Don’t Misjudge Voltarian Sense

“They say I am an old man with one foot in the grave. But, here I am. I am okay. As for death, it's up to the Almighty. We all don't know when we will be called. What you see before you is a small man with a big heart for Ghana”.

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO's visit (or shall we call it 'campaign tour') to the Volta Region would not have evoked many elaborate comments, but for certain historical developments about the NPP and the Volta Region, in a cat and mouse game.

Nana Addo's tour took him to many of the towns in the Volta Region including Aflao, Keta, Anloga, Adidome, Ave-Dakpa, Klikor, and Akatsi. He spent four days in the Region. He was even allowed to address the congregants on certain occasions. While worshipping with the worshippers at some of the Churches, he was given the podium to address the congregants. “We are here to repair the relationship and close the gap between the Volta Region and the NPP.”

It would have been a simple propaganda tour- just like one done in all the other regions by other political leaders like President Dramani Mahama in his 'Accounting to the People Tour' or Dr. Edward Mahama in other parts of the country or Akua Donkor in any part.

What has generated great interest in this campaign is the rapprochement it has evoked. Time was, when the Volta Region was a 'no-go' area for the NPP. It was not easy to campaign there; it was not easy to even monitor elections there. Professor Adu-Boahen was subjected to humiliation when he travelled to the Volta Region on a campaign tour in 1992. Elizabeth Ohene and her brother were intimidated when they went to check on elections in certain parts of the Region.

Meanwhile, the NDC was romping home in all the regions, including Ashanti, the home-base of the NPP stronghold. There were glimmers of tribal and ethnic expressions and the actions, and the members of the NPP had to recoil into their shells whenever they were faced with stiff opposition.

The late Chairman of the Council of State, Professor Kofi Nyidevu Awoonor sounded (and was) very nationalistic when he stated at a forum at Ho in May 2010,thus: “ Volta Region's development is not in isolation of Ghana's development but linked to the total development of Ghana”. It was a balmy statement which lent itself to no other interpretation than the words used. It was quite unlike some of the statements in 'The Ghana Revolution' which has suffered so many interpretations some of which are not helpful to all of us as Ghanaians in our forward march in development. Professor Awoonor, formerly known as George Awoonor-Williams, born at Wheta in the Volta Region was unfortunately killed in the Westgate Shopping Mall al-Shabaab attack in September 2013, while he was attending the Storymoja Hay Festival. Perhaps, if he were still alive today, he would be the best person to explain some of the claims he made since his book claims to be “from a personal perspective”.

History is not just an enquiry or knowledge acquired by investigation. It is also a study of the past, especially as it relates to humans. Herodotus, a 5th Century BC Greek historian who is considered within the Western tradition to be the 'father of history' wrote; “It's impossible for someone who is human to have all good things together, just as there is no single country able to provide all good things for itself”. So let it be with the veteran and icon, Kofi, lest people stand accused as Herodotus points out; “A man calumnied is doubly injured first by him who utters the calumny and then by him who believes it”.

The point remains that human beings and their thoughts are not static, ideas change, and we, as humans, have to live with the changing times. What is good today, may not be good tomorrow, simply put.

Adolf Hitler, in the 1930s was fighting the rest of the world with the aim of destroying the Treaty of Versailles, creating a Greater Germany and conquering land for Germany. France and Britain had been weakened. British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill's efforts never to 'surrender' to Germany was waning, until the U.S. under President Roosevelt entered into the fray and it ended with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagaski in Japan in 1945.

Germany is now regaining her position as a humanitarian force, especially after the re-unification between the East (German Democratic Republic) and the West (Federal Republic of Germany) had come together with the breakdown of the Berlin Wall. Chancellor Merkel is said to be the darling lady of the West, and displaying this sterling quality by allowing refugees into the country.

Back in Africa, the Tutsi-Hutu conflict in which approximately one million people died, through the Hutu-led government, the 'interahamwe' and the 'impuzamugambi' militias is now giving way to reconciliation. The slogan: 'Genocide-Never Again' is written not only on physical structures like houses, schools, churches and billboards, but also in Rwandan people's hearts. The AMI (Association Modeste et Innocent). The reconciliation is performed in simple celebrations. The perpetrator with his friends and family send a basket of offerings, usually food and sorghum and banana beer. This 'forgiveness -accord' is sealed with traditional song and dance. Nyiramana says; “He killed my father and three brothers. He did these killings with other people, but he came alone to me and asked for pardon. He and a group of other offenders who had been in prison helped me build a house with a covered roof. I was afraid of him (at first)-now I have granted him pardon, things have become normal, and in my mind I feel clear”.

The NDC is not likely to take this 'home-coming' of the NPP lying down. Koku Anyidoho has replied promptly and he says the NDC will not take the Volta Region votes for granted. The NDC may be so loved in the region that the people there might vote for anyone who stands in the party's name, no matter what qualities the opponents possess. Is this not the same with the NPP in their stronghold? The NDC which is the government must fight back 'properly' against this 'infiltration' so that they do not lose their 'World Bank' which some people think has been reduced to a rural bank. When that is done, and the people benefit from the government, all of us will feel elated that the whole nation is at peace, because all of Ghana has benefited from the government's largesse. The NPP should neither take the current position for granted. They should work at it. No one should utter any provocative words at the Voltarian sense—otherwise there could be a backlash. What is happening at the NDC backyard can be pitched against the dictum by Sir Winston Churchill. “A fanatic”, so says Churchill, “is one who can't change his mind, and won't change the topic”.

Africanus Owusu Ansah
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