Personality politics overshadowing policy debate in Ghana — IMANI Pulse

Ghana’s political conversation is becoming increasingly dominated by personalities rather than substantive policy debates, according to the latest IMANI Pulse report for June 2026.

The report, which analysed 1,797 political mentions across Ghana’s digital information ecosystem over the 30 days ending June 30, found that public discussions on governance, the economy, foreign policy, infrastructure, and elections were frequently driven by political leaders and partisan identity instead of policy issues and institutional performance.

According to IMANI, the June report moves beyond simply measuring whether political conversations are positive or negative, instead examining the substance of public discourse.

“Rather than simply measuring whether political conversations are positive or negative, the June 2026 report examines the substance of public discourse, identifying whether digital political engagement is primarily driven by policy issues, institutional performance or personality-centred narratives,” the report stated.

To assess this, the think tank introduced what it calls the Substance Index, which measures the balance between policy-focused discussions and personality-driven political conversations.

“The analysis introduces the Substance Index, a measure that evaluates the balance between policy-focused and personality-driven political conversations. Policy discussions include debates around legislation, institutional reforms, public programmes, governance systems and policy outcomes. Personality discussions focus primarily on political leaders, party competition, electoral positioning, credibility and partisan identity.”

The report found that although Ghanaians remained actively engaged in national issues, many conversations quickly shifted from discussing policies to debating political figures and party affiliations.

Foreign policy, which generated the highest volume of discussions during the period with 321 mentions, illustrated the trend. IMANI found that only 102 conversations, representing 33%, focused primarily on foreign policy issues, while 203 conversations, or 67%, were driven by political personalities and partisan narratives.

Similarly, the report observed that discussions on infrastructure often failed to focus on technical issues such as engineering solutions, procurement and financing.

“Rather than focusing primarily on engineering solutions, procurement processes, financing arrangements and maintenance strategies, infrastructure debates often become arguments about leadership, accountability and political history,” the report noted.

The same trend emerged in discussions surrounding the arrest and subsequent bail of the NPP-affiliated TikTok commentator known as “Bawumia Ba.”

According to IMANI, although the incident raised significant issues relating to due process, political expression and law enforcement, public debate was largely centred on political symbolism and partisan identity.

“The issue generated approximately 28,947 engagements, making it one of the most widely discussed political events across all monitored themes. Although the incident raised important questions about due process, political expression and law enforcement, public discussion focused largely on political symbolism and partisan identity rather than institutional reform.”

Overall, IMANI concluded that Ghana’s digital political space is becoming increasingly shaped by political personalities, even as citizens continue to show strong interest in governance and public policy.

“The June 2026 edition of IMANI Pulse reveals a Ghanaian digital political environment that is highly active, deeply contested and increasingly shaped by political personalities.

The data show that citizens remain strongly engaged with governance issues, public policies and national developments.

However, these discussions are frequently filtered through partisan identity, leadership and political competition.”