Written by Kobby Graham

‘Ghana Decides’ is a non-partisan project being run by a team of young Ghanaians united in putting Ghana first, whatever their political leanings. It is a lesson in political maturity that many supposedly more adult Ghanaians could stand to learn from.

Started by BloggingGhana (www.ghanablogging.com) – the country’s largest collective of bloggers and social media activists – with funding from STAR Ghana, the project aims to help create a better informed electorate as a means of contributing to free, fair and safe elections later this year. To do this, Ghana Decides uses social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and more to educate youth, civil society organizations and institutions on the effective use of social media. Its website is a great one-stop shop for unbiased news and links on political goings on in Ghana.

During the recent Biometric Voters Registration Exercise, the group launched ‘iregistered’: a campaign to encourage eligible Ghanaians to share their experiences of registering, using the hashtag ‘#iregistered’. People including celebrities like Kwaw Kese and m.anifest uploaded over 400 images, with the campaign gained ample press coverage both locally and internationally.

Extending its message offline, the group has held social media workshops across the country for youth groups, civil society, the disabled and other marginalised groups. These include a Social Media Working Group for Civil Society Organisations in the Brong Ahfo region; BarCamp Sunyani; social media training workshops both in Ho and in Accra, where they also took part in Ghana’s first ever ‘Blog Camp’.

To find out more or to keep up-to-date in the run-up to the elections, simply visit www.ghanadecides.com