Rethinking Campaign Songs as Strategic Narratives: A Critical Analysis of “Awurade Kasa” and “Wona Mayi Wo” in Elections in Ghana

Abstract: Strategic narratives have emerged as sites of theoretical reflection and objects of inquiry in war and security studies and in international relations and diplomacy, but their potential to offer a nuanced analysis of campaign songs has been conspicuously absent. Drawing on the theory of strategic narratives and employing a thematic analysis of the texts of “Awurade Kasa” and “Wona Mayi Wo,” used by the New Patriotic Party in the 2000 and 2012 elections in Ghana, this article argues that sonic religiopolitical strategic narratives promote a particular problem definition, diagnose the problem’s cause, and make future-oriented claims. It contributes an Afrocentric perspective on “the God strategy” in political communication.