How Africa
The American elections are always keenly followed considering the position of America in the world, but this year, they have taken on more media circus proportions as controversy after controversy have come to the light.
Africans are not unused to controversial elections. Most elections in Africa are dogged by talk of constitution changes, election rigging or after-election violence.
It is probably for this reasons that Africans seem to have developed such a keen wit on election matters. Yesterday, they took to social media to share hilarious but accurate tweets about what might have been different if the American elections were held in an African country.
They flooded twitter with the hashtag #Nov8AfricanEdition; with November 8 being the date that the American election will come to a head as Americans head to the polls.
Everything was covered; from the difference in the kind of input that the outgoing President would give in the elections to tribal based arguments that are not an uncommon feature of African elections and the levels of bribery that go into them.
Here are some of the tweets on the American elections that ran with the hashtag #Nov8AfricanEdition
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Chimankpam @ClarenceonyeksThere are unconfirmed reports that voters in parts of Ohio are being induced with indomie and hotdog.#Nov8AfricanEdition
3838 Retweets
1515 likes
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Gidimeister @GidimeisterRumours of a 3rd term for popular incumbent swirl. Concerns by international observers that term limits may be scrapped.#Nov8AfricanEdition
2727 Retweets
1717 likes
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The Anti_Ableist @analytque#Obama refuses to leave office claims he is the only man fit to rule US, seeks to ammend constitution #Nov8AfricanEdition
3838 Retweets
2424 likes
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Babasola Kuti @SKSolaKutiUnderage voters, horses and lamb seen queuing up to vote around ranches in Texas. #Nov8AfricanEdition
3434 Retweets
99 likes
@wildeyeq“I had no bra growing up” @HillaryClinton shares inspiring story of growing up poor and succeeding regardless #nov8africanedition
4646 Retweets
1414 likes
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Rosanwo @rosanwo#Nov8AfricanEdition Observers report late arrival of voting materials across America
1010 Retweets
33 likes
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TMS Ruge✔@tmsruge
US Congress orders ALL social media sites blocked on Nov 8th due to security concerns. Trump livid in 3am tweetstorm.#Nov8AfricanEdition
11 Retweet
66 likes
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Andy Obuoforibo @andyRoidO#Nov8AfricanEdition Electoral Commission warns media not to announce results before them. FBI arrests Wolf Blitzer & John King at CNN HQ.
4343 Retweets
2121 likes
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DAN!EL @DaniielAbdulDangote trucks seen with bags of rice branded “I am with her” to be distributed in D.C ahead of elections. #Nov8AfricanEdition
2828 Retweets
1414 likes
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Oluwatobi Gbemisola @TobiGbemisolaThe Republican Party has set up Foodstuffs distribution locations across the country 2 increase their chances of winning#Nov8AfricanEdition
Retweets
11 like
All tweets shared are a depiction of one reality or the other that can be found in African states during election period. American newspaper Washington Post which picked up the story, blamed the evolution of the hashtag on Donald Trump’s allegations of election rigging.
The tweets show how far the standards of American elections have dropped this year but even more than that, it shows what little faith Africans put in the systems of electioneering in their various countries.
As much as the tweets induced some laughter, later on they will probably serve as a sober reminder to the world that African democracy is still a long way off from being respectable.
