Tuesday,
July 23, 2013
Once again, we have heard
something to the effect that certain personalities are doing politics against
the NDC/government, using the auspices of their institutions. They have been
accused of hiding behind the smokescreen that they have turned their institutions
into and are provoking public panic or anger against the government.
Dr.
David Percy (a member of the National Reform Party and a board member of the
National Service Scheme) has condemned the National Peace Council (NPC), the
Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), and the Ghana Bar Association (GBA)
as “fronts for the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).”
Speaking
on Radio Gold on Monday morning, Dr. Percy said that last Friday’s national
summit on Peace, Justice and Reforms, an initiative of the NPC, the Manhyia
Palace, the Civic Forum Initiative (CFI) and the IDEG, was to further the
agenda of the NPP. He said it would be reckless and dangerous to lull
the people into thinking that those institutions were disinterested parties in
the on-going election petition case. (See http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=280250).
These are serious allegations;
but I am not really surprised at them because they are not new to me, having heard
about them for some time now. What amazes me is the inability of people like
Dr. Percy to fathom why such institutions and their elements will choose to
promote the NPP’s cause and work against the interests of the NDC and its
government. This issue has nagged me over the years, and now that Dr. Percy’s allegations
point to them, they need to be unpacked. The moment is ripe for it.
Similar allegations have been
made over the years and fingers pointed at some in the mass media, the clergy, civil
society organizations, chiefs, workers’ and traders’ leaders, and many more as
lackeys of the NPP bent on sabotaging the NDC. Others identified as “irritants”
because of their persistent criticisms (e.g., Franklin Cudjoe of IMANI) have also
had their share of the tongue-lashing. Many more are not spared either. As
surely as night follows the day, such allegations continue to be made.
So far, I haven’t heard anything
from those making the allegations as to why their targets have chosen to be in
bed with the NPP and not the NDC. This silence prompts two main questions:
What about the NPP makes it more
attractive than the NDC? Why will anybody choose to gravitate toward the NPP
and not the NDC?
Answers to these fundamental
questions should clarify the matter and help us know how to contextualize Dr.
Percy’s claims for proper analysis. These allegations grate on the ears,
especially when none of those being accused has been bold enough to confirm the
allegations nor have those making the allegations adduced any evidence apart
from the assessment of public postures and utterances to justify their claims. We
can hazard a few guesses to set minds at ease.
Ideologically, the NPP is a conservative
political entity built on the Danquah/Busia (and Dombo?) aspiration of “liberal
democracy” and property-grabbing. Its adherents make no secret of their
penchant for self-acquisition. Their manifesto may be silent on it but their
real and practical acts of commission and omission speak volumes to substantiate
that impression about them.
One couldn’t have failed to see
its concrete manifestation in the 8-year rule of Kufuor. Indeed, having itched in
the political wilderness for 30 years before grabbing political power, Kufuor used
every opportunity to confirm the property-owning mantra. The floodgates were
thrown open, causing a mad rush for property and self-aggrandizement. Let’s
take, for instance, Kufuor’s own junketing all over the world and the
unrestrained dash by his government functionaries (not to mention the
high-ranking NPP leaders’) for property.
Then, turn round to review the
list of appointees that Kufuor placed in charge of government business and you
should know why the NPP is what it is. For one thing, the NPP leaders know how
to handle those who do their “dirty” political work for them. They compensate
them fairly and use them to the full. Be they journalists, teachers, traders,
drivers, or what-not, they are not sidelined if engaged to do the party’s
bidding.
Unfortunately, the NDC is
otherwise. Let me just cite one example to substantiate my stance. We easily
recall the street demonstrations by the NDC’s foot-soldiers and the reasons
that they adduced to support their grievances in the first few months of the
late President Mills’ administration. They took the law into their own hands,
evicting government appointees from offices and forcefully taking over public
toilets to manage?
Their reason? The government wasn’t
fulfilling its promise on job creation for them despite the hard work that they
had done to put Mills in power. They claimed that they were not compensated and
couldn’t look on without doing anything to draw attention to their plight. Of
course, they were roundly condemned by the government and some measures taken
to rein them in. Apparently, the security forces were unleashed on them to
silence them. Their grievances have still not been met; and we can’t rule out
any resurgence of their agitations.
Certain reasons continue to be
raised by critics of the government to justify why the NDC doesn’t seem to be the
preferred home for those now being accused of hiding behind the pulpit, the Bar,
and civil society groupings to do politics in favour of the NPP.
1. Economic power
The Ghanaian economy (especially
the private sector) is largely controlled by those who are either sympathetic
to or aligned with the NPP. If you doubt
it, just do a quick assessment of the industries and big-time business
enterprises all over the country and you shouldn’t be left wondering why I have
made this huge claim that the economy is in the hands of those opposed to the
NDC/government.
Of course, their tap roots run
deep, spreading centrifugally from the foundation laid by their benefactors in
the Gold Coast era who established industries and companies or who simply took
advantage of the prevailing favourable environment to break through as
successful business people. And what they established has thrived over the
years despite the vicissitudes of the Ghanaian political and economic systems,
especially the tumultuous June 4 and December 31 revolutionary excesses. Do you
wonder why they keep on accusing Rawlings of being anti-rich and consequently
extending their bitter sentiments to the political family spawned by him?
2. Political power
It is often said that the NDC
knows how to mobilize support to help it achieve political power; but the truth
is that it doesn’t really exercise that political power properly to break
through and accomplish the agenda that will reinforce its base and translate
that power into an economic asset. Apparently, the NDC’s investment in the
struggle for raw political power seems to be regarded as an end in itself,
which is why even when voted into office, its government cannot function effectively
to undercut those forces using their economic power to undermine it.
Indeed, there is much talk that
when the NPP is in power, money “flows” in the country and that even if the cost
of living remains high, people can do business and get their money’s worth. On
the other hand, when the NDC takes over, the situation reverses—the money no
longer circulates and business grind to a painful halt, apparently because of
the government’s inability to manage affairs effectively.
This is a terrible indictment,
which, apart from other factors, is often at the heart of opposition to the NDC.
The problems that have emerged (increasing tax rates on foreign goods and cars,
especially at the Tema and Takoradi harbours; the shortage of Dollars; the
sporadic Dollar-Ghana Cedi exchange rates; high foreign debt; increases in prices of
petroleum products and utility services; corruption at SADA and GYEEDA; and
many more) are pointed to as evidence of the NDC government’s failure to manage
the economy properly. This situation gives vent to criticism by opponents of
the government, which gives them some political leverage.
We are, however, not recommending
the NPP’s manner of politicking to the NDC because that “book politics” won’t
move Ghana out of the woods. It is sterile and swelf-0serving; but it also
opens new windows through which the NDC leaders can view politics more broadly
to be able to fashion out their own particular approaches to put the party
poles ahead of the pack. That is the only reason for citing the NPP’s record.
3. Governance style
There is also much talk about the
governance style of the NDC, beginning with Rawlings and touching on Mills to
the incumbent (John Mahama) that negatively affects the NDC’s standing. Of
course, the Rawlings style has its peculiarities and implications (granted that
the soldier in Rawlings couldn’t be tamed and turned away from the
characteristic “buga-buga” approach toward command-and-control). But Rawlings’s
brusque approach and peremptory governance style has its positive aspects even
if abused.
The late Atta Mills’ laid-back
approach to governance struck most people as “strange” but he left his mark on
the scene for which he is being remembered today. President Mahama’s own governance
style has its ups-and-downs. Criticism of his style is rife, especially given
the worsening economic situation in the country.
The reality is that the government
appears not to use the political power at its disposal to endear itself and the
NDC to the hearts of others than the die-hard party supporters. To change the
situation, the party/government will have to make amends. What it has done so
far isn’t fetching any political capital. The so-called transformation that is
touted as “Social Democracy” isn’t giving the government anything new nor has
it yet been implemented to make the rebranding of the NDC meaningful. The same
old wine in its old wine bottle but with a different label won’t entice anybody
to the party’s cause.
I shall return…
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