The Change Is Substandard And The Alternative Is Empty; Ghana At A Leadership Crossroads.

With barely thirteen months to the 2020 general elections, the political tempo is gradually gaining currency with the ruling NPP and the opposition NDC subtly jabbing each other. As the polls near, citizens but not spectators begin to have an introspection into the last four years and ask the uncomfortable questions. Has the current government lived up to expectation and deserve a re-election? Has it created the enabling environment for people to innovate and invent? Has it created opportunities for those who don't want to innovate and invent acquire jobs to make a decent living? Have there been any improvement in education, healthcare delivery, agriculture and many others? The answers to these questions will form the basis for a decision on whom to be gifted with power come 2020.

The fact that both the candidates (granted Akuffo Addo is re-elected which I'm sure he'll) for the two main parties have been tried and tested with power makes next year's election an interesting one. No one will have the unfair advantage of “try me too” as votes are purely going to be based on your performance under normal circumstances, whiles one served as president. It offers a level playing ground for electorates to assess them properly.

That said, does the NDC and NPP seem like the change we need to catapult us into the path of progress? Have they shown any sign of it since the turn of the fourth republic? Haven't the two parties had enough time to turn the fortunes of Ghana around having alternated power since 1992? For me, I think our problems lie with these two parties and not our solutions. The two parties are nowhere near the panacea to the problems bedevilling us.

Besides, the ample time the two parties have had and have to change the narrative, they both had and have a second chance to correct the mistakes of their previous tenure. Thus, the NDC wielded power from 1992 to 2000 and had a second chance in 2008 till 2016. In the same vein, the NPP had their share of political power from 2001 to 2008 and have their second chance from 2016 to date. What excuse does these two parties have to give us the electorates after failing us not once but twice? Governance is not a game of lottery. Governance especially in developing countries such as ours is a serious business to be left in the hands of NDC and NPP. We can't continue to experiment with these two political parties. There's no room for “try me again.” We are not in the business of trying people. We mean business. Like the old aged adage, a first fool is not fool, a second time fool is the fool. Perhaps, Odike is right Ghana is governed by fools.

Taking into account the continuous deterioration in the quality of life and ways of doing things in Ghana since the turn of the fourth republic vis-à-vis the hope and expectation that came with the return to constitutional rule; especially the fact that it has been the NPP and NDC in power, I honestly think we're better off with an entirely new crop of leaders. From where I stand, these two parties have disguised their selfish ideas as those of the general good. Thus, hypnotizing the electorates into siding with them. They are however exposed when they come to power and the electorates soon realise that what the parties are doing is not what they (electorates) bargained for. It's almost like going to Circle or Kejetia to buy a phone and you end up going home with a piece of soap.

The sooner we come to the realization that these two political parties do not intend to serve our needs, the better. These parties are well grounded and established cartels with grand schemes to siphon the country resources to the detriment of the suffering masses. Because of the well-established nature of the cartel, anyone who rises through the rank and file to become a presidential candidate cannot be trusted to do a fair job when he eventually becomes president. Those who show policy direction, set priorities and determine what should be done are the financiers and ordinary untouchables like the Sofo Azorkas, Hajia Fatis.

Do we have an alternative in the other smaller parties? In my honest view, I don't think so! The greed and selfishness in the smaller parties are palpably clear and they can't be a better alternative to the current crises of leadership. The weakness of the CPP, PNC, ACP, NDP and PPP is evidenced in the split that happens after an election of a candidate. This reveals that these parties can even be more self-seeking and inward looking than the NPP and NDC. Perhaps for reasons of personal aggrandizement and self-projection, certain individuals have broken away from the CPP and PNC to form their own parties. With this kind of attitude, these smaller parties don't stand the opportunity of proffering better alternatives but looking for an opportunity to perpetuate themselves. After all, if they have the interest of Ghanaians at heart, they will iron out their differences and join forces to wrestle power from the current holders. As a result of lack of focus by these smaller parties, Ghanaian electorates kept reposing confidence in any of the two main parties they consider the lesser of two evils.

The crises of leadership in Ghana has become eminently manifested in every sphere of the life of Ghanaians. It's apparent our leadership is suffering from the Garden of Eden syndrome. They partake of the fruits without any labour. They have forgotten the divine instruction to go out and subdue the world because from the sweat of your brow, you shall eat. But what do we see from our leaders? Our leaders are reaping where they have not sown. They act as though they are messiahs sent from above to save us. When in fact, they are the reason for our backwardness.

In conclusion, who can the electorates fall on as the one to manage our resources better since the change is substandard and the alternative is empty as the NPP and NDC choose to label each other? Having listened to and followed Marricke Kofi Gane and how he proffers solutions to curb our numerous problems, he's my surest bet to lead us out of the quagmire the NDC and NPP have sent us into. Ladies and gentlemen, choose you now. Are you for bread and butter, good education and health care delivery, employment opportunities, security, accountable governance or you are for ethnicity, party loyalty, self-interest and bad governance? Choose you now! For me and my cohorts, we choose the path of progress, development, betterment and the general good.

The author of the article is an apprentice political scientist, social commentator and social entrepreneur who’s passionate about good governance, social justice and the wellbeing of the ordinary people. He believes that it’s our individual goodness that will lead to the general good. So he admonishes each and every one to be the best wherever they find themselves. Who are you when no one is watching? We can be great when will pull our individual energies together to fight the ills that bedevil us. Indeed, the world is bad not because of the evil of the bad nuts, but the silence of the good ones. If you’re aggrieved by the current status quo, let’s join forces to rid them off our society. AYARIC HENRY AKANBA,

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