Ghanapolitics101: When sorry seems to be the hardest word

It's sad, so sad

It's a sad, sad situation

And it's getting more and more absurd

It's sad, so sad

Why can't we talk it over

Oh it seems to me

That sorry seems to be the hardest word

Elton John -Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word

Lyrics by Bernie Taupin

I am sure that there is a handbook for politicians out there that says never admit your mistakes. That is why it was with much amusement that the leader of the Liberal Democrats who are currently sharing power in the United Kingdom with the Conservative Party actually admitted to supporters and the British electorate that they were sorry that they reniged on many campaign promises. Although many found his admission amusing enough to autotune and release as song which can be enjoyed here.
Putting aside the fact that the Liberal Democrats now in power have done major u-turns on some of their key promises and pledges, how many politicians world-wide can actually admit they were wrong?
How many can actually admit to being caught in the wrong/ doing wrong?
In the light of Tapegate in Ghana in which politicians have been allegedly been caught on tape making all sorts of nefarious plans are the electorate convinced by reasons put forward to explain the recordings?

1. The Downplay: Conversation was without substance and no big deal
2.  The It Wasn't Me: The tape has been doctored and is a fake

The more interesting question for me is how these recordings actually get made and come to light. Well, as the Akan saying goes "A person's character is like pregnancy. It cannot be hidden"

Of Skyfall and Bond @ 50

When I went to see Quantum of Solace
  in 2008

Anyone who has followed my blog for a while will know that I am a life-long Bond fan-atic. Yes, that is reason I've overused Goldfinger movie quotes in past posts and devoted a whole post to watching Quantum of Solace on the big screen in Accra.  

Skyfall Poster
Source: imdb.com

Finally Bond is back in Skyfall. We have plans to see the movie again on the big screen. Of course this time, there will be Dutch subtitles running down the bottom. Hope these are not too distracting. Speaking of distraction, I was meant to be harping on about how 2012 marks the 50th anniversary since the release of the first Bond film Dr. No. In honour of 50 years of the Bond film franchise, I had planned a quiz of 50 questions celebrating my favorite Bond trivia. However, by the time I got to question 9, I had run out of steam. So I took the easy way out: 10 Bond Trivia questions only. These are ones I've known the answers to for ages but do you? Let's see how well you score. Answers are at the bottom.

1. Which Swedish actress appeared as two different Bond characters in two completely different Bond films? The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) and  Octopussy (1983)
A. Ursula Andress
B.  Ingrid Bergman
C. Maud Adams
D. Bibi Andersson

Yaphet Kotto as Dr. Kanaga
Source: Bond Wikia

2. American Actor Yaphet Kotto plays the role of villain dictator Dr. Kanaga, in the film Live and Let Die (1973), from which country was the father of Yaphet Kotto originally from?
A. Haiti
B. Nigeria
C. Barbados
D. Cameroon

3. Which diva sang three theme songs for three different Bond films? 
A. Shirley Bassey
B. Tina Turner
C. Madonna
D. Diana Ross


4.  Which New Wave group sang the theme song for 80s Bond film View to a Kill (1985) ?
A. Talking Heads
B. Tears for Fears
C. Spandau Ballet
D. Duran Duran


5. Which actor was completely dubbed over in his Bond role due to his very thick accent?
A. Scottish gem Sean Connery
B. German actor Gert Frobe in Goldfinger (1964)
C. Danish delight Mads Mikkelsen in Casino Royale (2006)
D. Israeli actor Chaim Topol in For Your Eyes Only (1981)


6. Which James Bond actor's late wife appeared as a Bond girl in For your Eyes Only (1981) years before he became 007?
A. Timothy Dalton
B. Pierce Brosnan
C. Daniel Craig
D. Mel Gibson

7. From which institution is new Bond girl Naomie Harris a graduate of?
A. School of Hardknocks
B. Harvard University
C. University of Cambridge
D. University of Ghana

Naomie Harris
Source: wikipedia

8. Which actor appeared only once in the Bond film franchise playing Bond in On her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)?
A. George Lazenby
B. David McCallum
C. Patrick McGoohan 
D. David Niven 

9. What is the name of James Bond's CIA contact and friend who was first played by Jack Lord of Hawaii 5-0 Fame in Dr. No (1962)?
A. Ben Lassiter
B. Chad James
C. Felix Leiter
D. Tad Smith

The many faces of 007's friend from the CIA
source: wikipedia

10. When Jinx (Halle Berry) emerged from the water in an orange bathing suit in Die Another Day (2002), it was a homage to which Bond girl who made a similar entrance decades before?
A. Honey Ryder in Dr. No (1962)
B. Octopussy in Octopussy (1983)
C.  Pussy Galore in Goldfinger (1964)
D.  Domino Derval in Thunderball (1965)

Come on, this has been too easy!! Answers below:

Answers
 1.C, 2.D, 3. A, 4. D, 5. B, 6. B,  7. C, 8. A, 9. C, 10. A

Ghanapolitics 101: Deja Vu moments and being Too Close to Call

In the Beacon of Democracy, the incumbent and main contender are in an outright fight to the death. A show of hands please for the number of people in the class who thought I was talking about Ghana? Wrong you were. In fact, since 2000, the parallels between the Ghanaian elections and the US elections are a tad eerie. 

Speaking of the US, where terms like Romnesia are new entrants into the political lexicon, a new Gallup poll is describing the upcoming election as "too close to call" .Very reminiscent of the (in)famous US Election 2000. 

Meanwhile, over in the Beacon of African Democracy, Ghana, current events are rapidly evolving the political landscape which are also making election outcomes hard to predict. With just under 50 days to go until poll day, some rules that have applied in recent elections are now being defied /thrown out the window as the soap opera qualities of Ghanaian politics are becoming more apparent.  

Despite the unexpected twists and turns, Ghana Election 2012 is beginning to have a strange deja vu quality reminiscent of Ghana Election 2008 where things were also too close to call:

BBC Focus on Africa magazine cover: 2008

Interestingly, JoyFM's online poll of the moment appears to suggest otherwise. 

Polls on JOY [FM]: "If elections were held today, who would you vote for?"

Fascinatingly, 105,375 people voted in this poll. This is more than any other poll featured on Joy FM's website which usually attracts around 5,000 voters at the most. So where are all these voters coming from in a poll that opened on 11 October 2012?

According to the poll results, 45.14% of voters would vote for the incumbent party the NDC. The poll also predicts that 37.75% of the 105,375 would vote for the newly emergent party the PPP. In 3rd place is the party that is perceived/believed to be the main contender to the incumbent, the NPP commanding 16.71% of the vote. So how credible is this JoyFM poll? Are the PPP being seriously underestimated?

Or is it just a simple case of clear-browsing-history-vote again? So I did try just that to find out. I cleared my browsing history and could in fact vote again.....three times.

The moral of the story is that its important to take polls, predictions and prophesies regarding Ghana election 2012 with a pinch of salt. 

My money is still on the election being way too close to call. What are your thoughts?

Ghanapolitics101: Of Deja Vu and Election 2012

As we draw closer to elections in the Beacon of African Democracy, Ghana, the rapidly evolving political landscape is making election outcomes unclear. With just under 50 days to go to the general elections, some rules that have applied in recent elections are now being defied /thrown out the window as the soap opera quality to politics is becoming more apparent in Ghana. No other figure in Ghanaian contemporary politics is defying the well-established unwritten rules than former President Jerry John Rawlings. Here are some examples:

Sept 19, 2012 : JoyFM- Rawlings endorses [ruling party candidate] Mahama 

Oct 11, 2012 : JoyFM- Rawlings assures [main opposition candidate] Akufo-Addo he may not campaign against him

Oct 15, 2012: BBC - Ghana's Jerry Rawlings 'backs' wife's presidential bid [in a newly formed political party]

Well, it appears Mrs. Rawlings' presidential bid may have been nipped in the bud for now. When it comes to the other front-runners, it is becoming too close to call. Just two weeks ago, it appeared the opposition candidate had the upper hand. He was criss-crossing the country with his vision of free senior high school education and had a rather quizzical photo-op meeting with the former president Mr. Rawlings. Government communicators downplayed this meeting at the same time and at the same time punched serious holes in the free secondary high school plan without articulating a clear alternative. A week later, President Mahama gives a stellar performance at the IEA encounter. Luckily for him, none of the questions he was asked by the audience dealt with some of the nagging questions on corruption.

Interesting, three other parties, the PNC, CPP and PPP have all announced female running mates. Some have viewed these moves as mere window-dressing ploys to appeal to women voters. Speaking of women in Ghanaian politics, I participated in a lively Twitter debate on this topic on Friday hosted by GhanaDecides. Many commentators emphasized that competence of women politicians should be key of course without questioning the competence of male politicians. Anyway, that is a topic for another blogpost. 

Despite the unexpected twists and turns, Ghana Election 2012 is beginning to have a strange deja vu quality reminiscent of Election 2008: it is all turning out too close to call.

BBC Focus on Africa magazine cover: 2008

Interestingly, JoyFM's poll of the moment appears to suggest differently. 

Polls on JOY [FM]: "If elections were held today, who would you vote for?"

That is, if we are to believe that 105,375 voted in this poll which is about 1000 times the usual number of voters on 'Polls on Joy' and that 39,9779 people would vote for the PPP. My money is still on the election being too close to call.

As the week drew to a close, the Electoral Commission announced what the ballot paper will look like on December 7th. 

JoyFM: Prez Mahama is Number 1, Akufo-Addo No. 3 on ballot paper

Apparently, prophets all over Ghana have had the nation in rapt attention over the prophetic significance of the ballot positions.