Media, Language and Cultural Politics in Contemporary Accra, Ghana

Postcolonial politics has retained Accra’s position as a hub of cosmopolitanism, which challenges  Ghana's rhetoric of decentralization. The city continues to attract migrants, particularly of Akan descent, who have leveraged their demographic strength, resource endowment and entrepreneurial skills to dominate the media space. This has also been routinized by the strategic opening up of the media by the state, which has tended to benefit the Akan, whose presence in the corridors of power has continued since colonial times. The situation is such that the various languages within the Akan, particularly the Asante Twi, have routinized the dominance of the Akan culture over the Ga culture. The Akan linguistic dominance in the city has created discontent among the Ga political elites and traditional authorities, which at times has fostered ethnic politics at the national level. Considering the complexities and potentially devastating impact of ethnic polarity on building a socially constructed postcolonial country, this chapter seeks to answer the question: To what extent can the media serve as a channel for fostering cultural plurality and social conviviality for the flourishing of humanity? The chapter reflects on and responds to this question by providing contextual and socio-historical analyses as a means of rationalizing a need for affirmative action for the Ga language. Admittedly, while linguistic affirmative action cannot be relied on as an enduring solution, it would encourage a renewed interest in the study of the Ga language in Ghana’s elementary schools and set the pace for equitable cultural representation in the country’s contemporary media space. In a situation where public language policy and planning are called for, the chapter argues for supportive public language policy, such as acquisition planning in favor of Ga.