My Lay Point Of View: 2012 And Beyond,better Bawku, Atiwa And Tema Experiences.

There comes a time when a nation needs to put aside politics; better still, “dirty” politics in order to achieve the greater good for the greatest number in society. In reference to my article, “Return Military Regime”, I foresaw a dangerous time approaching, when the youth of this country could take the law into their hands with the “magic” of mobilization. From that time till now, I have heard a number of discussions on radio and television pointing to the same direction. Social commentators, conflict analysts, common people like myself and politicians alike have expressed similar concerns passionately one way or the other.

It seems to me however, that this is only a repetition of trend as there have been countless discussions and debates on one issue after the other without any concrete yields. Talk, discussions and arguments, which mostly turn out to be battles of grammatical prowess and determination of who has the most sophisticated arguing skills, seem to be the order of the day. Its either a showdown of who wields political upper hand or unnecessary personality attacks, while the main issues hang in the throats of people, waiting for a calamity to happen before a move is made. Talk is good but extremely useless when not backed with actions.

I stumbled on the footage of some youth at Tema giving the police a “run for their teargas” over a piece of land. It was not much of what I will describe as a horrific scene but I feared, I feared for the future and what could happen if things like that continued. It looked no different from the pictures I have seen of things that have happened in Rwanda, Somalia, Uganda, Sudan, Pakistan, India and all the other violent pictures I have seen about war torn areas. The police engaging civilians. That seem to have been the trend of “humble” beginnings of civil unrests which degenerates into the unthinkable.

It was a terrible sight of energetic youth defying the presence of policemen to exhibit a strong sense of destructive manpower; manpower which could have been used to work at achieving the president's “Beter Ghana Agenda”, being washed down the drain. They insulted, cursed, warned and burnt car tyres. It was a stone throwing spree as mothers ran helter skeltor with their children. Good old Ghana Police on the other hand, retaliated with teargas (amidst alleged gunshots). Having had an experience with that gas myself during the Ashaiman mayhem, I wandered how these young people managed to continue the stone throwing in the midst of the tear gas. They were determined to press home their demand and would allow nothing to stand in the way. A “can do” spirit being used negatively.

Closing my eyes, I remembered what I saw of the Atiwa By-elections and then Pictures of my own imagination from an eye witness' account of the Rwandan genocide (Immaculee's Left To Tell) played back in my mind. Groups wielding machetes, killing people as and when they felt and burning down houses filled with human beings. I remembered pictures of what I have seen about Sierra Leon and Liberia (both fictitious and real) the “long and short sleeved” cuts given to children and adults alike. A playback of the story told about a pregnant Liberian woman whose belly was split open by some soldiers just to confirm their argument over the sex of the unborn child as well as pictures of how women and girls have been brutally raped and abused. Pictures of children being drugged, brainwashed and given guns to go on shooting sprees. Many of such children have died and those who survived are said to be as good as dead due to psychological traumas and physical disabilities. Seeing the people and things you love and care about being burnt down to ashes and being able to do nothing except to run for your dear life which hang in the balance. Such has been the stories of warring nations; these stories have begun with mobilization and incitement of young people.

I began asking if indeed Ghana was as peaceful and if the people are incapable of causing serious chaos as we have been made to believe. In my opinion, the wickedness in the heart of man as the bible says, and for that matter Ghanaians has not yet been ignited to such a level .it has not yet gotten to the level of escalation, which for me is the reason why we have convinced ourselves that Ghana is peaceful and that Ghanaians are incapable of harming a “fly”. This state of conviction is good but if we consider reality as most important, then this notion cannot be proven “beyond reasonable doubt”. Evidence lies in the disturbing phenomenon of such youth groups having their way through violent means.

The experiences of our brothers and sisters up North, especially Bawku, that of the people in Atiwa during the recent by-elections and Tema, including sporadic unrests which almost always follows one appointment or the other when “foot soldiers” are unhappy coupled with bits and pieces of protests here and there, which usually gets bloody and seizure of buildings among other things, should be telling us to go the extra mile to ensure a much more peaceful coexistence in the midst of political, tribal, religious and even sexual adversities. Lets take cognitive of the fact that we live in a world of possibilities, where the “can do attitude” can be useful both positively and negatively, where anything can happen. That should give us more than clues as to what to do, what not to do and what to expect if we do not what ought to be done as a people. As for chieftaincy and land disputes, the least said about them in this piece, the better. Otherwise you might whisper to yourself “yeatiaabre”(we have heard enough).

These things have happened to people like us. To countries like us. They do not hate peace and harmony. The question is whether they saw it coming or not. What they did or not do to have caused them such? What they could have done to change the storyline as it is told today? The consequences of their actions and inactions most importantly are what we as Ghanaians should learn from. Like the old adage goes, “se obi abojwe eeshia, sa nsuo si wodie ho”(stand by with water when someone's beard catches fire)The same blood runs through all of us. As a matter of fact, we are relatives. We are Africans. As to whether Ghanaians are more peace-loving, the debate is on-going.

Conclusion
In 2012, Ghanaians will either retain or change government. This exercise has a history of sporadic violence although we have been rated better than others and we must stretch to our limits to keep it clean and deathless as much as possible. I know the police will do their best but the fact that they get overwhelmed cannot be overemphasized. I am calling for an extra step of diligence and sincerity from each and every Ghanaian especially those in charge, towards ensuring peace and to better if not prevent the Atiwa experience where 1200 policemen were seemingly overwhelmed by situations in a single district. What happens then in the national elections? That extra step is more than necessary.

Youth mobilization to press home a particular demand, which seem to be brewing a culture of impunity, is a looming danger that needs to be checked with urgency. It appears as though, once we earn something at the end of the day, have a place to lay our heads, a place to run when nature calls, wake up to the bright smiles of the people we love, every other thing is a discussion and remains so, mostly politicized irrespective of the consequences until something terrible happens.

There is the need for all of us, from the presidency to the extremely ordinary Ghanaian to make a conscious effort towards maintaining peace. It is not enough to believe that “Ghanaians do not like fighting”. I'm calling for a national consciousness, that no matter how peace-loving a group is thought to be, it takes just the necessary ignition to cause the tables to turn. The peaceful nature of Ghana cannot and should not be taken for granted.

As the good book puts it in Jeremiah 17:9 (King James' Version) “the heart is …desperately wicked…”.In one of his books, Bishop Dag Heward Mills, explains that the presence of Christ in the heart of man tames this wickedness and if one can honestly recall the kinds of ideas one has ever had about certain situations, it will boost the understanding of this scripture. My impression is that without Christ and for that matter any kind of piety in the heart of man, that “wickedness” is ignited at the least provocation and the body controlled by such a heart can do anything, any destructive thing is possible for a human being with such a heart. it is possible even with the presence of some kind of piety in our hearts if not well managed. Let us better manage youthful power and the power of mobilization for better yields.

Gifty Andoh Appiah ([email protected])