Monday,
April 13, 2015
Folks, let me be brazen to say
upfront that elections are won at the polls, not by any manipulation by an Electoral
Commissioner, which reduces to absurdity the useless apprehensions being
expressed by the NPP leaders regarding the procedures for Election 2016.
The illustrious son of the
Brong-Ahafo Region and Ghana, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, has served Ghana with
sterling performance and is to retire in June, having chalked the ripe age of
70 years in this wretched, troubled, and sickened world. He has contributed
hugely toward Ghana's stability and deserves tons of commendation and
appreciation from anybody who knows the checkered history of Ghana.
I have had the occasion to
interact with him, which happened many years ago when I was in Cape Coast at
the time that he was going round on public education programmes to give us this
4th Republic. The man is worth what he is and no amount of vilification by his
critics and opponents will reduce him to stubble.
As he retires in dignity, I wish
him all the best that he deserves and pray that the Good Lord will cap it all
for him with a peaceful and enjoyable post-office life.
To Ghana, he hasn't bequeathed
any problem. Those who think otherwise can go and burn the sea!!
Within this context, it is worth
saying that choosing a replacement for him lies on the shoulders of President
Mahama as constitutionally mandated. He has the mandate to choose whoever has
the acumen to sustain the system of governance, even if we have problems with
this system itself because it is not helping us solve Ghana's systemic problems
to improve living standards for the citizens.
The 1992 Constitution enjoins the
President to choose the Chairman of the Electoral Commission and he will do so
without intimidation. That is why all the ugly noise being made by those
opposed to President Mahama and the NDC deserves maximum attention.
Within the context of the useless
noise that Akufo-Addo and his gang of NPP tribal politics made when they were
genuinely rejected at Elections 23008 and 2012 and their useless petition
hearing at the Supreme Court, there is every reason to urge President Mahama to
go for whoever has what it takes to move Ghana forward politically.
We have already heard the ugly
noise and empty threat being made by the NPP that if President Mahama goes for
someone whom they don't accept, there will be mayhem. They think that they can
call the shots, even in opposition, having been denounced and renounced by the
Ghanaian electorate that have the power to make or unmake leaders.
The latest threat has come from
the irritant called "Let My Vote Count Alliance (LMVCA)" that is
nothing but a weakling formed, funded, and nurtured by the NPP and its
Akufo-Addo to carry out their useless agenda of making Ghana ungovernable for
the Mahama-led administration.
In a rather annoying statement
(see http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=354115),
this NPP cry-baby has issued threats that the government must respond to
strongly and pout measures in place to counteract as soon as it rears its ugly
head.
There is no reason for such
threats. The NPP and its amorphous and childish offshoots shouldn't be allowed
to take Ghana and Ghanaians for a ride. They shouldn't be given any elbow room
to behave as if they have the mandate of the electorate to determine how
governance should be effected. If they know what being in the opposition means,
they should behave properly to change their circumstances.
I wish that I were the President
of Ghana to use all the powers vested in me by the Constitution to keep them
where they belong. How can they be allowed to behave the way they do, to
attempt calling the shots, and to create the impression that they have any
voice at all in this matter? How do they think that the candidate for the
position should be chosen at their call or that whoever is appointed must
necessarily have their blessing?
By the tone and tenor of their
nonsense, one can tell that they are gearing up to resort to street
demonstrations and gross stupidity if the President chooses someone that they
think they have to reject. Stupid people acting stupidly.
President Mahama needs fear
nothing in this bid. He should go ahead to appoint whoever is qualified because
of political and administrative capabilities and then position the apparatus of
state to take care of those NPP malcontents.
The Ghanaian tax payer pays tax
to sustain the apparatus of state in the hope that the apparatus will be used
to provide security and support so he/she can live his/her life in peace. If
for political jingoism any political front acts to threaten that peace, nothing
prevents the government from deploying that apparatus to deal with it.
President Mahama
should be bold and act decisively. Let the NPP and its useless political
mischief manifest, and let the government tackle it decisively. It will have my
support in doing so!! Clearly, folks, the path toward the current political
dispensation in Ghana was walked by those who struggled to carve it and will be
walked successfully by those who know the ropes. When Rawlings took over in
December 1981 and led Ghana, those opposed to him either ganged up to
destabilize his administration or to make things difficult for the country as
they opposed everything initiated by that government.
Then, when Rawlings made moves to usher Ghana
into the 4th Republic by establishing the National Commission for Democracy
(thanks to the good work of the late Justice DF Annan) and the Constituent
Assembly to draft the 1992 Constitution, those now spearheading the NPP's
anti-Ghana politics distanced themselves from everything.
After everything had been done to smooth the
ground for constitutional democracy, they sprang into action, deceiving
themselves that they could win the 1992 Presidential and Parliamentary
elections. Trounced, they refused to accept reality and have continued to be
foolishly adamant ever since, behaving as if Ghana belongs to them.
My friends, this new threat about the
appointment of an Electoral Commissioner will usher Ghana into a different
phase of politics. I encourage President Mahama to remain resolute and to make
the choice that Ghana (and not the NPP) deserves. If he does so, we will have
what it takes to move the country forward.
Of
course, President Mahama is not so daft as to settle on a committed and unswerving NDC
operative, known to all and sundry as such, to head the Electoral Commission.
He will go for someone who has what it takes to make Ghanaian politics
admirable as Afari Gyan has done. His critics can go to blazes!! They will burn
in the hell-fire of their own causing!!
Those deceiving themselves that making public
pronouncements means prevailing over the people will be shocked; and they
should prepare for that shock and its after-shock effects.
There is nothing to lose by getting rid of
those irritants!!
I shall return…
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E-mail:
mjbokor@yahoo.com
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