#OccupyBoG: Social protest movements and

radical political change in Ghana

Jeffrey Haynes6 Months Ago12 Mins

OccupyBoG is the most recent example in Ghana of new era social protest movements. A
universally recognised part of the democratic process, such peaceful social protest movements
comprise groups of people sharing a common interest in influencing institutions to strengthen the
economic and democratic processes by, first, giving a general voice to the citizenry and, second,
bringing about reform to make those in charge responsive to ordinary people’s demands.

Social protest movements in Ghana utilise various methods to pursue their goals including:
advocacy, public awareness programmes, policy research, lobbying of parliament, public opinion
polls, and organised protests. Political and economic protests have a long history in Africa, and
Ghana in no exception. Simultaneously both products and generators of change, they have
potential capacity to transform the nature both of politics and of economic outcomes.

Protests may lead both to tangible (such as, policy implementation, liberal reforms, and political
alternation) and intangible forms of change, including perceptions, imagination, and awareness.
They can also lead to advances in democracy, accountability, and collective knowledge. This
outcome is not however inevitable. Recent experience in Ghana demonstrates that social protest
movements have the capacity to focus popular and media attention on an issue of governance but
do not necessarily have the power to influence government capacity to deal with the problems
they highlight.

Scholars have examined social protest movements in Ghana in both historic and contemporary
contexts. Social protest movements in Ghana have a long history, appearing in both colonial and
post-colonial times. Sometimes they are successful. For example, during the 1890s, a protest was
organised by the Aborigines’ Protection Rights Society which laid a foundation for concerted
anti-colonial political action, which finally led to Ghana’s independence in 1957. Later, in 1978,
Ghanaians took to the streets to protest at a plan for government, the (in) famous Union
Government, fearing that the then head of state, General Kutu Acheampong, was seeking to
perpetuate himself in power and the military in government in perpetuity. Acheampong was,
however, unsuccessful and popular demonstrations were pivotal in a process which saw the
reintroduction of democracy to Ghana in 1979.

In 2014, protesters took to the streets again, protesting at the parlous state of the economy and
the decline of Ghana’s infrastructure, indicated by frequent power cuts, rising fuel prices and
high price inflation for food and other essentials.Following these demonstrations, a new wave of
social protest movements emerged, including Occupy Ghana (also known as Occupy Flagstaff
House), Arise Ghana, and FixTheCountry. All sought to pressurise government for policy
changes, with a pronounced focus on social, political and economic justice. #OccupyBoG is the
most recent example.

Traditionally in Ghana, civil society seeks to focus popular dissatisfaction in two main ways:
first, there is pressure from institutionalised civil society organisations, including what are
popularly known as the ‘professional’ organisations, including lawyers, journalists, and
doctors.They employ a variety of methods – including advocacy and press conferences – to make
their concerns known both to government and the general public. Second, there are the more ad
hoc, less institutionalised, social protest movements, including Occupy Ghana, Arise Ghana,
#FixtheCountry, and #OccupyBoG. They emerge due to collective frustration among many
Ghanaians, especially the have-nots: the young, females and religious minorities, who feel that
they do not benefit from democracy and an open economy.

OccupyBoG emerged in response to Ghana’s continuing, unprecedented financial crisis which

highlights the Bank of Ghana’s perceived inadequacies and associated government failings. In
early October, hundreds of protestors demonstrated on the streets of the capital Accra,
demanding that the governor of the Bank of Ghana and his two deputies resign following the loss
in the 2022 financial year of about 60bn cedis (USD5.2bn; £4.3bn). The opposition National
Democratic Congress (NDC) party-led the demonstrations.

Protesters dressed in red and black, symbolising mourning in Ghana. They chanted “stop the
looting, we are suffering”. The demonstrators’ claim was that the bank printed money illegally at
the behest of the government, resulting in the cedi’s depreciation and annual price inflation of
around 50%.
OccupyBoG claimed that the central bank governor, Dr Ernest Addison, was guilty of
recklessness and mismanagement, because of the USD5 billion unprecedented loss. High
inflation, according to the World Bank, meant that around 850,000 Ghanaians have become
impoverished due to the effect of high price inflation on their purchasing power in relation to
basics: food, fuels and utilities.

The #OccupyBoG demonstration attracted the attention of Ghana’s media, and there was much
popular support for the protests. In addition, it does seem likely that such public demonstrations
– more are planned – in tandem with copious social media posts, press conferences, and media
reports to stimulate and perhaps extend extra-parliamentary opposition to the incumbent
government.

This is likely to lead to government attempts to arrest leaders and ban further demonstrations via
court decisions. What then is to be done to make government accountable to Ghanaians, in the
context of widespread concern that the government is remote and adrift from the concerns of
ordinary people?
Many Ghanaians would agree that the proclaimed values and legacy of former president Jerry
John Rawlings – that is, social justice, equality and probity – are absent in today’s Ghana.

This concern is ably expressed by recent and current social protest movements, including
#OccupyBoG and FixThe Country, which serve both to highlight and to fuel popular fears and
frustrations at democratic shortfalls and serious, and worsening, economic problems. Such issues
were at the forefront of concerns more than 40 years ago, when Rawlings and his comrades
staged a successful coup d’état on 31 December 1981. The famous saying, attributed to Jean-
Baptiste Alphonse Karr”Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose (Literally, ‘the more it
changes, the more it’s the same thing’) seems appropriate.

Will history repeat itself and will Ghana again find itself embroiled in prolonged social, political
and economic turmoil as a result of serious governmental failings. One view is that it seems
unlikely. This is because, since the early 1980s, political radicalism, once focused in the junior
ranks of the armed forces, has been tamed and controlled by successive governments. In
addition, it seems highly unlikely that there would be a military coup in Ghana; not least because
most Ghanaians value democracy and few would want to see it replaced by unelected military
rule.

Another view is that with attention focused on next year’s presidential and parliamentary
elections, short term political outcomes will be greatly affected by popular demonstrations. This
occurred in the Arab Spring events of the early 2010s, and it is not inconceivable that Ghana will
see a similar build-up of popular anger in the run up to 2024’s elections. How this would impact
upon the electoral fortunes of the main parties, NPP and NDC, is a fascinating topic.

Jeffrey Haynes (email) is Emeritus Professor of Politics at London Metropolitan University, and
the author of Revolution and Democracy in Ghana: The Politics of Jerry Rawlings.
This article appeared first with our friends at The Herald. Click here to read it there.