Many more rivers to cross

Another gruelling, nerve-wracking election has come to an end, with the declaration of President John Dramani Mahama, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, as the winner. Official results released by the Electoral Commission (EC), which were read to the public on Sunday night, indicated that Mr Mahama received 5,574,761 votes, being 50.7 per cent of the 10,995,262 valid votes cast nationwide. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) followed closely behind with 5,248,898 votes, representing 47.74 per cent of the national votes. The other presidential candidates cumulatively received a little over one per cent of the votes. The process was generally acknowledged by many, including the various observer missions, to be free and fair and without many nasty incidents. However, there were equipment challenges and delays in delivery of electoral materials which dragged the election into a second day in some places. The challenges posed by the electoral equipment had not been ruled out totally in the estimation of affairs, but the delays were purely human and should have been avoided. Otherwise, the voting process was faster than it had been in previous years, which means with time the voting time could be reduced considerably. Just as we were about patting one another on the back for a good job done, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) raised an issue with discrepancies they claim were recorded at some polling and collation centres. If there should be any element of truth in the allegations, then it means those appointed by the NPP to protect its interests dropped their guard somewhere along the line. That could not be blamed on the EC, which had always stressed the point that elections were won or lost at the polling centres and, therefore, urged party representatives to remain vigilant at all times. The reaction of the supporters of the party who stormed the offices of the EC brought back painful and distressful memories of what happened in 2008 when NDC supporters, acting on suspicion that the EC was in for some sinister acts, massed up at the offices of the EC, ready to do battle. Such a picture being beamed to a global audience, while our democracy continued to be touted as a beacon for the rest of Africa, is disgusting and, to some of us, even disgraceful and should be avoided at all cost in future events. It is unfortunate that more than 24 hours after the declaration of the official results, Nana Akufo-Addo is yet to concede defeat and congratulate the victorious Mahama. What that means is that we are embarking on another political administration already fragmented without any national cohesion. We are starting in an atmosphere of suspicion and acrimony, a situation which is damaging to our national health. Mr Mahama can now feel confident that he has moved from a caretaker leader to an elected one who has the full confidence of the people. I believe that during the campaign, his focus was not only on the crowd of party supporters who clamoured to listen to him but also on the condition of the roads in the country and the abject conditions under which the majority of our people live. He, therefore, does not need anyone to remind him that there is a big task ahead of him. We must begin to see the problems of this country beyond Accra and a few other towns and cities and face the real truth that the majority of our people are only existing and are still far away from the basic requirements of human survival. During the electioneering, almost all the presidential candidates pledged to distance themselves from factionalism and see themselves as leaders of this dear country of ours. This is a big challenge to the President as he fastens himself into the saddle to take up the mantle of leadership. He must try to break the winner-takes-all syndrome which is at the centre of the hostility, viciousness, mischief and intolerance that have characterised our politics. The fear of losing one’s livelihood and self-esteem when a group of people are in political power is, arguably, one of the reasons people are prepared to do anything to gain or retain power. If we will see governments as institutions that are to shepherd state affairs for the benefit of all, there will be very little motivation for people to adopt all sorts of cruel and crooked means to win political power. It is the hope of many that President Mahama will live up to his words to ensure that the national wealth flow in all directions, without distinction or discrimination, so that any person who is prepared to work will get his/her due reward. We have scraped through another election with some appreciable level of success. Ours may be far better than that of others and the international community is going to heap praises on us. That is good for our national psyche. We must, however, admit that so long as our national elections continue to be conducted in an atmosphere of fear and suspicion, so long as we never conclude any election without one party or another complaining of discrepancies, and so long as our elections never bring us together as a united people who must share in the bounty of our national resources and, where it becomes necessary, we acknowledge our failures and resolve to correct them, we must gird our loins, for there are many more rivers to cross. fokofi@yahoo.co.uk kofiakordor.blogpot.com