Politics of acrimony

When Ghanaians went to the polls in a referendum on April 29, 1992 to endorse the 1992 Constitution, they did so as an affirmation of their confidence in multi-party democracy. Earlier attempts at constitutional ruled suffered premature ends when men in uniform and their civilian collaborators conspired to overthrow these governments in the name of serving the national interest. I shudder to talk about the First Republic because at the time of the February 24, 1966 coup, the country was a one-party state and the President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah was a Life President. Whether there was any constitutional means of effecting a change is, therefore, subject to debate. The case was quite different in 1972 and 1981 when the constitutional governments of Dr K. A. Busia and Dr Hilla Limann were overthrown through military coups in that order. It was obvious that the long spells of military and military/civilian dictatorship did not serve the interest of the country. The result of the 1992 referendum was, therefore, an endorsement of multi-party rule and a decision by the people to embrace democracy, which opens the doors to freedom of expression, exchange of divergent ideas and most important of all, the power to choose from qualified candidates who offer themselves for election as leaders of our country. The road of the latest democratic journey continued, after the referendum, with the lifting of the ban on political activities which were outlawed after the December 31, 1981 coup on May 18, 1992. The first presidential and parliamentary elections in November and December of that year were not without drama and confusion. The book, The Stolen Verdict, was a compilation of by the New Patriotic Party (NPP), events and incidents which it claimed culminated in its defeat. After that, the country continued with its resolve to pursue democracy even though every election came under a heavy cloud of suspicion. One would have expected that the more we advance in this journey and learn from our mistakes, the less the burden of democratic practice. Even though electoral reforms are bringing improvement in the electoral process, our political atmosphere is getting more and more polluted by the day. Again, apart from individual freedoms and liberties which the constitution guarantees every citizen, we are missing some of the beautiful things of democracy. Many of us thought multi-party democracy was an opportunity to shift through the lot and come to a national consensus on things that are good for all of us and pursue them with national vigour and commitment for full attainment. Our economy is still in a primitive state relying mainly on the export of raw materials. We still export the bulk of our cocoa in the raw beans state. That is not only a reduction in revenue; it means we are missing out in the many uses of cocoa beans. It also means our industry cannot expand beyond the cultivation of the crop which opens very limited employment opportunities to our citizens. We are still exporting manganese in the ore form which fetches very little revenue on the market and offers very little employment to highly trained and skilled professionals. Ghana is richly endowed with bauxite which is the main ingredient in any integrated aluminium industry. We already have a smelter and large quantities of salt and oil and gas for energy. Unfortunately, we are not able to exploit this tremendous opportunity to become a rich industrialised nation. We are rather exporting bauxite ore, while VALCO cannot produce at full capacity because it relies on imported raw materials. As a nation, we cannot boast of a first-class network of roads linking our towns and cities to open up the country for business and industry. The roads in our national capital, Accra are under stress and movement within the city for business has become a nightmare. Our railway system left for us by the colonial masters is in shambles; a system that could have fetched us millions in foreign exchange by exploiting the misfortune of our landlocked neighbours up north. These and other problems we thought would rather have engaged our attention as we take advantage of the blessings of democracy to pursue them with oneness of purpose. Instead, we are drifting from our real problems and are polarised on partisan lines. Dr Tony Aidoo was right when he questioned whether Ghanaians were not disappointed that they had chosen democracy as the path to development. Today, our ears are deafened in a cacophony of appeals for a peaceful election. Why should an election of Members of Parliament and a president to lead this country to progress become a battle cry such that everybody should be on his/her knees begging for peace? Who are we begging? Are they the same Ghanaians who are supposed to be the beneficiaries of democracy? We cannot pretend but realise that we have turned our politics from a mission to serve into an opportunity to loot. That ambition has become so pronounced that we have lost our focus as a nation and are ready to tear each other apart. Ghana is very well-endowed beyond explanation and all we need are good leadership, good guidance and direction and a united and discerning population to move on. Our blind ambition to take all the credit for everything good while blaming all others is not good for our national psyche. We must be able to realise that those who did the preparation of the ground, those who did the planting and those who did the harvesting all combined collectively to ensure a national objective or goal. Our greatness lies in our acceptance of our weaknesses and appreciating the efforts of others in nation-building. Our politics should not be that of enemies or foes. It should be that of a different set of people pursuing a national development agenda in a particular way which will produce the same results. If our politicians want the best for us; if their quest for office is to use their talents and skills to develop this country, then they should spare us the acrimony, the vilifications and intolerance. Let it not be said that because of the activities of a few selfish and disgruntled politicians, Ghanaians have regretted opting for democracy. The international community is doing everything to support us in our democratic efforts. Let us not fail ourselves. fokofi@yahoo.co.uk kofiakordor.blogspot.com