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The new craze for
Kalyppo juice, a locally-produced drink marketed mainly for
children, is giving Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party
the sort of free publicity politicians crave.
As Akufo-Addo's convoy weaved through a densely-packed
neighborhood of the capital last week, his supporters waved the
boxes aloft and sipped the juice through straws.
One woman pinned Kalyppo to a selfie-stick. On Facebook and
Twitter supporters pictured themselves drinking Kalyppo and even
pretending to shower and fuel their cars with it.
The trend began when supporters of the ruling New Democratic
Congress posted a photograph of Akufo-Addo drinking Kalyppo as a
refreshment between campaign stops.
It was intended to gently mock Akufo-Addo, perhaps by making him
look undignified, but NPP officials said they then adopted the
drink as a sign of solidarity, in part to boost Akufo-Addo's
credentials as a man of the people.
One campaign aide said the party welcomed the boost ahead of the
Dec. 7 vote, when Akufo-Addo faces President John Mahama, who is
running for a second and final four-year term. The opposition
leader has lost two previous presidential races.
Kalyppo is made by Aquafresh Limited which is based in Accra,
according to its website. No one at the company was available to
comment but the secretary general of the Ghana Federation of
Labour, which represents Aquafresh workers, cautioned that the
craze was not necessarily a good thing.
"Once the consumers are polarized (along party lines) ... the
regular sales would be negatively affected to the detriment of
the employees," he told Reuters.
Ghana is one of Africa's most stable democracies and twice since
2000 voters have turfed the government out of power. Growth has
slowed since Mahama took power, in part because of lower global
prices for the country's commodity exports.
(Reporting by Matthew Mpoke Bigg; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
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