Rawlings and politics in today's Ghana

Before I set out, let me state clearly that I am not writing as a supporter of either of the major political parties but rather a concerned citizen of my motherland, Ghana.

I must say I admire former President Rawlings a lot and no one can dispute the fact that he has the charm that can inspire admiration in other people (charisma).

This charisma that radiates from the ex-President can be good or harmful to the body politic and peace in Ghana. We always say ex-President Rawlings restored democracy in Ghana and it is because of him that we are all enjoying the current wave of freedom in our part of world.

I do not entirely believe so, because it is God alone who protects and guide we humans. Yes we may argue that it is God who brought in the ex-President in those trying moments in our political history.

But as we are all aware, the price that both the innocent and the guilty paid for this freedom is nothing good to write home about. Whether it is an act of God or not is food for thought for all.

As an ex-President it behoves on Rawlings to unite the country, give credit where it is due and offer his advise to the existing administration in a manner that would not be misconstrued as being bias or scoring political points for his party, the National Democratic Congress. This he can do by sitting with the appropriate bodies to see how best to resolve situations.

For the past weeks I have read and heard the ex-President making wild
allegations about the murder of a bank official by the current administration and also that of the Ya-Na of blessed memory.

J.J. has taken over the NDC's campaign from Atta Mills and John Mahama and unlike other ex-presidents like Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Nelson Mandela who would rather advise and offer suggestions, ex-President Rawlings has resorted to campaigning amidst wild and countless allegations which he cannot prove in any court of law.

As a respectable statesman it is his duty to live above partisan politics and start preaching about how to ensure peaceful elections and offer suggestions to all the political parties about how the peace that we are currently enjoying could be sustained. Also if he has any suggestions about the economic situation in the country, he could make it known to the economic team of the Government and leave the implementation to them.

What I have gathered from the ex-President's campaign is about violence, accusations and counter accusations. Why must it be so? The ex-President has never in any of his campaigns explained to Ghanaians how he is going to help Prof. Atta Mills to solve the so-called problems which existed during his reign and still exist under the current government.

The ex-President does not even have any figures on the economy which he could base his campaign on; he has not offered any suggestions which will put the economy in any better shape. He has not explained to Ghanaians what the alternatives are and how he and his party are going to manage the economy and the so-called corrupt practices.

The ex-President was there when Kokombas and Nanumbas were killing themselves; it had nothing to do with NPP activists. We are all aware that there have been problems in the Northern Region and the worse thing for an ex-President to do is to inflame passions because he wants votes for his party. Ghanaians are no longer interested in such politics. All that we want to hear is a clean and fair election. We want to hear from the various presidential candidates, not ex-presidents. All that ex-presidents need to do is to advise the citizenry to be calm during this campaign season so we would continue to enjoy the peace in the country.

To the NPP government, I would like to say that, you have done your best but your best is still not enough, because Ghanaians are still suffering and the economic situation in the country is not the best. Please stop the campaign of violence and counsel your supporters to desist from all forms of political violence. What they need from you is to sit them down and tell them how you intend to move the country forward and to stop all forms of corrupt practices in your government. Also we as Ghanaians will be very grateful if you could do well to give the ex-President the respect and honour he deserves.

I believe those of us following the US election campaign would attest to what I am saying. Democracy is not about fighting, it is about conveying your messages to the good people of Ghana for them to make an informed decision as to whether to vote for you or not. It is not about going back every now and then, and finding faults with your opponents without giving alternate solutions.

Credit: Adumua Sam, Midlands, UK [[email protected]]