An Inescapable Treasure in Election 2008

In eighty-seven (87) days Ghanaians will be going to the polls to elect both the next president (of Ghana) and members of Parliament who will serve them for, at least, four years. There are two main outcomes Ghanaians will be expecting: on the one hand, they will attempt to either retain the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) or give the National Democratic Congress (NDC) another shot at governing the country. On the other hand, Ghanaians will pray that Ghana remains a peaceful country, unshaken by the events of the elections.

For so many reasons, the elections this year will be different from those we’ve had in the past. This difference is not a bad thing. First, the pre-election campaigns by the various political parties have already generated a lot of interest, which is a good thing. The parties have registered a record number of people at their events, evidenced by the sea of faces captured on our television networks. Second, for good reasons and constitutional concerns, the incumbent John Agyekum Kufuor will not be on the ballot even though his party will.

Third, for the first time in the history of this country the voters’ register has hit a record 12,822,474, an increase of 16.7 per cent over the 2006 electoral list of 10,987,057, a provisional electoral statistics made available to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday (9/10/08) revealed. This is interesting in and of itself, because there could be a huge turnout on Election Day, which will be crucial to deciding who wins and to our assessment of Ghanaians’ involvement in the political affairs of the country.

Even though Nana Akufo-Addo and Prof. Atta Mills are not new faces in Ghanaian political circles, they are yet to taste the presidency. Leave out acting positions! Both of these candidates are running on the records of achievements that their respective parties recorded during their eight years of service (they rendered) to the nation. This is a good thing, because Ghanaians can compare and make informed choices. After all, politics and seeking political office are all about records, achievements, and experience.

However, there is one challenge about this year’s elections. In our part of the world an election hardly ever takes place without some pockets of or major pre- or post electoral violence of some sort. That is vintage Africa! We (Africans) seem to have inextricably tied our destiny to perpetual violence that has been our undoing. Many examples abound in Rwanda, Liberia, Togo, Kenya, and, lately, Zimbabwe. Of course, we can also mention our beloved country, Ghana where political violence is becoming a daily occurrence.

That is not to say that even in the advanced democracies there are no election-related skirmishes. In fact, it is important to mention that even the United States which prides itself in being the beacon and hub of democratic activities went through a testing period in 2000, as the world watched in amazement how it handled the infamous Florida case.

As infamous and testing as this case was in the US, however, it exemplified and dramatized the vicissitudes of the human condition as well as how the law is respected in cases of this nature. Human beings are all the same everywhere—irrespective of the socio-politico-economic considerations and geo-political differences that exist. No one wants to lose. In fact, it is tough to lose anything. It is more so, especially when people put in their time, resources, personnel, and their lives on activities that may define the course of their lives and future. Thus, it makes sense for individuals and political parties to want to make sure that they succeed and win after a long process of campaigning and crisscrossing the nation.

That said, however, there are other elements about the human condition that people and politicians in our part of the world never get:
recognizing that only one person/party/group can win in a race,
accepting defeat, and
moving on to do what they were doing before they contested for those offices/positions.
Senator Hillary Clinton won my respect at the end of the Democratic primaries. She suffered a painful, ‘narrow’ defeat. Just before the primaries began, she led by over 20% in most polls conducted in almost all the states. Viewed in the context of logic and reason, Obama should not have won that race. Unfortunately logic doesn’t work in politics, at least not in the US. Before the media could begin their analysis, the invincible Hillary who was supposed to have had an inevitable ride to the White House, was already out of the race even before the race ended. She was distraught, but she had no option but to drop out of the race and support Obama—even though it took her a long time to do that. She couldn’t let her personal interests override the party’s cause. She went back to what she was doing!

Unfortunately, we come from a part of the world where such qualities are too rare. Is it any surprise that even when people are found to have been involved in some conflict of interest they will not vacate their posts? We come from a part of the world where politics is the chief profession of a group of people. Politics is listed proudly on their CVs as their main or only jobs. Many of our politicians, at least before they won their positions, had no professions or failed in their previous positions, so politics is their only best bet. At least if they had other areas to look to they would know what it means to lose an election, accept defeat, and move on with their lives.

If what is happening in Gushiegu, Tamale, and their environs or what happened during the voters’ registration exercise is a technical dress rehearsal for the post electoral violence that may rear its rugged head in the country, I dare say that we should have something to worry about. I don’t want to be a sadist, but we are not better than the likes of Kenya and Zimbabwe. There is nothing inherent about Ghanaians that makes us better than these countries I have mentioned. What looks, now, like an irreparable damage began like what is happening in our case. In most cases, their cases were more innocuous and proof-coated.

Please note!I have created the impression in this piece as if only two parties will be contesting the elections. The decision was not unconscious, as I believe that the race is between the NDC and the NPP. The other parties, especially the CPP can decide who (between the NDC and the NPP) wins, especially in the event of a run-off.

My question is: Why do our politicians make the elections appear as if there is a life-and-death element to it? I cannot satisfy myself enough with any explanation that has been given for the disturbances in Tamale and Gushiegu that have led to the loss of lives and destruction of property. Nothing! To the extent that an area that is noted for being poor will either be overtaken by inexplicable and senseless passion or will allow itself to be used by power-thirsty political parties amazes me. How much national attention do these people get during the off-peak political season to allow for this carnage to take place? Isn’t the already volatile situation enough for these hot-headed politicians to be cautious of and with their activities?

What justification?

Politicians and political parties do not deserve the level of sacrifices many of the people who have become victims of violence have made. When I see poor Ghanaians in tattered clothing, hungry-looking and emaciated, passionately following these political parties, I wonder why anybody will do that. The fact is that history has shown us that many of these followers only become tools to be used during the political season and discarded after the process. It is a fact of our political system that these unknown praise-singers never get their due after the political season, so why would people waste their time, become instruments of violence, get injured, die in the process, instead of charting a course that holds promise for their future? Aren’t political parties supposed to be instruments of change, progress, and development? I am sorry that has not happened in our case!

There is no justification for these cases of pre-election violence that are being reported in the country. There is no justification for our political parties to play on the fears of the people to win elections. There is no justification for our political parties to intimidate Ghanaians to win elections. Ghanaians are smart people who can vote for candidates and parties of their choice. At any rate, there is no need for these political parties to be afraid if they have a track record of achievements that Ghanaians can look to. It is as simple as that!

The recent election-related violence in Tamale and Gushiegu, including pockets of others in the country is an unfortunate development. Ghanaians will have themselves to blame if they let this rare opportunity to preserve the peace the country enjoys—considering what happens in the sub-region—slip by. Picking up the broken pieces after the destruction will be a tall order. Fortunately, we have the benefit of hindsight. Interestingly, even though the leaders of the political parties are frailly and vaguely preaching peace, members of their campaign teams are the ones perpetrating these atrocious, barbaric acts.

When cases of violence involving their members are reported, they hurriedly put up press conferences and long write-ups extricating their members from and blaming members of other parties for these cases, when, in fact, they should be showing some real commitment to the cause of peace in the country. Ghanaians need to say no to these political parties—at least some of their elements—who want to use them as instruments of carnage. Ghana does not belong to the NDC and the NPP alone; it doesn’t belong to any political parties alone; it belongs to all Ghanaians. Parties are only instruments for ascending to political office. Like princes, political parties come and go, but Ghana remains eternal.

The following are some ideas that can contribute to enhancing peace during the pre-and-post electoral processes:
The big shots such as President Kufuor, former President Rawlings, the presidential candidates, including all politicians should be careful with what they say so as not to incite violence
The media should avoid bias, set a healthy agenda, and be guided by the ethics of the profession in their reportage
Chiefs should be guided by the constitutional provision that bars them from taking active part in politics. Chiefs should not be endorsing candidates!
Ministers should not use the state apparatus to push their candidates. It amounts to abuse of office!
The Electoral Commission should address the issue of the bloated register
Political parties should make their programs/itineraries available to their opponents, so as to avoid unnecessary clashes
Giants like Mr. Kofi Annan should contribute their rich experiences to the process of enhancing peace in the country
Religious groups and leaders should use their pulpits to educate their members on peace-related issues
Politicians should find other professions and move on with their lives if they lose political office
The NPP and the NDC should not hold Ghana to ransom.

By Godwin J. Y. Agboka
Email presidoo@gmail.com

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