Words of the people of Ghana!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It seems the entire country is beset with problems—be they caused by chieftaincy and land disputes or communal and social strife (as is the case of the troubles in Akumfi Narkwa and Hohoe). These pockets of tension will lead to only one end, which is, to provide the spark for the national catastrophe that Election 2012 portends. Every part of national life is threatened. We are indeed on tenterhooks.

1. Every sector of national life has been politicized to such an extent that nothing in the public domain can any more be regarded as neutral. Traditional rulers (both chiefs and queenmothers), opinion leaders, community leaders, and public-spirited figures have been bitten deep by the bug and can they be trusted to handle affairs without injecting their political venom into matters?

2. Ethnicity is a vital cog in this wheel of trouble. What came from Kennedy Agyapong is just a microcosm of the danger posed by politicians seeking to exploit ethnic attachments.

3. Any reliance on the security services (especially the police and the military) to handle the situation may be misplaced. Do we not know that the personnel of these institutions identify with specific ethnic extractions and political causes?

4. The Ghana Peace Council is more active in name than in action.

5. A section of the clergy have already betrayed their political biases and preached hatred instead of fellow-feeling and peace. Are these the people to rely on to avert any disaster?

6. The Inter-Party Advisory Council has lost its credibility and vigour.

7. Ghanaians know that politics has become a goldmine being exploited by those who quickly mount rooftops to proclaim themselves as saviours only to win their mandate to be in power and turn a blind eye to their plight; no wonder the majority of people live in excruciating poverty.

In my endeavours educating women and other minority groups (mostly in the northern regions) to participate in the forth coming elections; the seldom call is that -We Ghanaians must be left alone to make up our own minds as to whom to vote for; we don't need any subterfuge or threats of death to do so. That is why tearing the country apart in the process of winning our mandate is the most reprehensible thing anybody will ever do to us. “If our lives are not to be improved by those put in power by us, we should be left to run our full span on earth; not being turned against each other by self-seekers”.

This negative politicking of do-and-die won't solve our national problems. I there will entreat all well meaning Ghanaians most especially CSOs that; it is our bounden obligation to protect each other and ensure the stability of our country. Elections should help us sort the goats (the bad ones) from the sheep (the good ones who can help us live our lives in decency). We don't have to die to elect our leaders!

Election 2012 will definitely be an exercise to deepen our democracy if these politicians don't turn it into a battleground and if we don't let them. Trust me, those who call for death will never die from political violence. The majority of Ghanaians who don't even have places of convenience to dispose of their cares and qualms don't need anybody's prompting to do the unthinkable. Let the trouble makers take caution!!