Monday,
March 4, 2013
Folks, the NPP leaders and their
followers have once again come face-to-face with their own ghosts on the
political terrain—and are scared stiff by what they see. Will they join
President Mahama on Wednesday to celebrate the 56th anniversary of
Ghana’s independence—a national event of too much significance to toy with?
Right-away, we can tell that they
are stuck in the mud: Will they or will they not? With what implications for
them?
True to their nature, they’ve
chosen to use the classical Greek rhetorical strategy of sophistry to attempt throwing
dust into the eyes of Ghanaians. Here is why:
The pro-NPP Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG)
has called on Ghanaians to boycott
the 56th independence anniversary celebrations scheduled for Wednesday because “the
current economic hardship which has been compounded by the power and water
crisis, should be enough to discourage the populace from participating in the
celebration.”
Abu
Ramadan, AFAG’s Director of Operations (who called for the boycott action) says
that “this crisis is not a situation we can overlook; these are genuine crisis
affecting the people of this country. Considering the amount of money we are
going to spend in celebrating the Independence Day anniversary, I think as a
country we can do ourselves a lot of good... This is not the time for us to
merry make.”
He
added that “this is not the time for us to celebrate our independence but
rather a time for us to look at how best we can use the scarce resources we
have as a country to solve the problems we are facing so that we can move out
of the problem.” (Source: http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=266647)
What exactly will be achieved
with this boycott of the national celebration? Will boycotting the celebration
lead to the problems being solved overnight? At best, it will only send wrong signals to
the outside world that we are lost and can’t be taken seriously. Or it may help
the NPP’s politics of reaction, confrontation, and divisiveness.
Certainly,
we can tell that it is the NPP leaders who are behind this call. They can’t
openly declare that they will boycott the celebration, knowing very well its
damaging impact on their political front. So, they must hide behind this AFAG
to outwit Ghanaians. But they can’t succeed.
We
know that the AFAG is NPP in its coloration and modus operandi just as the NPP
is the political macrocosm nurturing AFAG. Two sides of one coin!!
This call by AFAG is just a ruse;
it is the new strategy being used by the NPP as part of its anti-Mahama agenda.
It is clear that the NPP will boycott the national celebration in Accra just because
the President will be at the parade.
If they want to boycott it, they
should go ahead to do so. After all, having already set the boycott train in
motion, there is every indication that the NPP cannot stop midstream to
participate in an event that the President will definitely be in charge of.
I can read deeper meanings into
this call to suggest that the NPP is merely using the AFAG to save face. Having
taken it upon themselves to boycott anything involving the Presidency, I wonder
how they will participate in this celebration. They are now stuck between the devil
and the deep blue sea.
Definitely, they can’t do
otherwise but boycott the event. If anyone thinks that what the AFAG has come
out with is its own idea, that person should think again. The NPP is behind it
all, seeing that the questions will soon begin being asked on its stance!
Do
you see how these NPP people are hiding behind the smokescreen provided by AFAG
to confirm their notoriety? They now want to spread their disease of boycott to
Ghanaians; but they won’t go anywhere with it. Ghanaians know the importance
and relevance of the independence anniversary.
Calling
on them to boycott the celebration as if the country hasn’t had any crisis of
the sort that this AFAG noisemaker is complaining about is the height of
mischief. Ghanaians celebrate this anniversary not because they’ve had better
governments to solve their problems or because Ghana’s independence has turned
the country into a heaven-on-earth.
They
do so as a reminder of what the country went through in asserting its sovereignty
and freeing itself from colonial domination. They do so because that moment in
the country’s political history is worth recalling to remind themselves of the
need to live together as one people with a common destiny.
Celebrating
independence anniversary is a reminder to Ghanaians that they have their own
destinies in their hands and must work hard to sustain themselves and their
country.
By
celebrating this occasion, Ghanaians do introspection to determine where they
came from to be where they are today—and will be tomorrow. That’s the essence
of the nationwide events on the occasion.
Ghanaians
remind themselves of the struggle against British colonialism. They use the
occasion to celebrate the peaceful manner in which Dr. Nkrumah and all others
before him managed affairs without the shedding of blood as happened in other
countries.
In
fact, juxtaposed with the bloody fight for liberation in Africa and other parts
of the world, the Ghanaian experience stands really tall to be celebrated. We
needn’t recall what happened in Southern Africa (especially Zimbabwe and South
Africa) to thank God that our struggle for independence didn’t have so much a
heavy toll on life.
Can
we so soon forget the Mau-Mau bloody encounters with the British forces in Kenya
or the Libyan and Ethiopian battles with Italy? Or the experiences of Algeria
in the fight against France?
In
fact, I am certain that this AFAG and those in the NPP promoting its activities
don’t really know the value of our independence. If they did, they would be
circumspect in asking Ghanaians to boycott its celebration just because they
can’t get utility services or that the celebration is taking place under a
government not formed by them.
Indeed,
Ghanaians have known all along that the country’s problems didn’t begin being
created only when President Mahama took over the reins of government. They know
that over the years, their governments have failed to solve their problems. So,
why should anybody incite them at this time to boycott the celebration of this
all-important occasion?
I
am not surprised that this pro-NPP group has begun instigating Ghanaians this
way. After all, BOYCOTT has become the only political tool left for them to
use. We’ve seen them use it and failed to make any mark.
They
can go ahead to boycott the celebration; no one will miss them. In 2001, former
President Kufuor chose to stay away from the celebration when he stayed back in
Melbourne Australia at the end of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference,
a precedent that earned him scathing criticisms.
His
was not a boycott but an impolitic decision that stirred up rumours about what
he used the day for (Ask Gifty Anti of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation to
tell you how she felt as the focus of that rumour)!!
The
NPP and its lackeys in institutions such as AFAG can do all they like,
including dissociating themselves from important national events. After all,
once they’ve chosen to be “mentally and intellectually lazy” (thanks to Kwame
Pianim and now, Kennedy Agyapong), they will settle on pettiness and misguided pronouncements
to continue fighting against the wind.
That’s
exactly what this call for boycott of the independence anniversary confirms.
Ghana will move on without them. But can
they jump this hurdle that they have placed on their own way as they struggle
to survive in the rough waters of Ghanaian politics?
I
am, however, not surprised that such a call has come from a pro-NPP group
because even when Dr. Nkrumah and his “Verandah Boys” were fighting hard for
independence, the forebears of today’s NPP leaders and followers were
vehemently doing and saying everything to detract from their efforts. They even
sent a delegation to the British Monarchy not to grant Ghana independence.
So,
why should anybody be surprised that 56 years after independence had been won,
they would be asking that Ghanaians boycott its celebration? These anti-Ghana
politicians have no shame!!
I shall return…
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E-mail:
mjbokor@yahoo.com
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