IT started a few years ago when busloads of party supporters were transported to the courts whenever former ministers and functionaries of the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) government were to make an appearance on various charges.
We saw it during the infamous Quality Grain trial. Heavy party presence was always felt during the trial of the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, and others over the divestiture and purchase of the Nsawam Cannery and during the trial and conviction of Mr Tsatsu Tsikata, former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC).
Similarly, an ‘invitation’ extended to former President J. J. Rawlings by National Security to come and assist in certain investigations saw hundreds of NDC supporters besieging the premises of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).
In all cases, the conclusion was that the personalities who were either on trial or had been invited for questioning were victims of political persecution or victimisation. That opened the gates for a new phenomenon to creep into our political culture. That is, any attempt to question the conduct of a former public office holder with clear identifiable political leaning is a victim who is being sacrificed on behalf of the political party he/she belongs to and must, therefore, be seen as such and given party support.
While the NDC played the game very well to draw public sympathy for the “cruel and inconsiderate” actions of the government under the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Kufuor administration was always on the defensive trying to convince Ghanaians that its actions were purely in the public interest and there was nothing vindictive about the cases that were before the law courts or under investigation.
Whether this worked in favour of the NDC or not is another matter. However, the NPP suffered greatly when, in one of those moments of indiscretion, Mr J. H. Mensah, a stalwart of the NPP, stated publicly that by the time they had finished jailing top functionaries of the NDC, the party would not be able to stand on its feet again. That naturally gave strength to the NDC to raise its voice to the highest decibel, shouting political persecution anytime any of its former ministers or party functionaries was mentioned in connection with any malfeasance.
Whether we like it or not, a party that had been threatened with extinction was always the winner whenever one of its members was being dragged to the courts. At least that was the case in the eyes of a gullible public that lacked the ability to make fair and independent judgement.
The order has changed and the NPP is now in opposition. Having taken a cue from the NDC strategy, the NPP is always quick to complain of harassment and persecution.
In their case too, and just as Mr Mensah’s overzealous and careless statement strengthened the NDC’s case of persecution, the early days of the Mills administration, during which the security apparatus faltered in executing some of its mandate, created in the minds of a section of the people, especially NPP fanatics, that the NDC was out to outdo the NPP in political vindictiveness.
That was why even those former public office holders, who genuinely knew that they had not fulfilled the conditions to take home official vehicles and other state property, were quick to react with complaints of political persecution. For a party that is still nursing wounds that were inflicted on it by its painful defeat in the last elections, it is easy for its officers to attract sympathy from disillusioned supporters whenever the signals are given.
So it came to pass that when Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, the former Chief of Staff and Minister for Presidential Affairs, was invited by the BNI to answer certain questions, the response from certain hard-core party supporters, including former ministers and current Members of Parliament, was to besiege the premises of the BNI because one of them who happened to be the most powerful person, apart from former President J.A. Kufuor, was, as it may be described, under ‘captivity’ by the enemy.
The matter of Mr Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, the former Information Minister, is another clear case in which heroes could be made out of people who, otherwise, would only be seen as having genuine questions to answer. The arms, ears and eyes of National Security are very powerful.
Surely, that national apparatus had foreknowledge of Mr Asamoah-Boateng’s travel and, therefore, could have alerted him about the impending invitation to him. National Security could even have made a public announcement to that effect. If that had been done, Mr Asamoah-Boateng would have been seen as somebody trying to run away from justice if he had been arrested at the airport about to board an aircraft.
Suddenly, the persecution chorus has reached a crescendo of amazing cadences because we failed to do certain basic things. All further explanations in a quicksand manner only add to the murky waters and give voice to people who otherwise should have been silent.
In our part of the world, nobody could discount political persecution or vindictiveness. All governments that come to power, including those which imposed themselves on the people through illegal means, always find nothing good about their predecessors. They always inherit empty coffers and collapsed economies. Incidentally, their lifestyles sometimes surpass those of their predecessors and they ultimately go home with bigger articulated trucks filled with ‘spoils’ of war.
That is why we should be able to separate party and government from the national interest. Even though a party may have a big support base, those who actually benefit from the activities are the front liners — the national, regional, constituency and ward executives in that descending order and those who are privileged to be close to them.
In same way we can say that for the government, it is the principal officers, from the President and the Vice President, ministers of state, metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives, to those who, through their linkages and connections, found themselves in certain public positions who are in government.
As for the rest of us, we are the citizens of this country who have ceded our power to our party leaders, especially when that party forms the government and the principal officers of the government, to do what is best for us. We are at their mercy after we have stood for hours in the tropical sun or a heavy downpour to cast the ballot to elect our President.
It is, therefore, naïve, bordering on foolhardiness, for ordinary members of a party to troop to the police station or the courts in sympathy with a former minister who is being questioned for wrongdoing or for amassing wealth through illegal means while in public office. Why should I subject myself to such humiliation?
What many Ghanaians, including those party fanatics, should know is that this country called Ghana is where it is today, still poor in the midst of abundant resources, because of the actions and inaction of politicians who begged us for our mandate but turned round to fill their pockets.
Our children continue to squat under trees for their lessons while we drive on muddy, pothole-filled roads because some politicians have colluded with faceless contractors to misuse our national resources for their personal aggrandisement.
Our national capital, Accra, is an eyesore compared to others (spare me the comparison between some African countries) because people given the mandate to take certain decisions have failed in that regard but made sure they went home with a good chunk of our national wealth. The traffic lights in Accra and other places are not functioning not because we lack the resources. Our young men and women are leaving in droves for destinations they hardly know; not because they enjoy separating from their relatives and friends.
Our schools are overcrowded, our health facilities are poorly equipped and manned, and in most cases have become transit camps for the final destination, our public servants continue to cry for living wages to no avail. These and many other problems confronting this nation are the result of the ineptitude of our political leaders who always cry ‘No Fund’, but are able to save enough to live in opulence. Some could even afford a vacation in foreign lands but whenever the trumpet is sounded for accountability, they quickly invoke the persecution theory to attract sympathy.
Mr Mpiani was a very powerful person who did not leave office poorer. He commanded executive powers almost comparable to what the Constitution gave to the President of the Republic. He presided over several national projects and programmes which involved huge sums of national revenue. These include the Ghana @ 50 Celebrations and the construction of the Jubilee Mansion.
In all cases, his responses to queries about the monies involved when he appeared before Parliament, our House of Representatives, were at best snobbish.
You cannot talk to the Americans, the British, the French, the Japanese or citizens of any of those countries making perfect movement in the right direction when questioned about how you are expending their national revenue and expect a multitude of party supporters to be chanting war songs threatening the Office of Accountability for demanding from you an account of how you disburse state funds.
This can only happen in a land where the people do not know what they want and, therefore, can be fooled and swindled by those they claim are their chosen messiahs and heroes. Take the Jubilee Mansion, for example. In the beginning, it was to cost the nation US$45 million, with part grant of US$30 million from the Government of India. We have crossed the US$100 million mark and the completion of the project is nowhere in sight.
There is something called variation in the construction industry. This refers to an additional cost arising either out of minor additions or certain minor things that were overlooked in the original design or contract.
But tell me, where on earth, can the cost of the variation be more than double the cost of the original project? So nobody should offer an explanation for this, when it is the poor people of this country who are going to pay the excess amount?
We have always been mentioning countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Brazil, South Korea, Turkey, Indonesia, Thailand and all other emerging economies which could not have reached where they are today, if they had allowed their public office holders to walk away without being made to account for the national wealth placed in their custody.
By all means, people should not suffer because they have served in a particular government. There must be due diligence when probing public officials whether active or previous. The rights of individuals must be recognised and respected as prescribed by law or as enshrined in our national constitution.
As much as possible, nothing should be done to give any semblance of political persecution or vindictiveness in matters that are of national interest. We should be careful not to make heroes out of people who have greatly contributed to our impoverishment and forced us deeper into underdevelopment.
Those who stood between us and our forward march to glory should not be shielded in any way. We should not give a second laugh to people who exploited our collective authority vested in them to deny us our right to good life.
We cannot move forward and join those galloping ahead of us if we continue to allow public office holders to mix in the crowd with their booty. The grains must be separated from the chaff and in executing this assignment, there should not be room for mistakes or compromise.
Party supporters must also know that it is in their own interest to push forward the national interest instead of pandering to the whims and caprices of a few former ministers. If Ghana has good roads, good medical facilities, good educational facilities and other social infrastructure in place, the country will be good for everybody, not a few party or government supporters.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
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