Zongo Politics

Using politics to throw dust into the eyes of people is one insincere campaign act used by bad politicians over the years. It is one of the sources of the over-flogged sayings that 'politics is a dirty game.'

Practitioners of the noble occupation of politics, which in the ideal situation is about selfless service to the people, determine the impressions people hold about it.

One of the features of bad politicking in the 2000 campaign season, as applied in the Zongo communities in the country, was the propaganda that when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) assumed power, non Ghanaians would be expelled from the country.

While some believed the propaganda, others read between the lines and concluded that that could not be true.

No such thing happened when the NPP assumed power for two terms in the country, putting an end to the periodic use of the expulsion stuff by the NDC.

It would seem that they are it again as they tell these important segments of our population that the NPP intends taking diabolical measures against non-Ghanaians.

Decency and sincerity are two qualities mostly thrown overboard when bad politicians are on political heat.

That is what we are beginning to witness in the current political campaign season, especially as mediocre newspapers lend supporting hands to such politicians.

Zongo residents are being incited against others in a society they have shared over many years and generations in a manner which is a sad reflection of nauseating local politics.

Some of the players on the political plane who seek to use this ruse to win votes for themselves do not understand the history of Zongos and so end up threatening national security in the name of seeking votes.

Not all Zongo residents are Ghanaians. If, however, for the sake of votes, we want to consider all such residents as citizens of this country, that should be another kettle of fish.

Zongos are peopled, by and large, by descendants of migrants from neighbouring West African countries, most of them from Nigeria. That is why the Hausa language is the common medium of expression in such communities.

The law is unambiguous about who is a Ghanaian and who is not and we shudder to think that out of political malice, some persons would want to create the impression that those who, by virtue of this law, are Ghanaians would nonetheless be expelled from Ghana. Balderdash!

Those who were born in this country before independence- and there are many such persons strewn across the country- are bona fide Ghanaians.

Unfortunately, however because some of such persons are not educated to understand what their rights are, wicked politicians are able to lie to them about citizenship.

Every country has segments of its population made up of descendants of migrants but who by virtue of being born in such countries become automatic citizens.

How can someone describe descendants of Captain Glover's 600 Hausas who formed the nucleus of the Ghana Armed Forces and the Police as foreigners?

On the other hand, however, there are migrants from Niger, Togo, Benin and as far afield as Mali, Guinea and even Mauritania, who were not born here and who under no circumstances can be considered Ghanaians.

Yet, unfortunately, wicked politicians want to breach the law and allow such persons to register as voters, with a view to having them vote during elections.

Such politicians cannot be regarded as good citizens of this country. Cooking xenophobia and attributing it to a section of the politics is wicked and an aberration to nationalism.