high percentage of voters, especially in the rural areas, being illiterate and knowing only Rawlings for 20 years, members of Goosie’s party have reportedly been telling them that he is Rawlings’ brother and chosen successor.“They tell them that Rawlings is leaving and says you should vote for his younger brother, Goosie,” Ephson said. He adds that Rawlings has his ears close to the ground and has been making efforts to defuse that potential danger.Rawlings himself admits that the colour of the skin could be a problem to his party and Mills and has made it one of his cardinal statements on his political campaign. “When you go in there (pooling booth),” he said, you will find the photograph of a man with a brown face.That is not Rawlings. Do not vote for him,” he said. “The man you should vote for is Professor Atta Mills whose photograph is next to the umbrella (the symbol of the NDC),” Rawlings said. Goosie, a lawyer and businessman, knows that the colour of his skin could give him precious votes.He has been quoted as the Ghanaian Chronicle, which leans towards opposition parties, as saying that he has a chance of overcoming the NDC because of his colour.“The NDC is afraid of my colour because they realise that Ghanaians consider beauty and one’s intellectual ability to humble their problems before they vote…, ” the Chronicle said.Although there is no pollster in Ghana to say how the voting trend among the sexes and age groups is, it is believed that many women vote for Rawlings because of his looks. And Goosie, with his good looks and fair skin, could do the same.Goosie already is regarded as a major threat to the NDC as the bulk of his supporters are disgruntled supporters of Rawlings who see the party (NDC) as undemocratic.Although the front-runners are the NDC and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the two main parties in the last two elections, the skin factor could make the race closer than in 1992 and 1996 when Rawlings polled about 58 per cent of the votes to win in the first round.
