Why the mask? – Cheddar details significance of campaign strategy

Presidential hopeful and leader of the New Force Movement, Nana Kwame Bediako, popularly known as Cheddar, has shared insight into the movement’s decision to adopt the masked billboards as a campaign strategy.

According to him, it is to allow the citizens to focus on the message of the movement rather than the one who is carrying the message.

Speaking on Accra-based TV3 on January 11, 2024, he elaborated on the symbolic significance behind the use of masks in the movement’s activities, linking it to historical factors.

“First of all, I think that Black people globally have lost their identity. We have an identity crisis; we’re labelled in different countries: Black British, Black American, Black African, Afro American, and so many things, but then when we go back to the past, it all started with the mask. When we go back to history, where power started, the mask was some kind of paint where we painted our faces with.

“And when we went to war, everybody’s face was painted as a mask. And you have to be very careful who you fight because she could be your sister, your mother, or your own family. So, that made us very careful and very focused in terms of what we have to do and who we have to attack, but at the same time, we were anonymous. And I think that sometimes the Black society should portray ourselves to the world: we should be anonymous based on our capacity and our ability; what we can do to change this world, and then when it’s finally done, we unveil ourselves,” he detailed.

Nana Kwame Bediako settled the curiosity of many by putting himself out as the one behind the masked billboards that have been the centre of conversations in the country over the last few months.

According to him, it is a way to announce his ambition to run as a presidential candidate in the 2024 general elections.