“Let’s Not Play Politics With It”

What is politics? Well, everybody knows the answer but it appears no one is able to give a definition suitable enough to be acceptable to all. So if a taxi driver is promised by his station master that the taxi rank will be rehabilitated very soon, he may nod approvingly, then move out of earshot and dismiss the promise with: “Don't mind him; it's just politics.” In this case, politics means a promise that is unlikely to be fulfilled. Or?

Interestingly, Ronald Reagan, the former president of the United States of America, said: “It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.” The first time I saw this quote, I was both shocked and discouraged. I wondered and continue to wonder why the profession that produces presidents and prime ministers, who then lead their respective nations, could be likened to prostitution. Yes, prostitution! A profession that even its practitioners are reluctant or ashamed to admit publicly.

And I was discouraged because I thought he was confirming the notion that politics was a 'dirty game' and therefore enjoining people who dislike 'dirty games' to stare clear of it. Additionally, I thought he was belittling politics with an unfavourable comparison.

In any case, I struggled in vain to see any similarities between politics and prostitution, let alone 'a striking resemblance'. I considered prostitution unacceptable no matter what reasons are adduced to justify it. But I could not say same for politics. Yes, politics produced characters like Adolf Hitler who hit the world with unprecedented and unsurpassed atrocities. It also brought about Idi Amin whose proclivity for violent conduct is only surpassed by his own buffoonery.

But it also produced the celebrated and revered Mahatma Gandhi, the charismatic Kwame Nkrumah, the inimitable Abraham Lincoln who apart from providing the timeless and much-quoted definition of democracy, fought and eventually freed slaves with his Emancipation Proclamation. He was even called “Honest Abe because everybody admired his honesty.” How about the almost saintly Nelson Mandela who chose reconciliation over revenge even though he had suffered unspeakable suffering in the hands of his oppressors?

So, on that score I failed to understand what the late former president was driving at. Was he talking about the personal risk involved it? Maybe, yes. But the risk of being a politician should be much greater and rewarding than that of being a prostitute. And a politician's risk goes with honour; they get immortalized by getting streets, towns, schools, stadiums(stadia), public squares, hospitals, and other public places named after them. Some politicians do not even join their ancestors before places are named after them. There is a Rawlings' Park in my former senior high school. I am yet to hear such honour bestowed on a prostitute. Maybe, he said it in context which I hope to find out later.

And, so when non politicians talk of politics as an entirely negative endeavor, I am quick to defend politics and politicians. With determined briskness, I cite great exemplary politicians to buttress my stance and drum home my message. I also argue that political exploitation is the exception rather than the rule.

But what can be said in defence of politics when the politicians constantly say plainly or infer that politics is synonymous with expediency and untruthfulness. Every now and then I hear politicians of repute say: “Let's not play politics with this issue oooh. This is a national issue. Let's not play politics with it.” Others say: “let's not politicize this issue.”This is normally said to rebut a claim by a political opponent. I am always left wondering which issues in this country, Ghana, can be politicized. And what playing politics with an issue really means!

Quite recently, an MP said we do not want to do politics with the education of our children. The MP was trying to refute claims made by a deputy minister about the performance of candidates in this year's WASSCE examination. It was not rocket science! The MP meant that the minister was trying to distort the facts and put a spin on the figures in order to make the performance look good or better than it really is. In short the MP meant 'stop the window-dressing.' Is that what politics is about? Window-dressing?

Well, politics can easily evoke a feeling of foreboding. So when I told my lovely mother I could become a politician after my studies, she let out a desperate lament: “ Emmaaa…please find something else to do. You are too soft; you won't survive it. I beg you. Forget about it!” There was an overtone of finality in her voice: she was unwilling to continue the conversation on. She does not have a good opinion about politics. And there are numerous people like her.

The negativity associated with politics gets worse and even frightening when politicians accept or tacitly acknowledge that politics is a deceptive, self-serving enterprise, that politics negatively influences our thoughts and actions. And that “we must not politicize only important national issues.” Is it right to politicize airlifting supporters of the national team to Brazil, such that preference is given to card-carrying supporters of the ruling party (at any given point in time)? I think every issue in Ghana is an important national issue because Ghanaians bear the repercussions that may result from not treating the issue with the honesty it deserves. Every Ghanaian's welfare notwithstanding their political colours is equally important.

Sweeping statements like “let's us not play politics it” are a negative influence on the political consciousness of the populace, and can worsen political apathy. It suggests that politicians take entrenched and intransigent positions political expediency, and not reasonable and practical positions. They should be avoided especially by the politicians if we want to engender trust and cooperation which are crucial for national development. God bless us all.

Emmanuel Asakinaba studies at the French Department of the University of Ghana. E-mail: [email protected].