Liberation from Dictatorship

Tribute on the 30th anniversary of the execution of Okatakyie Akwasi Amankwah Afrifa - 24 April 1936 - 26 June 1979

HEROES OF DEMOCRACY AND PLURALISM
When all the avenues of protest and legitimate opposition had been removed and denied, there was no choice left to any group of people to belong to any other political party, there was the need to intervene. When all political association and opposition were illegal and Ghanaians could only belong to ONE and only ONE party, the ruling party, there was the need to intervene and thank God some were brave enough to take up the challenge. That today Ghana can boast of pluralism in our body politic is testimony to the accomplished objective of our Liberators. The brave men and women stood to be counted and refused to be part of the totalitarian system of governance which our own countrymen, working in consort with the communist allies had foisted on the country.

When people failed to realize that it was a privilege to lead and considered it their birth right, and removed all avenues for opposition, there was every justification to intervene constitutionally. For given any constitution, it is necessary that the provisions that are enshrined in it are based on tenets that are acceptable to all parties. A constitution is a sacrosanct document and is a covenant between the ruling and the opposition parties. Once agreed, any variation in the covenant if not done with tacit approval and cooperation of all parties, renders the document redundant and subject to overthrow. That is why today with all their differences all parties including NPP and NDC can work alongside each other, because as the current Constitution stands it has the tacit approval of all parties.

DEATH OF ONE PARTY
Today the political landscape is occupied by NPP, NDC, CPP, PNC and many more. The parties enjoy openly the freedom and democracy restored and they take all of it for granted. Hardly do we stop to think whether the rush to launch new parties nearly every few months would not have been possible if the one party state had continued. Never again will Ghanaians allow any group of people to enshrine monism into our Constitution. The ONE PARTY STATE IS GONE FOREVER and that is a measure of the success, the awareness and the legacy that 24th February coup gave us. It restored into the Ghanaian body politic pluralism, so much so that today, Ghanaians will never allow anybody or group of people to institutionalized individuals as President for Life no matter their individual contributions to our independence struggle; a struggle which was started by the toil and sweat of peasant farmers, policemen, chiefs and ordinary people.

ONE PARTY DISGUISHED AS UNIGOV
Brave men and women were needed once more to be BOLD TO DEFEND THE COURSE OF FREEDOM, to organize, to revolt and to reject the mother-of-all ONE PARTY STATE - UNIGOV. Interestingly at the risk of lives and in the face of military might, some Ghanaians led not surprisingly by Okatatyie Akwasi Amankwa Afrifa, Nana Akufo Addo and others; PMFJ revolted, which successfully culminated in rejection of UNIGOV.

ALL IS WELL THAT ENDS WELL
Today you and I can enjoy the pluralism, the true democracy and the freedom we so much cherish. We look back today and forget how we could so easily have travelled the Zimbabwe road. Today, the people who had fervently worked to impose the ONE PARTY STATE are struggling to contain themselves in one party, and have formed a plethora of socialist parties i.e. NDC, CPP, PNC and many more. How ironic?

May his soul Rest in Peace.
Tribute on the 30th anniversary of the execution of Okatakyie Akwasi Amankwah Afrifa - 24 April 1936 - 26 June 1979