A senior research fellow for the Legon Centre for International Affairs (LECIA), Dr Yao Gebe has downplayed comments by the Managing Editor of the Al Hajj newspaper, Alhaji Bature that the flagbearer for the opposition New Patriotic Party is planning power sharing should he lose the 2012 general elections.
Alhaji Bature is reported to have stated that the actions of the flagbearer of the NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo indicate that he is preparing himself for power sharing should he lose the 2012 elections.
According to him, the continuous boycott of state factions and certain statements like “all die be die” by the NPP flagbearer is part of his grand plan for power sharing in 2012.
However, Dr Yao Gebe says comments like these should not be countenanced.
Speaking in an interview on Xfm 95.1, a privately owned commercial radio station here in Accra, Dr Gebe said Ghana does not present a suitable option for power sharing considering the fact that there have been quite a number of successful elections even amid serious tensions.
He however cautions that care be taken not to plunge Ghana into situations prevailing in Kenya and Zimbabwe.
“Nana Addo has not made those pronouncements, and so we should not put words into his mouth. Elections in Ghana have not taken place yet and we never know whether the NPP would win or not. Should it happen that the NDC win, why should there be power sharing? The circumstances that would lead to power sharing, we hope that it does not happen in Ghana. I am talking about issues of violence, conflict, etc”
“We have organised elections since 1992, even when tensions were very high… and I will believe that the same thing would happen come 2012. So let us be careful, let us vote cautiously, let the right thing happen, and let this country come out as a shining example for the rest of the country”.
Shifting his attention to the political stalemate in neighbouring Cote d’ Ivoire, Dr Yao Gebe was emphatic in saying that power sharing will not be a solution to the country that is being governed by two “Heads of State”.
To him, power sharing has not worked in Kenya and Zimbabwe- two countries that have two opposing governments as heads, adding that the impasse in Cote d’ Ivoire however, is different from that of Kenya and Zimbabwe.
More so, he says, choosing power sharing as an option would make mockery of the interventions of the international communities, adding that, “it is not right”.
He says, “it would be unfortunate for Cote d’ Ivoire to go the same way. In the Cote d’ Ivoire case, it was very clear that we had a winner in the election- that is Alasane Ouatara. And if after all that delay, all the frustrations that the incumbent Gbabgo had put in the path of the international communities, more importantly -ECOWAS and the UN-, we now turn our around and approve of the “unapprovable”, it would suggest to other African leaders that they can buy the international communities. It is not right.”
Story by Abena Asiedua Tenkorang/ Xfm 95.1/ Accra/ Ghana
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