Filming democracy in Ghana - Jarreth Merz

I was born in Switzerland and raised in Ghana, West Africa. Ghana felt safe to me as a child. I was free; I was happy. The early 70s marked a time of musical and artistic excellence in Ghana. But then, by the end of the decade, the country had fallen back into political instability and mismanagement.

In 1979, I witnessed my first military coup. We, the children, had gathered at a friend's house, and it was a dimly lit shack. There was a beaten-up black-and-white television flickering in the background, and former head of state General was being blindfolded and tied to the pole. The firing squad aimed and fired. The general was dead. Now this was being broadcast live, and shortly after, we left the country and returned to Switzerland.

Now Europe came as a shock to me, and I think I started feeling the need to shed my skin in order to fit in. I wanted to blend in like a chameleon. I think it was the tactics of survival, and it worked, or so I believed. So here I was in 2008, wondering where I was in my life, and I felt that I was being typecast as an actor. I was always playing the exotic African; I was playing the violent African, the African terrorist. I was thinking, how many terrorists could I possibly play before turning into one myself? I had become ashamed of the other, the African in me.

Fortunately, I decided in 2008 to return to Ghana after 28 years of absence. I wanted to document then film the 2008 presidential elections, and there I started by searching for the footprints in my childhood. Before I even knew it, I was suddenly on a stage surrounded by thousands of cheering people during a political rally. I realized that when I left the country, free and fair elections in a democratic environment were a dream, and now that I returned, that dream had become a reality—though a fragile reality.

I was thinking, was Ghana searching for its identity like I was looking for my identity? Was what was happening in Ghana a metaphor for what was happening in me? It was as if through the standards of my Western life, I hadn't lived up to my full potential. I mean, nor had Ghana, even though we had been trying very hard. Now, in 1957, Ghana was the first sub-Saharan country to gain its independence. In the late 50s, Ghana and Singapore had the same GDP. I mean, today Singapore is a first-world country, and Ghana is not. But maybe it was time to prove to myself that yes, it's important to understand the past; it is important to look at it in a different light. But maybe we should look at the strength in our own culture and build on those foundations in the present.

So here I was, December 7th, 2008. The polling stations opened to the voters at 7 AM, but voters eager to take their own political fate into their hands were starting to line up at 4 AM in the morning. They had traveled from near; they had traveled from far because they wanted to make their voices heard. I asked one of the voters, I said, "Whom are you going to vote for?" And he said, "I'm sorry, I can't tell you." He said that his vote was in his heart, and I understood this was their election, and they weren't going to let anyone take it away from them.

Now, the first round of the voting didn't bring forth a clear winner, so nobody had achieved the absolute majority. So voting went into a second round. Three weeks later, the candidates were back on the road; they were campaigning. The rhetoric of the candidates, of course, changed; the heat was on, and then the cliché came to haunt us. There were claims of intimidation at the polling stations, of ballot boxes being stolen. Inflated results started coming in, and the mob was starting to get out of control.

We witnessed the eruption of violence in the streets; people were being beaten brutally. The army started firing the guns, people were scrambling. It was complete chaos, and my heart sank because I thought, here we are again; here is another proof that the African is not capable of governing himself. And not only that, I am documenting it—documenting my own cultural shortcomings.

So when the echo of the gunshots had lingered, it was soon drowned by the chanting of the mob, and I didn't believe what I was hearing. They were chanting, "We want peace! We want peace!" and I realized it had to come from the people. After all, they decided, and they did. So the sounds that were before distorted and loud were suddenly a melody; the sounds of the voices were harmonious.

So it could happen; a democracy could be upheld peacefully. It could be by the will of the masses who were now urgently pressing with all their hearts and all their will for peace. Now, here's an interesting comparison: we in the West, we preach the values, the golden light of democracy, that we are the shining example of how it's done. But when it comes down to it, Ghana found itself in the same place in which the U.S. election stalled in the 2000 presidential elections, Bush versus Gore.

But instead of the unwillingness of the candidates to allow the system to proceed and the people to decide, Ghana honored democracy and its people. It didn't leave it up to the Supreme Court to decide; the people did. Now, the second round of voting did not bring forth a clear winner either. I mean, it was so incredibly close! The electoral commissioner declared, with the consent of the parties, to run an unprecedented second rerun.

So the people went back to the polls to determine their own president—not the legal system. And guess what? It worked! The defeated candidate gave up and made way for Ghana to move into a new democratic cycle. I mean, at the absolute time for the absolute need of democracy, they did not abuse their power. The belief in true democracy and in the people runs deep, proving that the African is capable of governing himself.

Now the uphill battle for Ghana and for Africa is not over, but I have proof that the other side of democracy exists and that we must not take it for granted. Now, I have learned that my place, not just in the West or in Africa—I’m still searching for my identity—but I saw Ghana create democracy better. Ghana taught me to look at people differently and to look at myself differently. And yes, we Africans can. Thank you.