Africa Calling - Ep7: Ghana’s election campaigning, Covid-19 vaccine in Africa, Liberia’s controversial referendum & rogue MPs in Tanzania

Africa Calling podcast looks at some of the week's top stories from the African continent, including reports from the field and analysis with regional experts. This week we’re talking about the end of election campaigning in Ghana, and finding out about the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines across the African continent. We also hear about a controversial constitutional referendum in Liberia; how opposition MPs in Tanzania have gone rogue, efforts to eliminate HIV-AIDS in São Tomé, rising child abuse in Mozambique during the Covid-19, and the Cameroonian winner of a French literary prize. Ghana Voters prepare to go to the polls on 7 December in presidential and parliamentary elections, with incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo up against former President John Mahama, two long-standing rivals. As campaigning draws to a close, the two political heavyweights trade barbs over policy including free education, agriculture, small-scale mining and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Ghana’s economy has been hit hard by coronavirus lockdowns and both candidates have vowed to implement measures to kickstart job creation and protect the most vulnerable from the economic fallout. Correspondent Zubaida Mabuno Ismail reports from the Ashanti and Eastern regions as the campaign draws to a close. “Presidential candidates are mopping up their campaigns in both strongholds and swing areas...In 2016, candidate Akufo-Addo won the elections by 53% while president John Mahama garnered 44%,” says Mabuno Ismail. Covid-19 vaccination campaigns Countries around the world are racing to secure coronavirus vaccines to save their people from the continued spread of Covid-19, and the African continent is no different. However, African countries face major challenges with buying vaccines and organising mammoth mass vaccination campaigns. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is aiming to roll out vaccines by mid-2021 and hopes to cover 60% of the population. But what will a gap between vaccination campaigns in different regions of