By Kofi Thompson
A group of young university students I interacted with recently - including six New Patriotic Party (NPP) sympathisers - gave me real hope about Ghana's long-term future.
They were all very patriotic and committed to seeing Ghana remain peaceful and united - regardless of which political party happens to be in power, at any given point in time, going forward into the future.
It was deeply satisfying for me that they despised the ethnocentric politics of older generation Ghanaians - and were particularly dismissive of politicians who fanned tribal tension for political purposes.
Above all, they felt outraged by the fact that when not in power themselves, so many Ghanaian politicians covertly worked so incredibly hard, to sabotage the government of the day: in order to make it fail and become unpopular with the masses.
To those highly-intelligent young Ghanaians, instead of the endless name-calling, it made far more sense for such politicians to offer alternative policy solutions, to the many problems confronting the nation and the ordinary people of Ghana.
It was this rolling and unending negativity, which was what was fundamentally wrong with Ghanaian politics, in their view.
Instead of engaging in endless criticism of each other, they wanted to see all the political parties focusing on offering Ghanaians competing views, of the best developmental paradigm for the nation to adopt, in order to move the enterprise Ghana forward.
A number of them - four females and two males - admitted to voting for Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, the NPP's presidential candidate, in the December 2012 presidential election.
Naturally, they were disappointed that their party's candidate, was not declared the winner of the 2012 presidential election, by the chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Dr Afari-Djan.
They looked forward to the eventual outcome of the presidential election petition brought before the Supreme Court by Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, Dr. Bawumia and Mr. Jake Obestebi-Lamptey.
However, much to my surprise, when asked if they noticed any of the allegations made by the petitioners, in the presidential election petition challenging the declaration of President Mahama as the victor in the presidential election of 2012, all the fifteen students in the group I was holding the discussion with - including the six who admitted to voting for Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo - answered in the negative. Food for thought, one wonders?
They went on to say that the prevailing mood in the polling stations they cast their respective votes in, was one of eagle-eyed watchfulness - to ensure that the various parties voters supported, were not cheated out of the certain victory they all expected, for their presidential candidates.
"With the benefit of hindsight," said one of the six pro-NPP students, with the rest nodding their heads in agreement in unison, "we are of the view that those in charge of the NPP's election campaign were amateurish, arrogant and complacent - and ended up failing the party so badly: because they were so sure of victory".
They also found it hard to fathom how the super-smart and streetwise Kennedy Adjapongs, could be outwitted by any of the representatives of the other political parties, who were present in the all-important "strong-room" of the Electoral Commission, on the two days votes were cast in the presidential and parliamentary elections. Food for thought again, one wonders?
Should the Supreme Court's verdict go against the petitioners, they want their party, the NPP, to accept it and move on.
They felt that Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo would secure his place in the annals of Ghanaian history, if he succeeded in convincing the party's hardcore foot-soldiers, to come to terms with the fact that the NPP would remain in opposition till 2016.
It was a consensus opinion amongst all fifteen students in the group, that ultimately, it was Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo's responsibility, to ensure that none of the party's foot-soldiers resorted to violence, anywhere in the country.
They said that Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo needed to emphatically make the point, to all the party's supporters across the country, that any instability in Ghana would only worsen the plight of ordinary people in the country - who were suffering and struggling to survive, in what for many was a harsh economic climate.
They believed that history would judge Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo kindly, if he succeeded in restraining the NPP's hardliners, and got them to accept the Supreme Court's verdict - even if it went against the three NPP petitioners.
Their consensus opinion, was that because instability would drive away investors, it was imperative for Nana Addo Danquah and the entire leadership of the NPP, to work hard to convince the party's rank and file, of the overwhelming need to refrain from violence and all forms of negativity, which would harm the country's international reputation, as a democratic haven-of-peace and stability, in sub-Saharan Africa.
To them, that is what ought to be uppermost in the minds of the party's supporters across the country, should the Supreme Court decide against those who brought the petition challenging the declaration by the chairperson of the Electoral Commission that President Mahama won the December 2012 Presidential election.
It was refreshing hearing such well-intentioned, independent-minded and nationalistic viewpoints, from a group of young students, including NPP supporters - all of whom clearly want to see Ghana progressing: whether their party is in power or not.
One hopes that they will work together with other young people, in university campuses across Ghana, to pressurise our political class to keep Ghana peaceful and stable.
It bodes well for the NPP's future that such highly-intelligent, young university students who support their party so passionately, and whose politics is clearly underpinned by one-nation patriotism, aspire to lead Ghana one day.
It is good for Ghana's future that those young NPP supporters, also feel strongly that the path of non-violence, ought to be chosen by their party's current leadership, and the millions who support it across the nation, at this particularly trying period in the NPP's history.
If it is any consolation to those decent-minded and patriotic young university students, at some point in the future, the NPP will doubtless return to power again. That is the nature and beauty of democracy - and the reason why at this juncture of Ghana's history, the NPP must choose the path of non-violence, at all costs. A word to the wise...
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
