Politicians Instigating Violence During And After Polling Day This November Must Be Arrested And Swiftly Prosecuted

It is important that a consensus is built amongst the political parties in Ghana, and the leaderships of the security agencies, on what will be needed to be done to prevent violence at polling stations, from spiralling out of control, during the November elections. Ditto a consensus on how to deal effectively with politicians instigating violence across the nation by their supporters.

The relevant Select Committees of Parliament, will serve Mother Ghana well, by asking the government to empower the security agencies, to enable them effectively ensure  the nation's stability, by providing them with all the logistics they will need, to prevent the  country from descending into violence and chaos, during polling day, and in the immediate aftermath of this November's elections.

Such are the troubling times we live in, today, that the good people of this country,  need to make it plain to politicians (from across the spectrum) that all material times, they are prepared to use the law courts, to fight to protect our nation's democratic system, from being destroyed by politically-instigated violence and high-level corruption (to fund election campaigns).

#OccupyGhana is showing leadership in that regard. The twin scourges of high-level corruption, and violence instigated by intolerant politicians, pose real threats to the long-term stability of our country. As the November polls approach, we must make sure that both those twin evils, don't end up destroying our nation.

As democracy's many critics around the world never cease pointing out, the democratic system of government, does indeed have  many faults.

However, democracy's saving grace, is that it is underpinned by a Constitution,  which defines the roles of the three arms of government, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, and gives them countervailing powers, to prevent any one of them from dominating society.

The Constitution also guarantees the fundamental rights of the citizenry - which include the right to freedom of expression and the right to freely associate with others.

The Constitution protects Ghanaians from arbitrary action by those who act on behalf of the state - by making available to them a recourse to the law courts when their rights are abused.

Yet another pivotal right of the citizenry, is the right to select those who govern the nation, at regular set intervals, in free and fair elections. It is this that sets the democratic system of government apart from all the other systems of government, and makes it the best system of government currently known to humankind.

That is what leads some to say that the worst governments in democracies are far better than the best governments under military dictatorships - for the worst governments in democracies can be booted out of office when the citizenry feel the need for a change of government during elections: whereas that is virtually impossible under military dictatorships.

Ghanaians must treasure their nation's democracy. To prevent a descent into violence and chaos during this November's elections, it is vital that all the political parties, and the leaderships of all the security agencies, agree on a comprehensive plan, to deal with those who attempt to disrupt voting on polling day.

And the leaderships of the security agencies should draw up a strategic plan to enable Parliament to give them emergency powers, in advance, acting in concert with the government of the day, to impose curfews in parts of the country where violence breaks out after the elections, to enable them stop the spread of violence and chaos across the country.

The effective way that the Ghana Police Service (GhPS), dealt with the troublemakers amongst the Let My Vote Count Alliance's (LMVCA) membership, who deviated from the approved route the LMVCA's leaders had agreed in advance with the GhPS, should serve as an example to the leaders of all the security agencies, in dealing with lawless elements bent on causing destruction for political purposes.

Above all, they must draw up a list of all the verbally-aggressive and violence-prone politicians, who incite the myrmidon-types who follow political parties in such  blinkered fashion, and put in place a plan to arrest and swiftly prosecute them, should widespread violence breakout after the elections,

After all, do the Western democracies not monitor extremists in their midst closely, by mounting round-the-clock surveillance on them - to stop them from endangering their democratic systems? The time has come for our security agencies to do so too, to protect our democratic system.

This blog recommends that the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) Bernard Antwi-Boasiakos, and the National Democratic Congress' (NDC) Robert Owusus, and their ilk, should  be put at the very top of that all-important list.

 It says a great deal about the nature of our nation's politics that such amoral, callous, ruthless and violent-natured individuals can rise to prominent positions in political parties in Ghana.

What motives them to get into politics, and what ends do they seek, in their quest for power, one wonders? There is nothing manly about being violent.  It is barbarism, pure and simple. Real men, in politics, out-think and out-manoeuvre their opponents. They do not visit mayhem upon them.

Such politicians must not think that they can plunge our homeland Ghana into chaos and get away with it. No, they won't go scot free if they instigate violence anywhere in Ghana, during and after this November's polls. Never. Just who do these arrogant nation-wreckers think they are?

If they threaten the stability of our homeland Ghana in any way, they must all be arrested, prosecuted and jailed - especially if they instigate violence anywhere in Ghana this November. Some of us are thoroughly fed up with their arrogant disregard for the rights of others and obvious disdain for the  rule of law. Enough is enough. Haaba.