For three decades, Ghana’s electoral politics has been depicted as a political duopoly or a ‘two-horse race’ between the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP). The evidence of electoral fatigue among Ghanaians who resent the current arrangement view elections as a choice between a rock and a hard place and have clamored for a viable third force to diffuse the duopoly and possibly offer alternatives.
After three power alternations between the NDC and NPP, the calls intensified ahead of every major election. Like a déjà vu, the impending December 2024 elections reignited the discussions and again presented an opportunity for a viable third force. What has been the state of affairs?
On November 4, 2023, the ruling NPP elected its Vice President, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia as the party’s 2024 presidential candidate amid fierce internal discord. The turn of events ahead of the congress saw the resignation of a party stalwart and presidential aspirant Alan Kwadwo Kyeremateng. Amidst the potential bleak in his political career, several public commentaries emerged on the need for him to contest as an independent candidate.
Accordingly, he splintered and formed the Movement for Change (M4C), and managed to co-opt some top NPP stalwarts whose memberships were terminated. Although the M4C leader, Alan Kyeremanten has successfully filed to contest the 2024 presidential candidate as an independent candidate, he is confronted with issues of credibility, timing, and messaging that may somewhat render his electoral success bleak.
It would probably be a mistake to underestimate the spoiler effects his presidential candidature may have on the election due to his strong ethnic connection to the NPP’s electoral bank, the Ashanti region of Ghana. However, Alan Kyeremateng will have to battle with some credibility issues owing to his association with the incumbent NPP.
The general commentaries have been that his late resignation from the party and his position as a Trade and Industry minister do not insulate him from the criticisms leveled against the incumbent NPP, especially when his ministry supervised one of the major flagship programs of the regime.
Although the M4C portrays itself as a departure from the winner-takes-all politics in Ghana and one that is committed to economic development and the fight against corruption, his message has not gained the requisite traction in the media space or resonated with most Ghanaians.
Aside from the M4C, Ghanaians woke up to billboards portraying a ‘man behind a mask’. Media outlets could not escape the suspense and were forced to embrace speculations, at a time when a section of the Ghanaian youth was seemingly disenchanted with the mainstream political parties. In January 2024, Ghanaians were finally presented with the ‘man behind the mask’ representing a new and supposedly potent third force within Ghana’s contemporary politics.
The individual, Nana Kwame Bediako has somewhat projected some youthful exuberance within Ghana’s political space and managed the political discourse ahead of the elections. However, the emergence of his ‘New Force’ movement was characterized by some controversies that may have affected the viability and credibility of the force. The first was the appointment of Shalimar Abbiusi, a Belgian, as the party’s spokesperson. Her eloquence was unmatched, but her appointment triggered some displeasure among some sections of Ghanaians who are at the forefront of political activism and have been driving the ‘third force’ narrative for years.
The general concern was that the move strongly undermined the New Force’s connection with voters and raised questions about motives. Shalimar’s subsequent deportation from Ghana also brought a lot of baggage and bad publicity to the new movement. Similar to the earlier move, the official launching of the movement to some Ghanaians lacked local content, especially when the keynote speakers were famous African figures and activists like P. L. O. Lumumba, Peter Obi, and Julius Malema, among others.
Although these personalities are known activists, the New Force’s decision to host them created controversies. Some sections of the Ghanaian population who criticized the incumbent regime for severe unemployment, inflation, and interest rates argued that the invited personalities only share their grievances in rhetoric and might not experience the same. The subsequent cancellation of the unveiling also stirred some controversies on social media.
Every cloud has a silver lining, and the current realities of Ghana’s political and economic space are not lost on Alan Kyeremateng and Nana Kwame Bediako, the two most viable candidates among the rest driving the third force narrative ahead of the 2020 general elections. On September 1, 2024, the leader of the New Force unveiled the group’s manifesto, centered around what he dubbed as the 12 pillars of economic development, aimed at addressing Ghana’s pressing challenges. Although the M4C candidate, Alan Kyeremanten, comes with some baggage ahead of the elections, his recent move to establish the Alliance for Revolutionary Change (ARC) with other political groupings like the National Interest Movement (NIM) by Dr. Abu Sakara is somewhat sending some good signals.
The ARC aims to mobilize Ghanaians across the country, irrespective of the religious, political, or ethnic affiliate, to end the NPP-NDC duopoly. Political coalitions in the past have proven to be a winning formula for the major parties in Ghana. Would the same dynamics play out for the ARC in the impending elections? It has been established that recurrent fragmentation and internal wranglings within the traditional Nkrumahist tradition have rendered most of its associated parties like the CPP and PNC unattractive and are somewhat creating political openings for either the New Force or the M4C to galvanize some following.
Again, the two major parties are also bedeviled with some issues ahead of the elections. The incumbent NPP is bedeviled with popular resentments on issues like youth unemployment, high inflation, and economic distress, among others, that may have a tone of the party’s electoral strength. The largest opposition party, the NDC, is also fielding a former president who may have some baggage from his previous term, which is why the party lost the 2016 and 2020 elections. These scenarios may offer the emerging third force some room to appeal to non-aligned voters, who may have strong reservations about the two major parties.
Dr. Daniel Abankwa is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Affairs at Western Carolina University. He specializes in International Political Economy (with a regional focus on Africa). More specifically, he is interested in China-Africa economic relations, neoliberalism, and state capitalism dabankwa@wcu.edu
Baffour Agyeman Prempeh Boakye is a PhD Student in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Delaware. His research interests include African politics and Democracy. He can be reached via baffour@udel.edu