COVID-19 narratives and counter-narratives in Ghana: The dialectics of state messaging and alternative re/de-constructions

Abstract

As part of its efforts to manage the pandemic, the government of Ghana has tried to control messaging via press conferences, only to find out that it has to contend with a preponderance of, sometimes conflicting, narratives from a variety of sources. These messages come from traditional and social media, adopting conventional and alternative formats for content and delivery. In this article, we examine the dialectical relationship between the government’s COVID-19 communication strategy and alternative messages from a select range of sources that have emerged. We evaluate the extent to which the latter messages reinforced or undermined official narratives; the relative trust that each set of messages is generating among citizens; the implications for effective management of the crisis; and steps that the state took to maintain/regain control as it sought to combat what it considered to be (dis)misinformation from some of these sources.