Political Leaders Never Think about Ghana

In the past few weeks, we have witnessed the ascendancy of strident voices from workers, civil society and faith-based organizations reminiscent of the interludes in our history when Ghana was under military rule. 

This is significant because the ban on political activity has been lifted for almost a generation! As much as this is a feather in the cap of these Ghanaian entities and to our democracy, it remains a sad indictment of the official opposition in this country. The ascendancy of these non-political party voices is indicative of the degree to which Ghana’s opposition has abdicated its role.

If he, who pays the piper, calls the tunes, then any “deep pocket” can literally “get any type of government they want”! It appears that both political parties are in constant competition, not only for votes, but also for funds. Is this what is rendering their politics to increasingly look like a competition to please powerful multinational interests at the expense of Ghanaians? What is even more alarming is this miasma of culpable silence instead of speaking up, complicity in the place of opposition, that we keep seeing from the largest opposition party, the new Patriotic Party, NPP, when it comes to crucial issues such as the imposition of GMO’s on Ghanaians, or the EPA! 

There is no doubt that there is an orchestrated attempt by those who stand to benefit from the monopolization of our seeds, to “Manufacture the consent” of Ghanaians through the sheer monopolization of the political space currently available to Ghanaians. The rise of the voices of workers, faith-based and civil society organizations, is an indication that this shall fail. So far, the only viable choice open to Ghanaians is either the NPP or the NDC. With both political parties singing from the same hymn sheets when it comes to critical issues such as the Economic Partnership Agreement, they must both be seen as part of the problem rather than the solution.

The main opposition party, the NPP, has failed woefully to take full advantage of the crisis by making itself increasingly irrelevant. 

They continue to commit the same mistakes and expect different results. Only yesterday, just before the demonstration started, NPP MP for Assin-Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong was quoted as saying, “Kofi Asamoah is part of the problems in the country and must be beaten by workers when he appears at the demonstration grounds”! 

Meanwhile, it has since been reported that, “Kofi Asamoah, the Secretary General and convener of the historic demonstration was cheered and buoyed by his men at the Independence Squared!

The NPP has failed to rise to the occasion. One is reminded of Sir John’s last-minute efforts at the NPP congress in Tamale, where he adopted the slogan, “Vote for Sir John and Shame Atuguba!” well, we all know what happened. That is why it pays to be politically relevant. 

That is why it pays to be honest with the people and let them know clearly whether or not they can count on you! Just like Sir John, the elephant can go on pretending that European Union sponsored Economic Partnership Agreement is not an issue worthy of their attention, and keep thinking on behalf of the people! They are surely going to have a hard time voting for themselves on behalf of the people!