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Akufo-Addo Beyond Rhetoric - V. L. K Djokoto

Sports News Akufo-Addo Beyond Rhetoric - V. L. K Djokoto
SEP 25, 2018 LISTEN

Fanning the fires of divine passion is often considered subversive and radical. But I believe the silent majority deserves a voice.

Letter to the Old Guard:
As the wrath of the masses looms on the horizon, I am not quite sure how safe it is for the sitting President or Vice-President, or any other statesman representative of the establishment, to mount a campaign platform and dare utter a single promise or make shallow excuses for the unprecendented misrule of the Republic.

Look at the Old Guard across our political spectrum — many are those whom, by the hand of God, were privileged to have inherited a sovereign Republic after more than a century of political struggle to topple colonialism. Born in the Gold Coast and raised in Ghana, one would expect — from their generation — a high sense of duty, affection and unconditional commitment towards crafting a Republic of illumination, at least in honour of the unparalleled sacrifices made by their immediate ancestors; the Mensah Sarbah’s that led us to the mountaintop and the Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's that delivered our promise land.

But what unfolds before our very own eyes today? A generation that, as opposed to repairing the inequalities of destiny, waged a war against the very sovereign Republic it inherited. 5 successive coup d'état’s within 15 years (1966 - 1981) after the collapse of the 1st Republic; blips of a 2nd and 3rd Republic devoured by the barrel of the gun. And ever since, citizens have been held hostage at the ballot box to a political struggle between remnants of our tainted past.

Today, the Electoral Commission remains exposed to the vicious cycle of political adulteration in a manner that threatens the integrity of our democratic dispensation. Free and fair elections are essential to the sociopolitical construction our infant democracy. We cannot afford to trivialise such sensitive issues in the name of partisanship. The Republic is above the ambition of any single political entity.

So to the Old Guard, I impeach you before the bar of your conscience, that you will acknowledge to yourselves, that you have proved traitors to the cause of a prosperous Republic.

Ghana-USA Military Agreement:
Public opinion must be manifested by non-partisan Positive Action! The Ghana-USA Military Agreement would subject the Right to Information Bill to critical scrutiny should it be passed, after almost a decade of stifled political transparency by the House of Parliament. Ghanaian citizens still deserve absolute clarity on this controversy. Our sovereignty is fading with each passing government and we did not come this far to settle for nominal independence.

President Akufo-Addo, in the spirit of patriotism, passionately proclaimed a ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ while addressing journalists in a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron.

A speech delivered with vigour and his demeanour reminiscent of the classic Independence Era Pan-Africanists, despite his old-age and diminutive stature, Akufo-Addo espoused our desire to self-govern without placing an over-reliance on France, or any other Republic for that matter, for national development — much to the surprise of Macron who the Ghanaian President, in a diplomatic gesture, cautioned ahead of his “unapologetic” utterances.

However, with the benefit of hindsight, this may have just been Akufo-Addo’s finest hour of lip service throughout his decades-long scheme to capture the Presidency. Arms-wide open to only $20 million in Military Aid from Uncle Sam, a few months after his nationalist fused-oratory, the Akufo-Addo-led NPP Majority consisting of a 169 seats — making it the second biggest majority after the NDC’s 178+ seats in the 1992 election, ushering the 1st Parliament of the 4th Republic — has approved the Ghana-US Defence Agreement which grants the USA permission to camp its military on Ghanaian soil, amidst condemnation by broad sections of the Ghanaian public.

The fundamental issue is that this agreement does not place US soldiers under the jurisdiction of the Ghanaian Supreme Court, therefore, not requiring them to abide by our laws. The impudence! An assault on our independence, this short sighted conception of foreign policy does not only compromise our territorial integrity, but also defeats the ideal of an African continent free from military power blocs. This is not a matter of stirring nationalist sentiments or inflamed passions. In the grand scheme of things, Ghana has been placed as a pawn on the chessboard, without the slightest chance of arriving at its end, to be helplessly subverted by either foreign monopoly capital (the emerging threat from China) or military subversion in a new era of international relations.

Such seeds of discontent threaten the long-term peace and security of the Republic. The consequences of such actions are immeasurable.It has become a matter of the long-term survival and sustenance of the Republic — the art of self-governance.

The western world is not the yardstick by which our aspirations of a prosperous Republic should be measured. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah teaches us to reject servitude in tranquility!

The President’s iconic elephant-sized government is clearly tightly-knit and loyal to their Captain. It is impressive to see political hanger-ons in denial of a sinking ship even at their own peril. One would have expected mass resignations of government appointees by now - either to preserve what is left of their integrity or to pave way for a new frontier within the shortest possible time. Or perhaps, now?

A ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’, first and foremost, needs an ‘Akufo-Addo Beyond Rhetoric’.

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