Great expectations Whirl The Nation Round

Expectations lead to disappointment, and many would be sad this time next week. But apart from those who would lose the chance to be addressed as “Honourable” or “Excellency”, what would the majority of the people forfeit whether the party they support wins or loses?

When you have seen a lot of what is happening, you tend to be cynical. And so, I am confident that whatever happens on December 7, 2008, Ghana would return to its boisterous self of smiling cheerful people, in spite of an ailing or improving economy and the noise, heat, unruliness and filth of Accra.

I take politics seriously, but I do not expect much from present politics. Today, many expect to benefit from the millennium account if the country behaves properly and pursues the conventional democratic process.

I am not so sure of this path for real progress. I recall Shaw's diatribe in “Man and Superman” that “our political experiment of democracy” is the “last refuge of cheap misgovernment”.

It is to avoid this misgovernment that we should try to understand the political system in Ghana and participate in the elections purposefully. Some may, however, ask whether the electoral system is not loaded against progress.

As the same Shaw remarks, “Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few”.

Many of us who are not that incompetent will agree that it is a bit much for the vote of the stark incompetent to have the same weight as that of the enlightened.

But the experience of the ages and the experiments in other lands suggest that we should accept the present system or practice as a way forward in our present circumstances.

Those who have had so much opportunity should be able to persuade and guide the incompetent many. After all, the apparently corrupt they elect are from our ranks.

The truth is that many of the competent have lost their way. Money is their god. Show is their business. Pomp and circumstance are their distinguishing characteristics. They cannot blame the untutored underclass. They are the problem.

I sometimes feel that all the efforts about peaceful elections are somewhat misplaced. The danger to peaceful elections lies in the ranks of the underclass, the “macho” men and the likes in ghettos who the peace campaigns do not target. Usually, these people are the peaceful and keep to themselves, except when for sustenance, they invade the peaceful abodes of the apparently opulent.

Sometimes, however, their activities are heightened by the persuasion or payment by the “competent” few. The persuasion or inducement by payment occurs when the people in the upper reaches of society want to have their way — either to build night and day on stolen land or to derail political opponents.

The various movements for peaceful elections are welcome, and it is hoped that those involved will delve into the matter deeply. Some of the sayings and efforts are suspect, but we should all persevere in the determination to have peaceful elections.

One initiative that has attracted my attention is the Peace and Prosperity Magazine by the Italian Dr Sebatian Corriere.

The magazine to be published by the New Times Corporation proclaims the Dawn of a New Day in Ghana. It examines the elusive enemy of poverty and asks how long we would tolerate the miserable conditions under which our fellow creatures live.

If we are really concerned, we should ask ourselves why we vote and why we stand for elections. We should realise that the forthcoming elections are not a matter of life and death. It is no tragedy if we lose.

To end, we may recall Shaw again in his “Man and Superman” and reflect on the witticism that “there are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire. The other is to get it”.

Who wins at his heart's desire on elections day?
By K. B. Asante

   Comments0