Can Ordinary Ghanaians Snatch Their Country Back - From The Grasping Hands of The Powerful Rogues Who Dominate Its Politics?

If,  like me,  you often wonder what sort of nation  older generation Ghanaians will bequeath to the younger generation, you tend to feel outraged,  by the actions and inactions of the few bad nuts,  in the midst of our political class - which impact Ghanaian society negatively  and hold back our nation's progress, so.


To a large extent our educated urban elites are basically decent and hard-working individuals. Unfortunately, somehow,   it is  invariably the most  unprincipled ones amongst them,  who end up becoming the most  powerful members of our political class.


Perhaps they succeed -  as a young university student suggested to me -   in dominating their parties and our nation, as a result of  the unfortunate  Ghanaian habit of not speaking out openly and boldly,   about the misdeeds of individuals in  important positions in society.


Could that unfortunate collective failing be  a hangover from  the societal hypocrisy that was said to underpin the ethos  of  governance systems in virtually all our  pre-colonial traditional tribal entities, one wonders?


The New Patriotic Party (NPP) lost power in the December 2008 elections, mainly because of the widespread perception amongst ordinary Ghanaians, that it had become a very corrupt regime.


The impression most discerning,  apolitical   and independent-minded  Ghanaians  had gained,  towards the end of its second term in office,   was that a golden age of business was being enjoyed by a powerful and ruthless few,  in the NPP regime,  who were exploiting the national economy for their personal enrichment;  that of their  favourite blood-relations as well as  their dearest "bottom-power"  lady friends; and  their   regime's cronies in  the Ghanaian business world.


It therefore did not come as a surprise to many  political analysts,   when the NPP's  presidential candidate,  Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo,  was beaten by the narrowest of margins by the candidate of the then main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Professor Mills.

Sworn into office on the 7th January, 2009, President Mills came into office with a lot of goodwill  amongst a majority of  ordinary Ghanaians, for him  -  mainly  because of his well-earned reputation as a peace-loving, honest and humble gentleman.


Yet, true to form, some of the most  dishonest individuals in his NDC party,  have somehow succeeded in becoming  powerful members of his administration.


And with just a few months to go for the end of  President Mills'  tenure, the deadly troika-combination of  dishonesty,   unfathomable greed and unpunished misdemeanours -  associated with the powerful rogues in his regime -  have    succeeded in alienating a  majority of ordinary people in Ghana from  his   NDC regime.


Today, the general consensus amongst most voters,  is that nothing short of a miracle  will save the Mills regime from certain defeat,  in the upcoming December presidential and parliamentary elections.


Personally, I don't for a moment doubt President Mills' personal integrity -  and neither do I  that of the NPP's Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo.


However, if, as its harshest critics insist, it is true that  like the NDC, the NPP is also  still dominated by the same selfish and dishonest politicians of yesteryear  (now apparently operating from the shadows  - deftly pulling strings because of the quantum of resources they control) whose greed gave the party such a negative  image in the past, then our nation has a huge potential governance problem.

Without a shadow of doubt, dear reader, the powerful and ruthless rogues in their midst,  will definitely end up dominating the next NPP regime, too. This, despite the fact that Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo is an honest gentleman.


It is obvious that the biggest two political  parties in Ghana  are evenly matched,  in terms of the numbers of voters they can depend on.


Alas, there are millions of   "My-party-my-tribe-right-or-wrong" myrmidon-types,  who will cast their votes for each of them,  as sure as day follows night, regardless.


And it is that  blinkered support-base of both parties  that is  slowly destroying Ghanaian democracy.


It is  led by their small army of paid erstwhile "serial-callers" - now re-branded and grandly designated "communications team-members" -    with their fanaticism and dim-witted blindness - who spend most of  their days either calling into,  or participating,  in  radio and television current affairs phone-in programmes,  to spread each party's  negative  propaganda,  on our nation's airwaves.


However, hope, they say, springs eternal. So perhaps the question the rest of us must ask is: Will the discerning individuals whose crucial swing-votes now decide who wins presidential elections in Ghana (the so-called floating-voters) take a chance and  convince enough ordinary people to try a new set of politicians from a party other than the two dominant parties, the NDC and the NPP - and somehow miraculously enable the good people of Ghana to snatch  their  country back,  from the grasping hands of the powerful rogues,  who dominate the two largest parties in their homeland Ghana?


Hmm, Ghana - eyeasem o: asem kesie ebaba debi,  ankasa!


Tel: 027 745 3109.


Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com