Good for Elections but not for Government: Zongos and the Politics of Exclusion in Ghana

Abstract

Zongo communities – comprising migrants from the northern savannah of Ghana and neighbouring Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Northern Nigeria – are keenly involved in Ghanaian politics, especially leading up to national elections. Representing an important constituency, zongo residents expect their fair share of representation in government to compensate their diverse contributions to political activities. This article examines this expectation and how zongo residents perceive government policies and actions – including the creation of the Ministry of Inner Cities and Zongo Development – seeking to address their feelings of disengagement. Primary data were gathered during 2018 through a survey, focus group discussions and interviews and analysed from a social exclusion theory perspective. Most participants reported that there was no representation of the zongos at national or local government level. Further, the findings seemed to affirm that zongo residents are only politically important before and during elections. Participants in our study branded government interventions aimed at including zongo communities as merely cosmetic and tricking zongo residents into believing that government cares for them.