Ghanaian journalists share experiences on U.S elections

By Samira Larbie/Mohammed Abdul Rashid, GNA
Accra, Jan.18, GNA - The United States of America has nurtured its democracy through the years to become an enviable model, but there are still some inherent weaknesses that observers cannot identify from afar.

This position was articulated by some Ghanaian journalists who were sponsored to that country to witness the November 7 Polls, which saw the Republican Candidate, Mr Donald J. Trump as the winner.

They noted that though America's democratic credentials was indeed great and rich, no democratic culture had attained perfection, hence there was still room for improvement in the system, which dates back to more than two centuries.

The US Embassy in Accra sent Ms Belinda Ayamgha of the Ghana News Agency, Mr Evans Mensah of Joy News, Kwame Mensah of Radio 360 and Severious Kale-Dery of the Daily Graphic, under the Elections Embed Program administered by the International Centre for Journalists, to witness and study the electoral process.

Mr Daniel Fennell, a Counsellor at the Embassy, said the gesture was to strengthen the relationship between the two democratic nations.

He said Ghana and America had their elections and the transmission of government from one democratically elected government to another, almost at the same period, and that there was the need to educate policy makers back home about the values and traditions of Africa.

At a session to share their experiences with their colleagues back home, the journalists asserted that America's democratic system exhibited a lot of maturity, which empowered the citizens.

Mr Mensah, who described some of his experiences as 'knife edge-like' situations, said he was situated at 'battle ground states', which in Ghana was referred to as the 'strong hold' of the various political parties.

Speaking about the atmosphere after Mr Trump's victory, he said some people said they were in a dilemma whether to seek Asylum elsewhere for a while or not.

Mr Mensah cited instances where he witnessed colleague reporters in the USA showing their excitement about Mr Trump's victory, while in other cases the newsroom of some media houses became virtually empty after his victory.

Ms Ayamgha, for her part, said: 'Personality campaigning was an element in the American campaigns while, some candidates were endorsed by certain media houses.'

These endorsements, she was told, had no negative effect on the media's reportage of the candidates.

However, Ms Ayamgha said she found the practice questionable.

Mr Dery said though Ghana had some similarities with the USA as far as democracy and politics were concerned there was the need for political supporters in Ghana to be well educated to respect the rights of supporters of other parties for peaceful co-existence as was the case in the U.S.

GNA