The Genesis Of Violence, Insults And Tribalism In National Politics (1)

'Moka koraa na me ye no more. (The more you complain about my behavior, the more I put up that behavior which you find objectionable),' President John Jerry Rawlings

'Yours is to make government look good, whatever the circumstance. If the government buys sheep and gives it as a gift, you are free to say it is a cow. You are free to say that. If the colour of the sheep is black, you can say it was a white colour cow. If you take negative public reaction, you give it to us secretly. If we hear you have leaked it to the public, we wil fire you and will defend it,' an NDC Propaganda Minister

It is important that history of this country be told in its pristine and unadulterated form if this country is to find effective solutions to those numerous man-made problems, created by our greedy and corrupt leaders found in every field of human endeavour, and which are retarding the progress of this country. Political violence in this country proceeded independence. The formation of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) which broke away from the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) brought political party rivalry to a very dangerous level which never existed before the formation of the CPP. The colonial government wanted to prove that the black man was incapable of managing his own affairs.

So when the two political traditions of the CPP and the National Liberation Movement (NLM) formed Action Troopers to carry out mayhem and spill each other's blood for political supremacy, the colonial government looked the other way. Heads were broken, limbs were slashed, properties were destroyed and even some lives were lost in the carnage that followed, while the security forces under the colonial government looked on unconcerned.

Later on, insults were introduced into politics but they were however very minimal and comical. While the Makola women targeted the supposedly extra large mouth of Dr. Busia for comical relief, Dr. Limann was touted for painting the walls of the Castle with juice from cola he was supposedly fond of chewing. All these were taken in the stride of the heat of the politics of those days without rancour and bitterness. Tribal politics had not been formalized then as today. Indeed, during the First Republic, even though the United Party (UP) fought for a federal system of government, as against the CPP's unitary system of government, tribalism was not the basis for political engagement. Indeed, the word 'tribe' was deleted from official forms during the First Republic by Dr. Nkrumah's CPP government.

We all lived in harmony until the coup which overthrew the CPP administration of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. The first sign of tribal politics reared its ugly head when Nkrumah's CPP administration was overthrown in February 24, 1966 and the National Liberation Council (NLC) was composed of soldiers and policemen. By accident of history, the composition of the membership of the NLC was highly and unfairly skewed in favour of the Volta Region, considering the demography of the country. The NLC was composed of eight members: three were from the Volta Region, two from Greater Accra, one from Ashanti Region, one Central Region and one from the northern part of Ghana. This set tongues wagging. Soon, the murmuring turned into whispers across the country form the politically conscious factions of the population.

Matters took a turn for the worse when Major-General E.K. Kotoka, one of the members from the Volta Region, an Ewe, was killed in a failed attempted coup led by LT. S. B. Arthur, a Fanti from Central Region, to overthrow the NLC regime. Accusing fingers from certain quarters were pointed at Colonel A. A. Afrifa, the Ashanti member of the NLC, as the one who might have engineered the unsuccessful uprising.  To make matters worse, even though Lt. S.B. Arthur moved troops all the way from Ho to Accra, Col. Afrifa at that time was in Tamale, and thereby giving more fire to the conspiracy theorists of Col Afrifa's involvement in Lt Arthur's unsuccessful adventure.

Ironically and incidentally, Major-General Kotoka and Col. Afrifa were the two main operational architects of the 1966 coup and Col. Afrifa was also a very close confidant and a personal friend of Major-General Kotoka. Both of them were based in Kumasi before the 1966 coup. During Lt. Arthur's trial, it became quite clear that he was under the illusion which afflicts all coup makers who believe that they have the divine right to liberate the citizens from oppressed regimes. Additionally, Lt. Arthur also found his new command appointment in the army so rewarding, he felt he could increase it by assuming the leadership of the country.

Another important factor which led to the introduction of tribal politics occurred when the ban on politics was lifted by the NLC and elections held in 1969 to usher in the Second Republic.

K.A. Gbedema, one of the former 'Big Three' of the CPP, who had earlier fallen out with Dr. Nkrumah, returned from exile to form a political party, the National Alliance of Liberals (NAL).  The challenge for power became a two-way fight between the Progress Party (PP) led by Dr .K.A. Busia, former opposition party leader during the First Republic, and the NAL led by K.A. Gbedema. Mr. Gbedema sought to put on the mantle for the CPP which had been banned by the NLC, even though he had been hounded into exile by Dr. Nkrumah under unexplained circumstances deemed to be bordering on corruption.  The result of the 1969 elections proved a turning point to the politics of the Second Republic.

In a landmark election for the 140 parliamentary seats at stake, the PP won 105 seats, representing 75% of the total seats available. The PP won majority seats in all the regions of the country except Volta Region where it won only two of the 16 seats at stake. The two seats were won in the non-Ewe areas of Volta Region. The NAL won all the remaining 14 seats in Volta Region.  While Dr. Busia came from the Wenchi area of the Brong Ahafo Region, Mr. Gbedema came from the Keta area of the Volta Region. So while 98.1% of the PP seats came from the rest of the country outside the Volta Region, 49% of the NAL seats came from one region, the Volta Region. It is important to note that the voting pattern of the Fourth Republic has accentuated the fact that the Volta Region has consistently and virtually rejected the two offshoots of the PP, the Popular Front Party (PFP) then led by Victor Owusu and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The Second Republican constitution which was based on the parliamentary system required that all ministers of state should be appointed from Parliament. This posed a problem for Dr. Busia as to how he could achieve a regional balance in the appointment of ministers. Based on the quality of representation available to him, he took the bull by the horn and named his ministers without appointing anyone from the Volta Region. Nobody could fault Dr. Busia since the quality he could rely on from the Volta Region had been rejected by the electorate in the Volta Region and it would have been suicidal for him to have appointed ministers from the NAL, more so when Ghana was not practising a coalition government.

After the people of Volta Region had clearly rejected the PP, some of their leaders then turned round to accuse Dr. Busia and the PP of being tribalistic and anti-Ewe.  Another factor which fanned the ill wind came from a comment reported to have been made by Victor Owusu, which the Ewe population of the Volta Region did not take kindly to and which appears to have remained with them ever since. Mr. Victor Owusu is quoted to have remarked that the Ewes were 'inward looking'. Whether he was quoted out of context or what that statement really meant will continue to be a conjecture and the subject of individual interpretation.

The PP administration under Dr. Busia, in an attempt to get Ghanaians to capture the commanding heights of the national economy, introduced the Aliens Compliance Order.

While the intention was good, the implementation became problematic. Many of our African brothers and sisters from outside the shores of the country, especially the Yorubas and Itchekiris from Nigeria, the Kotokolis from Togo and the Moshis from Burkina Faso, unfortunately and wrongly so found themselves at the receiving end of the law. Most of these people resided in the Zongo communities where many of the Ghanaians from the northern part of the country reside. Somehow, political opponents of the PP seized upon it and made it appear that the law was against all persons from the northern Ghana.

Opponents of the UP tradition, up to this day, continue to use this fact to alienate people of northern extraction against the party. The NDC made politics out of the gruesome murder of the Yaa Naa and used it as a political weapon against the NPP. Now that weapon has turned out to be a two edged sword against the NDC.

E-mail; makgyasi@ug.edu.gh mailto:makgyasi@ug.edu.gh

Tel: 027 - 7588256
By Kwame Gyasi
 

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