Do you remember four years ago by this time when you couldn’t help but make the ‘tsk tsk’ sound because you were stuck in traffic. A traffic caused by some thousands of people following one famous person in the name of election campaigns ahead of a general election.
Election campaigns in the form of rallies provided the platforms for political parties to weigh their support ahead of the elections and call upon citizens to cast their ballots. However the COVID-19 disrupted this routine; a Goliath no one ever thought could be defeated.
Election campaign was the ‘Goliath’ ahead of any general election. The keyword however is “was”.
Who would have thought the mammoth election campaigns by political parties could be swallowed by a pandemic in 2020 that has spanned over a year worldwide.
The novel COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Ghana on the 12th March, 2020 which was about nine months away from Ghana’s election.
The hope we all shared was strong. We were going to win against the pandemic we believed. We cannot deny that each one of us have done our part by wearing our nose masks, observing social distancing and using hand sanitizers.
2020 campaigns have taken a different twist, with political parties using the different alternatives now.
The popular house to house strategy is one way that political parties are selling their campaign message. They are moving from house to house to educate the electorate on the need to vote for their parties.
Since the COVID-19 did not allow for political rallies, there has been an improved use of traditional media to reach people. Many can now sing election campaign songs by heart without necessarily trying. This is because our traditional media has been filled with election campaign songs from different political parties.
Political parties have also used social media to advance their interests. Talk of a trend that goes in favour of a political party at a particular time on social media and the idea that this trend is promoted is not far-fetched.
It is as though the champion political rallies of the election period has been struck down with a stone slung from the camp of ‘David Corona’.
Who knows? Goliath might rise when Corona goes away .
