Beware; The Heydays Of Political Activists

Ghana is caught up in an unprecedented crisis; both social and political. And it is inherent in any societal shakedown for able men to rise and defend, at least, their acquired values which embody their jurisdiction. In the spirit of such duties, men and women become activists, either for political discourse or against social upheavals. It is not prudent to criticize their zeal and willingness. But it is morally imperative, if not principled, to remind the civic audience, on the ambivalent account history holds for both activism as a mechanism in the society and activism as a purpose for political gains.

Ghana is having her own share of such an enthused and motivated men and women, both in our time and the time past. There are no structures and principles which independently stand to define and restrain the limits and the scopes of their activism, for that matter it becomes imminent, perhaps, crucial, to point out to the raw fact that not all activists could be trusted.

Activists are, but the by-products of democracy, they are not the end-products of free speech. The crisis they determine to resolve, or manage does not come as a result of predetermined flaws of civic duty requiring their efforts. Their motives and actions are solely inspired by concurrent problems. Problems that didn’t erupt, but were substantially orchestrated. Meaning their proposed solutions are self-evident, bearing no long-term prospects, its nature ignites the crowd by inflammable slogans, placing them directly to the emotions of the masses.

But history has had several people who later turned into sycophants, tyrants, butchers and Inhumans. Hence, it is a warning for all who think that slogans of certain activists are the last resort to this current turmoil. We will become eternal victims to their hollow rhetoric if we are to continuously seek to appease emotions and sentiments in finding measures to restore our true existence.

Hundreds of political and social activists, tens and dozens of them have become leaders in their various countries. Others were paid-off, perhaps with what they were looking for. For this reason, Ghana must beware! The journey through our politics, since 1992, has been worthwhile, yet we haven’t still recorded any pristine past. Many are those who claim to have the resolution catalogs of our crisis; opposition parties, individual politicians, activists, and so on. But more of these people, especially opposition parties and politicians have helped compound the problems. If Akuffo Addo-Bawumia days of politics and activism didn’t serve Ghanaians the toxic sign towards partisan slogans, then there wouldn’t be any other time to read political symptoms fuming diseases of this nation.

As I have written in previous articles; that this current crisis only appears to be political, but it is not. And those who have emerged to be soluble in the solutions should be seen as immiscible solutes. Because their intentions cannot be fully ascertained. The current President used to be an active, perhaps, die-hard advocate of transparent and corruption-free governance. Now, the comparison between his years in politics and years in presidency is a task one should attempt only when his heart is in good condition.

In politics, crisis is a prospect; so, we see some politicians, busily exploiting the situations as if Athens is falling on them. The years that preceded 2016, in the United States gave birth to Donald Trump who changed the face of US politics. The Versailles Treaty in Paris gave birth to Adolf Hitler who murdered more then 8million Jews, and Gypsies. China’s cultural upheaval in the 1960s gave birth to Mao Zedong who murdered more than 40million Chinese. Venezuela’s economic turmoil gave birth to Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro, people in Venezuela sometimes have to search for food in dump areas. And of course, it was Mahama’s shaky government that gave birth to Akufo Addo. If we make a mistake again, we will have another Akufo Addo.

Crisis are but an exploitative venture for demagogues, they will appear as whitish so they could bounce and reflect all other colors. In times where streams of anger and depressions are flowing like Nile, people will seek to initiate and ignite their political careers, having no intentions to bear the burdens of the nation on them when they get power. They will tap into appealing and catchy slogans; “arise for change”, “freedom for all”, “youth in power” and many others, just to appear nice.

It is important to emphasize that political activism is part of a political career. The real time test of true statesmanship is when one is given all the mandate to send the country back to where it belongs. It is not when one is being allowed to enjoy what has been granted by constitutional right. Ambitions meet convictions when one is given few options with or without a time frame to make big decisions; few people are able to endure such nuances in governance. In our time, we have seen no one.

Activists, when they get into government can only run experiments. Like Akufo Addo, many of them cannot convert their proposed solutions to achievable policies that yield long term results. When their experiment fails, they fall at the mercies of paranoia, and incompetence having no option than to impose more experimental measures. It is what we are seeing today. Free SHS and 120-member cabinet, from the initial stages of his presidency weren’t the solutions to our problems, it was rather corruption and bloated bureaucracy. Unfortunately for us, those have been the avenues of his presidency.

Political activists, again, have no idea about how instantaneous decision-making is done. Their visions are clear when they are outside, on the inside, it looks blurry. Their intentions to become the people’s voice are motivated either by destiny or ambitions. Destiny as in when a loved one; relative or parent, had been maltreated and one determined to seek for justice, for him and other victims of the same course. Here, the activists say goodbye to politics when all is achieved, and get lost in the political scene to return to personal course. For ambitions, an activist wouldn’t rest until he achieves a political power; minister, president, or MP. His activism program may come to an end, not his ambitions.

In times of chaos and civil unrest, it becomes absolutely difficult, if not impossible, to separate those who seek justice and fairness from those who seek to fulfill their personal ambitions. Only the restraint of thought and objective participation with keen reasons are needed at this juncture.

We are seeing political players who are energized by the current situations. Some of them are engulfing the hearts of the public with their intellectual sweeps, others with their entrepreneurial drives. Such people too need scrutiny, because it might be their only opportunity to announce their political ambitions.

One shouldn’t be out-witted. The several donations and voices that activists throw into the system aren’t new in our society. Many individuals, who for some reasons, didn’t want to be known in public space have done countless amounts of donations bountifully. NGOs, and other concern groups, even some journalists who have no political ambitions also keep helping the people in folds. The freedom fighter or the political activists soliciting for funds to do donations isn’t more important than these people.

Some journalists in this country have dedicated their lives for accountability; seeking for social justice, transparent governance and fairness for people they don’t know and haven’t met before, sometimes going beyond the bounds of journalism. For so many years, such journalists are unrecognized, even suffer insults and vindictiveness from the same people they are fighting for. It is because they aren’t politically motivated, having no slogans.

No political activist is unaware of the impending consequence that activism brings. There are imminent risks they consider when calculating for their actions. In the end, they account for their own gains and losses, of which we may or may not see or hear about.

These nuances put historians in tight corners. Because the contributions of unsung heroes and heroines during upheavals like these goes undocumented. The supposed real heroes and heroines who have their actions being written will be those that initiated social media hashtags and slogans. In our struggle, let’s not forget the true contributors of change.

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