A Government Where Critical Voices Are Suppressed, And The Ordinary Citizen Cries Silently

We are at a crucial moment in the Country where critical voices, the voices that speak for the voiceless, are being suppressed and threatened for pointing out what the ordinary Ghanaian faces.

In fact, our democracy is not measured by the number of rallies or Parties a government holds. It is measured by what happens when an ordinary citizen dares to speak.

Realistically, when critical voices are suppressed, democracy dies in silence. When the market woman, the teacher, the driver, and the graduate cannot ask questions without fear, then we do not have a government of the people. We have a government afraid of its own people.

The NDC administration led by President Mahama has performed abysmally, failing to deliver on the lofty promises made to the ordinary Ghanaian.

The promise to combat the menace of galamsey is a fiasco, as galamsey activities have worsened, and key NDC members are being accused of engaging in this practice.

The promise to reduce and make electricity cheaper has turned out to be an incessant increase or hike since they assumed office.

The ordinary Ghanaian who voted for President Mahama due to the lofty promises can't pay for electricity, and some sleep in the dark due to lack of money to buy power.

Fast forward, the teachers and nurses who were promised automatic posting are at home waiting for the fulfillment of that failed campaign promise.

The students at the tertiary level who were promised reduction in hostels and school fees are even paying more under the watch of President Mahama and the NDC government.

Shockingly, the businessmen and women who were promised a stable economy are going through a lot, with only talk about a stable exchange rate and inflation rate on paper are paying more at the port.

In addition, the drivers who were also promised a reduction in spare parts and fuel prices are paying more under President Mahama's administration.

Interestingly, the unemployed youth who were also promised jobs under a much-touted 24-hour economy with a formula 1 3 3 can't find jobs after 1 year 7 months.

The public sector workers who were promised better living conditions are suffering silently due to the failure of this government to even increase salaries up to what they received under Former President Nana Addo.

Despite all these, many Ghanaians thought this government would take into consideration their plights and put out measures to address them, but they rather chose to suppress, harass, and intimidate critical voices.

This has led to a nation of silence due to fear of being manhandled, harassed, intimidated, and threatened by national security and other security agencies.

To state without any iota of doubt, a quiet nation is not always a peaceful nation. Sometimes it is a nation where people have given up.

Again, when citizens cry silently, it means they have lost faith that their concerns will be heard. It means hardship is being endured, not solved. It means problems are being buried, not fixed. That is not the Ghana we fought for.

Simply put, constructive criticism is the oxygen of our democracy and a government that is afraid of it does more harm than good to the country's development

To state emphatically, critical voices are not enemies of government. They are partners in nation-building. They point out potholes before they become disasters. They warn leaders before policies fail.

In all these insensitive aspects of the NDC administration, the ordinary citizen pays the price. It is never the powerful who suffer first when critical voices are suppressed.

In conclusion, a government that silences its people will eventually be surprised by them.

But a government that listens to its people will grow stronger with them.

In view of this, Ghanaians deserve a government where no one has to cry silently. Where every voice, especially the critical ones, helps build a better Ghana.

May God save us from this insensitive government led by President Mahama.

By: Abdulai Abdul-Razak
Tamale South Constituency
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