Filming democracy in Ghana Jarreth Merz

i was born in switzerland and raised in

Ghana West Africa Ghana felt safe to me

as a child I I was free I was happy the

early 70s marked a time of musical and

artistic excellence in Ghana but then by

the end of the decade the country had

fallen back into political instability

and mismanagement in 1979 I witnessed my

first military coup we the children had

gathered at a friend’s house and it was

a dimly lit Shack there was a beaten-up

black-and-white television flickering in

the background and former head of state

in general was being blindfolded and

tied to the pole the firing squad aimed

fired the general was dead now this was

being broadcast live and shortly after

we left the country and we returned to

Switzerland now Europe came as a shock

to me and I think I started feeling the

need to to shed my skin in order to fit

in I wanted to blend in like a chameleon

I think it was the tactics of survival

and it worked or so I believed so here

was in 2008 wondering where was in my

life and I felt that I was being

typecast as an actor I was always

playing the exotic African I was playing

the violent African the African

terrorist and I was thinking how many

terrorists could I possibly play before

turning into one myself

I have become ashamed of the other the

the African in me and fortunately I

decided in 2008 to return to Ghana after

28 years of absence I wanted to document

then film the 2008 presidential

elections and there I started by

searching for the for the footprints in

my childhood and before I even knew it I

was suddenly on a stage surrounded by

thousands of cheering people during a

political rally and I’d realized that

when I left the country free and fair

elections in a democratic environment

where it we’re dream and now that I

returned that dream had become reality

though a fragile reality and I was

thinking was Ghana searching for its

identity like I was looking for my

identity was what was happening in Ghana

a metaphor for what was happening in me

and it was as if through the standards

of my my Western life I hadn’t lived up

to my full potential I mean nor had

Ghana even though we had been trying

very hard now in 1957 Ghana was the

first sub-saharan country to gain its

independence in the late 50s Ghana and

Singapore had the same GDP I mean today

Singapore is a first world country and

Ghana is not but maybe it was time to

prove to myself yes it’s important to

understand the past it is important to

look at it in a different light but

maybe we should look at the strength in

our own culture and build on those

foundations in the present so here I was

December 7th 2008 the polling stations

opened to thee to the voters at 7am but

voters eager to take their own political

fate into their hands were starting to

line up at 4am in the morning and they

are traveled from near they had traveled

from far because they wanted to make

their voices heard and I asked one of

the voters I said whom are you going to

vote for and he said I’m sorry I can’t

tell you he said that his vote was in

his heart and I understood this was

their election and they weren’t going to

let anyone take it away from them now

the first round of the voting didn’t

bring forth a clear winner so nobody had

achieved the absolute majority so voting

went into a second round three weeks

later the candidates were back on the

road they were campaigning the rhetoric

of the candidates of course changed the

heat was on and then the cliche came to

haunt us there was claims of

intimidation at the polling stations of

ballot boxes being stolen inflated

results started coming in and the mob

was starting to get out of control we

witnessed the eruption of violence in

the streets people were being beaten

brutally the army started firing the

guns people were scrambling it was

complete chaos and my heart sank because

I thought here we are again here is

another proof that the African is not

capable of governing himself and not

only that I am documenting it

documenting my own cultural shortcomings

so when the echo of the gunshots had

lingered it was soon drowned by the

chanting of the mob and I didn’t believe

what I was hearing they were chanting we

want peace we want peace and I realized

it had to come from the people after all

they decide and they did so the sounds

that were before distorted and loud were

suddenly a melody the sounds of the

voices were harmonious so it could

happen a democracy could be upheld

peacefully it could be by the will of

the masses who were now urgently

pressing with all their hearts and all

their will for peace now here’s an

interesting comparison

we in the West we preach the values the

golden light of democracy that we are

the shining example of how it’s done but

when it comes down to it Ghana found

itself in the same place in which the

u.s. election stalled in the two

thousand presidential elections Bush

versus Gore but instead of the

unwillingness of the candidates to allow

the system to proceed and the people to

decide Ghana honored democracy and its

people it didn’t leave it up to the

Supreme Court to decide the people did

now the second round of voting did not

bring forth a clear winner either I mean

it was so incredibly close the electoral

commissioner declared with the consent

of the parties to run an unprecedented

second rerun so the people went back to

the polls to determine their own

president not the legal system and guess

what it worked the defeated candidate

gave up our and made way for Ghana to

move into new democratic cycle I mean at

the absolute time for the absolute need

of democracy they did not abuse their

power the belief in true democracy and

in the people runs deep proving that the

African is capable of governing himself

now the uphill battle for Ghana and for

Africa is not over but I have proof that

the other side of democracy exists and

that we must not take it for granted now

I have learned that my place not just in

the West or in Africa and I’m still

searching for my identity but I saw

Ghana create democracy better ghana

taught me to look at people differently

and to look at myself differently

and yes we Africans can thank you