"They Vote Like Their Kindred": Regional Citizenship, Electoral Politics, and Discourses of Belonging in Brong Ahafo, Ghana. (December 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lobnibe, Isidore
• Is Part Of: Journal of Asian and African studies. Volume 52:Number 8(2017)
• Page Start: 1225
• Page End: 1242
• Publication Date: 2017-12
• Subjects: Migration -- Brong Ahafo -- voting -- northern Ghana -- regional citizenship; Social change -- Africa -- Periodicals; Social change -- Asia -- Periodicals; Economic development -- Africa -- Periodicals; Economic development -- Asia -- Periodicals; Africa -- Social conditions -- Periodicals; Asia -- Social conditions -- Periodicals; Africa -- Periodicals; Asia -- Periodicals; 950
• DOI: 10.1177/0021909616654299
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-9096

Abstract

This paper explores reactions to election results in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana from the perspectives of the politics of belonging debates – the distinction citizens of the same nation-state make between those who belong and those who belong less in one of Ghana's highly competitive electoral regions. It argues that multi-party democracy has intensified or given rise to social and political tensions or conflicts in some local communities rather than enhance democratic ideals and peaceful coexistence