Additionally I engaged an experienced school teacher who had worn spectacles the retired people’s way, but without a walking stick. ‘How did the voting go?’ I asked Teacher Adobea, and she did not hesitate spilling a little beans.

‘How we voted? Hmm, let me say a little….my family is surely NPP; but it was not easy this time; I like DMB and couldn’t have hurt him. I gave my vote to him. My problem was the saucy lady  who was the parliamentary candidate in my area… you see, I could very easily have sneaked past the second ballot box, but I didn’t. While I was in the second polling booth, I didn’t even look at the PC’s face on the ballot. For the first time in my life I voted the Umbrella, a party that will be shocked they got my vote.’ Adobea was apparently a ‘skirt and blouse’ sinner confessing before the cross. But what of her husband?

‘My husband Kofi even though a top Elephant loyalist, also went skirt and blouse. He says he solidly voted DMB in Box A; and nearly skipped the parliamentary. On second thoughts he entered the second booth and donated his vote to LPG whose parliamentary candidate he did not even know. Even though we both voted in the parliamentary, it was simply a generous donation to the enemy.”

My further engagements in nearby areas produced assorted responses: JDM… JDM… DMB… Skirt and Blouse… Mantow Aba… DMB… DMB… Mantow Aba… Mantow Aba..until I headed home, with the refrain Mantow Aba, breaking my ear drums.
                 
In the past few days, I have excavated archives and my diaries, seeking to trace the electoral impact  of ‘Mantow Aba’ (I refused to vote), from the beginning of Ghana’s 4th Republic 1992 till the recent elections.  Below is a summary of my horror.

Since 1992, Mantow Aba numbers have oscillated between 21% and 50% of registered voters: 21% being the lowest and 50% the highest. The highest voter apathy was in 1992, the very onset of the 4th Republic. I believe, in solidarity with J. J’s Revolution Ghanaians probably had doubts about constitutional rule, and therefore developed allergies to the ballot.  In 2012 and 2020 when we had moved farther and farther away from the Revolution, not as many boycotted the ballot box: ‘Mantow Aba’ was a merciful 21%. Unfortunately, even as our attitude to the ballot improved we turned around in the past few years and restored a very high voter lethargy. In the recent election, 2024, ‘I did not vote’ was as high as 39%, one of the highest in the 4th Republic. It meant that almost 4 out of every 10 registered voters boycotted the ballot box. That high default rate (similar to 2000 and 2004) could mean, as we mature in democracy, we get more and more skeptical about voting, and express this with the voice of Silence. The year 2024 was one of the loudest; our  Silence was deafening.

But we should have known this was coming, if you remember the several street protests across the country with ‘No Road No Vote’ placards ahead of December, etc. Where the paved roads promised by Government never came, citizens reacted their own way. Voters simply reproduced pot holes on the ballot.

Significantly even as we lament our relatively low turn-out of 61%,  we should take consolation from Nigeria our neighbors, where only 26% voted in Election 2023, with a voter inertia of 74%.

Let’s move from ‘Mantow Aba,’ to its friend: ‘I voted but I suspect my ballot was rejected.’ This latter group is interesting; they turned up to vote, but messed up the ballot either out of voter illiteracy, or a willful intent to make mistakes and shame the devil. Their ballots were rejected.

1992 was the worst year ever for rejected ballots, perhaps from the long  military rule which dropped ballots out of memory; we recorded 3.6% being the highest  rate of rejected ballots in the 4th Republic. That huge deficit on which the 4th Republic started, sharply declined to 0.15% in 1996. From 1996 to date, we have consistently fallen below 2.5% ballot rejects; and were partly comforted when we recorded just 2% in 2024 (provisional figures), demonstrating the relative success of voter education over the years.

So let’s imagine a new political movement emerging out of this group, and pose the question, ‘what was the impact of Mantow Aba on the recent December polls?

The breaking news is that the quantum of rejected ballots plus Mantow Aba together, outstrips votes obtained by any single presidential candidate, including JDM the officially declared winner.

The unseen presidential candidate (Mantow Aba & Friends) attracts 7.5 million votes constituting 39.5% of registered voters, followed by JDM whose 6.5 million  now constitute 34.2%  and DMB with 4.8 million being 25.3%. The rest of the candidates attract 0.2 million votes being 1% of registered voters.  

This new development demonstrates the huge deficit Ghana suffers in democratic participation due to voter lethargy. It means silence triumphed in the 2024 elections.

The winners of Ghana’s 2024 Elections are clearly the Silent Mantow Aba Rebels, the Voter Haram.

P/S: With no candidate getting 50% plus one, however, there might be a run-off this Easter.

That ends the summary of my horror.

kyankah@ashesi.edu.gh