Oppressors' Rule: How Do We Resist It?  

'GOD BLESS our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong. Bold to defend forever the cause of freedom and of right; fill our hearts with true humility, make us cherish, fearless, honesty, and HELP US TO RESIST OPPRESSORS' RULE with all our will and might for evermore' ( lyrics of the first verse of the Ghana National Anthem).

'As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy path' (Isaiah 3: 12).

Ruling Vrs Ruled Class
A nation can be plunged into economic and political oppression when weak, inexperienced, tactless, and shortsighted people with smoothness of tongue maneuver to take up leadership positions. For such leaders, the ability to give alluring promises to beguile the people is their greatest weapon.

In many countries like Ghana, two distinct classes exist - the ruling class (government and its allies) and the ruled class (masses). Members of the ruling class manage all the natural, human and capital resources of the state.

Most members of the ruling class start as ordinary people. As they declare their intentions to contest elections, they visit the members of the ruled class in their homes or shops to beg them for their votes, promising to address their socio-economic plights.

They pledge to be humble people who are seeking the opportunity to better serve their nation with their skills, wisdom and knowledge. But shortly after they are elected into office, most of them become demigods and see themselves as superior human beings.

Philip Gbeho
The author of Ghana's anthem envisaged that there could be a time when the ruling class might be influenced by pride and so become oppressive in their policies, decisions and actions.

Philip Comi Gbeho, who is best known for composing the anthem of Ghana, petitioned God for help to resist the oppressors' rule. Ghanaians should resist it with their will and might always.

Definition Of Oppression
Oppression is wickedness, selfishness and exploitation. It is the insensitivity to the plight of the vulnerable. Oppressors' rule is characterized by stealing money from the national coffers, killing dreams and businesses of people who are deemed to be political opponents and destroying existing institutions or industries that provide job opportunities.

An oppressor is synonymous with Satan whose key assignment is to steal, kill and destroy.

To oppress is to afflict or torment people; cause people to suffer or treat people cruelly. It also means to govern or manage people with iron fist or unjust impositions or restraints; exercise harsh authority or power over people; worry or depress people.

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary , to oppress is to treat a person or group of people in a cruel or unfair way or to make someone feel sad or worried for a long period of time.

Oppressors' Rule
A nation which is ruled by oppressors is characterized by the formulation and implementation of bad policies that impact negatively on the people. Poverty, hunger, insecurity, diseases, sicknesses, hardships, hopelessness, misery and disappointments are the identites of the people.

How will you describe a people who lack reliable, adequate and affordable health care? Do not forget about the erratic electricity supply which compels hospitals and clinics to suspend their services after their inability to fuel their stand-by generators.

A few weeks ago the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana's premier hospital, was forced to suspend surgical operations after the provider, GRIDCo, had cut power supply to the facility.

Recently in Kumasi, many radio stations could not operate for hours because of the unsteady power supply. The general manager of one of the radio stations said he could not afford to fuel his plant at GH¢650 a day.

Similarly, intermittent acute water shortages have been badly affecting the operations of many homes, industries and institutions in most parts of the country.

Ghanaians in both the urban and the rural areas always feel the inconveniences associated with travelling on poor road networks. Large and deep potholes are the permitted designs of most roads in the country.

What is more oppressive than when people and animals are made to drink water from the same river or stream? Many Ghanaians have no access to potable drinking water. Treated water for human consumption is non-existent in their communities, forcing them to struggle for water with animals. This is not only offensive, but also dehumanizing.

Jonny Osei Kofi, deputy minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, recently described most water resources in the country as being polluted. He blamed the situation on the activities of surface mining.

Speaking to DAILY GUIDE , he said, 'If people in the rural areas do not have water to drink and their farmlands are gone, what do you think they will do? They will move to the cities.'

Lamentation
Politicians seem to be good at lamenting problems but sometimes lack the necessary wisdom to solve them. Cholera, for instance, has been killing people in the country. Just this year, over 170 people have died of the disease. The causes of the disease are known and widely discussed but the managers of the economy refuse to address them.

Just look at the neglect of affordable housing projects which were started by the Kufuor administration, but have been left to rot. The Mahama government could have completed them to provide accommodation for many homeless people.

Daniel Owiredu, Executive Vice-President of Golden Star Mining Company, said at the 8 th Biennial Congress of KNUST Alumni Association in Kumasi recently that people tend to revolt when they 'feel pushed to the wall too hard and too long.'

'How blameless are we when we stay aloof and keep dead silent while vital development projects go waste? The mining engineer rhetorically asked.

We live in a country where corruption is defended and acts of illegality are hailed and celebrated. How on earth must a convicted District Chief Executive (DCE) be smeared with powder and paraded through the streets after his release? What was glorious about his imprisonment and release to warrant celebration?

Prayers, Demonstrations & Elections
Considering the severity of the situation, Ghanaians cry unto God, who has no beginning and no end, to help them to RESIST OPPRESSORS' RULE with all their will and might always. At many prayer meetings today, people 'bind and loose' oppressors' rule in the country. Some think prayers and absolute reliance on God is the solution.

Others think that strike actions and demonstrations are the only tools they can use to resist the ruling class' oppression to improve their living conditions. Teachers, doctors, nurses, and other civil society organizations regularly organize protests against the governments.

The year 2016 is beaming with broad smiles at a short distance, patiently waiting for big political contests - presidential and parliamentary – in the country. It is a great opportunity to carefully decide the future of Ghana.

Ghanaians need to think beyond their party affiliations, the stature of the various presidential and parliamentary candidates, and realize that whoever they would elect in 2016 would determine the level of oppression they would suffer for four years.

'So do not elect a trial-and-error president. I appeal to you to be mindful of the fact that the 2016 elections are not going to be trial and error. Ghanaians need a president who has proven himself over time that he is not only a visionary but also a tried and tested achiever' (anonymous).

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 FROM James Quansah, Kumasi