Detty December: Who shapes the narrative?

By Dr Kofi ANING Jnr

Every December, Ghana becomes a host, not just to visitors, but to global attention. As people arrive from across the world, their experiences quickly turn into stories, opinions, and online commentary that shape how the country is perceived far beyond its borders. While “Detty December” did not begin as a single event, early concerts such as “Detty Rave”, pioneered by Mr Eazi and Bernard Kafui Sokpke, helped define the energy and scale of December events in Accra. The term “Detty December” later emerged to describe this broader seasonal phenomenon. Though its origins are debated, it is widely associated with Ghana, even as its ownership and meaning are increasingly contested, particularly in Nigeria.

In recent years, December in Ghana has gained remarkable cultural significance. Detty December has evolved into a seasonal theme and a global brand, drawing attention and comparison from across the continent. But beneath the fireworks and packed venues lies a quieter question: who really shapes the story the world hears about Ghana in December? Increasingly, the most powerful narrators are diaspora visitors and tourists who capture and broadcast their experiences instantly through smartphones and social media platforms. Their posts are raw, immediate, and emotionally charged, and travel fast. A delayed meal, a chaotic airport arrival, or an unforgettable night out can be broadcast to millions within minutes. These are not neutral updates; they are stories. And stories invite audiences to step into someone else’s experience. Joy spreads when the story is joyful; frustration spreads just as quickly when it is not. This is how perception is built today; through lived experience, narrated online.

Citizens at home often push back. Some validate the complaints, acknowledging gaps in service and infrastructure. Others feel defensive, arguing that visitors should better understand the local context and constraints. These counter-narratives matter too. They reflect pride, fatigue, and a desire to protect Ghana’s image from what feels like one-sided storytelling. But focusing only on online sparring misses the bigger picture. Detty December is shaped by a web of stakeholders: government agencies managing visas, roads, security, and public messaging; event organizers selling the dream and setting expectations; hospitality businesses delivering the everyday moments visitors remember most; and informal workers whose interactions often define whether a visitor feels welcome.

When any part of this chain breaks down, social media fills the gap. The issue is not that visitors speak; it is that their stories can quickly become the only version a global audience hears. In the absence of a timely institutional response, individual experiences, positive or negative, can harden into perceived truth. This dynamic was on display in December when a woman went viral on TikTok after alleging she had been extorted and kidnapped by members of the Ghana Police Service. The video spread rapidly, raising concerns that Ghana’s carefully cultivated image, built through initiatives such as The Year of Return, could be damaged by the allegation. As state institutions moved to investigate, the woman reportedly left the country and declined to cooperate, adding uncertainty and fuelling speculation rather than resolution.

For many observers, the episode was less about a single video and more about how quickly Ghana’s image could be shaped or distorted by viral content during its most visible season. The lesson was clear: when institutions are slow to respond, social media does not wait. It fills the vacuum with narrative before the facts fully emerge. That is why narrative power matters. So who shapes the narrative of Detty December? The honest answer is everyone does, and no one does alone. The opportunity, then, is not to silence voices, but to listen better. To treat online feedback not as an attack, but as data, because Ghana’s global image in December is not shaped by a single tweet or campaign, but by the story that survives the noise, the one people remember long after the music fades.

And that story is still being written.

Dr  Aning Jnr, is a Research Fellow, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

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