Ghanaian actress and writer, Lydia Forson has compared this year’s election to choosing between an abusive ex-boyfriend and your current partner who takes you for granted in the midst of other suitors who are much less known.
The 2020 General Election is set for 7th December, and Ghanaians will be expected to choose between the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), the two political parties that have dominated the political space since the Fourth Republic of Ghana which began in January 1993.
But Ms. Forson thinks that both political parties have not acquitted themselves well when they governed the country, making it difficult to choose either of them.
“…this year’s elections feel like having to choose between your ex who cheated on you and wants a second chance, your current who treats you like he’ll never lose you, and other suitors you’ve never given yourself time to know.
Do you give your ex another chance, work it out with your current or open yourself up to the possibilities of other suitors?
Or do you pause, look at yourself in the mirror reflect on all your decisions and try to understand why you keep getting into relationships and sometimes ‘entanglements’ with people who treat you the way they do?” she wondered.
Ms Forson, who is also an entrepreneur, enjoined Ghanaians to not be persuaded by promises of politicians but set standards for them and hold them responsible when they fail to live up to expectations.
“The truth is, a lot of us are easily swayed when politicians come and whisper sweet nothings into our ears, and it doesn’t take much for us to spread our legs.
But we’ve got to learn to set some standards, or they will continue to dangle shiny things in front of us whenever they’re horny.
And once they’re satisfied, they will leave us without the decency of Uber fare home.
So as you prepare to go to the polls this year, understand that regardless of who you vote for, if you don’t set standards and hold them accountable to them, your heart will get broken again.
Because when someone wants you, they’ll do everything they can to get you; but if you make them feel like they can never lose you, you’ll find the hard way, that you were only a means to an end.”
Ms Forson has been a fierce critic of governments, regularly sharing her opinions on matters of national interests.